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Ellen Hopkins

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Identical Kindle Edition

by Ellen Hopkins (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 1,375 ratings

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Beneath their perfect family façade, twin sisters struggle alone with impossible circumstances and their own demons until they finally learn to fight for each other in this poignant tour de force from #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.

Sixteen-year-old Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family…on the surface. Underneath run very deep and damaging secrets. What really happened in the car accident that Daddy caused? And why is Mom never home, always running far away to pursue some new dream?

The girls themselves have become hopelessly divided over the years. Sick of losing Daddy’s game of favorites, Raeanne turns to painkillers, alcohol, and sex to dull her pain her anger. Kaeleigh tries to be her father’s perfect little flower, but being the misplaced focus of his sexual attention has her seeking control anywhere she can—even if it means cutting herself and unhealthy binge and purge eating.

Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept—from each other or anyone else. Before long, it's obvious that neither sister can handle their problems alone, and one must step up to save the other, but the question is…who?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—Identical teen twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne share a picture-perfect California life that is rank with dark, dangerous secrets under its surface. Their mother, who is running for Congress, leaves them at home with their father, a district court judge who is addicted to liquor and OxyContin. Daddy regularly molests Kaeleigh, using her as a stand-in for his absentee wife, and controls every aspect of her life. Raeanne sees every detail and reacts to her father's favoritism by acting out sexually and getting high on pot whenever possible. Written in free verse from alternating viewpoints, Identical tells the twins' story in intimate and often-graphic detail. Hopkins packs in multiple issues including eating disorders, drug abuse, date rape, alcoholism, sexual abuse, and self-mutilation as she examines a family that "puts the dys in dysfunction." The tension builds slowly and subtly, erupting in a shattering climax of psychological disintegration and breakthrough that reveals the truth about the twins and their father's own childhood secrets. Gritty and compelling, this is not a comfortable read, but its keen insights make it hard to put down.—Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Identical twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne alternate their stories in this tale of family secrets and self-destructive behavior. Their campaigning-politician mother is largely absent from their lives, and their father, a renowned judge, sexually abuses Kaeleigh and ignores Raeanne. The twins fight their demons in various destructive ways, including drug and alcohol use, sexual promiscuity, and eating disorders. Flanagan reads the parts of both girls—a great choice for identical twins who appear as mirror images of one another. Raeanne’s jaded, harsh tones are in stark contrast to Kaeleigh’s dreamy little-girl voice. The free-verse construction of the novel is especially suited to audio, with Flanagan bringing forth the drama and timing of the poems. Though the content of the book—especially scenes of incest—makes for uncomfortable listening, this is a powerful interpretation of an emotional story. Grades 9-12. --Heather Booth

Review

Hopkins's verse is not only lean and sinuous, it also demonstrates a mastery of technique. [starred review] (The Trades)

“A powerful interpretation of an emotional story.”

“Hopkins' word sculpture and verse patterns are just as keen as ever, creating shapes and secret messages. . . One thing is for certain―you won't soon forget this story.”
―The Trades

Hopkins’s gift with free verse reaches new heights in this portrait of splintered identical twins. . . . Kaeleigh and Raeanne maintain distinct voices throughout as they wrestle with psychic damage and an astonishing, devastating realization. Sharp and stunning, with a brilliant final page. [starred review]
Kirkus Reviews (Kirkus Reviews)

From the Back Cover

Do twins begin in the womb? Or in a better place?

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family―on the surface. Behind the façade each sister has her own dark secret, and that’s where their differences begin.

For Kaeleigh, she’s the misplaced focus of Daddy’s love, intended for a mother whose presence on the campaign trail means absence at home. All that Raeanne sees is Daddy playing a game of favorites―and she is losing. If she has to lose, she will do it on her own terms, so she chooses drugs, alcohol, and sex.

Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept―from each other or anyone else. Pretty soon it’s obvious that neither sister can handle it alone, and one sister must step up to save the other, but the question is―who?

About the Author

Ellen Hopkins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous young adult novels, as well as the adult novels such as Triangles, Collateral, and Love Lies Beneath. She lives with her family in Carson City, Nevada, where she has founded Ventana Sierra, a nonprofit youth housing and resource initiative. Follow her on Twitter at @EllenHopkinsLit.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0011UJLU8
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Margaret K. McElderry Books; Reprint edition (August 26, 2008)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 26, 2008
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 7935 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 577 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #51,447 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 1,375 ratings

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Ellen Hopkins

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I was adopted at birth and raised by a great, loving older couple. I grew up in Palm Springs CA, although we summered in Napa and Lake Tahoe, to avoid those 120 degree summers. After my adopted parents died, I did find my birth mother, who lives in Michigan with my half sister.

I studied journalism in college, but left school to marry, raise kids and start my own business--a video store, before the mega-chains were out there. After a divorce, I met my current husband and we moved to Tahoe to become ski bums and otherwise try to find our dreams. At that time, I went to work for a small alternative press, writing stories and eventually editing.

When we moved down the mountain to the Reno area, I started writing nonfiction books, many of which you can see here. The rest are viewable on my personal website. I also continued to freelance articles for newspapers and magazines.

All that has changed, with the publication of my novel, CRANK, which has led to a valued career writing YA novels in verse, all of which explore the more difficult situations young adults often find themselves in. Will I ever write one in prose? No doubt! But, for the moment, writing novels in verse fulfills two needs: writing poetry and writing fiction. The combination is so interesting!

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4.5 out of 5

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Destiny Baggett

Couldn't Put It Down

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024

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I'm a true Ellen Hopkins fan and not even I know how she turns out these amazing stories time after time. The writing is beautifully done and the story itself grips you from start to finish. Loved every page!

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LeeBee

Full of dark, twisted themes and deeply damaged individuals

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2024

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This book is full of dark, twisted themes and deeply damaged individuals. Because of this I would only recommend it for mature audiences. The book is written in verse and not in you the dark themes of this book? Below is a list. It is not all inclusive:

Sexual abuse
Alcoholism
Drug abuse
Promiscuity
Bulimia
Cutting
if the suffering of the present. Their parents and grandparents are also emotionally scarred and damaged. The three generations struggle with the above addictions to different degrees. Each generation sinks further into the darkness and becomes more damaged than the last. Who will find salvation and redemption Can Raeanne and Kayleigh end the cycle of abuse and addiction to Free themselves and any future generations to come?

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2024

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Heavy subject material, but one of those books you start and can't put down until you finish reading it in its entirety.

Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2023

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💔 This is my first time reading a book by this author, and let me just say I actually LOVE the writing style it kinda remind me of poetry. Healing my inner soul.
💔 This book can easily break anybody! This is about two identical twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne.
💔 The identical is entirely different mental. The twist, turns, and plot are amazing. The ending I DIDN'T SEE COMING!
💔 This quote hit somewhere in me. "𝑭𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏."
💔 Contains generation abuse.
💥 Check TW. This book contains child abuse. I almost DNF because of it. 💥

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philip pickard

Perfect

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024

Perfect

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2013

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Ellen Hopkins is definitely one of my tops for favorite authors. Anything she writes I just devour. `Identical' was no different, it was a non-stop, drama filled; punch you in the gut kind of book. I couldn't put it down. Ellen writes her books in such a unique poetic way and yet they pack such a punch that they hit my emotions much harder than any book written in regular verse.

`Identical' touches some very tough issues. Incest, death, attempted suicide, and eating disorders are just a few of them. The girls in this story are identical twins and they go through hell and the sad thing is there are girls all over the world that live through their own personal hell every day. This is their reality. That is one of my favorite things about Ellen's books; she hits on dark subjects and sheds light on them. It makes them more known, when a lot of people live in a world of denial.

`Identical' was such a great book, I don't even think I can do it justice in words. The ending was such a mind warp, let me tell you! It was crazy! I did not see that coming in any shape or form. It was a shocker. I won't give any of it away because it is just too good to spoil.
You will just have to read it for yourself and trust me you don't want to miss this book!

2 people found this helpful

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Sheri Johnson

Very sexual, very explicit

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2012

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I wavered between 3 and 4 stars, and ultimately went with 3 because I personally don't care for the 'prose in poetry' style of Ellen Hopkins. I honestly didn't realize when I ordered it that Identical was by the author of Crank, and Glass.

The story of twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne was intriguing, and while I thought I had the big plot device figured out early on, I was slightly wrong - wrong enough that I got a chill when I figured out the rest of the twist. I loved Ian, and actually kind of liked Ty, as well.

The mother, ugh. {shudder}

The father, OMG. {{{triple shudder}}}

Well done.

Parents beware:

I was somewhat startled by the numerous explicit sex scenes in this book, which I assume, with 16 y.o. protagonists, is categorized as Teen/Young Adult. Shrug.

It didn't bother me at all, but children and teens tend to read a year or two above their own age, making 14-15 y.o. girls the target audience, and the content is EXTREMELY sexual, including what some might consider sexual deviance, written in a way that points more toward the genre of erotica than YA. Just saying.

6 people found this helpful

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Leah

Another GREAT book by Ellen Hopkins!

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2011

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I bought this book for my twin sister, but I decided to read it first. This is the fourth or fifth book I've read by Ellen Hopkins. I love the poetry-style writing-it is a refreshing change of pace from typical prose writing. I feel it makes the book easier to read. Although it's a 550 page book, I was able to whip through it in a few hours.

This book was excellent. I felt connected to the characters and felt a wide range of emotions while reading. The content of this book was very dark at times. I don't think I would recommend it for many people under the age of sixteen or so. And the twist at the end was a bit shocking, but I do believe it is foreshadowed once you get towards the middle of the book.I love Ellen Hopkins' books because they feature issues that teens really do deal with. They are not cutesy love stories and I commend the author for daring to deal with topics such as alcohol and drug use, sex, self-harm and mental health issues.

Overall, a great read for older teens/adults. I hope my sister will enjoy the book as much as I did! :)

One person found this helpful

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Hayley Crittenden

Awesome product in great condition

Reviewed in Canada on June 23, 2020

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Arrived on time and item was was in amazing condition. I love this author!

wolf riena

Wow! A must read!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2019

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Wow. I received this book at 8pm, I’ve now just finished reading it at 2am. This book made me feel so many different things. It had me hooked from the first page. I fell in love with both Kaeleigh and Raeanne. This book is by far one of the most interesting books I’ve come across. I’m in love with the style of writing that Ellen Hopkins shows and I will be purchasing more books by her. If you haven’t read this book, pick it up and read it. It’s brilliant. Such a beautifully put together book, it had me crying, laughing and even cursing at some parts of it. 5/5 from me!

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Emma

So incredibly honest -

Reviewed in Australia on May 25, 2017

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I enjoyed this novel quite a lot. I found the issues disturbing, but think it is important that these mental health issues are written about to help awareness. The novel moved me as to how sad life can be, and some of the reasons why people suffer with mental health issues. This poor child 😞

Maia Fleming

Excelente!

Reviewed in Brazil on January 24, 2015

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O livro é muito bem escrito e extremamente surpreendente. A autora tem uma maneira bastante particular de escrever e você fica preso ao livro.

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viktor Anastasia

übertrifft meine Vorstellungen!

Reviewed in Germany on August 10, 2013

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Nachdem ich "IMPULSE" gelesen hatte, war ich nicht nur von der ganz individuellen Schreibweise von Ellen Hopkins positiv überrascht worden, sondern auch die Geschichten selbst sind sehr fesselnd.

Identical erzählt die Geschichte zweier Zwillinge, die unterschiedlicher eigentlich kaum mehr sein können. Das Buch war so gut, dass ich es kaum weglegen wollte.
Das Ende war dann sozusagen die goldene Krönung!

Es lohnt sich definitiv das Buch zu lesen und sich auch die anderen Werke von Ellen Hopkins anzusehen

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