Similarities between Speak and Twisted

1. Both are set in high school
2. There are clear cliques and a strong social hierarchy in place
3. Both of the stories feature violence against women. Although the act against Bethany in Twisted is not the main conflict it does move the final pieces of the climax into place.
4. One of Anderson's craft moves is to use an ongoing metaphor to show the characters growth and inner feelings. In Speak it was the art project with the trees for Melinda, and in Twisted it is the video game Tophet (Tophet is a Hebrew synonym for Hell, thank you wikipedia). The art project and the video game finish the novel to show the sense of new beginnings and choices for the characters.
5. Melinda and Tyler both try to separate themselves from what happened by giving things names like "IT" and "the foul deed." Anderson slowly reveals more information about both of these things as the book progresses to prolong the mystery.
6. Parents just don't get teens and are self-involved in Anderson's world.
7. Another craft move Anderson utilizes is short chapters and quick scene changes. She does this in Twisted the way she did in Speak to keep the story moving. In a way the short segments of story are perfectly tailored to a younger generation without a long attention span (I'll include myself in this group). I think she paces the stories in this way to create a more convincing teenage voice. I'd have to read one of her historical novels to see if she writes the same way there.

I loved Speak, but I have to admit I was not as enthusiastic about Twisted. Perhaps the male protagonist made it harder for me to relate to his story. I also felt Anderson relied too heavily on very stereotypical writing tricks in Twisted. For example the main character of course has a crush on the wealthy perfect queen bee girl in school, but she comes with the biggest bully brother. Not only was this brother a rich bully, but his name was CHIP! It felt too much like a 1980s John Hughes movie, but it was a pleasant surprise that Tyler didn't end up with Bethany and the final conflict was with his father.
Anderson does write beautifully about dealing with depression and issues as a teenager. I think her books are so popular because so many students do see themselves in her main characters.
I'm just being silly, but some of the high school antics in the book can be summed up by a Tribute to 80's bullies!