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A review by mmpickart
The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver
3.0
The Secrets We Keep has its flaws, but the one thing it does well is suspense. Even though I had problems with the plot and the characters while I was reading, I had to know what happened next, and I devoured the book quickly.
The book is about twins Ella and Maddy Lawton. They used to be close when they were younger, but drifted apart in high school. By the time they reach their senior year, they are very different and practically strangers. Maddy is the popular, outgoing one; Ella is the quiet, artsy intellect. Late one night, Maddy calls Ella and asks her to pick her up from a party. Ella begrudgingly does so, but the two get into an argument on the way home and have a terrible accident--and only one survives.
When Ella wakes up, she realizes everyone thinks she is Maddy. Having extreme survivor's guilt and believing that everyone would have preferred Maddy to be the survivor, Ella decides that she will be Maddy. But Ella's plan turns out to be much more difficult than she thought, because she quickly learns that her sister had a lot of secrets.
The plot definitely drives this story. It's not perfect, but it's interesting and will definitely grab readers' attentions. And most likely, they will be silently yelling at Ella and waiting for her to make a sensible choice.
My biggest problem with the book is definitely Ella's character, and more so her portrayal of Maddy than her true self. The author makes it a point to tell us (multiple times) that Ella has carefully studied her sister, and even though the two have very different personalities, Ella does a great job impersonating her sister and has done so successfully several times. But when Ella starts to resume Maddy's normal routine, she's terrible at acting as Maddy.
I know this was probably a choice made by the author to demonstrate Ella's guilt and remorse and how difficult everything is for her, but I never once felt like Ella was acting like anyone other than herself. I wanted to see the personality quirks and differences, and I never got to see that. I felt like it also caused a huge plot hole: how does no one notice that Maddy is really Ella?! She really sucks at the whole pretending to be her sister thing.
But like I said, all that aside, I did enjoy the book. I liked Ella (when she was being Ella), and I loved that the book kept me wanting more. I had to know Maddy's secrets, and I wanted to see how Ella handled everything. I just wish it was executed a little better. But if you can overlook the flaws or not think too much about the plot holes, The Secrets We Keep is a good one.
The book is about twins Ella and Maddy Lawton. They used to be close when they were younger, but drifted apart in high school. By the time they reach their senior year, they are very different and practically strangers. Maddy is the popular, outgoing one; Ella is the quiet, artsy intellect. Late one night, Maddy calls Ella and asks her to pick her up from a party. Ella begrudgingly does so, but the two get into an argument on the way home and have a terrible accident--and only one survives.
When Ella wakes up, she realizes everyone thinks she is Maddy. Having extreme survivor's guilt and believing that everyone would have preferred Maddy to be the survivor, Ella decides that she will be Maddy. But Ella's plan turns out to be much more difficult than she thought, because she quickly learns that her sister had a lot of secrets.
The plot definitely drives this story. It's not perfect, but it's interesting and will definitely grab readers' attentions. And most likely, they will be silently yelling at Ella and waiting for her to make a sensible choice.
My biggest problem with the book is definitely Ella's character, and more so her portrayal of Maddy than her true self. The author makes it a point to tell us (multiple times) that Ella has carefully studied her sister, and even though the two have very different personalities, Ella does a great job impersonating her sister and has done so successfully several times. But when Ella starts to resume Maddy's normal routine, she's terrible at acting as Maddy.
I know this was probably a choice made by the author to demonstrate Ella's guilt and remorse and how difficult everything is for her, but I never once felt like Ella was acting like anyone other than herself. I wanted to see the personality quirks and differences, and I never got to see that. I felt like it also caused a huge plot hole: how does no one notice that Maddy is really Ella?! She really sucks at the whole pretending to be her sister thing.
But like I said, all that aside, I did enjoy the book. I liked Ella (when she was being Ella), and I loved that the book kept me wanting more. I had to know Maddy's secrets, and I wanted to see how Ella handled everything. I just wish it was executed a little better. But if you can overlook the flaws or not think too much about the plot holes, The Secrets We Keep is a good one.