Author: Cat Patrick
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0316219433
304 pp.
ARC provided by publisher
The Originals by Cat Patrick has a great premise. Three sisters, Lizzie, Ella, and Betsy, live one life, each girl taking a different time of day. Because Lizzie, Ella, and Betsy aren't really sisters. They are clones.
Their "mother" worked at a lab where they covertly cloned the three girls for a rich couple whose baby, The Original, died. Except the couple just wanted one baby and demanded the other two be destroyed. So the girls' "mother" took them and went into hiding.
The three girls lived as triplets for awhile, but the doctor in charge of the lab was arrested and the government is on the lookout for girl triplets. So a scheme was concocted where Lizzie takes the morning shift, Ella takes the afternoon, and Betsy takes the night. All three of them live as "Elizabeth Best," a seemingly normal teenage high schooler.
But things change when Lizzie is forced to take the afternoon shift and meets cute boy Sean. For the first time, Lizzie realizes how not normal her life is and she's no longer satisfied with just a third of it.
While I loved the premise, the book itself failed to connect with me. The pacing, especially the second half of the book, is slooow. And this is when the shit's supposed to be hitting the fan and secrets are revealed. When secrets are actually revealed, it's anti-climatic and not especially logical.
Lizzie's character is pretty well defined, but the other two girls are characterized mostly by how they dress and what music they like.
The budding romance with cute boy Sean is realistic until the second half, where Sean becomes THE MOST UNDERSTANDING GUY EVER and it strains credulity.
Recommend The Originals to readers looking for a book light on sci-fi and heavy on the romance.
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