The Originals by Cat Patrick

The Originals by Cat Patrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A riveting new story from Cat Patrick, author of Forgotten and Revived.

17-year-olds Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey Best grew up as identical triplets... until they discovered a shocking family secret. They're actually closer than sisters, they're clones. Hiding from a government agency that would expose them, the Best family appears to consist of a single mother with one daughter named Elizabeth. Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey take turns going to school, attending social engagements, and a group mindset has always been a de facto part of life...

Then Lizzie meets Sean Kelly, a guy who seems to see into her very soul. As their relationship develops, Lizzie realizes that she's not a carbon copy of her sisters; she's an individual with unique dreams and desires, and digging deeper into her background, Lizzie begins to dismantle the delicate balance of an unusual family that only science could have created. 


My thoughts: I really love Cat Patrick. She brings "Novel" back to novels. Sure, she includes relationships and some of the teenage drama that goes with it but she always adds a twist. The twist is introduced in the beginning and the details work themselves out by the end. One book was about a girl who has no memory of yesterday. Only the future. Every night her mind resets. Another was about a girl who died a lot. The twist is that she could be revived.

This time the story is about Elizabeth Best who lives with her single mother. The twist is that Elizabeth is three people who are living as one person but they are clones. The problems arise when they begin to exert their individuality because, although they look identical, they are very unique. They are living as one person so they are not found. Their mother is the scientist who cloned them.

Any more info will ruin the conflict but the POV is told by Lizzie, the unconventional and artistic of the three. Ella is more preppy and academic while Betsy is simply more adventurous and willing to plot ways around the rules. Enter Dave who Ella likes and Sean who Lizzie likes. That is a catalyst. But there is so much more because that is the way Patrick writes. The girls are spunky and make the story more interesting with dialogue.

Loved it.