The Third Twin

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Author(s)

C.J. Omololu

Publisher

Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Genre(s)

Age Range

12+

Release Date

February 24, 2015

ISBN

0385744528

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Identical twins. Identical DNA. Identical suspects. It’s Pretty Little Liars meets Revenge in this edge-of-your-seat thriller with a shocking twist. When they were little, Lexi and her identical twin, Ava, made up a third sister, Alicia. If something broke? Alicia did it. Cookies got eaten? Alicia’s guilty. Alicia was always to blame for everything. The game is all grown up now that the girls are seniors. They use Alicia as their cover to go out with boys who are hot but not exactly dating material. Boys they’d never, ever be with in real life. Now one of the guys Alicia went out with has turned up dead, and Lexi wants to stop the game for good. As coincidences start piling up, Ava insists that if they follow the rules for being Alicia, everything will be fine. But when another boy is killed, the DNA evidence and surveillance photos point to only one suspect—Alicia. The girl who doesn’t exist. As she runs from the cops, Lexi has to find the truth before another boy is murdered. Because either Ava is a killer . . . or Alicia is real.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

A Page Turner

February 08, 2015 (Updated: March 31, 2015)

Overall rating

4.0

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The Third Twin is a great MS/YA thriller. It is highly entertaining, suspenseful and a readable story (especially for reluctant readers). In a way this book brings me back to middle school reading R.L Stine under the bed covers.

This is a plot-driven story- meaning that there is more emphasis on the plot than the characters. The are interesting, but the reader-character connection isn't strong. But, this is common in thrillers from books to screen. The main point of any thriller is the plot the who-dun-it and with this promise The Third Twin delivers.

What I liked: This book is a page turner. It's plot is simple enough that it is easy to follow yet it still has those surprise twists in the plot. The fast pace nature of the book moves the story along quickly- it is really hard to put down since I just wanted to know who did it!

While this book is great for middle school, the characters are high school seniors so there are some high school level themes in the book dealing with relationships, violence, drinking, etc. But all this is handled in a MS appropriate manner. These events drive the plot and moves the story forward.

Any fans of who-dun-its and thrillers will love this book. If you like movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer or House At The End Of The Street this book might be for you.

Joanne Mumley, Twitter Manager Top 50 Reviewer 217 reviews

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Overall rating

3.7

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3.0(1)

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A Unique Thriller

February 24, 2015

Overall rating

3.7

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MY THOUGHTS
I usually don't go for thrillers, because most of the ones I read seem to be the same thing, but this was a very entertaining read and much more different that other thrillers out there!

Lexi and Ava are twins and were adopted after being found in front of their, now father's, restaurant. When they were young, they made up a third twin, a triplet, named Alicia. Alicia was to blame when anything went wrong. Now that the girls are older, they pretend to be Alicia in order to get guys. After the guy guy attempted to rape her, Lexi wants to be done with Alicia. Then, just a day later, the guy ends up dead. Another boy Alicia dated ends up dead and the evidence starts piling up. All of it pointing to Lexi and Ava.

First off, the idea behind this book is very interesting. Many people, myself included, have made up imaginary 'friends' as a child and put all of the blame on them. Lexi and Ava did this as children and then later decided to become her, using Alicia as an alternate identity. I disagreed with them doing this, although it does sound like fun, but I thought it was a very unique idea. Then add on the idea that Alicia may possible be real, and you have a very engrossing book!

Lexi is our main character and I liked her character. She isn't shy, but she's more reserved and she feels more free as Alicia, who isn't afraid of anything. Ava is more of a party girl. I liked their relationship. There definitely acted like sisters, as they didn't always get along, but they did love each other. I was annoyed with Lexi as she was so quick to point fingers at Ava. I know, all the DNA points at the two of them and she knows that she didn't do it, but I would think that she would have trusted her more.

The mystery was actually very surprising! I thought I had it all figured out, but in reality, I was completely wrong. I do think the book ended oddly. I don't know how to explain, but some of the revelations near the end felt off to me.

IN CONCLUSION
If you want to read an interesting and surprising thriller, than this is the one! It was a fairly quick read and very different from other thrillers. I did have a few issues, but I still enjoyed it overall!