Title: Dead Ringer

Author: Jessie Rosen

Pages: 352

Genre: YA Thriller

Release Date: 11 November 2015

From Goodreads: "From the moment Laura Rivers steps foot into Englewood High, she notices the stares—and they aren’t the typical once-overs every pretty new girl endures. The students seem confused and…spooked. Whispers echoing through the halls confirm that something is seriously off. “That new girl looks just like her,” they say. It turns out Laura has a doppelgänger, and it isn't just anyone—it's Sarah Castro-Tanner, the girl who killed herself by jumping into the Navasink River one year ago. Laura is determined not to let the gossip ruin her chances of making a fresh start. Thanks to her charming personality and California tan, she catches the eye of Englewood’s undisputed golden boy, Charlie Sanders, and it’s only a matter of time before they make their relationship official. But something is making Charlie and his friends paranoid—and Laura soon discovers it has to do with Sarah Castro-Tanner. What really happened to Sarah? Why is Charlie unraveling? And how does Laura Rivers fit into it all? After all, she’s the dead ringer for a dead girl."

First off, I just have to say, holy crap this book.

This was not what I expected it to be. I didn't really think I would enjoy this book as much as I did, honestly. I figured it would be a ghost story, with the ghost of Sarah Castro-Tanner appearing to her doppelganger, Laura Rivers, and Laura would figure out what happened to Sarah a year ago.

I was so happy that I was wrong!

It's really hard to talk about this book the way that I want to because that would involve spoiling everything and I disagree with spoilers. The description above gives a pretty good general idea of what the book is about, so check that out if you haven't already! 

What I loved most about this book was how slowly the whole story unfolded. Normally, I hate slow books. They can't keep my attention long enough for me to get to the end of the story and I just end up getting frustrated with them. But Dead Ringer kept a wonderful pace without falling behind and making me want to give up. In fact, it was nearly impossible for me to put down my Nook before bed each night! The author has a wonderful way with words, and keeping the reader interested. The end of what seemed like every chapter had me absolutely dying to read more! 

The book did have three different characters telling the story: Laura, Charlie, and Sasha. That was one complaint about this book that I had simply because I generally find it hard to stay focused on each characters part of the story. However, I found myself being able to keep up with each part of the story very easily, and that's a first for me. I still am not a fan of split POV stories, though!

Out of all of the characters in the book, I can safely say that Charlie and his group were my least favorite. Amanda was just an all around horrible person, and I would have been quite happy to not have read about her at all. Charlie was the typical high school jock who worried way too much about his image and what people thought about him, so I was perfectly fine with what he had to go through. Kit and Miller were such minor characters that it was hard to form an opinion about them, but because they were associated with Amanda and Charlie, I was not their biggest fan. Laura and Sasha were probably my favorite characters, but I can't go too much into detail about them without spoiling things!

I did not enjoy how many of the characters shared relatively the same name. For example, Sarah and Sasha are two different people, but I had a somewhat difficult time separating them when their names were close together. It's a small complaint, and it did not exactly ruin my experience with the book, but it was enough to slightly confuse me at times.

I wish I had known that this book was going to have a sequel, because once I got to the end, I was slightly upset about the serious cliffhanger. But to be fair, I'm incredibly happy that there will be a sequel because I can't wait to see just how twisted and insane this story gets!

If you're looking for a great beginning to a new book series, with thrills and chills throughout the whole book, then Dead Ringer is perfect for you!