Book Review: Dead Ringer by Nicole Martin

What happens when you meet up with a stranger you met online? We’ve heard all the horror stories but Dead Ringer adds a new one to the equation.

Goodreads Blurb

Dead Ringer by Nicole Martin

Just upload your photo to get started. Using the latest facial recognition software, plus your votes, MeetYourDouble will find your doppelganger.

START NOW.

The idea is simple, vain, exciting. Tap the app, upload a picture, find your #deadringer – and if you like, set up a meeting in real life.

When Ella and Jem connect, the resemblance is uncanny, but their lives are polar opposites. One is stagnating in her Northern hometown, while the other, an aspiring actress living in a multimillion-pound mansion, is a Chelsea socialite who knows she’s skating on thin ice.

Other than their looks, their only similarity is the desire to escape. Is it possible to hide in your double’s skin? And at what cost? Dead Ringer is an all-too-believable, twisty, compelling story that will leave you reeling.

Review

I decided to read Dead Ringer because I love a good thriller. Then, halfway through reading, I wasn’t sure it was a thriller at all. It felt a bit more comedic. And then things got really dark again and it earned its reputation as a “twisty” book.

Dead Ringer touches on a number of interesting points. For one, the stupid reasons we give away personal information about ourselves. Had any of the users of MeetYourDouble ever read about what facial recognition data is used for before? It also touches on greed and our fascination with other people’s lives. However, the theme that stood out to me most was depression.

Before it is even made clear to us that Ella is depressed, we can tell. She has no motivation to do anything and really feels that she is doomed to the life she is currently living. Again, this is another book where the author does a great job in showing us that depression is not about crying all the time. I also enjoyed how the author shows how Ella’s family and friends are trying to help her but are not really helping her at all by either making Ella’s depression about themselves or simply asking once or twice how she is but are not really there for her.

Jem is the opposite to Ella in nearly every way and this is shown to us through her background story and actions. The author’s visual description of both their lives also makes it very apparent. With Ella, everything is run down and we get a lot of greyness, while Jem’s live is full of colour. But actually, I don’t think they are very different after all. I think both have a deep-routed need to be loved, and I also think that Jem is suffering from depression, or perhaps another mental illness. I could see this in the way she is reckless with her life, and with the lives of those who love her. It would have been great to have this part of Jem fleshed out a bit more in the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It had so many layers and the twists were amazing. I totally recommend it to the reader who likes to be shocked.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

*affiliate link