Book Reviews: The Midnight Twins and Look Both Ways by Jacquelyn Mitchard

It's a bit ironic that we talked about our least favorite books this week for Tuesday Thingers, because I found a new book to add to that category...

Book 1 The Midnight Twins

Meredith (aka Merry) and Mallory (aka Mally) are identical, telepathic twins born on either side of midnight on New Year’s Eve. They are also mirror opposites – Merry is a cheerful cheerleader and Mally is a grumpy soccer star. When a house fire nearly kills them on their 13th birthday, the twins discover they have inherited the Brynn family “gift” – terrifying visions that could destroy them and everything they hold dear….

In a nutshell: Promising premise, terrible execution.

The whole time I read this I swear I felt like I was on a Tilt-A-Whirl. The writing was so choppy and full of non-sequiturs that I had to read many passages twice to make heads or tails of them. Incidents and characters flew by in a dizzying blur. And when I finally (mercifully) was let off this chaotic mess, I felt nauseous.

Much was made of the twins supposed differences – but I never got the feeling that they were anything more than superficially different. Ok, one had lots of gossipy, giggly friends, and one was more of a sourpuss loner, but deep down both ticked the same. They also complained a bunch that their “gift” was a big burden, but it really only came up a few times and it helped them to track down a killer so obvious and so cardboard as to be yawn inducing.

So why did I read the sequel? In the last chapter, Grandma, who was strangely tight-lipped the rest of the time, swoops in and spends a whole chapter talking about how cool the twins’ powers actually are. So I thought…ok maybe the sequel will actually be worthy of the premise?

Book 2 Look Both Ways

After the events of book 1 (explained in a succinct yet thorough summary near the start, rendering book 1 pretty much superfluous) Merry and Mally are settling back into their normal lives and concentrating on cheerleading tryouts and soccer practice. Then they start having visions of a beautiful and familiar mountain lion. What’s up with that anyway?

In a nutshell: If you must read this series, skip book 1 and start here.

While still far from perfect, the writing and character development are both much improved in this installment. Ok, the family is still one dimensional, but Merry’s cheerleading friends/rivals Kim and Neely are given authentic arcs and Mally’s friend Eden’s shaman/shapeshifter subplot is intriguing and touching. Which I guess is a good thing, since this subplot actually hijacks the novel. That’s right, the second Midnight Twins novel is mainly about Eden, meaning the tantalizing promise of the trilogy’s premise is still not fulfilled in book 2. Is the author holding out on us until book 3?

The Midnight Twins is available now in paperback and Look Both Ways comes out today in hardcover. Book 3 has no set release date yet. Find out more about the series at the author's website.