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?
A tantalizing view of the world through teenage eyes November 22, 2008 This is the story of a very dysfunctional family through the eyes of a teenager. I am not a teenage girl, so I initially thought I would not like the story, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Ellen Hopkins has indeed captured the world of an adolescent, but her mastery of the written word really made the story a delight. Her imagery is magnificant. She describes actions, context, and emotions with the eye of a poet. Some of her comments are very witty.
The drama that unfolds is heartrending. The family that was once a loving, vibrant testament to the american dream suffers a tragedy and is fundamentally changed. The father, a respected judge and the mother, a politician, deal with their grief by throwing themselves into their careers. This leads to the primary dysfunction in the family and the unbearable secret stress that is the crux of the story.
There are unexpected twists to the story and secrets in the past that have a relevance to the secrets of the present situation.
I came to care about the characters and would recommend this book.
Another fabulous write November 21, 2008 I was very excited to finally read this book. I had waited nearly 6 months to see this book on the book on the shelves. When i got home, I had nearly read half before going to sleep. Ellen did a wonderful job with explaining the characters thoroughly and giving the book an amazing ending. It came as a huge shock to me, and it was definitely an awesome plot line. I recommend this book to teenagers simply because it does an awesome job of addressing issues facing teens today.
Raw book November 20, 2008 Identical, by Ellen Hopkins in my opinion is a very raw audio book that is read very deepy real and well by Laura Flanagan. I found the words very distrubing for a young reader. I think it should not be read by a person under 18. This novel is compelling and very interesting, the way the author wove the words to describe a deeply flawed family.
I think the author was showing something in our social stucture that is contray to our outword beliefs and our actual actions behind closed doors. This book would be a good book for a book club and open dialog.
Beautifully written and dark, but also slow: for Ellen Hopkins fans only November 20, 2008 Ellen Hopkins created a stir in books for teens with her shocking, free-verse books, "Crank" and "Glass," which are about a teenage girl's descent into drug addiction and single motherhood after she was raped. While books about things like drug addiction and teen pregnancy aren't for everyone, they are sadly reflective of the reality many teenage girls find themselves in. "Crank" and "Glass" speak to the hearts of those readers.
"Identical" is similar in style. This is still a book in beautiful free verse, and while the surface of the characters' lives seems perfect, everything under the surface is dark and disturbing. There's sex and drugs and a girl who cuts herself. But this book starts out so slowly, and so much remains hidden under the surface for so long, away from the reader's eyes.
As one famous editor once told a writer, "Lay all your cards on the table." I understand why the book is written this way. It's about things that are hidden deep inside a perfect family--the worst things imaginable. But hiding those cards can make a reader feel frustrated and cheated instead of hooked. A main character knows what these hidden cards are. The writer knows what these hidden cards are. Why then is the reader the only one who doesn't get to see those cards?
I didn't finish this book. I just couldn't. But I have to admit it is beautifully written--like "Crank" and "Glass"--and it should appeal to those who love Ellen Hopkins's writing enough to put up with hidden cards.
Beware the Broken Mirror November 19, 2008 PLEASE NOTE WELL: The five stars are for the author's clearly-manifested writing ability and the reader's thespian talent . They are not an indication of the suitability of this book for a particular young adult (or mature one, for that matter).
Children and young adults are supposed to be exposed to "window books" and "mirror books" to help them become more insightful, better educated human beings. "Identical" is not the sort of window one would wish on another lightly. It goes without saying that incestuous, drug-dependent psychological confusion torments a percentage of families in these United States. If this is a world-expanding insight one wants one's unaffected child to experience vicariously, "Identical" is a brutally-poetic window for fostering it. However, for a specific child in an unfortunate situation, "Identical" might be a lifeline...a profoundly-catalytic mirror. This child will meet Gretta who will tell her/him: "Never accept evil as something you must walk with...something you deserve somehow." In this case, one can only hope/pray that one or more competent, caring, and trustworthy adults are available to help the child begin sorting it out.
Ellen Hopkins does a splendid job using terse, poetic phrases to convey her characters' confused emotions as they face their tangled, interconnected webs of recursive obsession and guilt that are cast in and around their fine home unadorned with family photos. Likewise, Laura Flanagan gives "Identical" a first-rate reading...highlighting the characters' thoughts and feelings in artfully-subtle ways.
Make no mistake about it, this is not an easy book. There was a time, not long ago, when prose such as this would have been labeled "pornographic". What's the difference between then and now? The tone of our times and the author's intention. Nevertheless, for many, this will not be an appropriate book. It is, undeniably, a well-crafted book with some important, uncomfortable themes. Buyer be aware.
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