Scan barcode
snowbenton's review
3.0
I really liked the idea of a book where a 14 year old boy wakes up as a 14 year old girl, and has to deal with bullies, and creepy men, and periods. But there was so much cult-y drama with the Changers Council and all of the dogma bogged down the book. A lot of great ideas were presented and then went unexplored.
bart154ce's review
3.0
This review first appeared on my blog: Bart's Bookshelf
So, I was already considering this one on Netgalley when I was approached to be part of the blog tour. Decision made!
What’s not to be tempted by? The possibilities offered by the premise and the questions it might ask, it seemed like it would make for a fantastic and fun read, and while it was a really fun read, which I really enjoyed, it didn’t succeed in exploring the questions quite as well as I was hoping for.
While the book asked some questions, they seemed to be sped over, particularly Ethan/Drew’s acceptance of his new gender/life and skills, and I’d have liked some deeper examination of them.
I was surprised for example, just how easily his favoured style of clothing would change, and that he would allow a switch of handed-ness (or in this case footed-ness) to stop him from skateboarding, or at least not without a fight, seeing as it was such a part of his previous 14 years… It just didn’t allow me to buy in to the premise as much as I wanted it to.
However, these same issues in other parts of the book, also do a great job of highlighting the expectations expected of a particular gender, the change in the way his parents treat him, especially from his dad. Ethan/Drew’s own alterations to his character. Some of these can I suppose be attributed to the Changer gene, but some are purely social expectations, and could have been ignored if Drew desired, but perhaps, thinking about it, that is partly the point? That we fall into social conventions a lot easier that we can create new ones…
I thought it did a really good job of looking at gender and attraction, Ethan’s history is fourteen years of being a boy, and as far as we know anyway liking girls… But Drew develops a crush on Chase, a girl changer who is now a boy in his current incarnation… and this started with just a smile from Chase, so some element of physical attraction. Then there is Audrey, a ‘normal’ girl Drew befriends and then starts to fall for. Is it Ethan or Drew that has the stronger attraction, for them both does it matter?
We also get to see a bit of Changer society, and there are definite and worrying hints of a cultish, controlling leadership, which I suspect this is going to play a larger part in the later books, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes and how Ethan/Drew’s next incarnations respond to them.
I suppose what I wanted most, was for Drew to shout back at his dad, “I might be Drew at the moment, but I’m still the Ethan I was for the last 14 years as well. STOP TREATING ME DIFFERENTLY!” I just don’t see it as an either/or thing, he is not Ethan or Drew, but is them both, the sum of his experiences, and perhaps, this will be explored further as he adds more experiences to who he is, and complicates this mix further.
For me the main strength of the book was Ethan/Drew who is really likeable and I look forward to seeing what happens when Drew switches to Oryon in book 2.
My copy of Changers: Drew by T Cooper & Alison Glock-Cooper was provided by the publisher via Netgalley for review purposes.
So, I was already considering this one on Netgalley when I was approached to be part of the blog tour. Decision made!
What’s not to be tempted by? The possibilities offered by the premise and the questions it might ask, it seemed like it would make for a fantastic and fun read, and while it was a really fun read, which I really enjoyed, it didn’t succeed in exploring the questions quite as well as I was hoping for.
While the book asked some questions, they seemed to be sped over, particularly Ethan/Drew’s acceptance of his new gender/life and skills, and I’d have liked some deeper examination of them.
I was surprised for example, just how easily his favoured style of clothing would change, and that he would allow a switch of handed-ness (or in this case footed-ness) to stop him from skateboarding, or at least not without a fight, seeing as it was such a part of his previous 14 years… It just didn’t allow me to buy in to the premise as much as I wanted it to.
However, these same issues in other parts of the book, also do a great job of highlighting the expectations expected of a particular gender, the change in the way his parents treat him, especially from his dad. Ethan/Drew’s own alterations to his character. Some of these can I suppose be attributed to the Changer gene, but some are purely social expectations, and could have been ignored if Drew desired, but perhaps, thinking about it, that is partly the point? That we fall into social conventions a lot easier that we can create new ones…
I thought it did a really good job of looking at gender and attraction, Ethan’s history is fourteen years of being a boy, and as far as we know anyway liking girls… But Drew develops a crush on Chase, a girl changer who is now a boy in his current incarnation… and this started with just a smile from Chase, so some element of physical attraction. Then there is Audrey, a ‘normal’ girl Drew befriends and then starts to fall for. Is it Ethan or Drew that has the stronger attraction, for them both does it matter?
We also get to see a bit of Changer society, and there are definite and worrying hints of a cultish, controlling leadership, which I suspect this is going to play a larger part in the later books, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes and how Ethan/Drew’s next incarnations respond to them.
I suppose what I wanted most, was for Drew to shout back at his dad, “I might be Drew at the moment, but I’m still the Ethan I was for the last 14 years as well. STOP TREATING ME DIFFERENTLY!” I just don’t see it as an either/or thing, he is not Ethan or Drew, but is them both, the sum of his experiences, and perhaps, this will be explored further as he adds more experiences to who he is, and complicates this mix further.
For me the main strength of the book was Ethan/Drew who is really likeable and I look forward to seeing what happens when Drew switches to Oryon in book 2.
My copy of Changers: Drew by T Cooper & Alison Glock-Cooper was provided by the publisher via Netgalley for review purposes.
trusselltales's review
2.0
Such a promising premise, boy wakes up on morning of first day in high school to discover overnight he's changed into a girl: he's a member of a race of Changers, who are on the Earth for a special purpose...
...I was most excited by the possibilities of gender and identity that the premise of the book offered, rather than another save-the-world plot, but neither materialised. The Changer philosophy with its Bible and doctrines were way too cultish mumbo-jumbo for me, and seem to be completely pointless (obviously all to be revealed as there are three more books in the series).
Sadly the issues of identity and gender were stereotypically portrayed, without much fluidity of thinking, and took the easy way out.
On the plus side, Ethan/Drew's voice of teenage narrator did come across well, with a snipy juxtaposition of certainty and vulnerability.
...I was most excited by the possibilities of gender and identity that the premise of the book offered, rather than another save-the-world plot, but neither materialised. The Changer philosophy with its Bible and doctrines were way too cultish mumbo-jumbo for me, and seem to be completely pointless (obviously all to be revealed as there are three more books in the series).
Sadly the issues of identity and gender were stereotypically portrayed, without much fluidity of thinking, and took the easy way out.
On the plus side, Ethan/Drew's voice of teenage narrator did come across well, with a snipy juxtaposition of certainty and vulnerability.
missusb21's review
3.0
Interesting premise with action and tension, and a bit of humour.
Ethan turned Drew is explored but not in as much detail as I would like, and in too much detail in other wayshow did Drew & Audrey settle their outfits issues? But yeah, too much about Drew's first period .
But it's the secret changers plot line that is supposed to be the primary one, and this is quite suspenseful, and intriguing.
I can't decide about Chase, although it's clear we aren't meant to have sympathy for Jason.
I will see how the next book pans out.
Ethan turned Drew is explored but not in as much detail as I would like, and in too much detail in other ways
But it's the secret changers plot line that is supposed to be the primary one, and this is quite suspenseful, and intriguing.
I can't decide about Chase, although it's clear we aren't meant to have sympathy for Jason.
I will see how the next book pans out.
nellym27's review
2.0
I initially really strongly disliked this book, but the ending kind of redeemed it for me so that it gets a final 2.5 stars rather than the 1 which I was sure it would get for the majority of the book.
The premise of this book is what drew me to it. However, the supernatural aspects are not constructed strongly enough for it to work at all. In fact, the plot of the "changers" seems more a plot device to allow the protagonist added angst rather than anything more focal as it is hardly mentioned throughout the book. Its basically just a book about high school and romance with the occasional spanner thrown in the works by the fact that he's a "changer." The world construction is very weak, and the abiders, who are supposedly the main threat to changer existence, hardly seem like any danger at all. Other aspects of the changer existence are just clearly there for ease of plot without making much sense; such as that an ancient race should change their bodies according to the schedule of the American high school system, and how convenient that they can see the future only when they make out with people (which is fully weird, let's be real.)
The relationships were not built gradually at all and it was kind of confusing suddenly being hit by the protagonists feelings when they hadn't really been told to us before. one minute Drew is blown away by Chase and is getting butterflies everytime he sees him/her (???) and then Drews saying that he/they/she (this whole changer thing makes pronouns very difficult) is in love with Audrey and then suddenly revealing that he's in love with both of them. Like what? as soon as I come to terms with protags feelings for one character, they come out of the blue and say they're in love with someone else.
The characters were all either good or bad . And of all the bad characters were so cheesily nasty it was painful to read. The insults that came out of Chloe's mouth were - and I've never gone to an American high school so maybe I'm wrong - things that just no one would say. Chloe generally was just one big mean girl cliche.
There were so many unconvincing things in both character and plot in order to create angst and drive the story along. I find it hard to believe that any high school English class would force students to kiss in front of their class, let alone students of the same sex.
I now feel vaguely bad for slaughtering this book and really hope that the writers don't check their goodreads.
The premise of this book is what drew me to it. However, the supernatural aspects are not constructed strongly enough for it to work at all. In fact, the plot of the "changers" seems more a plot device to allow the protagonist added angst rather than anything more focal as it is hardly mentioned throughout the book. Its basically just a book about high school and romance with the occasional spanner thrown in the works by the fact that he's a "changer." The world construction is very weak, and the abiders, who are supposedly the main threat to changer existence, hardly seem like any danger at all. Other aspects of the changer existence are just clearly there for ease of plot without making much sense; such as that an ancient race should change their bodies according to the schedule of the American high school system, and how convenient that they can see the future only when they make out with people (which is fully weird, let's be real.)
The relationships were not built gradually at all and it was kind of confusing suddenly being hit by the protagonists feelings when they hadn't really been told to us before.
The characters were all either good or bad . And of all the bad characters were so cheesily nasty it was painful to read. The insults that came out of Chloe's mouth were - and I've never gone to an American high school so maybe I'm wrong - things that just no one would say. Chloe generally was just one big mean girl cliche.
There were so many unconvincing things in both character and plot in order to create angst and drive the story along.
I now feel vaguely bad for slaughtering this book and really hope that the writers don't check their goodreads.
onceuponabookcase's review
3.0
Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.
I was really interested in Changers: Drew by T. Cooper & Allison Glock-Cooper when I first heard about it; but I'm sad to say I found it quite disappointing.
Ethan wakes up the first day of high school to discover that he's a girl. Absolutely terrified, he has no idea what's going on. Then his parents tell him; he is a Changer. With a Changer parent, he has been chosen to undergo a mission in empathy, to make the world a better place. Every year of high school, he will become someone new. This first year, he is now Drew. Drew must start school in a new town, make friends, and face the usual challenges that come with starting high school, while she has no idea who or what she really is.
My main problem with this book is the world building. I still have no idea why there are Changers and what it is they're supposed to do - and neither does Drew. It's all cloaked in secrecy, and there's enough to know that there is something to being a Changer other than changing bodies for four years, but I've no clue as to what. Except that it's not all the Changer Council claims it is. Which we find out from the very, very beginning, before the Prologue, when we're kind of told, in brief, about the amazing things Drew (or whoever she will become) is involved in, in a "before all this stuff happened, he was a normal boy" way. But it's a hint that there's a huge amount of stuff to come. But in this first book? Nothing major, in the great scheme of things. It's like it's setting up the story, without giving you much to go on.
However, there are a lot of elements to this story that were really interesting. As you can imagine, there are some trans themes; before she gets used to who she now is, Drew felt a lot like her body didn't match up who she was - at the time, a boy. What's different is the sudden change from being male, having known being and feeling male, to then being female. What was really interesting about this was a guy seeing how girls are treated, the other side of the coin. There are some really feminist moments; Drew realising what it's like to receive unwanted attention, expecting to look and dress a certain way by society, and so forth. It was really interesting for her to realise just what it's like to be a girl, and I would have loved if there were more moments like this. For this book, it's where the empathy comes into play.
When she was Ethan, Drew was attracted to girls. Now as Drew, that hasn't really changed, and she is kind of confused when she starts falling for her best friend Audrey, because she's now a girl. At the same time, when she starts finding herself attracted to a boy, she reacts even worse. She still feels like a boy, and now she's finding herself feeling things for a boy, and she's so confused. Drew's feelings and her sexuality are developed as the story goes on, and it's really interesting to see how this element to the story, and her coming to terms with this new side of her and her feelings.
The book did take me a really long time to read, though. I found I didn't emotionally connect to Drew, and she was quite a young character. I didn't care enough about her or her story to keep picking it up, I just wasn't interested, and would find other things I was more interested in doing. Saying that, as the story was starting to end, there were hints that the story would progress into something more interesting, so I might have a look at the second book, Changers: Oryon. For the general premise of the story of waking up as a different person, it was fascinating, but as a story with a sci-fi element, I was pretty disappointed.
Thank you to Atom via NetGalley for the eProof.
I was really interested in Changers: Drew by T. Cooper & Allison Glock-Cooper when I first heard about it; but I'm sad to say I found it quite disappointing.
Ethan wakes up the first day of high school to discover that he's a girl. Absolutely terrified, he has no idea what's going on. Then his parents tell him; he is a Changer. With a Changer parent, he has been chosen to undergo a mission in empathy, to make the world a better place. Every year of high school, he will become someone new. This first year, he is now Drew. Drew must start school in a new town, make friends, and face the usual challenges that come with starting high school, while she has no idea who or what she really is.
My main problem with this book is the world building. I still have no idea why there are Changers and what it is they're supposed to do - and neither does Drew. It's all cloaked in secrecy, and there's enough to know that there is something to being a Changer other than changing bodies for four years, but I've no clue as to what. Except that it's not all the Changer Council claims it is. Which we find out from the very, very beginning, before the Prologue, when we're kind of told, in brief, about the amazing things Drew (or whoever she will become) is involved in, in a "before all this stuff happened, he was a normal boy" way. But it's a hint that there's a huge amount of stuff to come. But in this first book? Nothing major, in the great scheme of things. It's like it's setting up the story, without giving you much to go on.
However, there are a lot of elements to this story that were really interesting. As you can imagine, there are some trans themes; before she gets used to who she now is, Drew felt a lot like her body didn't match up who she was - at the time, a boy. What's different is the sudden change from being male, having known being and feeling male, to then being female. What was really interesting about this was a guy seeing how girls are treated, the other side of the coin. There are some really feminist moments; Drew realising what it's like to receive unwanted attention, expecting to look and dress a certain way by society, and so forth. It was really interesting for her to realise just what it's like to be a girl, and I would have loved if there were more moments like this. For this book, it's where the empathy comes into play.
When she was Ethan, Drew was attracted to girls. Now as Drew, that hasn't really changed, and she is kind of confused when she starts falling for her best friend Audrey, because she's now a girl. At the same time, when she starts finding herself attracted to a boy, she reacts even worse. She still feels like a boy, and now she's finding herself feeling things for a boy, and she's so confused. Drew's feelings and her sexuality are developed as the story goes on, and it's really interesting to see how this element to the story, and her coming to terms with this new side of her and her feelings.
The book did take me a really long time to read, though. I found I didn't emotionally connect to Drew, and she was quite a young character. I didn't care enough about her or her story to keep picking it up, I just wasn't interested, and would find other things I was more interested in doing. Saying that, as the story was starting to end, there were hints that the story would progress into something more interesting, so I might have a look at the second book, Changers: Oryon. For the general premise of the story of waking up as a different person, it was fascinating, but as a story with a sci-fi element, I was pretty disappointed.
Thank you to Atom via NetGalley for the eProof.
cameronjames's review
3.0
I'm on middle ground with this book, it was enjoyable yet I was plodding through a lot of the time.
I feel as if I want to read the rest of the series, it has caught my attention enough to want to continue.
But, an easy read which isn't too complex or to sad, a nice afternoon read in the sun.
Three stars
I feel as if I want to read the rest of the series, it has caught my attention enough to want to continue.
But, an easy read which isn't too complex or to sad, a nice afternoon read in the sun.
Three stars
dreamerf641c's review
1.0
I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't. The idea of living each year of high school as a different body (or with a different body) was fascinating, but the writing and plot couldn't maintain the idea.
First of all, you'd think a book about the same person a in a different body would be exploring how a person is perceived differently, and really making points about everyday sexism, or how similar people really are. Instead, you have gender steoretypes that are confirmed by the text. Ethan loves skateboarding more than anything else in the world, but as Drew never skates ANYWHERE or seems to miss it at all. There is relatively little body horror (If I woke up as a man tomorrow, I can tell you right now that it would take a lot longer than months for me to react as a man rather than a woman. And there are a lot more differences than having a period between male and female bodies), and you'd think a book that makes a lot of folks think about transgender issues would explore more the longing for your 'correct' body, or even explore what it feels like to be misgendered by everyone. But that's... not touched on at all.
Sexuality in this book wasn't really touched on. You know that the this Changer culture really values procreation, but what if you want to be a woman, and want to love another woman? What if you're bisexual? What if you aren't? None of the changer families seem to be anything other than heterosexual, and that probably should have been touched on.
What was with the swearing? It's far more distracting to put in fake swearing that it would have been to just avoid cursing. And for an American author, there were a lot of Britishisms. I would assume- I know for a fact that no one in America is going to call a sports bra a "jog bra" or tampons "cotton mice", and there were a few curses that are not of America either.
I hated how easily Ethan was let go of by Drew. Seriously. I hated it. This book seemed to exist on the premise that lady hormones would make you into a lady. And that's not true. Yes, our culture (which loves the idea of science explaining our cultural choices) loves the idea that woman were gatherers and men were hunters (probably not based entirely in reality- there are some interesting articles on this), and that it comes down to chemistry. But Drew was raised as Ethan, and that should have affected Drew's view of the world. And it didn't.
Okay, so basically, the biggest reason I didn't like this book is that I don't think it added anything to a debate about how people view the world, or how people relate to each other.
But the laziness of making your main character utterly uninterested in the BIGGEST CHAIN OF THEIR LIFE so that you don't have to get bogged down in plot and explaining how things work is awful. There was a lot of weird mini plot holes, or things that didn't quite jive, but you, the reader, have no idea if it'll ever be filled in because Drew doesn't fill you in. Drew reads the Changers Bible (which... really?) but you don't get excerpts or anything that freaks Drew out. You never meet other Changers of Drew's age (other than Chase- which is pretty weird. Why would you have mixers without making sure that people are mixing? Also, if this book is going to have four other parts, you can't go back to Drew's previous friends- unless they are staying at the same school for four years? That might be happening, not sure. But having other Changers would have allowed the changer world to get fleshed out more, which would have helped, because right now it's a creepy cult AND THAT'S IT. I dont' have any more canon information)
Anyway, plot holes and a reinforcement of gender stereotypes.
What fun.
First of all, you'd think a book about the same person a in a different body would be exploring how a person is perceived differently, and really making points about everyday sexism, or how similar people really are. Instead, you have gender steoretypes that are confirmed by the text. Ethan loves skateboarding more than anything else in the world, but as Drew never skates ANYWHERE or seems to miss it at all. There is relatively little body horror (If I woke up as a man tomorrow, I can tell you right now that it would take a lot longer than months for me to react as a man rather than a woman. And there are a lot more differences than having a period between male and female bodies), and you'd think a book that makes a lot of folks think about transgender issues would explore more the longing for your 'correct' body, or even explore what it feels like to be misgendered by everyone. But that's... not touched on at all.
Sexuality in this book wasn't really touched on. You know that the this Changer culture really values procreation, but what if you want to be a woman, and want to love another woman? What if you're bisexual? What if you aren't? None of the changer families seem to be anything other than heterosexual, and that probably should have been touched on.
What was with the swearing? It's far more distracting to put in fake swearing that it would have been to just avoid cursing. And for an American author, there were a lot of Britishisms. I would assume- I know for a fact that no one in America is going to call a sports bra a "jog bra" or tampons "cotton mice", and there were a few curses that are not of America either.
I hated how easily Ethan was let go of by Drew. Seriously. I hated it. This book seemed to exist on the premise that lady hormones would make you into a lady. And that's not true. Yes, our culture (which loves the idea of science explaining our cultural choices) loves the idea that woman were gatherers and men were hunters (probably not based entirely in reality- there are some interesting articles on this), and that it comes down to chemistry. But Drew was raised as Ethan, and that should have affected Drew's view of the world. And it didn't.
Okay, so basically, the biggest reason I didn't like this book is that I don't think it added anything to a debate about how people view the world, or how people relate to each other.
But the laziness of making your main character utterly uninterested in the BIGGEST CHAIN OF THEIR LIFE so that you don't have to get bogged down in plot and explaining how things work is awful. There was a lot of weird mini plot holes, or things that didn't quite jive, but you, the reader, have no idea if it'll ever be filled in because Drew doesn't fill you in. Drew reads the Changers Bible (which... really?) but you don't get excerpts or anything that freaks Drew out. You never meet other Changers of Drew's age (other than Chase- which is pretty weird. Why would you have mixers without making sure that people are mixing? Also, if this book is going to have four other parts, you can't go back to Drew's previous friends- unless they are staying at the same school for four years? That might be happening, not sure. But having other Changers would have allowed the changer world to get fleshed out more, which would have helped, because right now it's a creepy cult AND THAT'S IT. I dont' have any more canon information)
Anyway, plot holes and a reinforcement of gender stereotypes.
What fun.
alyce6d980's review
3.0
The Changer life is a unique life: every year, on the first day of the new high school year, the Changer wakes up in their next 'V' - a form that they live in for the next 365 days. On the first day of their first V, the Changer gets an implant inserted into the back of their neck, and using that implant they Chronicle, mentally writing diary entries about each day of their life. At the end of the four years, after inhabiting four different bodies, the Changer chooses their Mono - the singular form that they will occupy for the rest of their lives.
Of course, Ethan doesn't know this, so when he wakes up on his first day of high school as a super attractive blonde girl called Drew, he's understandably freaked. His - sorry, her - parents are excited, her Static (human, non-Changer) mother is over the moon to finally have a daughter, and her Changer father is happy to finally be able to share his true nature with his child. But Ethan/Drew is annoyed to have had such a huge secret kept from her, and it takes a long time for her to come to terms with the news about her life.
'Drew' is split into three seasons: Fall, Winter and Spring, with the chapters being told through the Chronicling diaries (for example: Change 1 - Day 265). At the start the days are near consecutive, showing how much is happening in Drew's life that she's still attempting to come to terms with, but as time goes on the Chronicles become fewer and farther in between as less of note occurs on a daily basis.
I have to congratulate the authors for creating such a strong voiced character. Within the first few pages you know exactly who Ethan is, and when he changes into Drew his response definitely makes him a stand out character.
Read the rest of my review here!
Of course, Ethan doesn't know this, so when he wakes up on his first day of high school as a super attractive blonde girl called Drew, he's understandably freaked. His - sorry, her - parents are excited, her Static (human, non-Changer) mother is over the moon to finally have a daughter, and her Changer father is happy to finally be able to share his true nature with his child. But Ethan/Drew is annoyed to have had such a huge secret kept from her, and it takes a long time for her to come to terms with the news about her life.
'Drew' is split into three seasons: Fall, Winter and Spring, with the chapters being told through the Chronicling diaries (for example: Change 1 - Day 265). At the start the days are near consecutive, showing how much is happening in Drew's life that she's still attempting to come to terms with, but as time goes on the Chronicles become fewer and farther in between as less of note occurs on a daily basis.
I have to congratulate the authors for creating such a strong voiced character. Within the first few pages you know exactly who Ethan is, and when he changes into Drew his response definitely makes him a stand out character.
Read the rest of my review here!