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Twin Sisters #1
Twin Sisters
Determined to find out who killed her twin sister, Elizabeth Herrick begins impersonating Isabel, realizing that only the killer will know something's wrong
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 22, 2010
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was filled with mysteries and it was very intense while reading it. It's about a murder of one of a pair of twins and the other twin is trying to find out what happened. I reccommend thsi book to those who like mysteries. People who read this book shoudl also read the sequel "Twin Terror."
December 31, 2023
Twin Sisters would have been creepy back when it was first published. Today? Not so much. The book cover for this story gave me the impression that it would be a horror novel, but the story itself falls far from reaching that threshold. Rather, Twin Sisters is a novel of suspense, and at most, it is a thriller. Read this in the dark if you want to increase the creepy factor.
The premise of the story is that a twin steps into her sister’s place and takes over her life, almost seamlessly. Elizabeth, the twin raised by their mother, hasn’t really had a chance to put down roots in her lifetime. Her life has been dictated by the whims of her mother. When Isabel dies, Elizabeth is sad, but she also sees a chance to settle down and have a normal life.
Isabel was raised by their father, an eccentric author who rejects human interaction at almost every opportunity. She didn’t have such a bad life with her father, and the two were incredibly close.
Feigning memory loss after a break in during the summer, Elizabeth moves into Isabel's room, goes to her school, hangs out with her friends, and brushes aside any inconsistencies in her behaviour with such ease that I was left wondering how well Isabel’s friends actually knew her. Isabel’s boyfriend’s non-reaction was particularly concerning. He claims to be in love with Isabel, devoted to her, but he doesn’t notice that Elizabeth has taken over. When he finds out that it’s Elizabeth and not Isabel, he declares his love for Elizabeth.
The whole relationship between Isabel/Elizabeth and Rob is a bit odd. From Rob’s point of view, he’s dating Isabel and nothing has changed. Elizabeth knows nothing about Rob, and yet a few weeks after she becomes “Iz”, she declares her love for him. She’s not doing this as Isabel, but as herself, only Rob doesn’t know it. To me, it felt as if their relationship was forced. I suppose that was the point (Elizabeth is pretending to be Isabel after all) so that’s good writing by the author, but it did feel unsettling.
The characters felt a bit flat at times. I feel that the characters could have used some more fleshing-out to become more relatable. I am disappointed that this book wasn’t longer.
The Twin Sisters ending leaves the story feeling unfinished. It stands as a novel on its own, but I do think that you will need to read the sequel, Twin Terror, for it to feel finished.
I really enjoyed Twin Sisters for what it was. It was an enjoyable, easy read, and I highly recommend reading this late at night.
The premise of the story is that a twin steps into her sister’s place and takes over her life, almost seamlessly. Elizabeth, the twin raised by their mother, hasn’t really had a chance to put down roots in her lifetime. Her life has been dictated by the whims of her mother. When Isabel dies, Elizabeth is sad, but she also sees a chance to settle down and have a normal life.
Isabel was raised by their father, an eccentric author who rejects human interaction at almost every opportunity. She didn’t have such a bad life with her father, and the two were incredibly close.
Feigning memory loss after a break in during the summer, Elizabeth moves into Isabel's room, goes to her school, hangs out with her friends, and brushes aside any inconsistencies in her behaviour with such ease that I was left wondering how well Isabel’s friends actually knew her. Isabel’s boyfriend’s non-reaction was particularly concerning. He claims to be in love with Isabel, devoted to her, but he doesn’t notice that Elizabeth has taken over. When he finds out that it’s Elizabeth and not Isabel, he declares his love for Elizabeth.
The whole relationship between Isabel/Elizabeth and Rob is a bit odd. From Rob’s point of view, he’s dating Isabel and nothing has changed. Elizabeth knows nothing about Rob, and yet a few weeks after she becomes “Iz”, she declares her love for him. She’s not doing this as Isabel, but as herself, only Rob doesn’t know it. To me, it felt as if their relationship was forced. I suppose that was the point (Elizabeth is pretending to be Isabel after all) so that’s good writing by the author, but it did feel unsettling.
The characters felt a bit flat at times. I feel that the characters could have used some more fleshing-out to become more relatable. I am disappointed that this book wasn’t longer.
The Twin Sisters ending leaves the story feeling unfinished. It stands as a novel on its own, but I do think that you will need to read the sequel, Twin Terror, for it to feel finished.
I really enjoyed Twin Sisters for what it was. It was an enjoyable, easy read, and I highly recommend reading this late at night.
September 27, 2024
This was actually pretty good, even though I guessed some plot points really early on 😂 It reminded me a bit of The Lying Game
October 19, 2023
My daughter picked this one up for me from the last library book sale. According to her, the way the title looked meant that it would be a "mom book" - she's intimately familiar with my old ya shelf - christopher pike, r.l. stine, etc. I was having a ton of fun with this one, only to get to the end to find that it was to be continued. It's an old school cheesy teen thriller, but it's a trip to read. Suspension of disbelief is easy, and as much as I dislike the use of To Be Continued to sell more books (give me a complete book even if there's a sequel - this has been a complaint of mine ever since I first started having opinions on books, so that's nothing new), I will track down a copy of the sequel to find out what happens. This book was fast paced, engaging, and just close enough to this side of ridiculous to be plausible without being too over the top.
May 8, 2021
Twins, separated at three when their parents divorced. They loved completely separate lives. One twin is murdered over summer break and the other steps into her shoes. No one knows the difference except the murder. The job clearly isn't finished. 🌞🌞(2.5 Stars) It wasn't bad. It ended on a cliffhanger which had me debating whether or not to get the second book. I have decided against it. This is definitely a book more for teens.
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December 29, 2024
I read this book originally when I was in the sixth grade. I was re-reading it as part of a book challenge for the year. I remember living this book... but my reading style has changed. I was a bit bored. It definitely reads as a young teen book. It really only got a bit interesting in the last 20ish pages. When Liz's life is starting to implode. Pretending to be your dead twin sister is not the best idea.
July 9, 2025
Remembered loving this book as a teen & was able to find it again to share with my daughter. As my first thriller, I enjoyed the suspense and twists. The re-read was enjoyable & I think my daughter will enjoy it as well! I’m glad to have it back in my library.
October 20, 2020
An excellent, well-paced and suspenseful story.
December 3, 2020
Twins. Love. Fear. Page 147 twist plot. The ending isn't complete. There must be a second book!!
January 23, 2025
I read this in year 6 and it was unbelievably gripping, and I don't know why I suddenly had the urge to track it down on goodreads but here we are.
April 14, 2025
Kinda like a demented Parent Trap. I guessed the twist but it was a fun ride. Twins! Witches! Old technology! She has a palm pilot of sorts.
Published in 1995.
Published in 1995.
March 22, 2019
Elizabeth and Isabel are twins who have been separated since age 3, when their parents got divorced. Elizabeth's been traveling the world, while Isabel lives with their reclusive father. When Isabel is murdered, Liz immediately flies back to the States, where she slips into Isabel's life with startling ease. She seems to trust Rob, Iz's on-again-off-again boyfriend, but his ex, Amy Rose is in a coven. Liz also discovers that Iz had been seeing a biker. Someone keeps breaking into Iz's house and leaving messages telling her to leave Rob alone, and soon Liz fears for her own life.
When your mother tells you about the death of your twin, who is her also her own child, do you think she would tell you the gory details, like "The shotgun blast had destroyed her face"?? And then her only reaction is to shudder, and later begin to cry, but then tell you that going to the funeral is a silly idea? I couldn't quite wrap my mind around it. That's only the beginning.
Somehow, no one knows that Isabel died, because she was at the family beach house when it happened, and the father is some famous author-recluse and so manages to keep it out of the papers. I suppose that's also why he doesn't worry too much when Liz picks him up from the hospital and drives him home only to find that their mansion has been broken into and Iz's room trashed. You'd think he might have bought a security system or something, at the very least. The house gets broken into a least once more before the end, and there's also a coven that's been meeting on the grounds, but all Liz does is tell her teacher about it. She doesn't even call the police!
The outdated technology cracked me up. I'm pretty sure I read this book back when it came out in 1995, but this edition was printed in 2004, so Iz using a "small personal computer" called "The Wiz" sounded really dated. I'm thinking it's meant to be like a Palm Pilot? "Can't you send messages on those things?" Rob asks, to which Liz muses something about "infrared beams," because apparently text messaging wasn't something anyone had heard of in 2004.
Plot holes and vintage tech aside, this was totally the type of story I loved as a teenager: the idea of taking over someone else's life, murder, secret diaries... The main problem I had with the story was that it ended so abruptly, and clearly implied that there must be a sequel because we get NO CLOSURE WHATSOEVER. You find out that and then BAM, book over. I'm assuming Twin Terror is the second in the series, but there's no blurb at the end advertising book 2, nor is this listed as part of a series here on Goodreads (a fact which I'm about to fix). Maybe Twin Terror will make sense of book 1, but I'm kinda hoping it will be just as ridiculous!
When your mother tells you about the death of your twin, who is her also her own child, do you think she would tell you the gory details, like "The shotgun blast had destroyed her face"?? And then her only reaction is to shudder, and later begin to cry, but then tell you that going to the funeral is a silly idea? I couldn't quite wrap my mind around it. That's only the beginning.
Somehow, no one knows that Isabel died, because she was at the family beach house when it happened, and the father is some famous author-recluse and so manages to keep it out of the papers. I suppose that's also why he doesn't worry too much when Liz picks him up from the hospital and drives him home only to find that their mansion has been broken into and Iz's room trashed. You'd think he might have bought a security system or something, at the very least. The house gets broken into a least once more before the end, and there's also a coven that's been meeting on the grounds, but all Liz does is tell her teacher about it. She doesn't even call the police!
The outdated technology cracked me up. I'm pretty sure I read this book back when it came out in 1995, but this edition was printed in 2004, so Iz using a "small personal computer" called "The Wiz" sounded really dated. I'm thinking it's meant to be like a Palm Pilot? "Can't you send messages on those things?" Rob asks, to which Liz muses something about "infrared beams," because apparently text messaging wasn't something anyone had heard of in 2004.
Plot holes and vintage tech aside, this was totally the type of story I loved as a teenager: the idea of taking over someone else's life, murder, secret diaries... The main problem I had with the story was that it ended so abruptly, and clearly implied that there must be a sequel because we get NO CLOSURE WHATSOEVER. You find out that and then BAM, book over. I'm assuming Twin Terror is the second in the series, but there's no blurb at the end advertising book 2, nor is this listed as part of a series here on Goodreads (a fact which I'm about to fix). Maybe Twin Terror will make sense of book 1, but I'm kinda hoping it will be just as ridiculous!
April 25, 2015
I'm mainly going to discuss both this and the second book, twin terror since I feel it's good to discuss the series and the fact they offer no new stuff for teen thriller genre.
The Twin series by Harrell doesn't provide too much thrills enough to keep me interested and the mystery aspect isn't complex or too dramatic and just comes off plain. However, the series have some suspense though and they're effective, especially the situations the main character goes through. Also, the twist isn't predictable so at least the book provides more entertainment from figuring out who the killer is.
I find Elizabeth to be a bland character since she doesn't have traits that enables me to define her but I do feel some sympathetic for her due to the situations she's in.
I wished the series would improve by:
1. Providing more suspense and action. Maybe make the killer more active by providing obstacles to the main character?
2. Focus more on sister relationship. It's mostly the second book but a little bit of first book since it seems the main character never grief too much over her sister's death but I wish Elizabeth thinks more about her twin sister or maybe the sisters should interact with each other more. I mean it could have build their characters some way.
I see teen literature reader might like this more than hardcore suspense/horror readers
The Twin series by Harrell doesn't provide too much thrills enough to keep me interested and the mystery aspect isn't complex or too dramatic and just comes off plain. However, the series have some suspense though and they're effective, especially the situations the main character goes through. Also, the twist isn't predictable so at least the book provides more entertainment from figuring out who the killer is.
I find Elizabeth to be a bland character since she doesn't have traits that enables me to define her but I do feel some sympathetic for her due to the situations she's in.
I wished the series would improve by:
1. Providing more suspense and action. Maybe make the killer more active by providing obstacles to the main character?
2. Focus more on sister relationship. It's mostly the second book but a little bit of first book since it seems the main character never grief too much over her sister's death but I wish Elizabeth thinks more about her twin sister or maybe the sisters should interact with each other more. I mean it could have build their characters some way.
I see teen literature reader might like this more than hardcore suspense/horror readers
August 1, 2018
Read my full recap at ogwnostalgia.wordpress.com/twin-sisters
An okay first half of a mystery. Janice Harrell stepped her writing up a notch from the horrible The Murder Game, which makes the eye-rolling plot contrivances in this book somewhat more palatable. It's unrealistic and predictable, and the killer is so obvious it's hard to figure out how Liz doesn't immediately point a finger and start screaming "j'accuse!" but this book is entertaining enough that I'll forgive it.
The same, however, can not be said for the sequel.
An okay first half of a mystery. Janice Harrell stepped her writing up a notch from the horrible The Murder Game, which makes the eye-rolling plot contrivances in this book somewhat more palatable. It's unrealistic and predictable, and the killer is so obvious it's hard to figure out how Liz doesn't immediately point a finger and start screaming "j'accuse!" but this book is entertaining enough that I'll forgive it.
The same, however, can not be said for the sequel.
April 11, 2017
I really loved this book and I remember someone had told me to read it because I would like it. I sure did! It kept me interested and I love the twists that were in the book. The only thing that I'm sad about is that this and the sequel twin terror is out of stock because it is from the 1990's its not in print anymore unless you buy it used. So even if I wanted to check it out from the library I can't because my library doesn't have it either.
June 16, 2009
This is one of the few clean book that I've read and liked. This one is more of a horror (surprise surprise.) Those of you who know me really well, know I enjoy scary things because I don't get scared. It's great!
March 24, 2011
I read this when I was in grade school...maybe 7th or 8th grade. I know I loved it back then. I actually read it a few times. Maybe I'll re-read it and see if my adult self likes it as much as my young teenage self once did.
August 30, 2011
I remembered this book when reading the synopsis for the TV show, The Lying Game. The parallels were so close that I had to look up this book and refresh my memory of it's contents. Make me wonder if the producers of that show read it as well. Great mystery book for young readers.
September 23, 2007
I thought it was scary when I was 10, but if I were to go back and read it again, it probably wouldn't be that terrifying anymore.
March 28, 2008
very very cool book!
Read
June 26, 2008I remember that I liked this book and was very upset when I couldn't find the sequel. I better find that before I have kids, since I'm saving it for them.
September 29, 2009
I read this back in high school and it has always stuck with me, wanting to find the sequel to find out what happens. I think today would be a great day to find it and order it.
Read
December 23, 2010GOOD BACK
January 21, 2013
Love this book :)
June 21, 2014
Just as good as I remember it! Now to move on to the sequel!
November 24, 2015
I like it
April 14, 2016
hope there is a 2nd book
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews