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young adult book reviews & more

Switch by Carol Snow

SwitchClaire Martin leads a pretty regular life in the resort town Sandyland. She loves hanging out with her best friend Beanie and spending as much time as possible in the water, not to mention lusting after the hottest guy on the swim team, Nate. There’s only one thing that sets her way apart from other girls: when Claire gets too close to lightning or another electrical charge, her spirit will switch from her body to the body of the nearest girl born under the same moon. Usually, the switch is fast and Claire is back in her own body by the next morning. But when Claire accidentally switches into the body of a beautiful summer resident named Larissa, Claire finds herself reluctant to return to her old life; after all, her crush Nate is rather interested in Larissa. But after waking up the next morning still in this beautiful stranger’s body, Claire starts to wonder if she’s stuck as Larissa for good.

Switch is a fast-paced and interesting story. Though the idea of switching bodies may have been borrowed from Freaky Friday, it still made for a good story. Plus the fact that Claire couldn’t control when she switched or who she switched with was entirely unique. Sometimes, though, the characters were a little confusing. The flashes you get of Claire’s background don’t completely add up, Larissa change from being extremely snotty to nice isn’t thoroughly explained, and Claire’s grandmother Evelyn was always strange and mysterious. The moral of the story did seem to be taken directly from Freaky Friday, but I didn’t really mind it that much. However, I wasn’t left with a sense of understanding at the end; sure, Claire got that she should appreciate everything she had in her life, but the ending seemed a little cut off. I’m not saying that Switch was a bad story; it just could’ve been better.

I wasn’t completely taken with this story, but I did enjoy the plot. If you liked the novel and/or movie Freaky Friday, you will probably like reading Switch.

Rating: 3.5

Review copy from publisher HarperCollins

5 munch(es) :

Kelsey said...

Yay! You finally got the book! How long did it take?

I felt pretty much the same exact way. Great review, I didn't really think that it compared to Freaky Friday until you said this, but it does.

k

Axa said...

yet another book on my reading list.

Carolina said...

Yeah this book was like Freaky Friday and it could have been better. Do you think that there'll be a sequel?

Anonymous said...

Carol- I recently asked Carol Snow what she was working on next and none of the titles she's working on include a sequel to Switch. I could ask her specifically about a sequel if you want me to. I might be curious as well anyway after finishing the book.

Anyway, great review! I'm looking forward to getting to this too later this week.

Dominique said...

Switch sounds interesting :) you're right--it does sound like Freaky Friday! nice review!! :)

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