I guessed the twist!

IDENTICAL by Ellen Hopkins is incredible!  I prefer not to read books about sex, drugs, and alcohol filled with foul language, but Hopkins deals with such issues in a way that demonstrates the fact that such things can (not always, of course)--but such things CAN lead to destructive behavior.  The way she handles her stories is just fantastic.  I realize that many of her books, IDENTICAL included, come under the heading of "YA" Literature, but as an adult, I can't get enough of her!  I LOVE that she writes prose in poetic form and that she is the only author I have read up to this point who has done this--and done it so incredibly eloquently!  It's a throw-back to old English Literature such as Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, John Milton, and others like them who wrote prose in poetic form, but mostly in iambic pentameter or other consistent poetic styles.  Hopkins doesn't stick with one poetic form; she plays with poetry in a manner that creates a story that not only jumps off the page because it's simply brilliant, but also because of the physical appearance of the words on the page.  I loved holding my book at different angles sometimes to see if a poem held a new way of seeing it by SEEING it differently!  Hopkins is genius and should be read by EVERYONE!!!

I have to say that I am excited to note that I actually figured out the

"secret" of the book before I got to that part.  I did it with the help of someone who asked me a random question when I was talking about the book.  He didn't even realize he'd done anything.  And to be perfectly honest, at the time, I thought it was a dumb question.  But it was ultimately a question that led me to question my original perception of the book and to evaluate it from a completely different view and to figure out the surprise twist before I actually read the surprise twist!  It did NOT ruin the book for me to know that in advance!  I was, instead, quite excited to find that I had figure it out before needing to be told--by the story itself!  

Great book!  Go read it!!!!