The Midnight Twins

By Jacquelyn Mitchard

A beautiful and suspenseful tale by a master American novelist, The Midnight Twins tells the story of mirror twins born on either side of midnight. After a mysterious and nearly fatal fi re on their thirteenth birthday, Meredith and Mallory Brynn begin having visions: Mallory can see into the past, Meredith can see into the future. But it will take both of them to save their town from a great evil. That is, if their unique powers don?t destroy them fi rst.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Mar 5, 2009
• ISBN: 9781101158883

Jacquelyn Mitchard

New York Times bestseller Jacquelyn Mitchard's novels include The Deep End of the Ocean, Twelve Times Blessed, and The Breakdown Lane. She is also the author of The Rest of Us: Dispatches from the Mother Ship, a collection of her newspaper columns. She lives with her husband and six children in Madison, Wisconsin.

Reviews for The Midnight Twins

[cait815 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I really didn't enjoy this story at all. It was anticlimactic and annoying (the "twin language" I found especially grating). It probably didn't help that I listened to it on audiobook and didn't care for the narrator at all. I love Jacquelyn Mitchard's adult novels and I'll stick to those in the future.

[ctaatgt · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I don't even know what was up with this book. Cool Concept, but really, no

[jrlibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This one was sitting on my bookshelf for a while, but I'm glad I finally grabbed it. A nice blend of suspense mixed with the paranormal gifts of twin sisters. Meredith and Mallory are born on New Year's Eve, two minutes apart; one before midnight and one after midnight. When they are 13, there is a fire that almost kills them. After the fire, the girls slowly realize that one of them can see slightly into the future, and one can see the past. They think they know who set the fire, and they reluctantly realize that one of their peers might be a psychopath.

[lilibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mallory and Meredith are identical twins, and are closer than close. When they begin having strange visions, they realize that Meredith can see what has passed, and Mallory can see what is going to be. Their visions put them on the trail of a local teen psychopath.

[thelittlebookworm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Little BookwormMeredith and Mallory are identical mirror twins born on the cusp of midnight New Year's Eve making them born in different years. Growing up inseparable with wildly different personalities, the twins are able to speak to each other telepathically and dream each other's dreams. But on their thirteenth birthday, something strange happens and a fire disrupts the twin's telepathic powers while they gain new ones. But something strange is going on with one of the town boys and the twins must figure out the clues from their visions to save lives.I love the concept of this book. My husband is an identical twin and although he and his brother don't have supernatural powers, there is a "we-ness" to their lives that I can never understand. They don't think in the singular necessarily. So it was interesting to see the extreme of this explored. The Midnight Twins are deeply attached, but they fight a lot so it was a very realistic portrayal of sisters. But they are fiercely loyal and protective. And when they get their new powers, they have a hard time for one because now they are different from each other and secondly, because they don't understand what it going on.I expected Mallory and Meredith to be older, but there are only 13 throughout the book. But because of the some of the events of the book I wouldn't recommend this to anyone under 15, maybe 13. I read this one in a day until the wee hour of 1 a.m. and, frankly, I was a little scared. There is a major creepy factor and it hit on a couple of my fears. So maybe I shouldn't have read it at night before bed. But it was really good and I had a hard time putting it down.

[stephxsu · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Mallory and Meredith Brynn have always been unusually closer than other identical twins. Although clearly opposites, they seem to have an unspoken bond—a bond that is nearly broken when a mysterious fire the night of their birthday nearly kills them.After that moment, nothing is the same. Meredith sees visions of the past, and Mallory sees visions of the future. Worst of all, they can’t seem to communicate with one another anymore, which is all the more unfortunate because, at such a vulnerable stage of self-discovery, they just might need each other more than ever before.I have a hunch that this will be one of those series that people pick up because the cover looks pretty and there’s a pretty famous author’s name on it. Otherwise, THE MIDNIGHT TWINS is a jumbled, jumpy, and gnarled mess of characters, ooooo-spooky events, and rushed conclusions.I understand that the twins at 13 years old, and that tweens on the brink of puberty make for melodramatic and often confusing times, but really, now. The mindset of an eighth grade girl does not have to manifest itself in the poor, choppy writing. Mitchard frequently jumps from one moment to another half an hour later, leaving us bewildered readers to fill in the gap and try to keep up at the same time.Most of the time, the book dragged so much and included a bunch of pointless information that didn’t help me understand the twins or their situation any better. The ending is appropriate for a novel written by—you guessed it—an eighth grade girl: chock full of moments where you’re pretty sure you’re supposed to gasp in shock and moan in despair. When the climactic moment occurred, I didn’t feel anything, possibly because by that point I was so sick of the characters and the book’s nonsense writing.I’m sorely disappointed that poor writing killed what could have been interesting characters with interesting abilities. Still, I’ve heard that the second book, LOOK BOTH WAYS, is better, and I must say that I sincerely hope so, for Jacquelyn Mitchard has made me disheartened with this failure of a series starter.

[purplg8r · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book--I couldn't put it down! I have always been interested in twins, ever since I was little. And then I discovered the series of Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High, and Sweet Valley University. And it turns out that I am now dating a twin! This book was easy to fly through and kept me on the edge of my seat!

[momma2keira · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining book about the mysterious relationships between identical twins... and how they can "feel" each other's emotions. These twins however not only can "hear" each others thoughts and dreams, after surving a fire they discover they have supernatural powers. Coming from a long line of identical twins, these two have powers that no one in their family before them have had before.

[lrobe190 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Identical twins Meredith and Mallory have different personalities, but they have always been able to "read" each other. Then they are involved in a house fire and while they manage to rescue all of their cousins, Merry's hand is badly burned. After that, it becomes harder for the two girls to relate to each other. Both start having dreams, but Merry dreams of the past and Mally dreams of the future. Soon, they realize that the things they dream of are coming true and somehow the fire is involved.I really enjoyed this bookby noted author Jacquelyn Mitchard. The theme is very interesting and I'm glad to know that it is the first book in a trilogy about the sisters. I can't wait for the next book.

[ekanderson_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mallory and Meredith are identical twins born so close to midnight on January 31st that they were actually born on separate days and in separate years. And while they are very different - Mallory is a tough girl who is into soccer and hangs out with the boys, Meredith is a girlie girl who is into cheerleading and fashion - from the time they were born they were inseparable, considering themselves two parts of one whole. The girls even have twin telepathy, which their mother began to suspect when they were toddlers. On the night of the twins' thirteenth birthday, there is a terrible fire in their aunt's home where they are babysitting their younger brother and cousins. The girls rush to save the little kids, but inhale so much smoke that they are unconsious for several days. When they wake, they realize that their lives have changed forever. Their connection is different now - Mallory is having nightmares in the daytime, and while Meredith is loathe to admit it, she is, too. In a mystery that threatens to either tear the girls apart or bring them closer than ever, Meredith and Mallory must use their unwanted gifts to find out if the horrible things they have seen are actually happening in their sleepy northern town.While the concept of The Midnight Twins is a good one, Mitchard struggles to flesh it out in time for the climax, after which the denouement drags along for far more pages than it needs to. The voice is solid, the points of view changing smoothly and with purpose, but there is something to be desired in the plot. Mitchard plans on writing future Midnight Twins books, and it is my hope that these are more refined than her first effort with these characters.

[grabbag_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Merry and Mally are twin sisters, born into a long line of twin sisters, who can see into the past and future. One wants to forget about their gift while the other is scared and wants to challenge it. I found the bickering between the sisters to be confusing, but Mitchard really captures the personality of teenage girls, albiet stereotypically.