Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Feb 28, 2010

Tory rated it:

“I have never looked into my sisters eyes. I have never bathed alone. I have never stood in the grass at night and raised my arms to the beguiling moon. I’ve never used an airplane bathroom. Or worn a hat. Or been kissed like that. I’ve never driven a car. Or slept through the night. Never a private talk. Or a solo walk. I’ve never climbed a tree. Or faded into a crowd. So many things I’ve never done, but oh, how I’ve been loved. And, if such things were to be, I’d live a thousand l More...

1 comment like (15 people liked it)

Aug 04, 2008

Tortla rated it:

The cover reminded me vaguely of the cover of The God of Small Things (they're both pretty/artsy flowers-on-the-water things) but there's really very little that's similar about the two books, except that they're good. And they have twins in them.

The Girls is amazing. The edition I bought has a little reader's guide questions-section at the end, which I started to read because I kind of didn't want the book to end (seriously, it was really good) and one of the questions was somethin More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Jul 20, 2011

Julie rated it:

Beautifully written story of two sisters who are conjoined. They live in a small town, where everyone knows them as "The Girls". As with any other sisters, they are very different people but unlike every other set of sisters, they are often viewed as "one".

The author has done an amazing job of creating two completely seperate voices and manages to weave a haunting story based on two characters' perspectives who are literally at the same place, at the same time More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 18, 2010

Daisy rated it:

What a moving book. Completely worthwhile, with characters you really love (Uncle Stash and Aunt Lovey) and wisdom and humor. Surprising and unlike anything I've read before. (And there's even a little Eastern European section that I didn't expect--hooray.)

What is it about sadness that can be so fulfilling? (p.30)

Funny how you can measure time by pets that were not even your own. (p. 40)

It was Aunt Lovey's belief that all ordinary people led extraordinary More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 02, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

I found this book while browsing through my public libraries download section. I was looking for a book to try out on my new Nook (LOVE my Nook). I didn't really need a book i wanted to read - it was just a learning exercise. But this one look somewhat interesting so I gave it a try. I can only say WOW! I love love love this book. I still have about 10 pages left to read - and I am taking it really slow because I do not want it to end.

All of the characters are terrifically draw More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

May 15, 2011

Elizabeth added it

I read this concurrently with Jane Hamilton's A Map of the World and, although they are completely different books, found the settings so powerfully similar that I kept getting the books confused. The same kids detassling corn in the summer holidays, the same orange-red carpet in the same early 19th century decrepit farmhouse, the same neighbors with tragically dead kids--it wasn't a bad thing, it was just *weird*, as though I were reading two different news stories from the same local newspape More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 27, 2008

Laura rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 05, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

In what has to be the best blend of heartbreaking sadness and unbelievable joy, author Lori Lansens has managed to write a novel about two girls that you will not soon forget -- if ever. After I finished THE GIRLS, I felt many emotions, but the strongest was that I had just read the story of two of my best and dearest friends. And even though I know that this story is fiction, I can't help but think that somewhere, two girls share a life that is a l More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2007

Kate rated it:

Ruby and Rose are identical twin girls born conjoined at the head. Their birth mother flees from them after they are born, and they are taken in by the attending nurse, Lovey and her husband, Stash, a native Slovak. The girls grow up in a small Canadian border town, and as they learn that they are dying, they decide to write their autobiography. The story spans their growing up and their life together, as well as Lovey and Stash's lives together.

I really, really enjoyed this book, i More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 20, 2007

Punk rated it:

Fiction. The tale of two sisters, siamese twins, joined at the head. Presented as a first person narrative, Rose and Ruby Darlen take turns writing their autobiography. The book is mostly written by Rose, who fancies herself a writer and takes it all very seriously, determined to tell her life story in chronological order. Ruby, on the other hand, doesn't see the point of an autobiography at all -- because technically it isn't an autobiography if there's two of you -- but she doesn't want her op More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2010

Michelle rated it:

This book documents the life of Ruby and Rose, twins who are joined at the head and abandoned by their young Mum. A nurse from the hospital and her husband take the children in and raise them as their own.

Rose dreams of being a writer so start her autobiography, Ruby also includes chapters of her own, and from reading we learn about their life growing up. Stereotypes and assumptions are challenged throughout and you become drawn in.

The Author has obviously researched well, a More...

0 comments like

Mar 02, 2009

S rated it:

wow....WOW. i picked this up thinking it might help me reflect on the relationship i have with my sister. and it does, but there is no comparison. these two sisters, ruby and rose, live a baffling, delicate existence. i had to re-read the first paragraph two times before i realized that it wasn't a joke (and that i should go on to the next paragraph). things are very emotional right now for me, and maybe i'm projecting that onto this book, but wow.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 16, 2007

Tanya rated it:

This is an intriguing look at what life would be like for two people with distinct personalities living inseparable lives.

My favorite quote from the book is regarding Aunt Lovey. “It was Aunt Lovey’s belief that all ordinary people led extraordinary lives, but just didn’t notice.” Think of how profound that is! I think applies particularly well to the story of these girls. Although they had a very unusual medical condition (joined at the head from birth), Ruby and Rose led ordinary More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2009

Valerie rated it:

Compelling, moving, haunting. The story is written as though the conjoined twin girls were writing their autobiographies. There were several times I forgot I was reading fiction! Lansens is a remarkable writer and the story she told was fascinating. There are moments of despair, moments of hope, moments of horror, moments of delight. The Girls is deeply human and deeply tragic.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 21, 2009

Linda rated it:

Interesting novel about conjoined twins. Each writes a chapter revealing their very distinct personalities. Their teenage mother leaves them as soon as they are born when she sees that they are conjoined. One of the delivery nurses and her husband adopt Ruby and Rose and raise them as normal girls, expecting them to do chores, have jobs and do well in school. Since Ruby fails algebra, although Rose passes with an A, she has to attend summer school. Of course, Rose must, also, sit through sum More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 24, 2008

Jessica rated it:

Excellent story about conjoined twins and their lives. Rather than focusing on the 'spectacle', the author does a very good job about telling their stories from the two girls' perspectives. I love the way this author writes prose. Favorite quote: Uncle Stash grinned at the black man, who he knew would understand and appreciate his humor. "You caught me. Only one girl is real. The other is bomb." The small black man did not laugh. And neither did Aunt Lovey, when we were detaine More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 15, 2010

Kim rated it:

Thanks to my sister Katie for suggesting this book. It was a lovely, engaging story with interesting characters and plot lines. It is told from the perspectives of conjoined twin sisters who take turns telling parts of their autobiographies. I loved the distinct voices of Rose and Ruby, and their different storytelling styles. I enjoyed getting to know the characters bit by bit as their life stories unfolded throughout the book. There were many tender moments in this book, several surprises More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 18, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

I love when I finish a book and it stays with me for days afterward as I continue to wonder about the characters and what may still be happening even though the story in the book has ended. This is going to be one of those books. I can't think of one negative thing to say about any aspect of this book. I loved the characters, ALL of them. I loved that the author told the story as if Rose and Ruby were writing an autobiography (I had to remind myself it was fiction numerous times).Simply an amazi More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 21, 2008

Barky rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Oct 03, 2011

Rachel rated it:

This is a story about Rose and Ruby Darlen, joined at the side of their heads. I had to read this book.

Off I transported to my childhood in the 50's, when the CIRCUS came to visit our little town in the middle of the Pacific....to the tent with the soiled penants drooping in our humidity, the tattered sign "Freak Show" COME one and all to see the MONKEY LADY (microcephalic pathetic girl whose eyes met my overblown look of wonder); the SNAKE LADY (a sad face with severe pl More...

1 comment like

Sep 06, 2011

Maria rated it:

The Girls is a novel about a pair of craniopagus twins (conjoined at the head), as told by both of them in their very distinct voices. Rose and Ruby Darlen were born conjoined on the same day that a tornado hit the Canadian town of Leaford, so their whirlwind birth had twice the punch on their small community. Their birth mother disappeared from their lives and they were lovingly raised by the nurse who helped deliver them, and her husband. Due to the complex way their vascular systems were i More...

0 comments like

Aug 06, 2011

Nikole rated it:

Right before I opened the book to begin reading, I decided to read the synopsis on the back cover to try to refresh my memory on what the book was suppose to be about. It was a very quick blurb and read quickly one would assume it was a story about the relationship between sisters. Nothing too exciting, and certainly not a story line that hasn't been done many times over. Considering how much I liked the last book I read (read: not at all), I had little hope of even finishing this book.

More...

0 comments like

Jul 31, 2011

Holly added it

What a moving story - one, essentially, not about being a pair of conjoined twins, but about the closeness of the sisters, the love that their Aunt and Uncle feel for them, their differing interests, and their pole positions in personality. In terms of writing, the girls' two different styles was refreshing. I always looked forward to Ruby's more direct commentary on the present day, and her assumptions of what Rose had written, whereas Rose's stories from the past were a great way of portraying More...

0 comments like

Mar 09, 2011

Arlene added it

Meet Rose and Ruby: sisters, best friends, confidantes, and conjoined twins. Since their birth, Rose and Ruby Darlen have been known simply as "the girls." They make friends, fall in love, have jobs, love their parents, and follow their dreams. But the Darlens are special. Now nearing their 30th birthday, they are history's oldest craniopagus twins, joined at the head by a spot the size of a bread plate.

When Rose, the bookish sister, sets out to write her autobiography, it More...

0 comments like

Aug 28, 2010

Jackie rated it:

I'd prefer to give this 3 1/2 stars, but am giving it 4 because I liked the characters and the way Lori Lansen writes. There's some great use of language and imagery in here. Also, I lived for 18 mo. in London, Ontario, so could relate to the surroundings. However, this tale of conjoined twins often pulled me out of the story, because I couldn't imagine how these attached-at-the-head sisters did some of the things described. The one sister, Ruby, does not have fully developed legs so the other, More...

0 comments like

Mar 08, 2010

RNOCEAN rated it:

Some books translate so smoothly to audio that they seem meant to be read aloud, and this fictional autobiography of 29-year-old conjoined twins Rose and Ruby Darlen is one such tale. Though joined at the head, "The Girls" have separate bodies and distinct personalities, which come to life through Zimbalist's and Davidovich's narration. Zimbalist takes on the husky voice of Rose, a writer who's intent on penning her life story-in other words, this audio. She has coerced Ruby, voiced to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 30, 2009

Rachel rated it:

Rose and Ruby's story is one that is full of twists and turns, and keeps you enthralled until the last page. Their birth and subsequent abandonment takes place during a tornado, where their stepmother begins her life-long job of protecting them from the press and crowds. They grow up quietly in a small town, living on a farm where Ruby has a knack for finding artifacts from the ancient native tribes that used to live in the area. Their adult life is full of twists and turns, from learning to lea More...

0 comments like

May 18, 2009

Stephy rated it:

This was a pretty good book.
And throughout the book you had to keep reminding yourself that it wasn't a true story.
Think the book description explains it better then I will LOL

Meet Rose and Ruby: sisters, best friends, confidantes, and conjoined twins.

Since their birth, Rose and Ruby Darlen have been known simply as "the girls." They make friends, fall in love, have jobs, love their parents, and follow their dreams. But the Darlens are special. Now n More...

0 comments like

May 15, 2009

Michelle rated it:

The Girls Novel is about the two main characters, Rose and Ruby Darlen, who are sisters, best friends, and conjoined twins. The story includes how they make friends, fall in love, have jobs, love their family, deal with their obstacles, and follow their dreams. The Darlens are special because nearing their 30th birthday they are history’s oldest craniopagus twins that are joined at the head by a spot the size of a brad plate.
When Rose, the bookish sister, sets out to write her autobiogra More...

0 comments like

May 23, 2011

Hannah rated it:

'The Girls' is the story of Rose and Ruby Darlen; a set of twins joined at the head. It is their life story, told in the form of an autobiography written mainly by Rose. It takes us from their birth, a traumatic affair with more than a bit of a Frankenstein's monster air about it all, right through to their adult lives; events from their childhood and teenage years told engagingly throughout.

Aside from the slightly cheesy birth story and the occasional realisation of "Hang on; thi More...

0 comments like

reviews