Book Review: The Secrets We Keep

THE SECRETS WE KEEP -- TRISHA LEAVER

The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver tells the story of Ella and Maddy Lawton.  Two Identical Twins with Two Different Personalities.  Maddy is outspoken, direct and one of the most popular girls in school; Maddy is reserved, quiet and spends A LOT of time lost in her drawings.  When both of them are involved in a late night car crash Ella wakes up to find to learn three things.  One, her sister is dead, two, she is VERY guilty about surviving, and three, everyone thinks she is Maddy.  This guilt leads Ella to honor her sister’s memory by becoming her and not having her story end with a car crash.  She’s prepared for the struggle of keeping this appearance up but is she ready for what she we will learn about her sister once she becomes her?

I was drawn to The Secrets We Keep based on its look at the complicated bond between twins and the people around them.  As a twin myself, I related to Ella having a different personality than her sister and other people expecting them to be the same.  I also related to the bond twins have for one another…even when they drive you mad.  I have wondered what it would be like to be my brother at times and imagined us switching roles.  This book explored what it would be like to ‘be’ your twin a different manner than I expected and that affected my first reading of the book.  Reading it a second time made me appreciate the characters Leaver built and the issues people in the book dealt with.  It is short read but one that has different scenes impact you during each reading.

I am buying a copy of The Secrets We Keep for my classroom library.  This is a story that students in my classes will eat up.  I have a list of students in mind that will read this book and I look forward to having conversations with them about the themes and concepts located within its pages.  I recommend this book to people looking for a fresh take on the bonds people have with one another and how we learn about ourselves from them.

Note: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.