Review: The Third Twin by Cj Omololu

The Third Twin by CJ Omololu 
Publisher-Delacorte BFYR
Released-Feb 24th 2015
Purchase- Amazon / B & N

Identical twins. Identical DNA. Identical suspects. It's Pretty Little Liarsmeets Revenge in this edge-of-your-seat thriller with a shocking twist.When they were little, Lexi and her identical twin, Ava, made up a third sister, Alicia. If something broke? Alicia did it. Cookies got eaten? Alicia's guilty. Alicia was always to blame for everything. The game is all grown up now that the girls are seniors. They use Alicia as their cover to go out with boys who are hot but not exactly dating material. Boys they'd never, ever be with in real life.Now one of the guys Alicia went out with has turned up dead, and Lexi wants to stop the game for good. As coincidences start piling up, Ava insists that if they follow the rules for being Alicia, everything will be fine. But when another boy is killed, the DNA evidence and surveillance photos point to only one suspect: Alicia. The girl who doesn't exist. As she runs from the cops, Lexi has to find the truth before another boy is murdered. Because either Ava is a killer…or Alicia is real.

My Thoughts:
The Third Twin, is a twisty whodunit young adult mystery thriller that was an instantly enjoyable escape from the first page, on. Ava and Lexi are identical twins right down to their DNA and when they were younger they invented an imaginary friend-sister, named Alicia. Anything they did wrong- Alicia did it, but as the twins got older they're starting to see that playing the Alicia-card is getting more dangerous and eventually...deadly.

When I first heard about this book I knew that I was interested in reading it but I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did. From the first chapter I was hooked and couldn't wait to see how the twins deal with all these strange things happening to them, or well, to Alicia, a girl who's not even suppose to be real. CJ Omololu writing is very addicting and I love the voices she gave these characters but it was the storyline that had me completely glued to the pages. I might have guessed one of the twist loops but I never saw who the actual culprit was. I was shocked with the final revelation and loved how the Omololu managed to kept me on my toes.

The twins were likeable and easy to connect with. Lexi is smart, driven and focused while Ava is a little more vain and reckless. The twins bring out Alicia when they want to have a little fun since she's the more fearless and daring one. Alicia was great to have around when they were little since it would get them out of trouble, but in their senior days Alicia comes out to play when hot boys are around, that is till they find their 'keeper'. But when the boys that Alicia were dating turns up murdered, this harmless game isn't so harmless any more.

I really loved the girls, they're close and didn't have that sibling rivalry I find in so many other reads, sure they had there disagreements where Alicia was concerned and yes there was a lot of lingering doubts about Ava, but despite all the strange happenings around them, there wasn't to much drama, just straight suspense and an unsettling vibe that there is more to this story. I also really loved Zane! He was pretty awesome, supportive and protective and provided some sweeter moments when things got to intense. 

Bottom line, I had a lot of fun reading this book and while it may not be exactly new, I still love Omololu's take for this genre. The pace is steady, the writing is strong, the characters are realistic and the twist and turns made it a blast trying to guess this thrilling mystery.
A solid escape! 

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