Meredith and Mallory Brynn, are mirror twins born on either side of midnight one New Year's Eve. They have always been inseparable. But after they are nearly killed in a mysterious fire on their thirteenth birthday, the bond that has always joined them unravels. They begin to have visions and dreams that reveal the deep secrets kept by the people around them.
Meredith and Mallory realize they have each been given a gift: Mallory can see deep into the past, Meredith can see the future. But when they discover that one boy is not what they imagined, their lives will be changed forever. If they can survive...
The Midnight Twins is the first book in a series by Jacquelyn Mitchard, which explores themes of twin telepathy and the 'sight'. I thought that this book was simply O.K. I have had it for a while, sitting on my bookshelf, and finally decided to read it when resident book picker, Cait, chose it over all the others.
I am kinda at a loss for words here... I guess I had a little bit more expectations for it all, but I think overall, it came across as a little too confusing. Everything was explained in the book, the girls always being joined by twin telepathy, and then losing it or gaining it, or it was always there, now there was extra senses added. The whole book went on like this without really achieving anything. I guess it felt more like an intro to a book then a whole book in itself.
Having said that, there are more books to come, so I am hoping that those books go more in depth, and really complete the showcased ideas in The Midnight Twins. I'd also like to mention that there wasn't a whole lot of romantic development between any of the characters, more like a little seedling of an idea, which I'm hoping develops further in the books to come.
I recommend this book to teens looking for a new series that includes an element of super- or paranormalcy, but it is not, by any means, crazy unplausible or really out there.
Spoiler Alert: Don't read past this point if you don't want to know specific plot details!
So the book starts out with a good intro and background information about the two twin girls, Mallory (Mally) and Merideth (Merry), but never really takes the next step into full-blown novel. The girls are born, yada yada yada, and right off the bat, they are different from other people in many ways; their mother notices that they have some kind of unspoken bond between them in which they can communicate, they are pretty tiny (not even reaching 5 feet), and they also share a secret language (which I never really understood the importance of...). Within themselves though, despite that they are twins, there are significant differences, almost complete opposites of one another, which is pretty paramount to the plot, I think? Merry is popular, and sweet; she really cares what people think, and has lots of friends. Mally is sporty and has a 'don't care' policy, keeping more to herself. They were also born in different years, on New Year's Eve, one at 11:59, one at 12:01. This seems to become more significant as the story progresses, but like I said, I still don't really understand the significance.
As the book went on, it just seemed to stay in that intro stage, never progressing through the regular story 'map' if you will, with no set crisis or denouement. The fire seemed like it could qualify, but then that was still demonstrating the initial idea of the plot: that the two girls lose their ability to see each others dreams. Which, to tell you the truth, I never really understood the significance of either. When they were described as having twin telepathy, I interpreted that as being able to talk without words, in their heads, essentially. At some point I think I missed that this also dictated that they were able to see each others dreams as well, which even hearing after the fact seems so very unimportant. Then when the girls lose the powers, I thought that they couldn't hear each other at all; they had lost the ability to communicate in their heads, because in the hospital they both were frantically listening to see if the other one was ok. Then, as the book progresses, at some point they can all of a sudden hear each other again, but not see their dreams?? This whole thing just seems like a jumbled mess that I was never really able to wrap my brain around.
Then they start seeing the future and past, or something.. But I had a difficult time understanding this concept as well. In some ways too much time was spent explaining everything, but somehow not enough information was evident, and the story was not clearly understood. Then there was the whole thing with David. I guess this would be considered the main event of the book, but once again it wasn't that evident. There was so much time spent after his death that just seemed to contribute more to the intro.
Overall, reliving it all whilst I explain it, the book is more and more frustrating and really so unclear. Just not at all crisp or clean or organized. The thoughts were so all over the place, and I'm not sure what I was supposed to take away from the story in the end. I'm hoping that things start to make sense in the following books.
Still making sense of it--Cheers & Enjoy♥
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