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tishywishy's review against another edition
4.0
Rose enjoys life, she can't seem to get enough of it and she's absolutely positive about everything. The only exception is that people seem to think Rose's new found enthusiasm is strange. Something has changed Rose but will she be able to handle the truth. This is an intriguing short story that you can pretty much figure out from the first couple of pages but the journey to the end is still enjoyable and a slightly different YA reading than most. It tackles the topic of childhood grieving and how trauma can keep affecting someone over and over.
This was a 3.5 star rating for me.
This book also fell into my #spooktober reads for October.
This was a 3.5 star rating for me.
This book also fell into my #spooktober reads for October.
eabad22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
When reading this book, I think every event went straight to the point. Although the writing itself was often painful to read. The way Rose going through her intrinsic motivation of the change she wants to pursue by cutting her hair, wearing red lipstick, and acting totally different. It's as though she stepped out of her own shoes and into someone else's. I thought the ending was quite odd because of the unexpected plot twist.
lilbirdh's review against another edition
2.0
Gah, where to start?
This is confusing as heck. I hate going into a book and you're still confused about what's going on in the first 50 pages. It just seemed like a diary recording every single event. Really bummed as the cover is pretty. DNF
This is confusing as heck. I hate going into a book and you're still confused about what's going on in the first 50 pages. It just seemed like a diary recording every single event. Really bummed as the cover is pretty. DNF
betwixt_the_pages's review against another edition
4.0
Rose has changed. She still lives in the same neighborhood with her stepmother and goes to the same high school with the same group of kids, but when she woke up today, something was just a little different than it was before. The dogs who live upstairs are no longer a terror. Her hair and her clothes all feel brand-new. She wants to throw a party—this from a girl who hardly ever spoke to her classmates before. There is no more sadness in her life; she is bursting with happiness.
But something still feels wrong to Rose. Because, until very recently, Rose was an entirely different person—a person who is still there inside her, just beneath the thinnest layer of skin.
Rating: 4/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: quietest plot ever; this book is beautifully confusing; super creative story; flawed characters you'll love and loathe all at once; juxtaposition of "before," "after," and "happy middle ground"; awesome use of subtle foreboding
Huge thanks to Lois Metzger, Balzer + Bray Publishing, The Fantastic Flying Book Club, and Edelweiss for sending me an egalley of this title in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.
Kim let go of the door. "Well, good luck finding the girl, whoever she is."
But I know exactly who she is, the girl thought, as the door closed. It was as clear as day. She's the girl I could've been, if life was fair.
This book is beautifully quiet. There's a focus on subtle foreboding that both sweeps this story along and keeps readers calmly mystified. My pulse never jumped, my fingers never clenched, but somehow I found myself unable to set this book down. I blame the beauty of the writing--Lois Metzger definitely knows how to set the tone and entrance any who step into this world.
She also knows what it takes to keep readers just confused enough. I was almost positive, when I hit chapter 3, that I knew what the big reveal was going to be. I was SO sure, in fact, that I almost let myself be disappointed--it's no fun guessing the plot twist so early, after all! I sat here, stewing, a weird look on my face... and said, "there's NO way that's the answer!" And then I kept reading. Now, trust me when I tell you that this book is SUPER confusing. Trust me when I tell you that if you're the type of reader who hates to be confused--the kind who needs all the answers laid out straight and neat for you... well, you probably won't take to this book. Lois Metzger sets out to confuse and twist you into tiny pretzel pieces. If you're brave enough to stick it out, you'll learn why--and fall in love with the book for it.
"Well. My father was a drunk," Evelyn said, matter-of-factly.
"And your mother?"
"Pretended he wasn't one. I grew up with lies. They were everywhere, in every corner of every room. It was as if there was a terrible storm outside, sheets of rain, lightning, and my parents kept looking out the window and declaring, "It's a beautiful sunny day!"
The characters are realistic, though also a huge part of the confusion. This book is juxtaposed the way it is for a reason--the author starts us out confused and twisted around in order to straighten us out slowly. This being said, there were moments I had to stop and think back on what I'd read. There are things said by the characters that you won't fully understand until much later in the read. It's sort of like a literary jiggsaw puzzle--everything comes together, but you have to have patience and trust that the author knows what she's doing.
I had a TON of fun reading, and being totally confused by, this book! The characters are mysterious and well-written, the plot is super creative, and the quiet, subtle foreboding is something I haven't encountered in any other novel. I haven't experienced anything quite like this, and I can't wait to see what Lois Metzger takes on in the future. I recommend this to lovers of steady plots, quiet mysteries, and quirky journeys. If that sounds like you, definitely pick this one up--it won't disappoint!
dearsayuri's review against another edition
3.0
"You are at the center of your life, not the edge."
I am not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I'd give it 2.5-2.8 stars after careful consideration since I was initially disappointed but my thoughts kept circling around the ideas Lois Metzger introduced. There is not much to add to the description of the book from my side and I believe anything else I might add can be considered a spoiler. In fact, the cover of the book is already one huge spoiler.
The novel tries to deal with a lot of important things at the same time. Unfortunately, the key word is TRIES. I do not think Metzger did a very good job at dealing with realistic issues. Nonetheless, I can definitely say that those issues are very much alive and present in everyone's lives. Moreover, that might be the reason why so many people feel strange about the novel - because the author (pardon my language) half-assed those big 21st century issues. There isn't any in-depth discussions going on.
In addition to that, I would not call the story line intense or twisted as it claims to be. If you have read books by Gillian Flynn (and liked it), you would not find Rose's story edgy. You would not fall in love with Rose or her friends, find any exciting love interests. You would not even want to change your tumblr name into something Change Places with Me related. This story won't give you any of that. However, what it will give you is questions.
After reading this book you will start questioning your choices. You will reconsider your future actions. You might even lay awake at night thinking about the great unknown, future technological advancements and humanity in general. You would ask yourself, would I do this? That, as I see it, the only positive point I can make.
maryfaithreads's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5 stars
If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be "odd." Normally I love a good, strange story, but this was not my cup of tea. It was just...I don't know. I understand the message it was trying to convey, and I'll admit it was a good one, but I just couldn't get past the other problems I had with this book. The narration felt weirdly detached. The story wasn't really that engaging. I probably wouldn't have finished this, but the mystery was interesting enough that I wanted to know what happened. There was no way for the reader to really connect to the characters, which bothered me. Overall, the writing style just didn't work for me, and the story wasn't a favorite of mine. I feel like this plot had a lot of potential, but it just kind of didn't go anywhere.
If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be "odd." Normally I love a good, strange story, but this was not my cup of tea. It was just...I don't know. I understand the message it was trying to convey, and I'll admit it was a good one, but I just couldn't get past the other problems I had with this book. The narration felt weirdly detached. The story wasn't really that engaging. I probably wouldn't have finished this, but the mystery was interesting enough that I wanted to know what happened. There was no way for the reader to really connect to the characters, which bothered me. Overall, the writing style just didn't work for me, and the story wasn't a favorite of mine. I feel like this plot had a lot of potential, but it just kind of didn't go anywhere.
meganac's review against another edition
5.0
But a name was - well, important. It gave you a place on earth that was all your own.
I wasn't sure if I'd like Change Places With Me, but, oh my word...I loved it. I loved so much, I swallowed the entire thing on one day - except for 7 pages, which I devoured while being driven to a horse race.
Rose - the girl - wakes up one morning and things are a little bit different. She's talking, asking questions, wanting parties and friends, petting dogs she used to be terrified of. Something has changed...but what? And does she even care?
I was entranced by this story. It makes you feel sort of disoriented, because you know something is up, but you don't know what. It nags in the back of your mind. You follow along, wanting the truth, guessing at it, needing it. You just can't put this book down.
A lot of deep issues are discussed in this book. We see how loss devastates a person, how willing a grieving soul can be not to forget, but at least to bury. I'm certain that in some ways, we all choose to bury things, and in this story, we explore what that really does. We also see how hard single parents work to keep things together, and what real friendship is like.
There is a lot of high school drama, but it's presented constructively. We also see a lesbian couple as they adopt a son - not really a problem. Your kids are going to be exposed sooner or later. Just know it's there, for discussion purposes.
Seriously guys...read this book.
I wasn't sure if I'd like Change Places With Me, but, oh my word...I loved it. I loved so much, I swallowed the entire thing on one day - except for 7 pages, which I devoured while being driven to a horse race.
Rose - the girl - wakes up one morning and things are a little bit different. She's talking, asking questions, wanting parties and friends, petting dogs she used to be terrified of. Something has changed...but what? And does she even care?
I was entranced by this story. It makes you feel sort of disoriented, because you know something is up, but you don't know what. It nags in the back of your mind. You follow along, wanting the truth, guessing at it, needing it. You just can't put this book down.
A lot of deep issues are discussed in this book. We see how loss devastates a person, how willing a grieving soul can be not to forget, but at least to bury. I'm certain that in some ways, we all choose to bury things, and in this story, we explore what that really does. We also see how hard single parents work to keep things together, and what real friendship is like.
There is a lot of high school drama, but it's presented constructively. We also see a lesbian couple as they adopt a son - not really a problem. Your kids are going to be exposed sooner or later. Just know it's there, for discussion purposes.
Seriously guys...read this book.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
3.0
A little bit of an odd tale about grief and how each deals (or doesn't) with it.
the MC is a little lost...adrift after a few incidents in her life. You're with her in the beginning as things are a little confusing.
I can't give much more than that away. The book is a little like an onion. At first, you are outside of it. There are three parts and each part lets you a little deeper into the story.
When things get rough, isn't it easier to wish you could change places with someone you think has it so much easier?! But, more often than not, other lives are not as easy as they seem. and sometimes we want nothing more than our own messy, complicated life.
the MC is a little lost...adrift after a few incidents in her life. You're with her in the beginning as things are a little confusing.
I can't give much more than that away. The book is a little like an onion. At first, you are outside of it. There are three parts and each part lets you a little deeper into the story.
When things get rough, isn't it easier to wish you could change places with someone you think has it so much easier?! But, more often than not, other lives are not as easy as they seem. and sometimes we want nothing more than our own messy, complicated life.
booksandladders's review against another edition
2.0
Actual Rating: 1.5*
I was really excited to read this one. I pre-ordered it then waited and waited so that I could read it as soon as I got it, but I was really let down. The premise sounds SO intriguing and as if there is a bit of a mystery to it + speculative fiction is literally my jam. But I am SO disappointed with this one and I think the main issue I have with it is that it was too short to do everything it wanted to do. This wanted to look at if it is your memories or your outlook that affects your personality, but it totally fell short and flat on that.
First of all, the society itself confused the crap out of me. This is supposedly like near-future SciFi where we should be ~scared~ because something like this COULD HAPPEN TO US!!! But really, I didn't get it. I was confused about the whole backdrop and society to this story that I couldn't get into it at all from the beginning. Also, I don't understand why people are allowed to just randomly change their name whenever they feel like it. That wasn't explained at all and is super confusing in context. So one day you wake up and say "I'm not going to be Jamie anymore, I want to be called Fiddlehead" and people are going to just go along with it? Why? Because of a personality shift? I needed it to be explained a bit more to me for me to fully understand and go along with it.
Next: Rose/ was so annoying and like all over the place tbh. It was so painfully obvious that her "new friends" were using her and that she had something done to her from the first 5% of the novel. But on top of this her personality went from 0 to 100 to 50 throughout the course of CHANGE PLACES WITH ME. It was like a mild case of whiplash trying to figure out what personality she wanted to have. And she basically did choose what personality traits she wanted and then she tried to copy a girl's style and stalked her a bit? I was very unnerved by this portion of the book where Rose decides she is going to stake out a bus station so she can ask a random girl that she saw for approximately 0.00000002 seconds about her life so she can try to hypnotize herself to have the same personality. I feel like instead of altering her memories, Rose needed a therapist. Also, what kind of stepmother lets her teenage stepdaughter get this kind of surgery just because she throws a tantrum. That's not good parenting.
On top of all this, the writing was so stiff and the dialogue actually made me cringe. This book should have taken me maybe an hour, hour and a half, tops and it took me like 3. That is not a good sign. But the way it is written made me want to set it down for good. I only didn't because it was so short. It seemed as though there were specific points that had to happen in the novel but no logical way to get there so it was forced and unnatural to have it happen.
This book reads like a first or second draft of a novel and definitely needed to be longer. I think there is so much potential here but not enough guts for anyone to be able to take anything substantial away from it. There was a quote I REALLY liked in it and that's why I'm giving it a star and a half. Also her friend, Kat maybe?, was really interesting. I would have liked to learn more about her.
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
I was really excited to read this one. I pre-ordered it then waited and waited so that I could read it as soon as I got it, but I was really let down. The premise sounds SO intriguing and as if there is a bit of a mystery to it + speculative fiction is literally my jam. But I am SO disappointed with this one and I think the main issue I have with it is that it was too short to do everything it wanted to do. This wanted to look at if it is your memories or your outlook that affects your personality, but it totally fell short and flat on that.
First of all, the society itself confused the crap out of me. This is supposedly like near-future SciFi where we should be ~scared~ because something like this COULD HAPPEN TO US!!! But really, I didn't get it. I was confused about the whole backdrop and society to this story that I couldn't get into it at all from the beginning. Also, I don't understand why people are allowed to just randomly change their name whenever they feel like it. That wasn't explained at all and is super confusing in context. So one day you wake up and say "I'm not going to be Jamie anymore, I want to be called Fiddlehead" and people are going to just go along with it? Why? Because of a personality shift? I needed it to be explained a bit more to me for me to fully understand and go along with it.
Next: Rose/
Spoiler
Clara/CoraOn top of all this, the writing was so stiff and the dialogue actually made me cringe. This book should have taken me maybe an hour, hour and a half, tops and it took me like 3. That is not a good sign. But the way it is written made me want to set it down for good. I only didn't because it was so short. It seemed as though there were specific points that had to happen in the novel but no logical way to get there so it was forced and unnatural to have it happen.
This book reads like a first or second draft of a novel and definitely needed to be longer. I think there is so much potential here but not enough guts for anyone to be able to take anything substantial away from it. There was a quote I REALLY liked in it and that's why I'm giving it a star and a half. Also her friend, Kat maybe?, was really interesting. I would have liked to learn more about her.
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
kimching232's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating: 2.5
Change Places with Me has a synopsis that just made me need to know what's going on. The synopsis is very vague, but in this instance it worked out perfectly. However, I can't help but be disappointed.
Change Places with Me is a very weird book. The tone of the whole book is weird, and Rose talks as if she's not a fifteen-year-old girl. Once you start reading the novel, what's behind the mystery kind of gets predictable. The characters, for me, are not well-developed, and there was a hint of romance that was not explored. Or even if it's just friendship, it still wasn't explored well.
The resolution is a good resolution generally, but it's not a proper ending to tie all lose ends. I felt like it ended abruptly, but the ending was really beautiful. However, even until the end, both the speech and the narration were still awkward.
I think the only thing that I liked about this novel is how much of a quick read it is. I read this in just a few hours and it's easy to breeze through. The book is not so bad in the sense that it didn't make me cringe. The book is just really not for me. Overall, it was kind of 'meh.'
Change Places with Me has a synopsis that just made me need to know what's going on. The synopsis is very vague, but in this instance it worked out perfectly. However, I can't help but be disappointed.
Change Places with Me is a very weird book. The tone of the whole book is weird, and Rose talks as if she's not a fifteen-year-old girl. Once you start reading the novel, what's behind the mystery kind of gets predictable. The characters, for me, are not well-developed, and there was a hint of romance that was not explored. Or even if it's just friendship, it still wasn't explored well.
The resolution is a good resolution generally, but it's not a proper ending to tie all lose ends. I felt like it ended abruptly, but the ending was really beautiful. However, even until the end, both the speech and the narration were still awkward.
I think the only thing that I liked about this novel is how much of a quick read it is. I read this in just a few hours and it's easy to breeze through. The book is not so bad in the sense that it didn't make me cringe. The book is just really not for me. Overall, it was kind of 'meh.'