Book Review: Baby Doll

Baby Doll by Hollie Overton

Released: July 12, 2016

Read: August 2016

Publisher: Redhook

Format: ARC, 281 pages

Series: Stand-alone

Description on Goodreads:

Held captive for eight years, Lily has grown from a teenager to an adult in a small basement prison. Her daughter Sky has been a captive her whole life. But one day their captor leaves the deadbolt unlocked.

This is what happens next...

...to her twin sister, to her mother, to her daughter...and to her captor. 

Review:

    When I first read the inside description of Baby Doll, I expected that the kidnapper would get away with it. I thought it would be a simple novel about how Rick still finds ways to torture Lily even after she escapes, but I was mistaken. It's about the aftermath of Lily's eight year long disappearance, from the perspective of Lily herself, her twin sister, her mother, and her abuser. It's unique reading from Rick's point of view specifically. The way he says that Lily is in love with him gives you a glimpse of the madman he truly is. And the fact that no one knows how crazy he is, no one can see behind his cool and easy-going bravado, shows just how calculatively evil he is.

    The story itself wasn't as thrilling or scary as I hoped, but it was an enjoyable one-time-read that was very informative. I didn't realize just how much one person could effect so many lives, for better, or for worse.

Favourite Quote:

• "Sleep consumed her, a dark, voracious, and winged thing stealing her away from the crushing weight of her failures."

Rating: 6.5/10

Recommended if you like: subtle thrillers, reading the thoughts of a psychopath, reading the aftermath of depressing events, twins, reading about kidnapping

Keep flipping pages,

Lauren

Book Review: The Third Twin

The Third Twin by CJ Omololu

Released: February 24, 2015

Read: April 2016

Publisher: Delacorte

Format: Paperback, 326 pages

Series: Stand-alone

Description on Goodreads:

    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. 

Review:
    This novel left me speechless. Okay, not literally; I was screaming and couldn't stop grinning. With bodies piling higher by the day, and the suspect list narrowing, I couldn't put it down. The main characters, Lexi and Ava, although naïve at times, were very well written, and had very different personalities, which I like about twins. Ava was the out-there, social, party-all-the-time fashioniesta, while Lexi was the overachieving, anti-social book nerd. This contrast shows you that if people paid attention, they would be able to tell the difference between them. It's weird that even some of the people close to them couldn't tell.
    Okay, I don't want to give anything away, but I was completely shocked when I realized who Lexi was suppose to be with. I mean, come on, the person I liked was killed out of nowhere! I didn't think he was actually going to die in the end!
    And finally, I didn't see the murderer coming, although I usually do. That's one of the top reasons why this book was so amazing. I didn't understand how this person could be in so many places at once, and how he/she could be taking selfies of Lexi/Ava if the murderer wasn't one of them (and I'm not saying the murder actually is or isn't one of them). 

Favourite Quotes:

• " Ava's the beauty and I'm the brains, and it always amazes me when people can't tell us apart." 

Rating: 8.5/10

Recommended if you like: murder, mystery, crime, thriller, twins, flings, high school parties

Keep flipping pages,

Lauren 

Doppelgänger Duels: Divergent vs the Hunger games

Hey, everyone!
   I'm sure every major book nerd out there has noticed that some books are a lot alike. Well, we have too. So we decided to dedicate a segment to book twins, or doppelgängers. Anyways, there are some more famous duplicates, and then there are the ones that are rarely noticed. We're going to try listing from both categories as much as we can. First things, first. Our first post is going to be an obvious one:

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOTH NOVELS. 

Divergent vs. the Hunger Games

   Both set in dystopian worlds, Divergent and the Hunger Games have the same plot. The main female character has been used, or attempted to be killed, and must now overthrow her government to make their land safe again and to finally end their battling. In Divergent, Tris must take down Jeanine Matthews with the rebellion, while in the Hunger games Katniss has to kill President Snow, with her rebellion.
   Starting to sound like the same book? No? I haven't even started ranting about the factions/districts yet. Really, there's not much that can be said. They're the same thing, as easy as that. One of the only differences is that there are five factions while there are thirteen districts. Also, the factions and districts represent different things. The factions represent personality traits: Intelligence, Bravery,
Honesty,  Selflessness and Kindness. The Districts represent specific industries like electronics, fishing, electrical power, lumber, transportation, agriculture and mining.
   Another similarity is their personality and the fact that Tris and Katniss both make sacrifices for their family. In Divergent (the series in general), Tris consistently does whatever she thinks is right (even if it hurts Tobias) in order to help her friends and her family. She risks her life whenever needed, and is kinda reckless about it.
Katniss is partly the same way. She strategizes the best way to help her people and her family, then acts on it, even if her life is in the balance.
    And then there are the differences...
   Katniss Everdeen volunteers for the Hunger Games after her sister is picked. She must outwit and outlive all the other contestants in order to return to her family and get back to the life she was living. Tris Prior chooses to leave her family behind and find her true self. She is also tested, through the Initiation, but she does this for herself and not for her family.
  Then there's the economical point of view. The people living in futuristic Chicago get to choose their role in society: either to be a teacher or work for the police force. They get to pick what they want to do and who they want to be. Meanwhile in Panem, the civilians are forced to do the job allotted to their district: work in a field or a mine. This is an enormous difference! Where would you rather live: in the semi-free Chicago or in the communist Panem?

So that's that! Stay updated for the next Doppelgänger Duel!!

-Lauren