Review: Three Black Swans by Caroline B. Cooney

Missy and her cousin Claire are best friends who finish each other’s sentences and practically read each other’s minds. It’s an eerie connection—so eerie that Missy has questions she wants to put to her parents. But she’s afraid to ask. So when Missy hears an expert discussing newborn babies on the radio, it makes her wonder about her family.







Missy just can’t let go of those nagging questions, and decides to use a school project about scientific hoaxes to try to uncover the answers. She enlists Claire to help. As part of the project the girls perform a dramatic scene that is captured on video at school. After the video is posted on YouTube, Missy and Claire realize that they’ve opened Pandora’s box and much more than they ever imagined has come out. Not only are their identities called into question, but so is the future of everyone involved.






In this riveting, heartrending story by thriller author Caroline B. Cooney, the truth changes the lives of three families—as the bonds of blood must withstand the strains of long-hidden secrets that are at last revealed.
 
 
Was This Book Worth My Time?
Sadly, no.
 
I was anxious to get my hands on this book as Caroline B. Cooney usually has great mysterious storylines with lots of action. 
 
The premise of the book lead me to believe that this book would be no exception to her other novels.  However, after delving in I realized that, this time, that may not be the case. 
 
I liked that the book held some form of mystery in that I did keep reading to find out what exactly was the connection between the three identical girls, and there were moments when I found myself second guessing my predictions.  At one time, I believed they might have been cloned after learning a little more about the sketching Dr. Russo. 
 
 What Bothered Me About the Book?
The many different points of view all stuck in one chapter were quite confusing to me. A chapter that was supposed to be all about how Claire another had a point of view of her parents.  There wasn't really a clear transistion, and I could see how that might be something that might make readers stay away from the book. 
 
I also had a problem with ending.  Without spoiling the ending for readers, I really thought the whole "mystery" was going to be way more complex, and the end I was a little disappointed to read that it was actually not so mysterious afterall. 
 
I never really was "in the dark" as I read through the book.  There wasn't any "shocking" elements.