Review: The Other

The Other by Annie Neugebauer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Other by Annie Neugebauer is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, mind-messing, twisted psychological thriller!

Imagine what you might feel or how you might react, if you and your spouse were to encounter your doppelgangers: two other people who look, act, and speak exactly as you do, and who have all of your memories as well. Then, imagine that there's a bit of a scuffle, and when the dust settles you realize that you don't know for certain which one is actually your spouse, and neither do they.

In The Other, that's exactly what happens to married couple Elise and Logan as they're on a hiking trip, hoping to reconnect and make some decisions about what their future together might look like.

And just in case your brain hurt isn't already hurting, consider that Elise and Logan now have to figure out who is really whom, and then they must also find a way to evade the other couple before they can go back to their lives; otherwise they might not go back at all, or even worse, one of them may very well end up going back with The Other.

Telling the tale by alternating the viewpoint between Elise and Logan, Neugebauer sets up this situation masterfully, and her storytelling swept me right along the trail with Elise and Logan. The tension in their marriage, and their obvious desire to find a way forward together are strong elements on their own, but then to mix in the confusion of the "identity crisis" and the very real possibility that Allison and Bryce intend to cause harm, and you have a recipe for a gripping, wonderfully paced, psychological thriller.

Thanks to Shortwave Publishing for providing an eARC for review through NetGalley.

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