Identical: Just Like All The Others By Ellen Hopkins

Identical, as any reader may have figured out by the title, is about Identical twins.
This book is probably one of the most morbid, saddest books I have ever read. This novel just like all the others written by Ellen Hopkins, is great. She never fails to bring something new to the table, as if her mind is an endless tornado. That's how it seems to me anyway. I found myself speed reading through this book. There were parts that were so intense it made me cringe inside, but I just could not help moving forward to see what happens next.

PLOT:
Kaeleigh and Raeanne are 16-year-old identical twins. They are daughters of a district court judge father and politician mother running for Congress. Everything seems perfect in their life, but look through it all and run deep and damaging secrets appear. Kaeleigh is the good one and also her father's perfect child, something she has tried so hard to be since she was nine and he started sexually abusing her. She also cuts herself and binge eats. Raeanne uses painkillers, drugs, alcohol, sex, and purging to numb the pain of not being Daddy's favorite. They both want to feel normal. Both girls must figure out how to become whole. They do not know how to.

CHARACTERIZATION:

Kaeleigh starts to be known as the good girl she has good grades, school play, the right clothes, the right friends. Raeanne is the exact opposite, skipping school, pot smoking, and dangerous sex. Their mother is running for office and is basically gone. Their Dad is a judge who 8 years ago he was drunk, when he crashed their car. Their Mom has been having surgeries to fix it ever since the family is seriously broken. Kaeleigh tells us later on in the book, it goes on to tell you she binge drinks and cuts herself because of what her dad does to her. Raeanne does not change very throughout the book. She does all the same things