Identical

Author: Ellen Hopkins
Completed: 8/19/09

This story, written in verse, tells the story of twin teenage girls. One is a good girl who has been sexually molested by her father for years, and serves a subservient role in the family, acting as the female head of the household in lieu of an absent political mother. The other is jealous of the attention her father is giving her sister, and acts it out through drugs, sex, and generally troublemaker actions. Each girl knows the other's secrets, but neither moves forward to really save the other.

When I was reading this, I was thinking that it was OK and yet another story by this author. Then came the surprise twist at the end and it totally threw me for a loop. I can usually see a twist coming, or at least suspect that there may be one. This one blindsided me and clarified the little tickles in my brain about the girls' totally identical appearances. Even though I don't usually like surprises, it really worked in this book.

10 words or less: A wickedly good surprise twist at the end.