Wednesday, April 1, 2015

I Can't Pretend


The Secrets We Keep

Hardcover304 pages
Expected publication: April 28th 2015 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Imagine this.


You have an identical twin -- a soul that you love almost more than your own, but one that seems so distant and so opposite while looking so much like your own.

Imagine that you have a devastating disagreement... and then you are driving, on a dark and stormy night, with your twin in the passenger seat. She is the one everyone adores... the one everyone wants to be.

And she is the one who dies in the tragic car accident that night.

You know that everyone wishes it were her still here... and you know, of course, that you were identical twins. So, what would it hurt to appease them? To just be her?

Then what if you learned a secret... a lie... about the sister that has now become you.  What if it's too late to back out now?

One thing I loved.


The story line as a whole was just intriguing, compelling, and heartfelt. I loved seeing the growth and development of Ella as she worked through the internal struggles of wanting to find love for herself and wanting to appease her family by becoming the sister she always thought they loved more.

One thing I didn't.


The whole secret that Maddy was hiding was a little anticlimactic for me, I think. I was just expecting more somehow...

Overall.


This was a beautiful and haunting story of a teenage girl's intense love for her sister and family and the struggles she faced with trying to reconcile her own journey to self discovery with the expectations of those around her. I would highly recommend this novel for avid fans of contemporary YA fiction -- especially those who prefer something a little more heartfelt.


*I did receive an advanced reader's copy of this book for the purposes of providing an honest review. My opinions and thoughts are not influenced by the manner in which the novel was received.