I read this book with my 6 year old and we loved it. It may be geared towards kids a little older than 6, but it was fun and interesting and presented ideas and situations that every girl will deal with at some point in her elementary school career.

This was a fun book, that I read in less than one sitting!
By which I mean that the pages flew by, only leaving me wanting book 2 as soon as possible!!

Totally Twins, as can be assumed by its title, is about one of my favorite subjects in the whole world, twins!!!

Persephone, our main heroine, starts a new diary, to share her exasperation for the upcoming musical their class is called to perform, and the fact that her twin sister's view about it, is somewhat more than different!

Perse and Portia share everything, their birthdays, their friends, and a face!
But, due to the performance, it's the first time Perse feels like she can't connect with her twin sister, anymore. Our heroine can't sing, and her sister seems to only make her feel bad about it.

This kind of book is exactly what I would LOVE reading when I was about the same age as the heroine!
It reminded me of my own obsession with diaries (I found it hard not to keep one, even at a quite older age) and books that were written in that form!

It was fun remembering all these facts about myself, while at the same time laughing with Perse's views of the world, and finding out so many interesting things about twins (I won't pretend I am not amazed by identical ones, to the point where I'd love my future daughters to be like Perse and Portia)!

All in all, 4 stars for a fantastic, fun and quick novel, that will certainly make me sought out the second novel, as I want to know more about my favorite twins and their amazing family!

I received a free copy of the book from Sweet Cherry Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Musical Mayhem: The Fabulous Diary of Persephone Pinchgut is a middle school read by Aleesah Darlison. It is also the first book in the Totally Twins series. Persephone Pinchgut, a bright 10 year old girl is sick of sharing the spotlight with her sometimes obnoxious twin, Portia. When Persephone discovers that her school is putting on a musical and everyone has to try out she is horrified. The truth is she has a horrible voice and she is afraid people will compare her to her twin, Portia, who can sing right on key. And so, she creates her own secret diary noting all of her secret fears, insecurities and little annoying things that come along with being a twin. As much as Perse tries to avoid the musical and her sister Portia, she eventually learns that it is better to laugh at yourself then to feel alone and be isolated from the world. Perse learns that no matter what, it is okay to love yourself.

Musical Mayhem is an upbeat novel that will teach your middle schooler to embrace who they are. Not only did Persephone had to deal with the pressures of her and twin in the musical, she also had to deal with her parents’ separation. Although the father is only mentioned here and there since he moved away, I really liked the fact that the mother was a main character in the novel. As you learn about her along the way you discover her situation with her ex-husband is strained, and because of that her relationship with her daughters is complex. I thought that was a great layer of the novel because it brought insight to the way Portia and Persephone behave. I cared for both twins but I personally grew to love Persephone, mostly because she reminds me of myself as a little girl. I am not a twin but I do know what it’s like to feel overshadowed by a sister but also knowing that no matter what, she will always love you and look up to you- no matter what age you are in life.

I read this book so quickly that I was sad when it was over. I definitely want to read the whole series. Aleesah Darlison is a fun writer, she has a great voice and does a wonderful job of connecting to middle schoolers. I also adored the illustrations- kids will get a kick out of them and I thought they were really well done. The pacing of the novel is quick but it enhances the diary format given. This book reminds me of a lot of other diary formatted middle school books like Dork Diaries, Dear Dumb Diary and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but I find that I already like this first book a lot better than I did with the firsts in those other series. This book is not only teaches a meaningful message but it is also really quirky and funny. I suggest this book to any 7-10 middle schooler, but I think girls will have a better time relating to it. This book teaches you that it is okay to keep to yourself but it is also okay to trust the people, like your family, who love you.

Thanks for approving me for this one, it sounded like something I would really enjoy, but sadly, at 20% I was just bored out of my mind, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

The characters were pretty bland, I would rather have had Portia's POV in this book than her twin sister who is the MC. Portia just seems way more fun and interesting to read about. Sure, I agree, singing is no fun, but getting so worked up about it? Nah.

The art, well, is pretty weird, at times it seems like the standard Word images, but other times it seems there was really some effort put into them.

So all in all, I was terribly bored, and I just had to stop reading this one.