Twins: A Novel

Love this writer, and this is one of my faves of hers. Quirky and profound

Harsh, dark, disturbing, and often bitterly funny, this is like Sweet Valley High inverted. Chloe and Sue are beautiful, blonde, suburban teenaged twins. The daughters of a high-powered, shallow, divorce lawyer couple. Chloe is sugar and spice and everything nice. Sue is a whole different story..... Great book. Couldn't put it down!

This story of teenage identical twins is painful—painful if you’ve ever suffered feeling love and loyalty to somebody who cannot be sane, in an insane situation that cannot be fixed. A lot of the reviews called it funny; to me, pain far outshone humor. But it’s this edge and dedication to the truth of these characters that takes a book about teenagers into the adult book category.This book hurts. And that’s a compliment. And it made me, a person who’s never had any interest in sports, fall so in love with basketball that I might even take myself to see a live game.

I bought Twins because I found myself mesmerized by Marcy's writing style in "Bad Marie" and wanted more. Surprisingly, I found Twins even more enjoyable than Bad Marie (which I didn't think was possible). As another reviewer said, it's un-put-down-able. I'm not a twin and I am far from a teen, but somehow I connected with this book. I think all women will be able to feel a connection to this story because we've all been through the turbulent, hormonal, unstable teen years but this is like magnified and doubled teen angst on crack. She makes you FEEL what they feel. And she gave me insight to conditions like bulimia and the identity crisis's that identical twins go through that I had never explored or known. It's been a long time since a book has touched me on such an emotional level...or made me cry. Actually, the last time that happened was with a book that is very dear to me, White Oleander, which happens to be another story of a troubled teen girl. And perhaps The Bell Jar. So that says a lot about this author. Her writing flows so effortlessly and draws you like a magnet in from the first page. You will start to CARE about Sue and Cloe. You will rejoice with them and how far they've come, in the end. And when you finally close the book you will feel emotionally drained; yet satisfied. Something most books strive to do but few actually achieve. HUGELY underrated. I can't wait until she puts out something new for me to read because I can assure you I will be the first in line to buy it.

is to escape into the opiated, literary dream world of this kind of character development. As I get older, I find it increasingly more difficult to find solid literary fition that is both captivating and well written. Even then, often when I do find it, it feels repetitive, as though somewhere I've read something too similar. This was not the case at all with this novel. Such a relief to find a superior book! The twins’ relationship is out of this world. Their older brother's character, once you get to really "know" him, and the kids' unavailable, narcissist parents, will blow your mind away. Laughing until my stomach hurt and then feeling completely broken while reading, I was riveted throughout. Amazing descriptions of teenage angst and self-consciousness, insecurity, and the creepy graphic details surrounding anorexia and bulimia were all spot on and unique. This work is a rare, mirror structured bildungsroman that I certainly will not forget any time soon. My only criticism was that while so spot on, there were times when I had to suspend my disbelief a bit too much. Though the family is clearly over the top in the psychosis and narcissism, a few descriptions and character traits felt tacked on for shock value. The book is so wonderful though that I was able to let these few sections slide without issue.