The Stand In

by A.J. Rushby

When new girl Millie shows up at Lena’s boarding school, she arrives with a question. Why is Lena pretending to be someone she’s not? Lena ignores her. Until Millie shows her photo after photo of someone who looks like her. Exactly like her. Intrigued, Lena agrees to meet her look-alike, Saskia.

Saskia is wild. And rich. And money is something Lena desperately needs if her mother is to stay in the care home she currently lives in. So when Saskia offers Lena cold, hard cash to stand in for her at family events, Lena finds she can’t say no. Sometimes, she doesn’t even want to say no—to the weekends away, the beautiful clothes, the amazing food and Saskia’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, Rhys.

Until, of course, she agrees to one last job. The one she definitely should have said no to. Because that job might be the last thing she ever does.

Genres: Young Adult, Crime, Thriller, Mystery, Contemporary, Suspense, Family

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2022

Reviews

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trigger warnings: death of a family member (in the past), organised crime, kidnapping, lying

I absolutely FLEW through this and was hooked from start to finish. I definitely saw a few of the twists coming, and I did think that the ending was a little abrupt and a tad too easily resolved for my liking. But on the whole, I liked the protagonist and the complexities of her life and it was sufficiently thriller-y to keep me reading as fast as possible.

(I will say, it's set in the UK and at one point she orders a lemon, lime and bitters with no issues and, uh, LLB isn't a thing outside the Antipodes. I have tried ordering LLB in the UK multiple times without thinking and just got extremely confused looks)

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread for readers cup questions

This was engaging and tense. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Krisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

i don't really have much to say about this book except that it wasn't all too memorable and therefore it couldn't have been that good :/ But this book did keep me on the edge of my seat so...
Anyways this book includes:
- clones
- plot twists
- subplot romance (poorly executed)
- very slap-able characters ;))

[lara (taylor's version) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so cringe.......the whole Rhys and Lena situation was like ????
ALSO, Saskia is dumb, and I wouldn't have agreed to be her stand in if I were Lena.

[JosieP · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish it didn't end as fast and that it showed the aftermath, but otherwise it was good

[Cherie Corbett-Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid thriller for young teens that is just at the right point of being scary enough without tipping over into disturbing territory. I did guess one or two of the plot twists but overall it was an enjoyable read that I read in one sitting. Highly recommended for teens.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspense novel for young adults. A good read, exciting conclusion.

[Cherilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for younger teens. Exciting story, easy to read. Crime thriller for kids.

[Charlotte McQuaid · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stand In had a good but predictable plot at times, the ending was too easily resolved for me. The book was engaging and riveting, with some hints at romance, suspense, and some crime thriller. Some of the characters seemed a bit shallow and there was no real character building. The plot is of the main character Lena when she realizes, she is a copy of rich, selfish Saskia, she starts to ‘stand in’ at Saskia’s family functions in exchange for money she needs to pay for her sick mothers care. Saskia’s family is ‘different’, and it was only a matter of time before things went wrong. Overall was a good book, well-paced. Kind of like a crime thriller Parent Trap.

[Annaleise Byrd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was riveted by this story! The premise is fascinating: likeable main character Lena discovers she's a dead ringer for rich, selfish Saskia, so she starts "standing in" for Saskia at family functions in exchange for the money she needs to pay for her sick mother's care. But Saskia's family are not the type of people you mess with, so it's only a matter of time before it all goes wrong. With loads of tension, a hint of romance and a couple of twists I didn't see coming, this is a perfect pacy read for teens and adults who like a bit of suspense in their reading life!

[uglybitterandtilda · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok well. it’s done now thank god.
went into this with high expectations but once i started it was a struggle to get through pretty much every page. i didn’t connect with the writing at all and i feel like the pacing was so far off from what i was expecting with this being a ya thriller. the only redeeming part for me was the ending, which i thoroughly enjoyed (despite it being a little predictable). one could consider it a bit of a rushed ending but i felt it was a welcome change in description and pace from the previous three quarters of the story. overall a cool concept, but mid execution.

[Aurélie R-T ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very generic thriller, but I enjoyed it. First book I’ve read so quickly in a very long time! Let’s hope this year continues like this 💪 📚
The characters were well done, especially Saskia but I agree with other reviewers in that the ending was very abrupt and did not really resolve much. Rhys (the ‘boyfriend’) was also an average good looking charismatic boyfriend tbh but he had enough depth to stop me from wanting to punch him in the face.

Proper rtc (probably not though, tbh)

[Kt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters and intriguing plot. Quite easy to read and well paced. Parts of the ending were predictable and felt a bit rushed - I wanted more from the ending/afterwards.
Overall, a solid, enjoyable read

Saw someone describe this as crime thriller/suspense parent trap, and thought that summed it up well

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super easy read. Ending was kind of flat. There is no real character building; it is very much straight into the story - which I personally don’t mind. The hint at romance was very basic. I think it’s safe to say I am reading well below my level with this one. Would recommend to teenagers 14 and up.

[Penny Waring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro to the psychological thriller genre for a teenage audience: the story has some effective plot twists and builds to a tense and creepy climax. Rushby has created two rather grown up characters and a complex backstory, but has kept the story clean enough that the book will happily sit on shelves for all secondary year levels.

[Polly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping YA thriller, The Stand In is sure to have you guessing what’s going to happen next! Rushby’s clever characters and reference to research leads readers on a twisting tale to discover the true identities of Saskia and Lena and their worlds. The Stand In explores what can happen when we’re desperate to do what’s right but get caught up with the wrong people. A wonderful read that I did not want to put down!!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and quick read that was still suspenseful to have me wondering how it would turn out. Although, even after the test came back saying they weren't related. You knew they had to be related somehow.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was really good!

the story was fun, the characters were good and the twists were twisting.

this was quite refreshing and a quick and easy read.

overall really enjoyed and will look into the authors other books. would recommend

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent, a bit meh.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick easy to read suspenseful novel.

[Cady · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t half bad considering I had to read it for school, it got better towards the end

[Georgie Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little boring, wasn’t concluded very well, very rushed at the end

[Kelsey Fenton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending felt rushed.

[Jemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty predictable. Interesting plot twists at the end.

[Hope Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very engaging but ended very quickly and the ending was kind of unsatisfying. Overall was an enjoyable read

[LIESA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saskia is pretty dodgy. I mean they all are. also what was the importance of Katya??

[TSN ☮]

DNF

Not something for me.

[Julia Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Sahana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very typical book for a 12 year old. Not yet YA, but not kids fiction anymore. This book was a nice filler when trying to finish a series of books.

[❥~Bonnie Knox~❥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot twist revealed at the end was awesome. I really liked the protagonist.