By Its Cover is independent book review column. Selections are mostly made based on the book's cover. I'm testing the old saying in my quest to find new favorite authors and books.
Twins: A Novel by Marcy DermanskyMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
This is an ugly story about pretty girls: blond, blue-eyed, tall. It has many of the 'first novel' faults: it's messy and at times painfully redundant. In a book titled Twins I don't know why Ms. Dermansky felt the need to reminds that the girls were identical twins on nearly every other page. We get it.
I didn't find any part of the book funny, which bummed me out as promises of humor prompted me to select this tome from my library's shelves. There were comical bits...but in the completely farcical way i.e., "there's no earthly way situations/people like this could be allowed to exist."
It had moments where I could see the style that the author was going for. I could see what she was trying to do. But as most of them came late in the book...almost too late for me, she fell woefully short.
The idea of the necessity for separation from those who are supposed to care for/about us so we can learn to truly care for ourselves as individuals does strike home for me. It's a painful lesson no matter what the circumstances. But the overall story of Twins, the obsession and the clinging, led to me barely caring whether any one in this story got themselves sorted or not.
View all my reviews
