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77th out of 87 books
—
61 voters
Pieces of My Sister's Life
by
Elizabeth Joy Arnold (Goodreads Author)
Two sisters who shared everything. One unforgivable moment.
And a second chance…There’s something to talk about in every chapter of Elizabeth Joy Arnold’s poignant, insightful debut novel—the perfect summer read for all those who loved Elisabeth Robinson’s The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters, Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters, and Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s K...more
And a second chance…There’s something to talk about in every chapter of Elizabeth Joy Arnold’s poignant, insightful debut novel—the perfect summer read for all those who loved Elisabeth Robinson’s The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters, Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters, and Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s K...more
Paperback, 480 pages
Published
July 31st 2007
by Bantam
(first published 2007)
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Hmmm, this book goes some dark dark places. I was drawn in and interested, but at the same time, several things struck me as particularly awful. It's about a set of identical twins and the losses this particular set suffers. To an extent tho, it's almost like they never have 2 lives, most of the time we feel like Eve and Kerry take turns living out a single life. Like the 12 or so years Kerry is gone, we don't hear anything about the sort of life she leads. I don't know if it was poor character...more
I absolutely loved this book. Elizabeth Arnold did an amazing job, especially for her first book. Her writing skills were also amazing. A perfect day read, keeps you wanting to know more. I really enjoyed how Elizabeth kept going between the past and present; especially when you wanted to know why things were, in the present, when they were the same in the past. I also enjoyed the struggle between two sisters. Makes you realize that even through blood, you can be hurt emotionally from a family m...more
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Pieces of My Sister's Life is a story about two sisters, twins, who grow up best of friends, but end up falling in love with the same man. After a series of unfortunate events, Mom runs away and Dad dies, the girls are left to grow up on their own, eventually searching for love and a new beginning in exactly the same place. As each sister goes through a series of ups and downs, the sisters end up hating each other over the shared adoration of Justin, and the betrayel that follows. Fast forward
...more
I suppose I 'enjoyed' this book enough to finish it but I use the term enjoyed very lousy. The characters in this book got under my skin and not in a good way. The more I read the more annoying the characters got. I expect to see flaws in characters but by mid-book I was not feeling sympathetic for any of them! From the review on the book and the description I felt like I should be on somebody's side but I wasn't. As it turned out they were all selfish and nothing ever changed that.
*SPOILERS*
Fir...more
*SPOILERS*
Fir...more
A book about identical twin sisters with different personalities - one a good girl and the other "not so good." Both girls fall in love with the same guy - a neighbor they had grown up with - and led to bebrayal and separation. I can't say I loved this book, but I had a hard time putting it down. The ending left me not knowing who did what to whom and when. I just didn't know who was lying and who was telling the truth. I think it was supposed to be worked out in the end, but I was still angry w...more
This book really got in my heart. It's something that I'll think about a lot. I was rooting for the love story of Kerry and Justin. There is so much involved with these twins. They lead wild lives and I found myself wondering how they could do what they do. But I was so caught up in what was going on. Even though it went back and forth in time it flowed smoothly. I had a sick feeling in my stomach through some of it. I couldn't believe how mean people were to each other. I was hoping that all wo...more
I absolutely loved this book! Authors first book and it was amazing! I'm writing her name down and going to the used book stores in town tomorrow (have to go to the used ones..we only have a Hastings). I was a little apprehensive about reading it when I read the reviews. Some people talked about it being a 'hard' read etc... So far from what I found. I finished in less than a day and a half! I just could not put it down. It was an unusual story, not something run of the mill where you read the s...more
I have mixed emotions about this book. I am a twin and even though when my sister and I were we were mean to each other never ever that mean. when we were teenagers if one of us liked a guy the other one would stay clear of him. So i have a hardtime thinking of a boyfriend getting in the way of a twin sister. Justin got on my nerves. It annoyed me that she slept with him at the end. The only way to redeem herself was to help off her sister just so he couldnt forgive her. This book had a lot of g...more
Two teenage girls (twins) left basically orphans--mother walked out when they were six and the father dies when they're sixteen. They live with the grandparents for a week or two and decide they just can't stand it. So the next door neighbors and the grandparents agree that the girls can live alone and that the neighbor will "watch" over them. Yeah right. The neighbor also happens to be the mother of the girls' "love interest". So the girls get "jobs" after school and pay rent as they live in th...more
Kerry and Eve are twins, and were nearly inseparable growing up, until their seventeenth summer. Something happened then, that changed their lives, and drove them apart. Thirteen years have passed, with neither of them speaking to the other. But something has gone horribly wrong, and they must face their past and face each other in order to get through it.
I didn’t finish this book, so that’s as good of a summary as you’re going to get from me. I was hesitant to read this, as I’m hesitant to read...more
I didn’t finish this book, so that’s as good of a summary as you’re going to get from me. I was hesitant to read this, as I’m hesitant to read...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I loved this book and what great writing from a first time author. I loved the storyline because the people in the book could be so real. And I cried at the end of the book.
The story is about twin sisters, Kerry and Eve. About their childhood without their mother and eventually without their father. Their strengths and weaknesses as sisters and as humans. And in the end, you put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what would you do or say or think or feel if life presented it to you, the wa...more
The story is about twin sisters, Kerry and Eve. About their childhood without their mother and eventually without their father. Their strengths and weaknesses as sisters and as humans. And in the end, you put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what would you do or say or think or feel if life presented it to you, the wa...more
Sep 17, 2007
Tara
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone
Shelves:
loved-it,
i-love-being-a-girl-chikbooks
I just finished this book this past weekend. I have to say this was a splendid novel. There have been times when I just was so angry with my sister, I thought my head would pop off and I think the author does a wonderful job of detailing those things that just irritate us about our siblings, while also examining the strength of blood even after a betrayal.
That being said, here's a short summary: Eve and Kerry are twin sisters raised solely by their father since the age of 6. When tragedy strikes...more
That being said, here's a short summary: Eve and Kerry are twin sisters raised solely by their father since the age of 6. When tragedy strikes...more
Pieces of my sisters life was gut wretching, terrible, but yet truly genious. Arnolds story is captivating! From 1994 to 2007 my oh my how the world has changed for the twins. From playing in mud, falling in love, and death Kerry and Eve's worlds never seemed to be so far apart. This book made me want to scream the way Arnold tells every piece of the characters life seems unrealistic, but very true. Anyone who reads this will find their mind spinning and their hearts pounding. It's a great book.
Mar 13, 2009
Lizzie
added it
This book is so bad...but I cannot stop reading it, I just have to see how many overdramatic soap opera impossible scenarios can be played out in one book! So many improbably scenarios, so many stupid plot twists, gullible characters...even the naming of the sister is so heavy handed....duplicitous Eve. This book gives me great hope that one day my own novels will be published! This is the kind of thing I would have written back in 8th grade, when i was a huge Days of Our Lives fan...
Okay... so I know this book was heavy on the drama, but I really enjoyed it! I became emotionally entangled with the characters and was in tears at the end. Kerry Barnard was insecure, conflicted and angry, but I really connected with her. Eve Barnard, her twin sister, was horrible, so manipulative. Although I don't have a twin, I do have a younger sister, and so I understood Kerry's feelings completely. By the end of the book, my feelings toward Eve changed, as did Kerry's, and I found myself d...more
The hotel we were staying at in Paris had a bookshelf where people left books that they were done reading. I picked this up, thinking it was some sort of easy read fluff book. Easy read, yes. Fluff book, no. Surprising, a well crafted story and I couldn't put it down. I gave it a 5-star for that reason...although - I'm not sure if it's because we were in Paris, winding down and it was a welcome distraction while we rested in the hotel.
I actually thought this was a really good book. Even though I found it so difficult to read. Not difficult as in words etc. but mentally difficult. I just couldn't get my head around how horrible Eve was to her twin sister. I really despised her through most of the book. And still at the end did NOT get how Justin could fall for the Evil Twin.
It was definitely a good read, I've not read anything like it before and never anything that got to me so much. It just pulled me in.
It was definitely a good read, I've not read anything like it before and never anything that got to me so much. It just pulled me in.
I got this from a friend who, like me, is always on a (failing) mission to de-clutter. The sense of doom hanging over the story was very engaging - I actually wanted to know what happened. And why. And she does a great job of analyzing the complex stew of love, hatred, and loyalty between twin sisters, while not attempting to make the destructive one any more likeable than she isn't.
view all 4 comments
Twin sisters who have a series of bad events in their lives end up falling for the same guy. This story was intriguing and had it all: romance, sex, murder, jealousy, abandonment, betrayal, etc. The story bounced between two time frames and the feeling of forboding kept me going to see what they were always hiding from each other, although the drama was a little thick for me.
The book was good, sometimes confusing. I think one of the characters was meant to have some redeeming characteristics, but I could not feel anything but distain toward her. The book tells the story of twin sisters estranged by some darkness in their teens. The story is told with flashbacks to when they were teenagers paralleling with the "present day" (2007) when they finally reunite due to one of the sisters dying of cancer.
Feb 03, 2008
Jodie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
sisters, friends and everyone
Recommended to Jodie by:
the author
So far, so good. I keep getting these preminitions about Eve that aren't so good. I know she's going to end up breaking Kerry's heart.
Well, I was right...Eve did break Kerry's heart. But with the twist towards the end of the book...it wasn't as cut and dry as I thought it was going to be.
This is a great book about family. Twin sisters Eve & Kerry grew up without a mother and with hardly any help from their father. Lots of sibling jealousy but love is the underlying fact throughout the enti...more
Well, I was right...Eve did break Kerry's heart. But with the twist towards the end of the book...it wasn't as cut and dry as I thought it was going to be.
This is a great book about family. Twin sisters Eve & Kerry grew up without a mother and with hardly any help from their father. Lots of sibling jealousy but love is the underlying fact throughout the enti...more
The story is OK, the writing is OK...everything is just OK. It reminded me, story-wise, of Blume's 'Summer Sisters,' which I really enjoyed. This book, however, disappointed and annoyed me, though some of the prose is well-written and poignant. The protagonist is the only character I found pleasant and a decent person. Her sister? I wanted to hit her.
I wanted to like this book but what I really did but what I remember most is feeling depressed and disgusted by the behavior of one of the sisters. It was almost impossible for me to feel sympathetic for her.
The is a great deal going on in this book I must say it is all well written and comes across in a more or less believable manner.
The is a great deal going on in this book I must say it is all well written and comes across in a more or less believable manner.
Considering I have a sister (not a twin, however) I thought this book would resonate more with me, but it didn't. Instead, I just idly read along; the story itself being somewhat predictable.. 2 sisters fall out, don't speak for years, then they are re-united for one reason and all the anger and hatred of past years has to be dealt with..
I wont be reading this book again.
I wont be reading this book again.
Excellent. The characters were identical twins but as different as could be. The complexity of being identical twins is intertwined in this novel in a twisting, loving and yet complicated way. It is a great example of the thin line between love and hate; the competitiveness that exists between most siblings (let alone twins); the acts that one will resort to in order to find or keep the love of their life. I really liked the way that the story went back and forth between the past and present in...more
I picked this up at a garage sale for $.50 :-)
It was actually pretty darn good. I'm going to loan it to my mother. My sis too, if she's interested.
The story was told primarily in two different times - 1993 and 2007. It also flashed back at times to when the main character was 6, probably early 80s.
Overall enjoyable :-)
It was actually pretty darn good. I'm going to loan it to my mother. My sis too, if she's interested.
The story was told primarily in two different times - 1993 and 2007. It also flashed back at times to when the main character was 6, probably early 80s.
Overall enjoyable :-)
I finished this book in about three days, which is a new college record for me because I never have time to read. I couldn't put this book down! It was very fast paced and I really liked it. There were also a lot of twists an turns...very unpredictable. I was also amazed that this was the author's first book. Definitely looking forward to reading more of her stuff!
I really wanted to like this book. On one level, it was compelling, but on another it was overly dramatic. There isn't true character development; being told that Eve was flirty and discovering it for yourself are two different things. Considering that this is Arnold's first book, it should have had more editing.
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