Gemini Rising by Eleanor Wood

Sorana Soren is 16 years old attending a prestigious school. She is neither popular nor un-popular. Though she sometimes wishes that she could attend the public school, have the ability to go up to and talk to the popular girls in her class and that she had the ability to come up with witty remarks/retorts instantly, she is in general content with her life. But things change with the arrival of twin sisters in the middle of the year. There is enough chatter before they arrive and once they do, they change many lives around them – including Sorana’s.

The story starts with Sorana narrating her life before the twins which was kind of routine and had the familiar feeling. Then came the twins. It was easy to see the difference they made. From a generally nice, Sorana turned into someone who wasn’t very likeable. Skipping school, drinking alcohol, shoplifting, dabbling with the supernatural were only a few things that got her into trouble. Her dynamics with her old friends, Natalie and Shimmi, changed too.

The character of Sorana is a bit difficult to like. She is quick to pass judgements and easily influenced and manipulated and she does some pretty stupid stuff. I understand that teenagers are supposed to be most vulnerable and volatile, but there are things that every person with common sense would think twice before doing. Though Elyse and Melanie are twins, they have very contrasting characters. While Elyse is loud and predictable, Melanie is quite and unsettling.

The plot was quite a twisted one. There were a lot of things thrown into the mix and as a result it was kind of overwhelming. Lying, cheating, stealing, drinking and what not. At one point I started feeling if I have had abnormal teenage years because of the sheer amount of wrong things the girls in the book do. There were a lot of twists in the book – some expected, some unexpected. Also, the way the issues were handled in the book were kind of sending mixed messages to me as reader.

Overall, for me it was a rollercoaster ride. But I am not really sure about what kind of message the young minds would take away from it.