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A Twist of Fate

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A Twist of A glamorous, sexy epic that spans the decades [Paperback] Joanna Rees

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

24 people are currently reading
988 people want to read

About the author

Joanna Rees

13 books47 followers
Joanna Rees cresceu no Essex, em Inglaterra, e licenciou-se em Inglês e Teatro no Goldsmiths College, em Londres. Após uma sucessão de empregos bizarros, que vão desde um negócio de entrega de sandes à escrita de textos promocionais em embalagens de cereais, publicou o seu primeiro romance em 1997, sob o seu nome de solteira, Josie Lloyd. Isto permitiu-lhe conhecer o romancista Emlyn Rees, com quem escreveu vários bestsellers traduzidos para vinte e seis línguas e com quem casou e teve três filhos. A partir de 2007, voltou a escrever a solo.

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5 stars
326 (42%)
4 stars
252 (33%)
3 stars
127 (16%)
2 stars
43 (5%)
1 star
15 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
Profile Image for Ana.
652 reviews121 followers
June 13, 2018
Há muito tempo que não lia um livro tão poderoso como este!
Com acção desde o início, agarra-nos e não o conseguimos largar. Seguimos a história de Thea e Romy, duas irmãs separadas em bebés, que apesar de desconhecerem a existência uma da outra, acabam por se cruzar várias vezes ao longo dos anos até ao final tão esperado.
Com grandes revelações e plot twists ao longo da história, este é um livro que não deixará ninguém indiferente.
Altamente recomendado!! 6 estrelas!!
Profile Image for Susan Buchanan.
Author 18 books335 followers
May 15, 2012
I received an ARC from the author, as I have read and enjoyed all of her other books in a different genre and was intrigued by this new departure. It's not the usual kind of book I would read, but reading the back cover, it reminded me of Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer, which I read about 15 years ago, but it was much better, more emotional. The separation of siblings at birth and what would happen to them, I knew would be a story that I would like. I just wasn't prepared for how much. I was gripped by the story right from the start. I stopped writing my own novel for 2 days, so I could read it, I was so hooked. I honestly didn't want it to end. The bravery of both sisters in the face of adversity was the key aspect I enjoyed. The way Joanna Rees painted such amazing characters, particularly one which I hated (I will leave it to you to read to find out who and I am sure you will agree with me) was fascinating. The story is set in several countries and I loved this. I am a great fan of Italy and the part set in Italy, I could vividly imagine and the family dynamic was very well depicted. Likewise, having visited New York, I could envisage Maddox Towers and I had no problem in seeing the places in my head. The contrast between the rich, luxurious lifestyle which one child was brought up in and the extreme poverty and horrors through which the other child lived was crafted exceedingly well. There are also power struggles, twists and turns and some rather disturbing scenes. All in all an amazing book, which I can't applaud enough.
Profile Image for Margarida.
149 reviews47 followers
January 25, 2014
Gostei? Sim… acho que sim! Mais ou menos!
Ideia base interessante, temas pertinentes, dois países politicamente opostos (Alemanha de Leste e Estados Unidos) temática que no entanto poderia ter sido mais explorada.
Um início prometedor, mas depois descambou! Demasiadas páginas para contar um história, que bem aproveitada seria perfeita com menos 200 páginas!
Demasiado romance de cordel, fez-me lembrar os livrinhos “Sabrina” e outros do género que li na minha adolescência, que na altura me agradaram, confesso, mas que agora acho completamente irreais. Muito drama, muitas desgraças, segredos e reviravoltas pelo meio, quase uma telenovela mexicana, que não me convenceu! Uma Romy, que de órfã numa instituição algo duvidosa, passa demasiado facilmente a menina rica; que sai sempre airosa de situações das quais na realidade seria impossível ou pelo menos muito difícil sair; tudo o que ela quer acontece num ápice e sem que se perceba muito bem como! Não consegui afinidade com nenhum personagem… talvez Thea, apesar de tudo fosse a personagem mais real e mais cativante!
Demasiadas afirmações pedantes, demasiado uso de “marcas”. Não entendi a necessidade constante de referir que os sapatos eram marca X, que o sujeito vestia calças de marca, que usava o seu lenço ou a sua malinha marca Y, e outras coisa do género que não acrescentaram nada à história, excepto palha!
O início foi bom, prometia… As últimas páginas foram bastante interessantes… Mas o desenvolvimento não me convenceu, muita palha! Por isso só 2*
Profile Image for Tempo de Ler.
729 reviews102 followers
September 11, 2013
Uma leitura compulsiva que nos leva numa viagem em busca da liberdade, da felicidade e, em última instância, da verdade.

As irmãs Romy e Thea seguiram caminhos muito diferentes depois de terem sido separadas, ainda em bebés. Thea conheceu o luxo ao ser entregue a uma família rica, na América, e Romy familiarizou-se com o degredo ao ser colocada num orfanato na conturbada Alemanha de Leste. Ambas sofrem injustiças ao longo das suas vidas, enfrentando infelicidades enquanto os seus caminhos se cruzam sem que possam sequer imaginar a existência uma da outra.

Joanna Rees apresenta-nos uma cascata de acontecimentos bem diversos e alguns deles bastante inesperados que tornam o livro muito interessante. Vou definitivamente ficar de olho no nome desta escritora já que Rees foi muito bem sucedida em prender o meu interesse à história com a sua excelente capacidade de síntese que confere o ritmo ideal à narrativa, mantendo no entanto uma cuidada atenção aos detalhes, sem tornar a história pesada ou aborrecida de ler.

Senti a minha curiosidade ser espicaçada, encolerizei-me em momentos revoltantes e contra personagens verdadeiramente desprezíveis, ansiei pela reunião das irmãs e vibrei com o triunfo de ambas - em suma: adorei o livro!
Profile Image for Mariazita.
534 reviews4 followers
October 28, 2016
Duas irmãs separadas em bebés, Thea e Romy vão ter vidas completamente diferentes.
Nascidas ma Alemanha , o seu destino foi traçado por uma moeda atirada ao ar.Thea é enviada para os Estados Unidos, e vai viver com uma família rica e viver uma vida entre o luxo, mas será que tudo isto traz a felicidade á pequena Thea.
O destino de Romy vai ser o oposto da irmã, enviada para um orfanato, cresce num ambiente violento de fome e horror.
As duas irmãs vão ter vidas diferentes mas ambas vão lutar pela felicidade, e um dia os seus destinos vão cruzar-se, as duas vão estar em lados opostos mas os laços de sangue vão junta-las e vão descobrir o seu chocante passado.
Um livro muito bem escrito com personagens fortes e uma estória dramática, de luta e superação.
Profile Image for Helena Magalhães.
Author 9 books2,041 followers
March 25, 2019
É uma pena a capa e o título serem tão pouco interessantes porque este livro é fantástico e vai muito mais longe que o habitual cliché de gémeas separadas.

Comprei este livro de Joanna Rees por mero acaso numa feira. Só pela capa e pelo título, torci o nariz (o nome em português é completamente parvo, o original chama-se A Twist of Fate) e acabei por pegar nele porque era uma pechincha e pensei que me podia surpreender. Comecei a ler aborrecida, por frete mesmo. Histórias de irmãs separadas à nascença não me fascinam, já se sabe que é mais do mesmo. Mas entrei num carrossel de emoções do qual não estava à espera.

O começo do livro já é interessante: Alemanha do Leste, antes da queda do muro de Berlim, duas irmãs são vendidas: uma vai para os EUA para uma família rica e a outra fica num orfanato que pertence à mesma rede de tráfico de crianças. A partir daqui, vamos acompanhando, capítulo a capítulo, o passar dos anos nas vidas - completamente diferentes - das duas raparigas. E ao contrário do que esperava, a história não se baseia na vida perfeita da irmã rica e do sofrimento da irmã pobre. Naaaaaaada disso. É um loop de acontecimentos em que dei por mim a querer bater nas personagens e de lágrimas nos olhos pelo sofrimento de algumas situações - cada capítulo a torcer pelo final feliz.

Fiquei completamente absorvida pela história: pelos sucessos (a irmã pobre foge do orfanato e consegue sobreviver), pelo sofrimento (a irmã rica é violada pelo filho da nova mulher do pai), pela força (a irmã pobre viaja clandestinamente dentro de um caixote para conseguir passar as fronteiras), pela inspiração (a irmã rica oculta o seu apelido para trabalhar por mérito e não pelo nome da família). Os anos vão saltando entre os capítulos, o que acaba por tornar a história fluída de ler. E os dramas são alternados com episódios engraçados - o que faz o leitor sentir todo este mix de sentimentos.

Além disso, Joanna Rees tem uma escrita descritiva fenomenal. Ao ler, conseguimos imaginar todos os locais e sentir a envolvência deles - como se estivéssemos lá: nas noites frias de Londres ou nos dias passados na Toscana.

Mais do que isto, esta história das duas irmãs acaba por passar um ensinamento: somos nós e as nossas escolhas que fazem a nossa vida. Podemos escolher deixar-nos abater pelo sofrimento, ou podemos passar por cima dele até ao próximo capítulo da nossa vida.
Profile Image for Leah.
1,663 reviews339 followers
October 2, 2012
Joanna Rees is a Chick Lit author that’s been about for years. Firstly as Josie Lloyd, then as a collaboration writer with her husband Emlyn Rees, then she became Jo Rees and now, in what could be her last(?) incarnation, she is Joanna Rees. I’ve never read any of her novels written solely by her, but I have read a couple of her collaboration books with her husband Emlyn Rees. I loved them, actually, and I was quite disappointed their partnership as writers (writership?), though they are still married, came to an end, as I loved their books and the dual narratives were always very interesting. Her new novel, with her new publisher Pan Macmillan, is probably like her Jo Rees novels, though I suspect it’s less sexy. (The novel says it’s glamorous and sexy and epic, but I found that strange, to be fair. It is a bit glamorous, but it’s not a sexy novel, though it is an epic.)

A Twist of Fate tells the story of two girls, whose lives and fates were decided by the flip of a coin. First, there’s Thea Maddox, daughter of the Maddoxes, and who has everything a girl could ask for. A beautiful house, horses, privilige, wealth, and love. But after her mother dies, and as Thea grows up, she finds herself seeing the evil side of life. A side she couldn’t even fathom. Then there’s Romy. After growing up and escaping from her Eastern European orphanage, she finds herself catapulted into stardom as a famous model, but the things that occurred and happened when she was younger follow her around wherever she goes and she’s desperate to bury it, desperate for nobody to find out what happened. As the two girls lives collide and cross, will they ever find out how their lives really started or are they destined to never find out?

When I started A Twist of Fate, I had no idea what to expect. I know Jo’s writing from her collaboration novels, but I knew this was a bit of a different genre from her collaboration novels. I found the novel absorbing. The two tales, of Romy and Thea was excellent. I loved how it went from Romy to Thea to Romy to Thea and back again. I liked seeing Thea’s wealth contrasting with Romy’s fight to survive. I thought both girl’s stories were fascinating for different reasons. What Romy had to do just to survive was horrific, but necessary and whilst Thea had the wealth and the privilige, well, after her mother’s death she also acquired a new step-mother and step-brother, a step-brother who is quite awful, I must say, and it just goes to show, your life isn’t going to necessarily be better or easier if you’re wealthy. I adored the novel. It honesly blew me away in ways I wasn’t expecting. I had no idea I’d enjoy the novel as much as I did, but Jo is an excellent writer.

I would very much recommend A Twist of Fate. I’ve had a good run of good books recently and this one is up there with the best of them. I’m quite disappointed in myself for not having read it sooner. I will definitely be pre-ordering Joanna’s next novel as soon as it’s available because after A Twist of Fate, I am absolutely sure about what an excellent writer she is. I always find books written in the third-person to be harder to warm to, but Joanna has that knack of just getting it and it was almost as if the book was written in first-person, that’s how easily I managed to get into it and how much I felt we knew about Romy and Thea. I thought it was such a dramatic novel with so many twists and turns and I was dying for Romy and Thea to know about each other, and perhaps even meet each other, and each page sorta brought us a step closer to that. I really, really enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Bruno Vinhas.
58 reviews7 followers
December 22, 2013
A História de duas irmãs separadas à nascença, às quais são atribuídos dois destinos diferentes, a mais velha vai para um orfanato na Alemanha de Leste enquanto que a mais nova é entregue a um dos casais mais ricos dos EUA. Joanna Rees mostra-nos através deste romance melodramático que a felicidade não está dependente da riqueza, mas sim do amor e do apoio das pessoas com quem nos relacionamos. Thea - a menina rica, vê-se numa situação de infelicidade após ter sido afastada das pessoas que mais amava, enquanto que Romy - a menina pobre, consegue escapar de um sítio odioso e conseguir uma vida melhor, depois de ter conseguido conhecer as pessoas certas.
O livro explora temas como os abusos sexuais, a exploração humana e a corrupção.
Considero a escrita de Joanna Rees muito "pop", fazendo alusões a músicas pop da época em que narrativa acontece e a marcas de designer conceituadas.
Só não atribui 5 estrelas porque muitas situações da história são algo fantasistas, típicas de novela.
Aventurei-me por um gênero que não é muito a minha praia e ainda bem que o fiz, pois gostei muito deste livro - sem dúvida uma leitura recomendada para quase todos os tipos de leitores.
Profile Image for MomToKippy.
205 reviews118 followers
August 14, 2014
Really??? I really do not know how people rate stuff like this so highly. I have read 100 pages and don't think I will finish. In those 100 pages there have been at least 3 rapes of teens!!! and child pornography! I understand those topics could still be covered in a good piece of literature if handled properly but the writing is trite and cheesy. Very much all telling and not showing. The premise for the story is interesting and is what drew me in as well as the unusual locales and high ratings. What a huge disappointment. Another thing I disliked about this book was the constant brand name dropping. Do author's get paid for advertising or something??
Profile Image for Sally Boocock.
1,098 reviews55 followers
October 11, 2012
An epic addicted read I read in one sitting.I was gripped from the beginning and wanted to see how t the story evolves.characters you hate and characters you love and all coming together in a great ending.A .book with a cosy fire and no interuptions.An excellent read
Profile Image for Anneke.
167 reviews14 followers
August 1, 2016
2.5 sterren

Ik had gewoon ontzettende moeite om door dit boek heen te komen. Ten eerste: dit boek is basically de belichaming van de wet van Murphy, wat het voor mij heel frustrerend maakt om te lezen.

Verder was het ook een boeiend boek: ondanks al mijn kritiek hierboven had ik wel feels op momenten. En de personages waren ook wel oké.

Maar dat neemt niet weg dat ik de laatste helft van het boek geskimd heb, omdat het me allemaal te langzaam ging.
Profile Image for Zézinha Rosado.
425 reviews9 followers
April 27, 2017
Um livro muito interessante, que me fez lembrar o estilo de escrita de Lesley Pearse.
A história é um lugar comum que já foi tema de muitas obras: duas irmãs separadas em pequenas, cujas vidas tomaram rumos completamente diferentes, com níveis de vida bem distintos, mas que no final acabam por se reencontrar e descobrir toda a verdade sobre o passado de ambas.
A narrativa transporta-nos a diferentes países e vai fazendo o paralelismo entre a vida das duas personagens principais: as irmãs Thea e Romy.
Desde a difícil vida de um orfanato na Alemanha até à vida abastada de ricos empresários, somos levados a conhecer uma série de personagens que entram sempre no momento certo e dão um contributo importante ao desenrolar da história.
Apenas acho que o momento do reencontro das duas irmãs deveria ter sido mais "rebuscado".... um livro de leitura fácil e agradável, que nos emociona em muitas das suas partes.
Profile Image for Diana.
508 reviews74 followers
January 29, 2022
Uma leitura que não prendeu nas primeiras páginas mas que quando dei por mim já estava envolvida na vida destas duas irmãs. Alternando os capítulos entre as irmãs e o crescimento ao longo dos anos, desde crianças até adultas, temos oportunidade de acompanhar as suas vidas. De todas as vezes que terminava um capítulo, sentia sempre um misto de sentimentos, ora terminava curiosa por saber o que iria acontecer no capítulo seguinte, ora terminava chateada e irritada porque algo de mal acontecera na história. E isto foi uma constante ao longo da leitura.
É certo que se pararmos para pensar veremos que existe aqui muito de romanceado e florido, algo que não aconteceria na vida real, ou muito dificilmente aconteceria. Contudo, ao longo do livro, damos por nós a torcer para que no final tudo se una no mesmo ponto e, a autora soube muito bem dar o nó final a esta história.
Profile Image for Rachael Prescott.
29 reviews
October 17, 2012


One of the best books I've read in a while. I was gripped before the end if chapter one. Brilliant!
Profile Image for Cátia.
89 reviews8 followers
May 11, 2013

Embora com algumas discrepâncias na história, este romance soube-me bem e caiu-me que nem ginjas, lido em 2 dias, foi uma leitura bastante agradável..
Profile Image for Tjitske.
168 reviews
November 5, 2017
A dark forrest, four criminals and two babygirls. One of them randomly picked to be sold to a rich family, the other girl transported to an orphanage in eastern Germany, growing up in a life of abuse and poverty. And so the story of Thea and Romy begins.
The book alternates between both girls as they grow up. Although Thea grows up in a wealthy environment, by no means she has an easy life. And for poor Romy it doesn't mean she won't have some luck in hers. Yet both girls have hard times to endure. Think of murder, sexual abuse and blackmail.
Both girls don't know about eachothers' existence but their life's touch eachother through the story in very subtle ways. As a reader you keep hoping they will find out about their bloodbond and all the bad things will eventually turn out for the best.
I very much enjoyed this book. The reason it is not a *5 read is because the author went overboard with all the hardship the girls had to go through. Nevertheless a good read.
833 reviews1 follower
August 30, 2021
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would, although there were predictable, dramatic events with strong emotional scenes, with life, death, love, birth and marriage. Two young sisters in a East Germany are separated with one brought up in a life of privilege and one brought up in an orphanage and fighting for survival. Their paths cross over the years, neither knowing about the other, but events eventually bring them together. A novel full of drama, and coincidences, but it was engaging.
Profile Image for Marjan.
790 reviews3 followers
January 22, 2023
Wouw , net uit !
Geweldig !
heden , verleden , kindermisbruik , machtsmisbruik , romantiek … oh te veel om op te noemen , gewoon lezen , absolute aanrader wat mij betreft
Profile Image for Smriti Brar.
55 reviews1 follower
February 28, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this story of 2 sisters, separated at birth and leading completely opposite lives, without knowing the existence of the other but eventually getting reunited.
Profile Image for Tori Wilson.
32 reviews
August 1, 2014
I thought A Twist of Fate was AMAZING. I normally wouldn't read a book that didn't have some sort of supernatural business in it, an book about everyday life is not normally my kind of thing, but I found A Twist of Fate to be quite an enjoyable read - to say the least.

I've also never read anything that is, solely, about twins, either. I'm a twin myself, but I've never had the urge to read something that, in a way, relates to things and/or scenarios of my life. I'm not really a person to read books that are, kinda, about everyday life; to me they bore me most times. So I, personally, normally, like to read something that, at least, has a little hint of supernatural detail in them.

I'm not sure, but, as soon as I saw this book, something inside of me compelled me to buy it. It was like 'fate', if that's even possible, or something wanted me to read this particular book, I would not have thought about reading it otherwise. To be honest I don't know what drew me to this book, but I am really, extremely, glad that something did. It wasn't the best thing that I have read, but it is certainly amongst them.

When I describe this book to people, I don't do it justice, I just somehow make it sound like, in a peers point of view, like 'Parent Trap'. Though, I am going to tell you now, it is nothing at all like 'Parent Trap' - far from it my friends.

What I think, though, is that if you enjoy reading books - on a, pretty much, permanent basis - then you will definitely enjoy this one. I guarantee it.

Yes, I know, I only gave it four stars - while saying the book was amazing - but don't let that fool you. Or even deter you from reading it. The plot was amazing, it was written beautifully - it all goes and says five stars - but something was telling me that it missing something. I don't know, really, what but the Je ne sais quoi wasn't there.
Profile Image for Denise.
478 reviews22 followers
August 11, 2013
Wonderfully written and with memorable characters, this novel held me enthralled. I am a fan of the epic saga genre and this was one of the best books of this type I have read recently. A fast paced book that has real depth and emotion pulling from all angles. This truly was a book I found hard to put down and I enjoyed every page.
51 reviews
June 2, 2014
Good read. Was kept enthralled with each sisters story being told simultaneously throughout the book and how their paths crossed and finally came together. Really enjoyed it.
310 reviews3 followers
December 1, 2015
Couldn't have been any worse. I've read some trash in my time but this gibberish was easily the worst ever.
Profile Image for Marlieke.
288 reviews
January 11, 2021
Hoewel de omslag me eigenlijk een beetje afschrok, klonk de tekst op de achterflap wel erg interessant. Twee baby'tjes worden in het holst van de nacht meegegeven. Het is onbekend waar ze vandaan komen, maar wel bekend waar ze heen gaan. Een van de meisjes wordt geadopteerd door een rijk stel uit Amerika, het andere meisje wordt in een weeshuis geplaatst in Oost-Duitsland. Wie waarheen gaat is totale willekeur.
En vanaf dat moment volg je het leven van de meisje Romy en Thea. Thea Maddox is dochter van een zeer rijke ondernemer en leeft een leven in weelde. Maar als haar moeder komt te overlijden, blijkt het leven toch niet zo makkelijk te zijn. Ze zal moeten vechten voor de aandacht van haar vader en is zoekende naar wie ze zelf nou eigenlijk is. Romy heeft juist een veel minder sterke start. Ze groeit op in een weeshuis in Schwedt in het communistische Oost-Duitsland voor de val van de muur. Hoewel ze haar mannetje wel staat is het leven niet makkelijk. En hoe ouder ze wordt, hoe meer ze zich ook realiseert dat als ze een beter leven wil, ze zelf actie moet ondernemen.

Het verhaal zit mooi in elkaar gevlochten. Je krijgt elke keer een hoofdstuk over een van de twee meiden en maakt dan vervolgens een sprong in de tijd. De ene keer is dit een paar maanden, de andere keer een paar jaar. Door het verhaal heen worden ook de belangrijke gebeurtenissen uit de geschiedenis verwerkt. Deze gebeurtenissen hebben regelmatig effect op het leven van Thea en Romy. De schrijfstijl was prettig en las goed weg. Ook de vertaling vond ik prima gedaan (er zaten nog wel wat fouten in het boek).
De verhaallijn is ook spannend en je bent elke keer benieuwd naar wat er verder gaat gebeuren. Er zijn wel redelijk wat momenten waarop dingen net even iets te toevallig zijn. Het leven van Thea en Romy is flink met elkaar vervlochten op manieren die ik zelf soms iets te vergezocht en cliché vond. Dat is ook de reden waarom ik geen 5 sterren voor dit boek wil geven. Het gebeurde al snel dat als zo'n moment voorbij kwam ik dacht, oh, wat toevallig....
Maar los daarvan vind ik dit verhaal echt een aanrader. Ik had zin om het verhaal te lezen en zat er vanaf het begin helemaal in.
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