family – BookBunnies

Marshmallow reviews Almost Identical: Two-Faced by Lin Oliver

Earlier this year, Marshmallow read and reviewed Almost Identical by Lin Oliver, the first of a series of books recommended to us by one of our readers (thank you again, you-know-who-you-are!). Today she is talking about Two-Faced, the second book of the series, published in 2012.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about family, friendship, or middle school drama, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Charlie Diamond just got invited to the party of the century but her twin sister Sammie didn’t. Ever since they came to their new middle school, Charlie and Sammie began to grow apart; Charlie was immediately drawn to the popular, rich SF2 group while Sammie found a home with the nerdier, geekier Truth Tellers. The division between the social groups is rather stereotypical except that the two sisters are now on opposite sides. They’ve worked it out pretty well after the first book, but the invite reminds them of this separation again and things start to unravel soon after.

Lauren–the richest, prettiest, and most popular girl in school–is Charlie’s new best friend but can’t bother to study with her for their upcoming history final. Because of her bad grades, Lauren is banned from attending the big party which is the biggest tragedy she’s experienced. As a naturally sympathetic friend, Charlie feels horrible for her and she’s slowly persuaded by her friend group to help Lauren get a good grade through shady means. Charlie is faced with the classic dilemma of sticking with her morals or doing what she knows will get her further acceptance by the popular group.

Sammie is initially blissfully unaware but eventually realizes that Charlie is struggling with this decision. As almost identical twins and tennis partners, they are two halves of the same circle. Keeping secrets creates fractures though and Charlie finds herself in the midst of classic middle school suspense, drama, and excitement while also holding herself to her father’s competitive expectations in tennis.

To get a scholarship for college, she and Sammie need to win; to win her crush’s heart, she needs to not mess up. To not mess up her social life within the popular circle, she needs to keep secrets. But, as one expects, keeping secrets is never a good idea and the web of lies eventually untangles before her. Luckily, her sister and friends are there for her! Still, there are some things that friendship and family can not fix and Charlie learns far more about life than she first expected when she received that initial party invite that started it all.

Marshmallow is reading Almost Identical: Two-Faced by Lin Oliver. — Marshmallow is reading *Almost Identical: Two-Faced* by Lin Oliver.

Marshmallow’s Review: I found it interesting that the book started off rather classically with a cliche “should I do something bad to become popular?” dilemma but transformed into a more unique story. I was surprised that the ending was not very simple. I expected there would be a sudden happy ending and, even though it seemed for a while that there was a set-up for that, things ended well but in a realistic way.

I found it interesting that the people in the book were not walking stereotypes without dimension; both jocks and nerds are presented with more depth and character. I applaud the author for adding good characters in both social circles. I liked how Sammie also kept Charlie grounded when the richer kids began rubbing off on her and giving her a skewed sense of perspective. I think the author also did a good job of establishing that all of the characters are flawed but fundamentally good people, something most coming-of-age stories do not always accomplish; often, individuals are representative of one specific trait that is either positive or negative and that is the extent of character development.

I will say that I was a little disappointed that justice was carried out unfairly (I can’t say much more without spoiling) and that the book ended with an ambiguous message. The moral of the story kind of implies that it is okay to break rules and go against what you know is right as long as the people you do it for are still nice to you after. I think it is important for young bunnies to learn that you should have boundaries you set for yourself that you will not cross for any relationship, regardless of how much you care about the other individual. I understand that circumstances influence decision but this book does (SPOILER) kind of let Lauren get away scot-free with cheating on a history test while Charlie ends up being punished by the school.

Academic violations are not a joke and the fact that the book kind of glosses over the fact that Lauren and Charlie stay good friends without Lauren ever owning up to her own guilt allows that unhealthy relationship dynamic to remain. Charlie ends up being prosecuted by the school (luckily not expelled at least) while Lauren just says sorry to her privately and gives her gifts as an apology. She is sweet but that doesn’t mean that it is okay for her to keep quiet and let Charlie take all the blame, especially since the reason why Lauren cheated was because she was too lazy to actually study herself.

I’ve written about this a lot because I do not think this was a very good handling of the situation because ultimately Lauren chooses herself and Charlie stays loyal to her, reinforcing a hierarchical dynamic that might reflect their respective economic positions (Charlie’s father works for the sports club owned by Lauren’s parents). It might be a realistic situation but I think it should be highlighted by parents giving or teachers assigning this book to young readers. I found that aspect to be unsatisfactory. Charlie doesn’t end up getting most of what she wants except for a sweet romantic moment; one should interpret this as a warning but this once again reinforces the idea that it is okay to succumb to peer pressure because–hey, you might get in big time trouble and almost get yourself and your sister kicked out of school but–you will eventually get the guy!

Charlie is content at the end of the book even though the book does do a good job detailing the repercussions of her actions. I think this contradiction is worth thinking deeper about. This is overall a very good book. I think there are just some mixed messages on the surface that should be looked at closer to see the fuller message: you can make a mistake and still be happy but you will still lose some of the things you want.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Almost Identical: Two-Faced by Lin Oliver 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Almost Identical: Two-Faced* by Lin Oliver 95%.

Marshmallow reviews If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura

Today Marshmallow reviews If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura, originally published in Japanese in 2012; the English translation that Marshmallow read, by Eric Selland, is dated 2019.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books that make you truly think about life or if you just like cats, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): The narrator is never named in this book, but we know that he lives in a small town in rural Japan and that he works as a mailman. He tells you in the first page everything you need to know about him to understand how the story starts. After being diagnosed with a Stage 4 brain tumor, he is informed by his doctor that he has – at most – six months to live. He imagines responding in outrageous ways (running out of the office, screaming his head off, etc), but ends up thinking immediately about very superficial things: he was only one stamp away from getting a free massage at the local spa, he stocked up on too much toilet paper, he shouldn’t have bought so much laundry detergent last time. He leaves in somewhat of a stupor, his emotions rather suspended for a man who just received a death sentence. While he waits at the train station, he hears a small band singing a song about living in the moment and silently scoffs at their cliched idiocy. When the train takes too long, he decides to walk home instead and makes it to his door. Unfortunately, the reality of his situation sets in right as he stands in the doorway of his small, modest house and he collapses from overwhelm.

When he wakes up, he is met by his doppelganger who somehow appeared in his home. It / He introduces itself / himself as the “angel of death” or, his more widely known name, the Devil. The narrator is not impressed by his apparel. After all, he expected the Devil himself to be more intimidating; rather, he is the narrator’s twin in physical appearance but with a horrific fashion sense. Dressed in bright Hawaiian t-shirts that the narrator strongly disapproves of, the Devil gives the dying man an offer. If the narrator agrees, the Devil will make one thing disappear from the world forever each day the man’s life is extended. It’s a rather simple deal. But, obviously, there is a catch–otherwise there would be no plot. The Devil gets to choose the object that will vanish and the object (and every object like it in existence in the world) will be erased and no one will ever remember it existed at all. Only the narrator will know.

Initially, the narrator is hesitant to agree, but the Devil reveals to him that he is set to die tomorrow. He is thus forced to decide today. With the inevitability of death staring him in the face (physically and temporally), only inches away, the man agrees.

The Devil’s first choice is the phone. He allows the narrator one last phone call before they disappear and so he calls a mystery someone to meet with them tomorrow one last time. The man wakes up the next day, alive and breathing, to a world without cellphones. At first, this is not a horrible horrible change. Everyone is reading or talking on the train when they used to just stare at screens the whole ride. His meeting with a mystery someone goes somewhat well, but but his past mistakes are slowly revealed. He’s lived a simple life but relationships are rather complex regardless. His family gently broke apart until – after his mother’s death – he stopped speaking to his father entirely. He and his girlfriend similarly separated after another tragedy, exposing a pattern of poor communication.

With each day, he gains new understanding of what his life was like and what it could have been. Of course, with each added day, he also loses something. The world loses telephones completely, movies, clocks… Each day, the narrator has to grapple with the fact that he is sacrificing something that belongs to everyone to save himself. He is forced to weigh his worth and the worth of a single life and how it compares with objects no one notices until they’re gone.

Marshmallow is reading If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura. — Marshmallow is reading *If Cats Disappeared from the World* by Genki Kawamura.

Marshmallow’s Review: If Cats Disappeared from the World is such a good book that is so truly simple. I will admit, the premise might feel a little cliche at the start. There have been a lot of books, movies, and thought experiments throughout human history centered on a character who is given an unavoidable death sentence. The journey of facing and having to accept one’s mortality is a naturally fascinating thing to mortal beings. But, while this book has a rather simple premise, it still makes you think in ways you might not expect. The plot is based on a much calmer and more common scenario than most books about mortality (e.g. often the characters live in mythical lands and face death on a day-to-day basis on their swashbuckling adventures). Here, the character is a more ordinary person than most, living in a quiet town in rural Japan where everything he has done is pretty much normal. But I think the frank simplicity and the seeming normal-ness of the setting serve to make this an even more potent experience.

I think reading If Cats Disappeared from the World is somewhat like meditating. It takes the most simple things and makes you re-examine them through the eyes of a dying man, enlightening you with a greater appreciation of the quieter, lesser seen parts of life. The writing is very clear throughout the entire book and only what is necessary is included. I read the translated version of this book (the original is in Japanese) so I cannot really speak to what it would have been like in the original language. However, the book’s simple nature of overwhelming the reader through highlighting the underwhelming was very impressive.

Each chapter represents another day and is labeled with the day of the week and a related title. It helps keep things in order and makes the plot make sense. This is a very not complicated book to read so I think anyone can easily read and understand it. I think it might be worth reading it slower though so each day sinks in a little more and you have time to interpret everything and think about how it relates or applies to your own life. It can also just be read in a day as it is less than 170 pages. But I think, just like the simple things mentioned in this book, this simple book matters more than one might think and it can and should completely change your perspective on life.

I think this book has truly made me value my relationships and the simple beauties in life on a level I did not before. I think reading books that make you think deeper and feel more grateful truly increases the quality of your life. Because, while you never know how long it will be, you can determine how rich your life is by how much you appreciate it and every moment, every breath, and every memory.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 1,000%.

Marshmallow rates If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura 1,000%. — Marshmallow rates *If Cats Disappeared from the World* by Genki Kawamura 1,000%.

Marshmallow reviews Almost Identical by Lin Oliver

Today Marshmallow reviews Almost Identical, the 2012 book by Lin Oliver that starts the eponymous four-book series. This book series was recommended to the book bunnies by a reader of the blog: thank you, you-know-who-you-are!

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like sweet stories that surprise you with their depth and potential significance to your own life, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Sammie and Charlie Diamond are identical twins. Though their names might not sound like it, they are both twelve year old girls (twelve years and three quarters to be exact!) Being identical twins, they’ve done everything together since birth. They are extremely good tennis players and compete constantly in doubles leagues. This is mostly due to their father’s desire to live somewhat vicariously through their success. He was set to become a professional player but was injured in a game and had to have a career-ending surgery. Now, he works as the athletic director at the Sporty Forty beach club in Santa Monica teaching tennis and supervising things in general.

Luckily, the family and GoGo (the girls’ grandmother) are allowed to live in the old caretaker’s beautiful bungalow for free by the beach. Unluckily, Sammie and Charlie’s mother is off in Boston at culinary school so she can start up a restaurant when she comes back. That means Sammie and Charlie are on their own to deal with their annoying older brother Ryan. They have plenty to worry about besides him though. Moving from Culver City Middle School to the more affluent Beachside Middle School is a bit of a jarring change.

One girl in particular–Lauren Wadsworth–is so rich and famous and smart and beautiful (allegedly) that they had heard about her before moving. The cool kids / jocks call themselves the SF2s because they are the second generation of the owners of the Sporty Forty (which is owned by several very wealthy families). Sammie and Charlie meet Lauren before school starts though as she is hosting her birthday party at the club; because she has a crush on Ryan, Lauren eventually invites all three of the Diamond children to the event.

This is the start of the end for Sammie. Before all of this, she was already being essentially attacked by her father and brother for being ‘too heavy.’ At the party, she is reminded yet again that she does not fit in as well as Charlie. Charlie is desperate to get in with the in-group and she does well, especially since Lauren can’t wait to get closer to the Diamond family (though she is mostly interested in a specific annoying eighth grade boy…cough, cough, Ryan).

Basically, Charlie fits in. Sammie, on the other hand, does not. She is uncomfortable around the girls and feels like she has to constantly be putting on a fake performance to hang around them. When she leaves to play Frisbee with the boys on the beach, she is quickly told that Charlie is “the hot version of you.” This feeling of growing alienation between Sammie and the SF2s and Charlie remains long after the party is over. Sammie feels most comfortable with the ‘weird’er kids, like Alicia whom she meets at the party. After immigrating from El Salvador at the age of three, Alicia’s family is integrated into the club in a different way from most of the party guests. Her mother works essentially as a maid while her father is the groundskeeper. She is similarly an outsider and the two girls click.

The only thing is that Sammie and Charlie no longer do. Like it says on the book’s cover, they are “growing up and growing apart.” Charlie is doing pretty well for herself in the cliquey SF2 group while Sammie is starting to embrace her more authentic, unique identity at a school club called the Truth Tellers (where students practice and perform stand-up speaking intended to reveal personal stories to the audience in a meaningful way). The two girls were always “two halves of a circle” but change is the only constant. Within three weeks, Sammie and Charlie slowly realize that they are more different than they thought; with new, growing identities, they are no longer almost identical.

Marshmallow is reading Almost Identical by Lin Oliver. — Marshmallow is reading *Almost Identical* by Lin Oliver.

Marshmallow’s Review: Almost Identical is so very well done! I think the author deserves a round of applause for handling a relatively overused trope with new nuance and depth. This was the first time I read a book about siblings or best friends growing apart in different directions and I felt like it was truly a detailed account of the storyline. Oftentimes, pre-teen books or teen books about growing up and change in middle school have to resort to the typical Mean Girls level of characterizing certain cliques. This book did also have the SF2s, which are somewhat similar. However, it felt a lot more realistic and less cartoonish. I really liked the Mean Girls movie, but Oliver’s novel is a lot more grounded in reality and speaks more to the true middle school experience than most other, more exaggerated accounts do.

Sammie is a very impressive young girl and seeing things from her lens is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. She definitely suffers a lot from body shaming as her father is determined to make her into the best possible tennis player. He believes she is too heavy and that her weight is slowing her down, despite the fact that she is not really overweight in the first place. Her brother joins in unhelpfully in the worst possible situations and his girlfriend-to-be a.k.a. Lauren soon follows suit. Within the first chapter, you develop a deep sympathy for Sammie and she is a very likeable protagonist.

I think the author was very smart to start the book the way she did as it curries favor with the reader to like Sammie almost instantly. This book–as it is told by her–portrays Sammie as the morally correct, wiser of the twins. However, Charlie’s growth is also portrayed in a relatively nonjudgmental light at the end. I really liked how the rapidly expanding rift between them is eventually accepted as separate paths that will define them as different people. This was handled in a very soft, beautiful way.

I feel like this story of struggling, navigating, and then willing letting yourself be taken by change is relevant to more than just middle schoolers. As a high schooler realizing that things are changing and will continue to change a lot more, I found this story very comforting. It gave me a sense of clarity that, despite continual change and occasional chaos, impermanence can lead to new places, perspectives, and people you had never considered before. That is a lesson I think we can all benefit from.

Given its accessible and entertaining prose, I think Almost Identical is a very sweet story that would be amazing for all bunnies. Of course, it is most important for pre-teens and teens to read about situations that most closely align with their own experiences. But adults shouldn’t scoff at the idea of reading this book either! Caramel and I aren’t twins, but I hope he reads this book too. Change is an undeniable, unyielding force in our universe, and reading these seemingly small works of human art can serve as a tether to what grounds us as the world seems to transform around us.

I would like to especially thank the reader who recommended that we read this book! Even though the author finishes this book in a satisfying manner, I look forward to reading the next book of this series!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Almost Identical by Lin Oliver 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Almost Identical* by Lin Oliver 100%.

Marshmallow reviews Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden

Today Marshmallow reviews Dear Debbie, a psychological thriller by Frieda McFadden published in 2026.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about murder, revenge, and vigilante justice, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Debbie Mullen might seem like a happy, contented housewife, but she has secrets far beyond what meets the eye. Like most mothers of teenagers, she is struggling to keep communication open with her two daughters, Lexi and Izzy. Lexi is a brilliant honors student senior but her boyfriend Zane is basically a stereotypical jerk. He is exactly the type of person that every parent hopes their child stays away from. So that is a bit of an issue for Debbie, as Lexi is determined to keep on seeing Zane and keep Debbie out of her life. Izzy is not as stereotypically rebellious, but she is silently hiding her problems from her parents too. Since she started playing soccer at a young age and she loves the sport with all her heart, Izzy has become one of the best players on her school’s team. Naturally, it is a bit of a shock for Debbie to learn that Izzy was kicked off the team (or possibly quit, though Izzy won’t tell her which). All of this chaos coincides with Debbie being fired from her part-time job at the local newspaper where she runs an advice column called ‘Dear Debbie’ (hence the name of the book!) Frankly, she is not having a good time.

This was not the life Debbie had imagined for herself when she was younger. With an IQ of 178 and an acceptance to MIT, she was told she would be the next Bill Gates. Unfortunately, she dropped out around halfway through for reasons she keeps hidden from everyone around her. Now, Debbie loves her family but feels under stimulated and underestimated. She keeps herself busy by maintaining an immaculate house and a lush garden, building apps every now and then, and keeping her family safe. She developed one app named Findly that allows her to track her family members (with their consent, of course, and in turn they can track her whereabouts at all times). That is how she learns that her husband is acting strange, “driving” around at night and turning off his location sharing for long periods of time. This is a cause for concern, but she also has other things to worry about, specifically, other people who she feels need to be brought to justice.

Debbie keeps a file on her laptop of secret Dear Debbie responses she wrote but never sent because they all ended with her advising the reader to take matters into their own hands in often violent ways. She decides to take her own advice and becomes somewhat of a housewife from hell. You’ll be surprised by how layered her plans are because nothing she does is unintentional.

Marshmallow is reading Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden. — Marshmallow is reading *Dear Debbie* by Freida McFadden.

Marshmallow’s Review: Whatever you think about Dear Debbie, it is definitely a very impressive storytelling job. I did not see the main plot twist coming at all. I saw some of the others, but not the main one! I was shocked by how everything ended up being neatly tied together. Some of it felt a tiny bit like a stretch, but it was overall extremely impressive. Frieda McFadden seems to write a lot of this type of book, with “shocking central plot twists”, and I can tell that she has gotten very very good at it.

I enjoyed reading Dear Debbie and found its plot to be stimulating; it kept you constantly guessing at what was to come. I also liked how the story was told from several different perspectives and how that style ended up concealing certain key parts that were revealed at the end in a rather fantastic manner. Debbie is a bit of a psychological case study though. She is extremely good at managing her emotions on the surface but creates karma in secret in ways that are definitely illegal.

I would like to suggest that thrillers like this may have normalized murder a bit. And this is the first book I have read written from a murderer’s perspective, so I found it very disturbing. I did not like how simply and matter-of-factly she pulled the trigger(s). I don’t think bunnies younger than fourteen should be exposed to such a blase take on death. That said, it was a good book though. The writing is very fresh and entertaining, and the characters are all created in a very well thought out way. Some are very clearly designed to be hated and they definitely do make you feel as such. All others are made to be understood as three dimensional individuals with deep nuance.

Debbie herself has a story that is slowly peeled open to show her deep seated trauma and pain. It is revealed towards the end of the book (SPOILER!!!) that she was sexually assaulted as a college student, leading to her festering anger and eventual exit from MIT. This makes Dear Debbie suddenly hold much more weight than the average psychological thriller because she represents the extremes of what can happen when a mostly normal person is pushed to the limits of what is humanly endurable.

Reading Dear Debbie is entertaining of course. But I would also recommend reading this book as a way to think about and discover the darker parts of human nature and self control. When you read about Debbie’s own sense of justice, it makes you investigate your own with more focus. I don’t think everyone she punished deserved exactly what they got, but it was definitely a book that makes you understand why hurt people hurt people. The cycle of pain is one of the most tragic parts (if not the most tragic part) of the human experience and condition. Reading books like this one makes you realize just how ingrained that process is. Only when we read and recognize such a pattern can we acknowledge its existence and work to make a truer, better form of justice based on rehabilitation and the prevention of pain in the first place. In an imperfect world like our own, Debbie’s definition of karma is naturally understandable. I just hope that one day the cycle of pain and ‘justice’ becomes something we only read about in books like this.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 98%.

Marshmallow rates Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden 98%. — Marshmallow rates *Dear Debbie* by Freida McFadden 98%.