Review: The Originals by Cat Patrick

Title: The Originals
Author: Cat Patrick
Series: n/a
Book #: 1
Pages: 304
Reading Level:YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.88
Published: Mat 7th, 2013.

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.

Taschima's POV:

"Until then, I'd thought I was a triplet.
Little by little, it all came out after that.
And now, little by little, I'm starting to wish I could send it back to wherever it came from."

Would it be cheesy for me to say that The Originals was very original? Because it really was. The whole concept was unprecedented, at least I've never read anything like it. At the beginning of The Originals the concept was a bit disorienting and hard to buy but the author certainly made it work and answered all questions I had when it came to the "triplets" life schedule since they had to pretend they were ONE person. Yikes, that sounds like a headache. And what happens when they get a crush? Or when someone notices their differences? Or when they get tired of being the same person? Well, the novel answers all these questions and more.

"She's told us the story a lot, but only since we moved to California. Before then, it was all innocence and bliss. After we fled Florida, she told us about her work at the genetics lab that was secretly cloning humans while the rest of the world was getting excited about a cloned sheep."

Elizabeth Best is the model student. She gets straight As on Math and science, she is on the cheering squad, is a great writer, dances fantastically, takes night classes to get ahead of the game, and has an extra job. She sounds pretty perfect doesn't she? Elizabeth Best is also composed of three very different people—Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey Best. They look exactly alike, and yet are completely different. Lizzie is very dramatic and creative, Ella is the brains/the reason they get all As in science and Math, and Betsey is a firecracker and a free spirit. They all seem to be okay with the way their lives are ran, controlled, until Lizzie and Ella do the impossible and start crushing on different guys from school, David and Sean. Soon enough they will start to realize that their way of live needs to change in order for them to really live.

I enjoyed the dynamics of the relationship between the triplets. They could be mad as hell towards each other, but they always found a way to get over their issues. And they were so different! My favorite wasn't even the protagonist, Lizzie, instead my favorite was Betsey. I felt like she was the one we read about the least but she was so adamant about helping her sisters live their lives, and she was so passionate... I wouldn't mind reading a novella about only her. Lizzie, our main POV, is also a nice girl, though at times I thought she overreacted and was too dramatic for her own good.

"I wake up at midnight, heart pounding and sweating, distressed after a nightmare about Sean marrying Natasha. Rationally, I know we're teenagers and no one's marrying anyone, but when in the dream he turned and looked at me from the altar and said, "This could've been you," it felt like the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

I still liked reading the book from her POV, specially since we get to date Sean Kelly.

"His chin and mouth are sharp; his nose looks like it started out perfectly straight then met up with a tree or another guy's shoulder at some point. His hair can only be described as a side spike, like he stood sideways in front of a fan blowing hairspray instead of air. He's tall and towering even seated, watching me curiously with light brown eyes. Just as I decide that he looks like the daytime alter ego for a nighttime superhero"

Yeah... that cute! To top it all he is creative and yet not tortured but sweet and trustworthy. And he READS!

"What do you do after school?" I ask, a little snippily. He laughs.
"Whatever," he says. "Hang out with friends. Read. Play games. Write a little. Sometimes I take pictures."

He is very... charming. As in I imagined him being the cutest ever, sexy too. He helps Lizzie "out" herself, and he gets along with her sisters. I fell in love with him a little, he is the whole package.

While I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the lives of the triplets and really got into the story I can admit the ending was a bit... unimpressive. I enjoyed it, but it didn't shock me. I really did like how Sean stuck around through it all though!

Very cool story. Now I need to read more books by Cat Patrick! Another really cool thing about this title? Stand alone! It doesn't really need the sequel, though I am not opposed to a novella from Betsey's POV! Great read, add it to the pile.