I'll Be You

A Novel

By: Janelle Brown

Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kate Rudd

Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Two identical twin sisters and former child actors have grown apart—until one disappears, in this “cleverly crafted and psychologically nuanced” (Time) suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things.

“An addictive thriller that will keep readers burning through pages . . . sneakily hypnotic.”—Los Angeles Times

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Public Library, PopSugar

“You be me, and I’ll be you,” I whispered.

As children, Sam and Elli were two halves of a perfect whole: gorgeous identical twins whose parents sometimes couldn’t even tell them apart. They fell asleep to the sound of each other’s breath at night, holding hands in the dark. And once Hollywood discovered them, they became B-list child TV stars, often inhabiting the same role.

But as adults, their lives have splintered. After leaving acting, Elli reinvented herself as the perfect homemaker: married to a real estate lawyer, living in a house just blocks from the beach. Meanwhile, Sam has never recovered from her failed Hollywood career, or from her addiction to the pills and booze that have propped her up for the last fifteen years.

Sam hasn't spoken to her sister since her destructive behavior finally drove a wedge between them. So when her father calls out of the blue, Sam is shocked to learn that Elli’s life has been in turmoil: her husband moved out, and Elli just adopted a two-year-old girl. Now she’s stopped answering her phone and checked in to a mysterious spa in Ojai. Is her sister just decompressing, or is she in trouble? Could she have possibly joined a cult? As Sam works to connect the dots left by Elli’s baffling disappearance, she realizes that the bond between her and her sister is more complicated than she ever knew.

I’ll Be You shows Janelle Brown at the top of her game: a story packed with surprising revelations and sharp insights about the choices that define our families and our lives—and could just as easily destroy them.

©2022 Janelle Brown (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Her twistiest and tightest work yet . . . I’ll Be You is a cleverly crafted and psychologically nuanced yin and yang, complete with crackling observations about celebrity, California cults, wellness culture, the fertility industry, and the undertow of addiction.”—Time

“An addictive thriller that will keep readers burning through pages . . . sneakily hypnotic.”—Los Angeles Times

“Sharply insightful, relentlessly suspenseful and simply unputdownable, I’ll Be You is Janelle Brown’s best novel yet.”—Bookreporter

Exciting and entertaining

I enjoyed this listen. A little unbelievable but very entertaining and kept me listening! Narration was fantastic!

Entertaining

This book has great character development and an engrossing storyline. The narration elevates the pros into poetry.
However….. the lack of research into some of the aspects is horrendous. The misconceptions about AA are so bad that I wondered if the character was hallucinating.

Couldn’t stop listening!

Hard to write this without spoilers but I’ll try. The story follows twins who were childhood stars (TV) but at 32 life is messy. One struggles with addiction but is sober and a feisty fun character to follow. The other has resolved her health challenges in… an interesting (wild) way. The story unravels at just the right pace weaving past, present, and both perspectives. Really well written and it’s fun to read about LA, Ojai, and Santa Barbara. Full of gritty details and astute observations. The narration is also very well done and I’m super picky. (I wrote down the name of the director to have for my next novel.) Really strong debut (I think) novel from Janelle Brown.

Go for it

I thought this was pretty good. I was looking for a book to keep my commute entertaining and it did that for me. I wish Julia would have just narrated the whole thing, we know she’s capable of it. I’d say if you’re looking for a new book and you like the psychic

Resonated on Many Levels

While I'm not a child actor, nor a twin, this story resonated with me on many levels, good and not so good. The family dynamics, southern California setting, struggles of recovery within a family and the frustration that entails, and the unique sadness infertility brings, are familiar to many women. The ending left a bit to be desired, but overall enjoyed the story line.

Great narration and story

I love this narrator, everything she reads is great so I knew I’d like it. The relationship between the sisters is really interesting too and the whole cult thing. Kept me interested and guessing till the end!

Excellent story

I loved how the events of the story came around full circle to explain everything!

Liked her other books more than this one.

This book was an ok read but sometimes I became bored with the long explanations of the characters feelings. Despite some annoying parts overall it was ok.

Enjoyed

This was an enjoyable story with excellent character development. There were interesting questions posed about twins and the nature/nurture question, and also an exploration of the pain of infertility, as well as how people get drawn into cults and also drug addiction. Satisfying ending and narration was top-notch. I would recommend.

Good story, great narration

Fascinating story of the relationship of twins and their struggles with self identity.
Kept attention of listeners with multiple twists.