Stranger with My Face

This eerie tale follows 16-year-old Laurie Stratton, who begins seeing herself in places she knows she never went. Strange occurrences escalate until she uncovers a mysterious twin sister, Lia, who uses astral projection to swap consciousness. The psychological tension builds as Laurie fights to reclaim her body and identity. Authentically unsettling and richly emotional, Duncan’s atmospheric pacing and character realism anchor the supernatural terror—making it compelling for teens wanting spine-chilling thrills and relatable emotional stakes.

Everybody’s seeing Laurie places she knows she hasn’t been, and it’s starting to creep her out. When bad things start happening to her friends, she knows she has to get to the bottom of this familiar-looking stranger.
After Are you in the house alone?, I was feeling kind of turned off to the whole suspense/mystery thing, and even YA stuff in general. I also saw that Duncan is the author of I Know What You Did Last Summer, which prepared me for another disappointing read. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. While this had its cheesy moments, I liked the characters, and the kooky supernatural plot, and felt it had a good amount of suspense for a wimp like me. This ain’t fine literature, but it was fun.

Laurie begins to suspect something is amiss when her friends, boyfriend and family claim to have seen her doing things she did not do. Laurie learns that her evil twin, from whom she was separated at birth, is using astral projection to slowly take over her life. If it sounds like the plot for a soap opera, you're right. Lois Duncan, a master of the paranormal suspense, brings an intriguing plot. The only defiency is that it takes Laurie almost two thirds of the book to realize her twin is truly evil - a fact the reader figures out when the evil twin terrorizes Laurie's friend much earlier. Early in the book, Laurie's friend is awakened by Lia, the evil twin, hovering over her and claims that she could tell that Lia "was going to kill show more me!." At this point, the reader is aware that Lia is evil. Very soon thereafter, Helen is in a serious accident that puts her in a coma. (Feels more and more like a soap opera all the time). But it is not until page 174 that Laurie realizes that Lia caused the accident: "'You think Lia caused Helen's accident?' The moment I voiced the question, I knew the answer. The surprising thing was that I had not realized it much sooner." Laurie's naivete in Lia's intentions and her easy belief in astral projection are somewhat unbelievable. However, these don't harm the story too much, since the reader has to suspend disbelief for from the beginning. All in all, an interesting, if somewhat less than convincing story. show less

Seventeen year-old Laurie Stratton finds out that she is adopted and that her twin sister in New Mexico is appearing in her New England town by astral projection, or projecting the self into other locations using mind control. Laurie is interested to connect with her twin sister but eventually learns that Lia is out to take the life she has and wants to switch places because she has been convicted to a mental institution.

Lois Duncan hooks the reader in the opening paragraphs by having Laurie tell the reader that someone else lives in the house with she and her family and that she feels this person and hears her, but cannot see her. Immediately, the reader is interested to find out more about this being and why Laurie wants to "leave it show more all behind" her by writing her story down. The reader is also curious why Laurie is supposed to be leaving in September and why she cannot talk about this story with others. The information that Duncan provides makes the reader continue to ask questions and want to read on to find out the answers. The characters I struggled to like were Laurie's mother and father who did not provide encouragement for Laurie to find out more about her past. When Laurie speaks with her mother after finding out she is adopted, her mother becomes irrational when pressed for more information because she believes that Laurie will leave her current family to find her biological one. Laurie's father is a little more helpful with providing information and giving rational advice, but he discourages Laurie to explore her past because it will upset his wife. I thought that the parents' reaction to Laurie was rather uncharacteristic, as both seem to be supportive, loving, and open with her otherwise. It was difficult to believe that Laurie could not have been affected more so than she was when she was continually dismissed by her parents in this way. However, the plot continues to raise more questions as Laurie discovers more about the nature of her sister and how Lia is a danger to others. show less

I would recommend stranger with my face to anyone after a good, exciting and slightly unnerving story with a huge twist that I couldn’t possibly spoil.
Laurie thinks she’s living a normal teenage life until everything starts to go pear shaped.
I really can’t describe how amazing this book was, it was well worth ordering it from across the Atlantic.
The best bit about this book was the way you connect with the characters, you learn so much about them you can feel as if you’re in the book.
This is where I would generally put the worst bit but I honestly can’t think of anything bad about it! IT WAS AMAZING!
I will strongly recommend this awesome book by an awesome author because it’s well written and scared me in a really exciting show more way. In this book, no one’s safe.
It will take you through all the emotions: fear, love, confusion (in a good way), surprise, sadness and happiness.
Hope this helps show less

Laurie lived an ordinary life until one day it seemed as if she were in two places at once. She would be at home and people would see her on the beach. She would be downstairs in one room, and her own family members would see her outside on a balcony. In this supernatural mystery, Laurie not only learns about her supernatural ability, but her secret past.

The book was a fun read. My only quibble was that Laurie had no clue that she was adopted. I would think during freshman biology, during the genetics lessons she would have figured out that something was up.

I understand that it's a supernatural story, but that one little thing bothered me a bit.

This book had a unique and interesting plot that kept the reader in suspense and poised for surprise. There was a bit of a scary feel to it, like something was always lurking around the corner waiting to get you. Interwoven into the suspense were issues of love, friendship, and family that grounded the story and caused the reader to connect with the narrator. I think this book would be great for any young adult who was interested in science fiction or suspense novels.