Though I did not grow up as a twin of anyone, I still have four siblings ,which leads to both a lot of joy and strife. In many ways I can’t relate to Alex and Lindsey’s struggles because I am not in that same place, nor do I have that same bond that it seems is very different for twins.In other respects, however, I can really understand the jealousy, the envy, the need to be seperate and define yourself and of course the battle between thinking you understand that person who you lived with for years but finding you are far from knowing them.The truth is that having siblings is tough sometimes but you love them anyway. In relationship to this book I think it is easiest for me to use my sister’s to help understand Alex and Lindsey’s relationship.In one sense I knew how this book was going to end. I just knew that it would not end on a bad note, which was kind of a let down because it took some of the mystery out of the story. On the other hand, I did not know that the twist of events at the end were going to go down that very path, so there still was a little bit of mystery to the story.What I think really made this book an easy and enjoyable read was the relatableness and everyday reality. We saw this first in Lindsey’s stressful life relaxing when she took a new turn with her life and then in the sadness of Alex’s life unraveling and being reformed.What struck me the most though can be summed up best by Lindsey’s friend May…
I think we are constantly reinventing ourselves. First we change from babies into little kids, and then teenagers, which are a whole separate species that probably belong in a zoo.We barely have time to try out being adults before there is pressure on us to find a partner and a new identity as a couple, and then most of us turn into parents.The next thing you know time is moving faster and faster and middle age is upon us.Those of us who have kids are dropping them off at college,and the rest of us are looking at strangers in the mirror with crow’s-feet and gray hair, and wondering how we have managed overnight to morph into our parents.But I think if we don’t fight it to hard- if we don’t cling to the person we used to be and instead let go of paralyzing fear and turn into what we are meant to be next– it’s easier.
While I am only at the beginning of that transformation in terms of the whole process it already seems to me that I have come so far. I am one to look back upon who I was and to see the changes. Yet, I am also one to let go of what was and not let it weigh me down as I move forward. Right now even though that was a smaller theme in the novel, it was what struck me the most because I am in the middle of getting ready to move onwards from high school to college. I know that by the end of this year I will be a vastly different person. I am a little scared but mostly excited for what is to come. So many possibilities and so many new adventures await me…. And because I am okay with letting go. It really is so much easier. Perhaps, in the next stage of my life I will even get to know my siblings better. That is the beauty of our continual change.
Thank you for reading and sharing your thought on this post, book and quote.
-Wishing you the brightest of days,Eva
” Me and the pen, we are one. If its ink would cease to flow, my ink would cease to flow.”
1withthepen 