The Ice Twins

by S. K. Tremayne

[ibeforem]

Honestly, I didn’t finish this book. It rides the line between psychological thriller and ghost story, but even that and the “creepy little kid” trope weren’t enough to keep me going.

I just couldn’t relate to or understand ANYTHING the mother did. Or most of what the father did. Starting with moving their family to a house they haven’t even set eyes on (her) or set eyes on in a couple of decades (him). A house that is barely holding itself together. A house with a phone line you can’t hear, no cell service, and questionable electrical service. I guess it had working plumbing? Oh, and it’s on a desolate island you can only access via boat or mudflats that are maaaaaaaybe passable by foot at low tide (if you move fast enough). AND THEY DON’T OWN A BOAT.

I get the whole thing about the creepy location adding to the creepy story, but the rest of the story just doesn’t hold together to me. There are some things you can excuse under the guise of “grief may make one act unreasonably”, but as a whole it all added up to one big nope. In fact, the first big “twist” was the point where I put the book down and didn’t pick it back up again.

This was a book club read so I was able to find out what the resolution to the story was, but once I did, I didn’t feel like I had missed anything.