Cover Image: Beneath Her Skin

Beneath Her Skin

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Member Reviews

Taylor and Hayley Ryan are twins in a small town. When their neighbor Katelyn Berkley dies they feel guilty even though they had nothing to do with her death. At one time all the teenagers were friends that hung out together. Everyone in the town wonders if Katelyn killed herself or was her death an accident.
This book was so good. You keep reading and adding more people you are guilty.
I enjoyed very much.

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Beneath her skin is about the death of a local teenager Katelyn. Katelyn was a troubled girl and her death appears to be a suicide this rocks the locals as Katelyn along with twins Hayley and Taylor were the only 3 survivors of a bus crash ten years earlier whilst out on a school trip. The twins suspect that not all is right with the death of Katelyn. Unbeknown to others the twins have psychic gifts, they use this to help them solve the mystery but also find themselves on another path altogether.

So I was expecting a thriller it has to be said and to be honest I often don't read the blurbs because they can give to much away, I wish had with this book I could of prepared myself for the concept. Look I have no beef with psychics at all but I found it unrealistic that two teenage girls would solve the mystery. I wish they were adults and maybe on the police force but I see why the author wrote them as they are.
I found it very interesting how they got their messages because they didn't just see things and immediately know they had to work to interpret what they saw and thats what draws the reader in

I honestly think that there could be more depth to each twin but it's the first book in the series so I hope that is built upon in the next book, dying to be her, which I have downloaded. I found it easier to connect with the lead characters once the dialogue with all the other characters had settled down.
I think the way the author has written is extremely clever at times I thought this will be a DNF but then a mystery would occur and I wanted to find out what it was. This book is hard to predict we obviously know Taylor and Hayley are trying to uncover the truth however the side stories I found more interesting and was engrossed in their outcomes, even the side story with the twins.

There are quite a few other characters in the book two that stood out to me where Skyler and Beth. Skyler clearly has unresolved issues and is over compensating. Beth is living in the shadow of her dead sister but is hilarious at times.


The main narrative is hit or miss. I think there is a lot of build up for a not so fantastic outcome. However the stories of others were great so thats why I would recommend to read it. Its an easy read but a slow read. I struggled to decide how many stars to give this book and I decided on 3 there is room for improvement , however I liked the characters and I want to continue their journey and thats what helped me decide to raise my stars.


# Thank you to netgalley, bookouture and Gregg Oslen for the digital advanced copy of behind her eyes in exchange for my fair unbiased opinion.

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Did Katelyn Berkely die by accident, suicide of murder? While the good people of Port Gamble want to belief that Katelyn's electrocution was nothing more than a terrible accident, others believe that her death is somehow linked to another terrible accident, one in which a bus plummeted off the Hood Canal bridge, killing the driver and most of the school children inside. But Katelyn was one of the survivors, as were the twins Hayley and Taylor (Hay-Tay). Hayley and Taylor can sense things and they sense that Katelyn's death was no accident - and they're right... BENEATH HER SKIN is not one of Olsen's best, but is has a good, fast moving plot and while the whole story is completely implausible, I was compelled to finish it just to see what really happened.

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I absolutely love this Author!! The suspense he writes is just fantastic!! I bet you will finish this book in one sitting!!

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I really, really liked this book..... up to the last chapter. Then something happened and I didn’t know what to think anymore. I like the ”supernatural” take on the crime solving twins and the mystery about what really is going on. How much the parents know and how long it will take until Colton has to be let in on the secret.
I liked how this story shows how easy it is for some people to bully and take advantage of someone weaker. I also understood the unfortunate and misguided thoughts teenagers can have and misunderstand. The last chapter, though. I hope there will be an explanation to why a serious crime occurred and everybody just went with it.

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A bit of refreshment from bloody scenes in true crime and other thrillers.
I liked the connection between twin sisters and their ability to sense lie and evil, also the strange words that were messages from beyond. This story begins with the death of 15 year old girl that appears as suicide , but later it starts to looks as a murder. Sisters Heyley and Taylor and Taylor's boyfriend Colton are researching what can find with a little guidance's from messages that they receive from "the other side". As a side story, there is news reporter that is researching the twins and their strange abilities.
Since English is not my first language it was a bit difficult to read the messages that teenagers in the book were sending to communicate, but in overall the story was interesting.

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I have read several Gregg Olsen books and enjoyed them. This one was a little bit more of a struggle. I enjoyed reading about the twins and their abilities. I felt some of the other characters were a little bit over the top. The popular girl. The alcoholic mother. The reporter who will tell all. I understand that this was a YA novel, but I feel as though Olsen was trying a little too hard to relate to the younger generation and in doing that, lost what I like about his as an author. I will be reading the next book in the sequel because I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me an ARC for my unbiased opinion.

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This gripping thriller is voiced from the perspectives of numerous characters including twins Taylor and Hayley,their best friend Beth Lee and a trouble making reporter called Moira Windsor. The story is set in Port Gamble,a small tight-knit community in Washington,a place where gossip spreads faster than the leaves that are falling from the trees and where most of the residents are quick to pass judgement and voice their opinions on others. It was also a community that was still haunted by a horrifying bus crash almost ten years previously which resulted in five deaths and left many of the families devastated. The residents were a diverse mix of realistic individuals,some likeable,some not so likeable and many who were harbouring secrets. Taylor and Hayley had been on the bus on that fateful day and were two of only three who survived along with another girl named Katelyn.

When Katelyn is found dead in her bath,the twins can't ignore their suspicions that her death was more than just a simple tragic accident and start their own investigation into her death. The thing is that unlike most people, the twins were not just acting on their cut instincts and suspicions,they have actually been blessed or some might say cursed with the ability to communicate with the dead and are certain that Katelyn has been communicating with them from the other side. I thought the twins were fantastic characters,their interactions were very realistic,they even had the odd disagreement,these were typically about Hayley's relationship with Colton. I liked how although they were twins, the author had given them each their own unique individual personalityI loved their interactions with their parents Valerie and Kevin,their dad was a author who wrote crime novels and encouraged his daughter's interests in crime. Their mum was a psychiatric nurse who I couldn't help thinking knew more about her daughter's abilities that she was letting on. Despite how open the couple appeared to be with the teens, it was obvious that they were also keeping secrets from them about events in the past. Secrets that started to be revealed after Moira Windsor appeared on the scene and started poking her nose into the accident and the twins pasts. Thanks to her interference and persistence, Taylor and Hayley find themselves compelled to dig into their pasts and what happened on the day that they almost lost their lives. Was Katlyn's death really a tragic accident? How many residents knew more about her death than they were letting on? What secrets were hiding within the walls of the old houses of Fort Gamble?

This is a very well written,addictive Y/A thriller with a dash of mystery and a sprinkling of the supernatural that has the reader hooked in from the first page. I liked how the author hadn't padded out the story by taking the reader through how the twins discovered their abilities and learned how the utilize them. His cast of characters were a fantastic bunch of believable individuals and I loved the setting for the story with it fascinating background information and history. I really enjoyed this enthralling mystery and look forward to reading many more of Taylor and Hayley's adventures in the future.

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If you like paranormal #youngadult books, I think you're going to enjoy this book. This definitely sets the stage for Haley and Taylor, two 16 year old twins with a mysterious ability to sense when someone is in trouble. Lots of background information about their life and desire to help people in need, so I highly suggest reading this before you start the second book.⁣

Reader(s) note - if you are an Olsen fan, please go into this series knowing they are YA books. I was unaware of that before I started since I don't normally read book blurbs and I was definitely craving his normal graphic / gruesome writing style.

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A 15-year-old girl, Katelyn Berkley, is found dead in the bathtub. Was this suicide, an accident, or murder? The identical twins who live next door, Hayley and Taylor Ryan, have some sort of ability to sense paranormal communications and receive messages indicating that there is more to this death than is believed. Soon they believe that Katelyn is communicating with them to help figure out what really happened. NO SPOILERS.

First, let me say that I had no idea that this was YA fiction and, if I had, I would not have requested it. Rarely do authors write teens authentically, and this was definitely the case here. I'm quite familiar with teenagers having spent 12 years with them at a local high school as nurse, librarian, and teacher. I've read several previous books by this author and enjoyed them, so I stuck with it even though I was ready to quit early on. I hoped that the supernatural elements would be played down and it would read more like Nancy Drew, but the actual story was all over the place with some nasty characters and the ending defied even my best ability to suspend disbelief.

I'm sorry that this was not for me and I definitely will not be reading the second in the series -- apologies to Bookouture for asking for the e-book ARC. I do thank NetGalley and Bookouture for granting access to this title but will be more careful with requests in the future.

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Horrible murder scene, interesting characters overall with some paranormal abilities, some believable, some very far stretched, these books kept me guessing throughout the stories.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

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Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via netgalley and for letting me take part in this double tour. I'm a big fan of Gregg's work so I was excited to read this series.

This book has a different take on a crime novel. Most crime books follow the detective and their investigations this book focused more on the Ryan twins Hayley and Taylor. I really liked the twins. I think they have good hearts and really want to help people. I think their gifts are cool and I would definitely love to see more of them.

There was a lot of mystery in the case od Katelyn Berkley. I found it was really hard to guess what has happened to the poor girl. As the story unravelled I just felt like this was such a sad story and while this is fiction it was based on real-life events. The story is full of blind alleys and wrong turns. Gregg kept me gripped throughout.

I would class this as a YA thriller so there is a lot of teenage angst and high school drama. I personally don't mind that. I read a lot of YA anyway but some might find this irritating. This was a republication of a book written 10 years ago. there was no indication of when this book was set. If you didn't know when it was originally published then some elements seem quite outdated in terms of technology. This could be easily fixed by adding in some context around the time period or adding the year at the beginning.

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Gregg Olsen’s first Young Adult novel has been re-released under the name Beneath Her Skin.

On Christmas night 15-year-old Katelyn Berkley’s mother finds her dead in the bath, electrocuted with an espresso maker. Her death is ruled as accidental, but Katelyn’s childhood friends, twins Taylor and Hayley, believe it might have been murder. The twins both possess psychic abilities and they try to decipher messages from Katelyn hoping to learn the truth. Katelyn’s death reopens wounds from a tragic accident years before and with a reporter hanging around, as well as someone watching their every move, danger is lurking.

With its excellent plot and brisk pacing, I had difficulty putting this book down between chapters. Beneath Her Skin was such an absorbing read, and I relished every moment. This riveting, dark story is weighty and Gregg Olsen brilliantly weaves the tale of the two sisters. Hayley is a reasoned thinker and has an analytical mind and her twin sister Taylor is very emotional, though they are both intense and their bond is sure-fire. Set in Port Gamble, Washington and with several twists and enough mystery and intrigue to compel me to read late into the night, this was a well-delivered, stellar read.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Bookouture via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

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Wow wow Wow! Absolutely heart pounding, tense and fast paced. A book I just couldn't put down. Brilliant writing, great story. Absolutely amazing. Just Wow.

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This was a YA Mystery and it was written very well.

The twins in this have supernatural powers so that's a unique twist on the genre.

The cover of this book was creepy and eye catching.

It was fast-paced and kept my attention all the way to the end.

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First, I want to thank Gregg Olsen, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review!

YES!!! Gregg Olsen is back with another you must read and go put it on your TBR list! He has become one of my favorite Bookouture authors with his amazing writing style. His latest book Beneath Her Skin gave off a totally different more relatable vibe.

There are many great qualities to Gregg’s writing but one that sticks out particularly. His characters and experiences are based on actual facts of when he was a true crime writer. Many scenes are incredibly intense and detailed. It is this aspect that draws me in to each of his books.

Gregg threw in some great pop culture references that made me smile. Not only that but this time around there is some humor in the book as well. At times I could not help but laugh.

The characters in this book I related to more than his other books I have read. I don’t know maybe it is because I am a true teen at heart.

Speaking of characters I loved how he used such unique names and spellings of them. Some of my favorites were Colton James, Hayley, Mindee, Moira, Harper, and Teagan to name a few.

In Beneath Her Skin there are some serious and important topics that are brought up. These issues are suicide, alcoholism, stalking, etc.

Originally, I loved the Katelynn story and finding out what really happened to her. However, as the story progressed the Ryan twins story became more interesting to me.

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Thanks Netgalley for a copy of BENEATH HER SKIN for exchange a review.
Usually I love Gregg Olsen books but maybe her shouldn't try writing young adult it didn't feel like a teen was texting, or talking. The whole thing was just off. Still Love the author.

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I've read many of Gregg Olsen's books and loved every one of them so deciding to read the 1st book in his new Empty Coffin series was a no brainer. As always, the first book in a new series has to set the scene for the upcoming books, introduce us to the characters and build a back story that can be woven throughout the series. All of those can be found in this riveting story of a young woman/girl whose death by suicide may not be what everyone thinks it is. Our MCs are a set of twins who were friends with the young woman who died. The target audience is young adult so the characters fit the genre very well.
Port Gamble, Washington is a small town and as all small towns go, the kids all go to the same school, the adults all work close to each other and any time you choose to get into trouble, your Mom and Dad will get a call before you get home. There is no hiding secrets. Unless your secret is personal and you only share it with your twin. These young ladies have some psychic abilities that allow them to get "flashes" of information from inanimate objects and even a few from the dead. They have only shared their ability with each other and have no intention of letting anyone else know.....until the young woman who committed suicide communicates with them.
Gregg Olsen is well known for his nonfiction stories. If you've read any of them, they are not a dry retelling of information. They introduce you to a community of people and weave their story as it unfolds. He has brought the same skills to his fiction. While this one might be not as smooth as the nonfiction books I have read, it's definitely and excellent start to a new series.

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I was completely sucked into the story and invested in the characters. I was stunned by the outcomes! This little community is hiding some darkness and I can't get enough. I'm off to read the second one.

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Well, I stuck this one out…
I wanted to like this, I really did. But I didn’t.
There was a somewhat original idea here, but if fell flat. I considered DNF a few times, but I liked the twins. I liked the idea of what they could do. I think that if they hadn't been our protagonists I would have given up. The solution at the end was horrible. So overall this was a disappointment.

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