Book Review: Change Places With Me by Lois Metzger
Media Type: Ebook (ARC)
Title: Change Places With Me
Author: Lois Metzger
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: Hardcover; 224
Release Date: June 14, 2016
Source: FFBC / Publisher
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Content Screening: Nothing of note.
HDB Rating: 3 Keys to My Heart
Recommended to: Readers who like YA that has a bit of Sci Fi twist to it.
Add it on: Goodreads | Amazon | BookLikes
Rose has changed. She still lives in the same neighborhood and goes to the same high school with the same group of kids, but when she woke up today, something was a little different. Her clothes and hair don’t suit her anymore. The dogs who live upstairs are no longer a terror. She wants to throw a party—this from a girl who hardly ever spoke to her classmates before. There’s no more sadness in her life; she’s bursting with happiness.
But something still feels wrong to Rose. Because until very recently, she was an entirely different person—a person who’s still there inside her, just beneath the thinnest layer of skin.
If the synopsis to Change Places With Me didn’t make you raise your eyebrows a little, I’m impressed. When I first saw this book synopsis, it automatically put this onto my TBR. The idea of waking up a different person, of suddenly wondering if you’re even you any longer, has always fascinated with me. I always wonder if I had the opportunity to change my memories, or alter my personality, if I ever would. It’s a pretty daunting reality, to not really know who you are any more. Happiness, or not.
Meeting Rose was a bit fuzzy at first. Which, I suppose, makes sense since she isn’t really sure of her own self at the moment. Metzger uses the first chapters to show Rose as she is. A bubbly, at times overly eager, and forever optimistic girl. It took me a while to settle into Rose’s personality. She was supposed to be a 15 year old girl, but because of the over the top way her she was portrayed it sometimes felt like I was reading about a much younger character. If you take into account the idea that she was seeing things through new eyes, maybe that makes sense. Still, it’s not what you’d expect. As I read on, and the story started to go back to what happened before, things made much more sense. It’s worth working your way through, to get to the answers.
My one qualm with all of this was that, while Rose’s story was eventually unfurled, it was never as solid as I would have liked it to be. The stepmother character didn’t seem like a real person to me. She felt like the idea that everyone has about stepmothers. That they are cold, uncaring, and possibly even neglectful people. Add in the fact that the ending was a little rocky, in terms of pulling together all the story threads, and I finished this book a little less satisfied than I’d hoped to. The premise was excellent, to be sure. The execution needed a little more polish.
What I did like though, was the ability to see people and events through two different sets of eyes. Two different sets of eyes, that is, that belong to the same person. It’s a very cool concept, and with a bit more exploration I really feel like this could have been a five-star read. As it stands, Change Places With Me was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours. I’ll happily award it three stars.
FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.
