Book review: Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Hey all, today I'm going to be doing a book review on Identical by Ellen Hopkins. I've been contemplating on how to do this review for a day or two because I wasn't really sure how to get started with it. I feel like this story has a lot of mature content in it and I wasn't sure how to go about that or if I should even do a review on it at all. Regardless here I am doing the review because it was a book that I truly did love and enjoyed reading.

Summary
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?


First off I want to say that as much as I really did love this book it was a bit hard to read because of the relationship the main character Kaeleigh shared with her father. It was disturbing and it made me sick to my stomach at times. Like I said before, this book has a lot of mature content it in and if you can't handle reading it then this book is not for you. I think that out of all the Ellen Hopkins books that I've read so far this one had the most mature content in it. Maybe that's just me and my own opinion though but I feel strongly towards it.

The main characters Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical twins. A terrible accident that happened has torn their family apart and in the aftermath each twin has their own dark secrets they deal with. Their mother is usually absent and focusing too much on her work. Their father turns to alcoholism and pills to deal with the tragedy, all the while dealing with his own secret past of pain and abuse. Kaeleigh and Raeanne have two totally different personalities and deal with their pain in different ways. Raeanne uses drugs and sex as an escape from life. Kaeleigh is more of a quite and passive person who turns to cutting and she deals with having an eating disorder. She suffers silently while she attracts the wrong kind of attention from their father, which makes Raeanne Jealous.

This story for me kept me very anxious while I was reading it. I could not put this book down until I was finished. This story sparked a number of emotions in me. Like I said before, this book made sick to my stomach at some parts and it also made me angry at some times. I wanted Kaeleigh to be a stronger person and get help. I wanted to punch their father in their face. I hated their mother for not knowing what was going on in their home. I wanted Raeanne to help her sister and vice versa. I was a bit confused on why each sister never talked to each other but the ending gave explanation of that. Also the ending of this book was totally amazing. So many things made since and it just made the book complete. (Possible spoiler alert) Mental illness is something that really interest me, so I think if it was anything different in the book I wouldn't have liked it as much. Overall I think this book was insanely wonderful and I think it's on the top of my favorite Ellen Hopkins books!

Thank you all for reading. I'm sorry if this review was kind of jumbled, it was a bit hard to gather my thoughts and emotions for this one. Plus I'm still new at this whole blogging/reviewing thing :p

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