Shop - THIS DARKNESS MINE : A Novel

Sasha Stone is the stereotypical driven, uptight white girl, her whole life structured around achieving her goals, to the point where she has no sympathy for others. She practices her clarinet until her hands ache. Her boyfriend is pleasant and equally high-achieving, and her interactions with her friends have a mocking, scornful edge. But Sasha is normal…until she starts having blackouts, until she starts getting texts from bad boy Isaac, acting like he knows her, until she discovers she had a twin sister named Shanna, whom Sasha absorbed in the womb.
 
Sasha discovers that her by-the-book life began by ending the chapter of another: the twin sister she absorbed in the womb. But that doesn’t explain the gaps of missing time in her practice schedule, or the memories she has of things she certainly never did with Isaac.
 
As Sasha’s life begins to unravel, she becomes obsessed with her twin sister’s memory, and her grip on reality starts slipping away. The book delves into themes of identity, mental health, and the dark secrets that lie within the human psyche. Armed with the knowledge that her heart might not be hers alone, Sasha must decide what she’s willing to do—and who she’s willing to hurt—to take it back.
 
It’s Shanna’s heart in Sasha’s chest, and it’s Shanna’s heart that loves Isaac—not Sasha, so she claims. The story swings from paranormal nonsense to medical melodrama when it’s revealed that Sasha has cardiomyopathy and needs a new heart to survive.
 
The mentally ill can’t get new hearts, so Sasha must find a way to deal with Shanna…although it won’t be easy, as Sasha’s own darkness within grows stronger. The author pulls her punches by camouflaging Sasha’s darker tendencies with the Shanna storyline, undermining what could have been a fascinating character study.
 
Overall, “This Darkness Mine” is a gripping and thought-provoking psychological thriller that explores the dark side of human nature and the complexities of identity and mental illness.
 
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About the Author
Mindy McGinnis is the author of several young adult novels, including A Long Stretch of Bad Days, The Last Laugh, The Initial Insult, Heroine, The Female of the Species,and A Madness So Discreet, winner of an Edgar Award. She writes across multiple genres, including postapocalyptic, historical, thriller, contemporary, mystery, and fantasy. While her settings may change, you can always count on her books to deliver grit, truth, and an unflinching look at humanity and the world around us. Mindy lives in Ohio.