Review: Beautiful Lies

Title: Beautiful Lies
Author: Jessica Warman
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Release Date: August 07, 2012
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC, ALA

Rachel and Alice are an extremely rare kind of identical twins-so identical that even their aunt and uncle, whom they've lived with since their parents passed away, can't tell them apart. But the sisters are connected in a way that goes well beyond their surfaces: when one experiences pain, the other exhibits the exact same signs of distress. So when one twin mysteriously disappears, the other immediately knows something is wrong-especially when she starts experiencing serious physical traumas, despite the fact that nobody has touched her. As the search commences to find her sister, the twin left behind must rely on their intense bond to uncover the truth. But is there anyone around her she can trust, when everyone could be a suspect? And ultimately, can she even trust herself?

My thoughts:

Beautiful Lies was a complete mind confusing mystery straight from chapter one! I don’t know any other way to explain it but to say WHAT??!!?? Rachel and Alice, identical monoamniotic twins, take readers on a really crazy adventure that never fails to throw twists and turns right in your face!

Rachel and Alice are identical monoamniotic twins which mean that they shared the same amniotic sack while they were in their mother’s womb. Apparently this type of twin is very rare and back when doctors didn’t know much about it, very few survived. That’s not too hard to wrap your head around because you can google it and read all about it. But then the reader is hit with the fact that the twins claim they share physical sensations such as pain. So when one twin is chocking the other twin chocks as well even though nothing is obstructing her airway. It’s a pretty interesting concept and it plays out really well in the book! Beautiful lies really reminded me of that really weird Lindsay Lohan movie I Know Who Killed Me. Even though the story lines are completely different, both sets of twins experience their sister’s physical sensations.

Although Alice and Rachel are identical, it turns out that their personalities are completely different. Rachel is the straight-A honors student who dresses conservatively and never breaks the rules. Alice is definitely the rule breaker. She struggles to pass her classes, breaks curfew and throws all of her energy and emotions into her art. I had the most difficult time keeping up with the flash back parts of the book. The littlest thing would trigger Alice’s memory and without warning the reader would be thrown into a memory that would last for pages! I sometimes forgot what was happening in the present time. I also got the implication that there was a history of mental illness in the family so I was never really sure if things were imagined or if they were real. The scene in the barn was the most bazaar for me. Alice is convinced her sister is bound and gagged in the hay loft and truly believes that she watched Rachel pull one of her own teeth out. Then suddenly Rachel is gone and when Alice goes back to the house, it’s like it never happened. Super weird!

In the end, I still don’t really know what happened! Were some of the characters real or imagined? I don’t know. Was it Rachel or Alice who was kidnapped? I don’t know. Was Alice seeing ghosts? I don’t know. Do the twins have special powers? I don’t know. I’ve struggled over the rating but I’ve decided to give Beautiful Lies 3 hearts because I was left with so many unanswered questions. If you’re looking for a good mindf**k, then this book is for you!