The Invention of Sophie Carter by Samantha Hastings
Publication Date: July 14th, 2020
Rating: 4/5
1851. Bounced from one begrudging relative to another their whole lives, orphaned identical twins Sophie and Mariah Carter have always relied on each other for love and support, even though the sisters couldn’t be more different.
Brash Sophie wants to be an inventor, and demure Mariah wants to be an artist. Both long to visit London for the summer—Sophie to see the Queen’s Great Exhibition and Mariah to study the world’s finest collection of paintings. But when their cantankerous aunt answers their letter pleading for a place to stay, she insists she only has time and room to spare for one of them.
So, Mariah and Sophie hatch a clever scheme: They will travel to London together and take turns playing the part of “Sophie”.
At first the plan runs like clockwork. But as the girls avoid getting caught by increasingly narrow margins and two handsome gentlemen—both of whom think they’re falling in love with the real Sophie Carter—enter the equation, the sisters find they don’t have the situation quite as under control as they thought.
I Received this ARC from Fierce Reads but my review is unbiased and honest.
I’m always a little hesitant when reading historical fiction because it’s always hit or miss for me but I actually really enjoyed this! I loved the idea of these two identical twins pretending to be one person and it was a fun kind of love triangle (which technically isn’t a triangle because four people are involved!).
More importantly, this was a story of the love between two sisters and that despite being identical, their thoughts and experiences and personalities can be starkly different.
Let’s start with Sophie. She’s super outgoing and not afraid to speak her mind. She’s independent and determined to find her own way to earn money and take care of her sister. It was really interesting to see her passion for inventing as well! I loved that she cared so much for her sister and it was also just great to see her interact with the men interested in her!
Mariah was like the total opposite to her: emotional, a reader and artist, somewhat of a hopeless romantic, and easy to forgive. Obviously, I really loved how she was forced a bit out of her shell while pretending to be her sister. It was definitely interesting to see her adapt to situations she wasn’t ready for but also see her grow and learn about herself!
While I definitely was hoping for more romance, I forgot it was YA and hoped for more! BUT I loved how the relationships grew and the pining and angst sort of made up for that! It was really easy to get into this book and I actually flew through it pretty easily!
I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys a good historical fiction novel, mistaken and hidden identities, a bit of a parent trap style narrative, and a beautiful sisterly bond. If you enjoy sneaking out through windows, passionate women of the arts and clocks, portrait paintings, dancing and adventuring through a new town then you definitely should check out this book!
Star is All Booked Up 
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