Blog Tour: The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver @trishaleaver @fsgbooks

Welcome to our stop on The Secrets We Keep blog tour!

THE SECRETS WE KEEP

Author: Trisha Leaver
Release Date: April 28^th, 2015
Publisher:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ISBN-10: 0374300461 | ISBN-13: 978-0374300463

SYNOPSIS:

A girl takes over her twin sister's identity in this emotionally charged page-turner about the complicated bond between sisters.

Ella and Maddy Lawton are identical twins. Ella has spent her high school years living in popular Maddy's shadows, but she has never been envious of Maddy. In fact, she's chosen the quiet, safe confines of her sketchbook over the constant battle for attention that has defined Maddy's world.

When—after a heated argument—Maddy and Ella get into a tragic accident that leaves her sister dead, Ella wakes up in the hospital surrounded by loved ones who believe she is Maddy. Feeling responsible for Maddy's death and everyone's grief, Ella makes a split-second decision to pretend to be Maddy. Soon, Ella realizes that Maddy's life was full of secrets. Caught in a web of lies, Ella is faced with two options—confess her deception or live her sister's life. 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-We-Keep-Trisha-Leaver/dp/0374300461/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421847858&sr=8-1&keywords=the+secrets+we+keep

Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780374300463

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-secrets-we-keep-trisha-leaver/1118931339?ean=9780374300463

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21469095-the-secrets-we-keep

Brooke's Review:

I want to thank the publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way altered my opinion or review.

I have to say that I'm not much for reading blurbs, but when I was given the chance to possibly be on the blog tour for this book I jumped in to see what it was about. I've never read a twin book and this one really intrigued me. My biggest question, of course, was how on earth was this girl going to pull off fooling everyone into thinking she was her sister?

Twins Ella and Maddy could not be more different. Maddy, popular girl with perfect boyfriend and what seems like a perfect life. And Ella, the introvert and sister shunned. The two run in different circles, Ella having been pushed out of her sister's life once Maddy realized what she needed to do to become popular. But being popular wasn't what it looked like from the outside. So many secrets and lies hidden beneath it all. And this is something Ella never expected to take on when stepping into Maddy's shoes.

At first, the plot it believable. Maddy seems different to everyone. But Ella has worked hard for many years perfecting herself as Maddy (from sitting in on her tests and classes in school). Most chock the difference up to the fact that Maddy's gone through a horrible tragedy when her sister dies in a car crash and Maddy was driving. But slowly Ella's world unravels before her eyes as she realizes Maddy's world was not all it looked to be. And that being Maddy is harder than she could have ever thought it would be.

Ella slowly learns that Maddy was good at keeping secrets. And that, often, such things came along with the price of popularity and staying on top. All the while she's still trying to figure out exactly who she is. She has a hard time coping with the fact that she no longer has her other half. And that she loved her sister despite the rift that had formed between them.

I enjoyed the build between Josh and Ella. It was nice to see Josh take on the friendship with Maddy. It was also sad to watch as Josh mourned the loss of Ella. Mourned what he may have had with her had she not died.

I loved Leaver's writing. She was able to distinctly show the differences in the twins and also fleshed out the other characters very well. And the plot flowed very well. Each new experience Ella has building on the last until finally things come to a head.

What I found hard to believe about this book was that everyone seemed to be fooled by Ella. Even though she has experience acting as her sister, I can't see her being able to live her life all day long for days in this manner without giving herself away somehow to those who were so close to her. I also had some trouble with how things were resolved in the end. It was a bit too easy for me. I was hoping for a bit more conflict.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed how the story unraveled and how much Ella truly struggled with her sister's death and keeping her sister's memory alive. I would definitely like to read more from this author.

Trisha Leaver live on Cape Cod with her husband, three children, and one rather irreverent black lab. (He is actually half Dalmatian so that could explain a bit of the excitability.)   She is a chronic daydreamer who prefers the cozy confines of her own imagination to the mundane routine of everyday life. She is a member of the SCBWI, the Horror Writers Association, and the YA Scream Queens -- a group of nine female authors who are deathly serious about their horror.

Author Media Links:

Website: www.trishaleaver.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tleaver
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorTrishaLeaver
Instagram: @trishaleaver

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Tour schedule can be found here: http://www.memyshelfandi.com/2015/01/mmsai-presents-secrets-we-keep-by.html