May 26, 2011

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

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Synopsis:
Do twins begin in the womb?

Or in a better place?
Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family -- on the surface. Behind the facade each sister has her own dark secret, and that's where their differences begin.
 
 
For Kaeleigh, she's the misplaced focus of Daddy's love, intended for a mother whose presence on the campaign trail means absence at home. All that Raeanne sees is Daddy playing a game of favorites -- and she is losing. If she has to lose, she will do it on her own terms, so she chooses drugs, alcohol, and sex.
 
 
Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept -- from each other or anyone else. Pretty soon it's obvious that neither sister can handle it alone, and one sister must step up to save the other, but the question is -- who?


My Thoughts:

I've always wanted to read an Ellen Hopkins book. The idea that a whole story could be comprised in poems fascinated me so I finally picked it up at the library. At first I was struggling to decipher between the two personalities of the twins, but by the middle of the book, I really got into it.

I loved the cleverness of how she interweaved the ending of one of the twins point of view into another. The whole book was cleverly designed actually. She made it seem so effortless as she told the story and crafted her poems in two completely different stories.

And there's a huge twist that smacked me so hard I saw stars. It's not that I didn't see it coming. I had a feeling but it still shocked me. I just sat there starring at the page going huh? When I finished the book, I was still in shock. I could see the foreshadowing of it and how she created it from the word go. It was incredible.
She got me hooked after that. I now have one of her books in my tbr pile.

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I can't wait to read this.

So the main question: Would I recommend Identical?

Absolutely! As a fellow part time poet, I can say that she inspired me to think about poems in a whole new way. So I encourage people to read this book along with any book by Ellen Hopkins.

Anybody love this book or read Tricks by Ellen Hopkins? I'd love to hear from you!

7 comments:

  1. The only Ellen Hopkins book I've read is Crank. It's clever in it's own way, though sooo depressing.

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  2. Hello Lindsey! Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog!

    Yeah I was hesistating to read Crank so I thought I would read Identical to start then move on to Tricks.

    Plus isn't Crank in a series?

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  3. I own Burned, Crank (and Glass), Burned, Identical and Tricked, but I just can't get my lazy ass up and start reading at least ONE of them. >_< And here I am wondering why my tbr-shelf's so damn long. xD

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  4. Lol, Patricia, you should read them! They are really good! You just have to start then it won't sound so daunting. Trust me, I was so intimidated the first time I saw these books line the shelves, but you just got to jump in head first and conquer them.

    Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog. Have a good day!

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  5. This story is about twins named Kaeleigh and Raeanne. They are total opposites but look exactly the same. Kaeleigh is the quiet, doesn't want attention' type. Raeanne is the sexualy active drugy. Kaeleigh gets raped almost everynight by her alcoholic father. As far as their mom, she is out of the picture. Through out the book an accident is repeatedly brought up. Some DUI accident that took a life and made their mother go away and run for congress. A boy Ian is greatly in love with Kaeleigh and would do anything for her but she keeps him out of the loop. Raeanne is involved with Ty and Mike, but she uses them to get drugs.

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