Review: The Third Twin by C.J. Omololu

Title: The Third Twin

Author: C.J. Omololu

Genre: YA, mystery thriller

Publication date: February 24th 2015

Published by: Delacorte BFYR

Source: E-ARC from publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis:

Identical twins. Identical DNA. Identical suspects. It's Pretty Little Liars meets 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 rating: ★★★★★
This book was one of my Top 10 Most Anticipated Books of 2015, so you can imagine my excitement wan my request for this book was accepted! And oh my gods was it as good as I expected!

When twins Alexa (Lexi) and Ava were little, they made up their "third twin" Alicia to take the blame for the mischief they got themselves into. Now, years later, the girls decided to bring back Alicia for the sole purpose of dating guys that would be otherwise deemed undateable to the girls... You know, with no strings attached.

"We have three rules for being Alicia--Always wear the diamond pendant; never sleep with any of the guys; and after five dates, they're history, no matter how hot they are."

Except things take an unexpected turn when a guy Alicia went out with only a couple days before, turns up dead. Murdered. But things only get worse from there. All evidence points to Alicia as the killer, and it doesn't help the she's been showing up in places neither Ava or Lexi have been and talking to people the girls had never seen before. Could it be? Is Alicia actually... Real?

I love a good murder mystery, and this mystery was SO good I actually didn't figure out who the killer was until the very, very end (as it should be)! I'm always disappointed when I guess correctly way ahead of time. But The Third Twin did such a fantastic job of weaving this mystery into the story, leaving us little morsels in the beginning that would make us go "Well, duh!" at the end, with the end unraveling perfectly so we could fit the pieces of the puzzles together. And as I said, I seriously had no idea who the killer was, but when I found... holy crap was it shocking! I just sat there, mouth agape, thinking, "Why? WHY?!" But then everything made sense, in a twisted sort of way. Before I even started reading this, I was actually kinda hoping for something supernatural... You know, maybe a Tulpa (basically something, that if you think hard enough about it, it will become real)! That would be so cool! But I will neither confirm nor deny this idea ;) I did love the twist they threw in about the "third twin"... It actually all makes sense!

I loved all the diverse characters we got to meet... I especially loved Eli and Zane! Lexi went out with Eli as Alicia a couple if times and he was just so funny and really sweet! I was so sad when... Things happened :( And Zane is Lexi's childhood-friend-turned-maybe-love-interest, whom I adored even more! He was so sweet and protective and always there to help Lexi when she needed it. The best part was, this wasn't a love triangle! :D You guys know how much I hate those, but somehow the author made it work so we wouldn't really have to deal with that and I was just SO happy!

Filled with mystery and intrigue, this crazy-amazing book was a thrilling adventure you can't not give a try!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! :)