Review- Identical

Title: Identical
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

In the latest hard-hitting YA novel by the New York Times bestselling author, 16-year-old identical twin girls must come to terms with their abusive father.
Kaeleigh and Raeanne are 16-year-old identical twins, the daughters of a district court judge father and politician mother running for Congress. Everything on the surface of their lives seems Norman Rockwell perfect, but underneath run deep and damaging secrets.
Kaeleigh is the good girl-her father's perfect flower, something she has tried so hard to be since she was nine and he started sexually abusing her. She cuts herself and vomits after every binge, desperate to feel something normal. Raeanne uses painkillers, drugs, alcohol, and sex to numb the pain of not being Daddy's favorite. Both girls must figure out how to become whole, but how can they when their world has been torn to shreds?

My thoughts: 

For a very, very long time I avoided books written in free verse like the plague. And I honestly don’t know why. I would read a synopsis of a book, think to myself that it sounds really good, discover that it’s written in free verse and literally decide right there that I’m not going to read it. So I’ve heard really good things about Ellen Hopkins books and I knew in the back of my mind that if I was going to read a book in free verse that I was going to read one of hers. One day I’m browsing my local Barnes and Noble and I come across one of her books. While standing in the aisle reading the first chapter I was literally blown away.

I feel like when books are written in free verse that every word is carefully chosen and not one single word is wasted. Ellen Hopkins definitely has a gift and a way with words. Identical is very raw and emotional and the issues are presented in plain view instead of being danced around. Since I’m pretty sure I’m the last blogger to read this book, I have to tell you guys that I did not catch on to the twin thing until almost the end! I was completely fooled.

My favorite character is the old lady from the nursing home. She reminds me a lot of a lady I know who lived through WWII and her family hid Jews in their attic. She’s one of bravest women I know.

Identical is a powerhouse of a novel and while I found it very hard to read because it is so intense, it was also very hard for me to put down! Needless to say, I was completely shocked by the ending but this book definitely rocked my world!