Fans of Purple Hyacinth, this one’s for us!

“Time has no value in dreams.”

In the beginning, it was a bit slow but it soon became riveting. The wording and phrasing were also awkward at times. Mostly what bothered me— she paused, contemplating her words—was the writing style. Not to mention there was more tell than show. Most of the time, I didn’t mind it but sometimes I really wanted to feel what’s it like to scale a wall without having a monologue while dangling from a roof. I wanted more inner workings to be shown and felt. Also, it disoriented me when the author didn’t know how to address a character other than their name or boy/girl because I always thought that boy/girl was referencing another person.

Still, I liked the dynamic between Valeria and Rowan. They had great chemistry. Valeria was stubborn and guided by her emotions but she had a strong sense of justice. At times she was a little frustrating when the evidence was right there but in hindsight, she portrayed genuine emotion when confronted with something you wish isn’t true. Rowan was a wanted murderer who wished for himself to turn into a monster. He never gave excuses for his killings but always talked about himself like he was a lost cause — a man without a heart, which didn’t turn out to be true. At all, to his great chagrin. He was probably my most favorite character. And how they slowly learned to be comfortable around each other, being each other’s solace? Perfect.

I also loved, loved the relationship between Victoria and her brother, Victor. Their affection for one another as siblings was truly lovely and it twisted something in my heart when I was nearing a certain scene. However, aside from 3-4 characters, the others felt a little too one-dimensional for my liking, which seems a shame because the story progresses magnificently. This being said, I confess I didn’t expect the twist to get down that road, so it was a gripping and fun read. And that ending got me good. My heart ached however much I enjoyed it. It was bittersweet.
Just the epilogue left me a little conflicted. Or maybe that’s just me reading too much into things.

“Reality is the truth that we choose to accept, what we choose to believe. Fantasy is the limitless sky above that.”

To be honest, I’ve been comparing the characters to those of the Purple Hyacinth, mostly because the plot was somehow similar, and Rowan was probably the most similar to his look-alike, Kieran. But these are two different stories and I would be doing a disservice to both of them by comparing.

Superb book. Wonderful characterisation, with a great heroine, and her accomplice, Alias Black.. engaging storyline, which captures your interest from the very beginning. One very slight criticism, found the the use of boy and girl for many of the characters, jarring at times.
Hoping for a sequel soon.

I will try to keep my review as unbiased as possible, but full disclosure, I have known the author since we were in elementary school together, so my opinions on this book may have been slightly colored by my feelings for its author.

This is Shira's debut novel. Which was written during NaNoWriMo, and submitted through Lost Island Press's manuscript contest. I was so excited to be able to request a review copy of this book, and see what she had been working on. My Brother's Spare is a mystery novel set in the world of Nieve, where there are seven districts of various amounts of wealth. The main character, Valeria, lives in the first district with her twin brother, mother, and father, the Viscount. When she witnesses her mother's murder in their home, it sparks a desire for justice in her and leads her on a long, winding search for who killed her mother. 

I really liked how the mystery was crafted, and designed to throw off the reader as you go in the same way that the clues throw Val and her begrudging partner, the famed assassin Alias Black, off the track of the true killer. I wrote down who I thought the killer was at the beginning of the novel after the prologue and first chapter or two and was thrown off for a while by a red herring that Val also fell for, and was satisfied to see at the end that my initial guess had been correct as to who Val was trying to bring to justice. The suspense from about 70% into the book just kept growing and growing as the book tumbled toward the shocking conclusion to Val's story and the mystery of who killed her mother.

I really wished that the characters outside of Val and Alias Black had been a bit more fleshed out though, I especially wanted to see more of Val's twin brother, Victor, and how Val's choices changed their relationship. Flint, Oliver, and Lou all felt like they disappeared from Val's life when she wasn't directly interacting with them, which made me a little sad because I could tell they had the potential to be fully realized characters that had more than passing interactions in the main character's life.

What a stunning debut!  This book is definitely a new favorite. I found it scrolling through Netgalley one day and, after the cover popped up and I read the description, I knew that I had to read it! So, thank you Netgalley for providing me with this copy :)

I don't know how Valeria survived on so little sleep, but I loved how it helped move the plot along as all of her sleepless nights brought us one step closer to the truth.  I also loved the relationship that Valeria and Rowan had.  It was hilarious, but also surprisingly heartbreaking at times. I liked how, even though Valeria couldn't bring herself to fully accept his crimes, they shared a really beautiful trust. Though romance was beginning to be hinted at near the end between the pair, it never developed into anything and I was really glad that the main focus was on the thrills of the mystery and not anything else.

As for the plot, it was amazing! As I said above the action never stopped as we watched Valeria struggle to keep her cover through the day and ran around the city in the night with Rowan. It all flowed together so well and I was really impressed by the mystery! It was complicated enough that I never guessed who was responsible but easy to understand once everything was revealed. The one and only thing that I feel like could have been developed more was the relationship between Valeria and her brother. I feel like it should have been a pretty main point of the book but it fell a little flat for me. Other than that, this is an incredible book that I would highly recommend to any mystery/thriller lovers out there!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to Independent Book Publishers Association for providing me this arc via Netgalley!
I really tried with this book. The beginning was weak, but just when I thought it would get better, it got worse.
Ths world building was terrible and it got me really confused, not to mention the whole concept of a viscount police officer and the name of the drug - dream stitching - was appalling.
Rowan was an interesting character but the bittersweet ending and lack of some romantic closure was disappointing.
I did like the twist, and the plot wasn't bad, although, in my opinion, it was not well executed.

This is the historical fantasy murder mystery that you never knew you needed.

Valeria Anson has always been one in a set, sharing everything from clothing and toys to their mother's womb. She and her twin brother are as close as can be. But the one thing they don't share is the searing image of their mother's brutal murder, one that haunts Valeria every night.

Almost a decade has passed since their mother's untimely demise, and despite their father's role as Viscount and Chief of the King's Imperial Force, which deals directly with criminals, the masked killer has never been caught, still free to roam the snowy streets of Nieve.

Although her father and brother have given up hope of locking the killer behind bars, Valeria refuses to let the case go. But the road to the truth is a lofty one, her secret investigation leading her to Alias Black, the most infamous hitman in the kingdom. While associating with the dreaded killer goes against every one of her beliefs, the heartless assassin may be the key to finally tracking down the masked murderer that lurks in her dreams. And he isn't what everyone says he is.

Lying to her family by day and working with Alias Black by night, Valeria must now walk the thin line between right and wrong. As the unlikely pair slowly crack the case that was forced upon them, they unravel a truth they never could have imagined—not even in their darkest nightmares. Blood is thicker than water, after all.

Overall this book was amazing, and one of the best that I've read this year. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in advance in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lost Island press for providing me with an eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The book follows Valeria as she searches for her mother's killer. While doing so, she reluctantly joins forces with Alias Black, the most notorious assassin out there.

I really really enjoyed reading this book. What is it about dangerous, characters with questionable morals that just makes me love them? Alias Black is such an interesting character. He is dangerous, sarcastic and has a twisted sense of humor. Valeria is a determined, strong woman who would not stop at anything to find her mother's killer and bring them to justice.

I had my suspicions about the killer, still it didn't take away the thrill of the mystery. I could feel all the emotions of the characters.

Considering this is debut novel of the author, it's pretty amazing and I would love to see more of her works.

I was intrigued by the blurb of this book and was excited to get stuck in, and I am very happy with how it turned out.

This book grips you from the start, unfortunately I was in a reading slump prior to this book (fault of the book before this one) but this book pulled me right out and I found myself reading 45% of it in one day and then the other half the next! It’s captivating and I caught myself thinking about this book even when I wasn’t reading it!

I love the fact it’s a mystery in a fantasy world, it creates a new depth to it as we explore a new world and characters as well as being divulged in this intricate web of mysteries that Valeria tries to solve.

I loved the two main characters, Valeria and Rowan were realistic and I enjoyed seeing their interactions. I especially liked Rowan (favourite character, without a doubt) as he had a lot of depth and story to him and wasn’t just a flat character. The other characters were good too but I didn’t get such a close connection to them.

Now, the most important part of a mystery novel is the ending. If a mystery novel builds it all up fantastically and has you dangling on the thread of suspense throughout only to let you fall on your face at the end then that’s a huge HUGE disappointment. One that would warrant a low rating in my books. However, this book provides a satisfactory conclusion, the clues were carefully placed at various points without giving it entirely away. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and found myself wanting to continue reading it in every spare moment of my day.

I do like this book, great read have to say. Interesting plot, easy to follow writing style plus characters who keeps story on track. I love tension between Valeria and Rowan, air is so dense... These two are so similar to each other. I'm curious... Could they be together against their so different upbringing and be happy? Hmmm... That material for different story.
Definitely great book for young adult. Hope I'll have a chance to read more Shira's books sometimes soon.

Although it started off fairly slow, 'My Brother's Spare' was an enjoyable read, it's a murder mystery with so many added elements and also has a slight dystopian feel too it, especially with the way the government is run.
Rowan and Valeria are great partners in solving this crime and have the perfect balance, they were the perfect choice to lead the story, however, at some points, it was slightly questionable how Rowan had a redemption plot despite being a brutal criminal.
The last portion of the book was arguably the best as everything begins to kick-off and is far more fast-paced which had me hooked until the very end, I wish the rest of the book was just paced slightly faster because some chapters felt like they went on for longer than they needed to.
Overall though, I did enjoy this book, it was a very well done murder mystery and I look forward to reading more from this author!

This book is really great! It has a bit of a slow start but ultimately becomes really interesting and great and the premise is really fascinating.

This book was a great YA mystery read, The story follows Valeria, who is trying to solve her mother's murder, that has been haunting her ever since she was a child. She comes into contact with the notorious assassin Alias Black, and the two from an unlikely alliance in order to reach their goals, which may be more similar than they initially thought.

Valeria is a strong female protagonist who I really enjoyed reading about. The character development was strongly written, and made the story come together in a great way. The dynamics and the relationships of the characters, both main and side, made the reader feel a real connection to the story.

The plot was well thought out, the characters were well written, and overall I really enjoyed this book. The ending of the book had me crying and smiling at the same time. I need to know what happens next!

A quote I like:
“Is money really worth more to you than a human life?”
“Most definitely. “

My rating - 4.5/5 ⭐️

It’s taken me a while to gather my thoughts on this book as it was just SO GOOD. I was gripped from line 1 and that never changed. This entire book was so dark, brutal, and mysterious. I found myself guessing along with our main character Valeria, trying to piece together clues and work out who killed Valeria’s mother a decade ago, until well into the night. The clues were so wonderfully dropped, a proper slow-burn meaning it oozed with tension.

The thing that shocked me most about this was the writing - specifically the dialogue. This book made me giggle regularly due to the sarcastic comebacks and witty remarks between Valeria (our protagonist) and Alias Black (the assassin she chooses as her colleague to find the killer) which was something unexpected to me but I LOVED IT. The writing style was so smooth and perfectly flowing.

The characters in this were a breath of fresh air.
Valeria was flawed and sometimes you disagree with her (which I like) yet overall you root for her.
Rowan Marrow (Alias Black) was SUPERB - he kept my attention fixed to this book as I wanted to know everything about him and anxiously awaited his story unfolding (although maybe he could’ve had slightly more development?)
Rowan Marrow in a sentence - sarcastic, dark- haired, morally-grey, *questionable* career choice.

The relationships built up in this book are LOVELY. This wasn’t a romance, but their relationship was just wonderful - such development as they became comfortable around each other. I also loved Victor and Valeria’s brother-sister relationship, that was so well executed and nice to see.

The plot was spectacular. so twisty-turny, so dark, so suspenseful. The plot-twists were AMAZING. I also loved the use of the fictional city of Nieve as it added to the intrigue.

My only slight issue was the repeated use of 2 phrases (brows furrowing & eyes narrowing) but that’s all! This book is great!

- Lara <3

Quote: "We were adults with secrets and lies, with responsibilities and loyalties. No matter how much we longed to linger in the past, time would never stop moving. The hands on the clock could never simply stop, destined to forever tick the years away."

Pros: Overall the story was quite enjoyable. I ended up highlighting a lot of quotes that I really enjoyed or were really well written in my opinion. The writing is pretty strong, but sometimes the author does get a little lost in the sauce. This novel definitely had a lot of dark academia (without the school aspect) vibes. I liked how there was no romance in this book, but a budding friendship. Even though I'm a sucker for romance, especially enemies to lovers, it just wouldn't have played out well in this novel.

Cons: I main plot twist of the story was actually quite predictable, I think the author made the hints a little too obvious at times. There really was not a whole lot of diversity in this book, and when there was, the characters were not given any justice. The author described a black character as having "deep chocolate" skin... come on it's 2021, can we not describe poc characters this way? It's dehumanizing. Not only that but she was clearly LGBTQ+ & was described a bit predatory for my taste.

Content Warnings: Somewhat graphic descriptions of murder.

Overall Rating: 3.75 stars (was torn between 3.5 or 4)

P.S. I received an arc copy to read and review before the official publishing of ths book. That being said this is an honest review with honest opinions.

This was a good book for a debut novel. The beginning was very slow, but once Alias Black entered the arena I fell in love. His character has that perfect story plot twist, do I hate him for his line of work or do I love his sarcasm and grin? The same goes for Valeria, her character is on the edge for me. On one hand, she is this strong feminist woman but on the other, this obsession with finding her mother's killer is a little over the line for me.
Writing is very creative, there are some twists I did not see coming and they were very surprising to me. I will say that the story is extremely detailed. To me this is the case of too much smaller things, they talk/run/walk and the author describes everything around them, characters' feelings and thoughts. While I understand the desire to bring readers closer to the story this was overwhelming for me. There was a lack of a world build, I would care for more details about districts and Nieve from the political view.
This was a strong book overall, but takes some time to get into and is slow-paced at times, that is why I could not give it full 5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow.

This book was so incredible and well-thought-out! It was so atmospheric, and reading it I really felt as though I were there with Val as she attempted to solve her mother’s murder. It was so descriptive and detailed without being too heavy or seeming pretentious.

I confess that going into this, I wasn’t sure I was going to really enjoy My Brother’s Spare. It had a slower start, and I was afraid it simply wasn’t the kind of book I wanted to read right now. However, it very quickly picked up the pace, and I was quickly sucked in. The plot was so exciting, and I found myself really rooting for Valeria and Alias.

That brings me to my next point - the characters! The entire cast was full of personality and was so unique. Alias and Val were amazing, of course, but I fell in love with the side characters just as much as I did them. I truly wanted to give them all big hugs, and I found myself gasping as truths were revealed - I definitely wasn’t sure who I could trust!

The storyline was also incredible! I pride myself on being able to sense a plot twist coming, but the last 25% of this really shocked me! I could not put it down as I guessed again and again who the killer was - and every time I was wrong! Behore definitely knows how to trick a reader and keep them guessing.

I only had one thing that bugged me, and that was the pacing. While most of the plot was fast-paced and exciting, I did find that some of the jumps in time felt awkward. There were a few scenes that I felt could have been explored more in-depth.

Overall, this was a great debut! The ending simultaneously satisfied me, while leaving me wanting more of the characters, and I was sad it was over. Behore’s ability to craft a riveting mystery is superb, and I’ll definitely add any of her future books to my TBR!

I received an ARC from NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

WOW WOW WOW.

This book was fantastic, especially for a debut novel. In this novel we follow Val, who always feels that she is in her brother's shadows and just isn't quite good enough to live up to the family name. Determined to find her mother's murderer, Spider Lily pairs up with antagonist Alias Black to solve the mystery. The way their relationship develops is amazing and I think the only thing that could've made it better is some steamy scenes...(but I'll take the bickering). The character development and growth was great! Truthfully I did NOT see that ending coming and I was on the edge of my seat until the very end to see what was coming next.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @LostIslandpress for providing me with an ARC of “My Brother’s Spare” to read and honestly review!✨

Wow. It’d been a while since I’d read such an amazing book that I could barely collect my thoughts to write a review. “My Brother’s Spare” managed to capture me from its very first line. After that, I was hooked, flipping pages, only to realize it had been hours since I’d first started reading. The writing was absolutely beautiful, flowing smoothly, making me float through the story, and the world and plot so perfectly constructed, that I became acquainted with it almost instantly, sucked in by the delightfully encompassing story!

I loved our main heroine Valeria. Strong, resilient and unique, her narration made the story all the more engaging and riveting. Rowan Marrow, our morally gray character managed to capture my heart (he still has his hold on it!) and he was a perfectly complex character, whose story I enjoyed watching unravel more than anything, as the plot and the story progressed!

By the last pages I was shedding bittersweet tears! This book really was one that I did not want to finish, since I could not wrap my mind around the fact that I would have to say goodbye to all these lovely characters! Still, this book ending did not disappoint one bit. I loved every single second of it. This book really was a brilliant debut novel, one that has managed to make its way up my top three favorite reads of the year! Twisty, compelling, with an enemies-to-friends-to one of my favorite character relationships, and oozing with tension and mystery, “My Brother’s Spare” is a book every book lover (especially the mystery ones!) should read.⭐️

[5/⭐️]

My Brother's Spare is a is a wonderful and incredibly rich mystery novel, so well built and fast paced that I wasn't able to put it down till I reached the end. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters.

This novel submerges the reader in a landscape so imaginative and detailed that the information of the world building/plot never feels forced, and is never difficult to understand or picture in one's mind. I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

I read the blurb for this and thought “great stuff; revenge, hot assassins, moral conflict, familial drama what more could you want” top emo trash. And yes that was all in there, I mean it was trope central. You could play trope bingo which is fine I love a trope. They are tropes because they are solid gold building blocks. However I felt it was let down by amateurish writing. Everyone was constantly described by their eyes and hair which is fine but not every other sentence. Also Rowan was described as a monster or a killer every other paragraph just in case we forgot. But also he’s super hot and sometimes decent. The world building was slap dash, I felt no sense of time or place: one minute we are flappers, the next we’re in quasi historical police/military department the leadership of which is hereditary ?! And all of the staff solving crime in high positions are in their late teens/early twenties! Ok.
And my god Valeria is the most po-faced humourless goody goody going. This would had been fine if it was self aware but she’s just never lets up with the melodrama and we don’t get enough of anyone else to off set that. The title is My Brothers Spare and we get none of him. I had no idea what Victors hopes, dreams or motivations were so I didn’t particularly care. I didn’t care about anyone. Maybe Rowan (a terrrrrrible name for a hitman! No one is terrified of Rowan) he seemed to be the only one that had even smidge of humour but, oh yeah, he’s a monster/killer in case we forgot. Sighs. Overall some stuff to like, some stuff improve, some stuff that should have been cut out altogether.