A Thousand Lives Lived: Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman Review

Beautiful Lies, by Jessica Warman

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery/Thriller

Rating: 4/5 stars

Publication: August 7, 2012, by Walker Children's

Format: Hardcover Edition (borrowed)

Goodreads Summary: Rachel and Alice are an extremely rare kind of identical twins-so identical that even their aunt and uncle, whom they've lived with since their parents passed away, can't tell them apart. But the sisters are connected in a way that goes well beyond their surfaces: when one experiences pain, the other exhibits the exact same signs of distress. So when one twin mysteriously disappears, the other immediately knows something is wrong-especially when she starts experiencing serious physical traumas, despite the fact that nobody has touched her. As the search commences to find her sister, the twin left behind must rely on their intense bond to uncover the truth. But is there anyone around her she can trust, when everyone could be a suspect? And ultimately, can she even trust herself?

Review:

"We are essentially the same, she and I. Her and me. My sister, myself. When she takes off her makeup and brushes out her hair—when we first wake up in the morning, or right before we go to bed in the evening—nobody in this world can tell us apart just from looking at us. Only we know who is who. Knowledge like that, shared with only one other person in the world, can feel exhilarating. It's like we own a secret that nobody else will ever hold the key to, for as long as we both live."

Twins are so awesome—they have POWERS. *thinks fictional* I mean, Jessica Warman has really given us the true insight of having a person who shares the same birthday, age and looks as you. It's crazy to even think about what an interesting pair twins can be, and what happens when a part of you is missing.

I've read all of Jessica's books from the start. Every single one of them. She always changes her subjects (and they get better every time around) but the concept is the same—psychological thrillers and mysteries. I normally hate mystery, but this is such a contemporary kind of mystery. No detectives that can fly over here. This is pure realism and awesomeness.

Rachel and Alice are redhead identical-twins that are both similar and total opposites in likes and personalities. When "Alice" goes missing, the real Alice covers up for her sister but needs to find out what really happened—since her instinct is that something horrible occurred...

In the beginning, the book sucked. It was practically screaming, "COME TO ME! I DON'T BITE, I'M PURE AWESOMENESS!" But then I shut it away because I was disappointed.

This was an average 4 starred book. It was great, but average at the same time. I love Jessica's writing, but her other books actually surpassed my expectations more and managed to hit the 5 star rating. (2 of them.. actually.) The writing was fast-paced and intriguing, but at the same time, I found that it wasn't all spotty perfect. Cushions weren't filled up and I missed the importance of some of the events.

So basically, I began this book was mixed expectations. I haven't really paid attention to the reviews, positive or negative, but my 'instincts' were telling me different things each time. I actually finished this in one sitting, so I'm patting myself on the back for not having to go through some agonizing moments without the book, because I fear and have a feeling in my guts that that would've happened.

There were so many moments where I'd just shut my eyes and let the emotions and tragedy sink into me. This book was so powerful and moving, I'd never in a-million-years doubt or regret reading anything from Jessica Warman. She never has failed to disappoint me and I trust that she never will.

The plot was almost a masterpiece. The characters were left touched too many times and I felt like they were practically fake. We've all met at least a few fake-like people in our lives, and this whole book was full of them. The twin's aunt, uncle and cousin were all messed-with and it looked like their actions were made to "change the plot up a little." Aren't we supposed to be looking for characters who simply either care, or don't care at all? They were imbalanced and their personalities didn't suit the book's events at all.