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cupidslibrary's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
okay, wow. I admit I was a little skeptical at first during the first handful of pages. It felt just a tiny bit clunky, but by the second chapter… phew. It wastes no time after that basically launching you into the action, suspense and thriller part of it at chapter two. A lot of the books i read are medium to slow pace, so this being a fast pace roller coaster of a ride was a nice change. The main characters were so so good, both Megan and LC had their own struggles and trials, and I think Nia Davenport did a good job of balancing LC’s role as both a sort of villain throughout the book and also a victim. I liked that the romance wasnt a big part of the book, especially with only 270 pages or so, but it was cute, it added a lil bit of fluff to the intensity of the storyline. The side characters all had enough personality that they didn’t fall flat, but they also didn’t overpower the two characters that mattered the most, LC and Megan.
And lemme tell you… some of the plot twists in this big I DID NOT see coming!!! And I loved every bit of it. This was a wonderful mix of sci fi, thriller, a dash of mystery, all wrapped up in a twisted version of freaky Friday with a dash of GET OUT, and boy did it work out. I couldn’t put this book down, and I’m definitely looking forward to what else Davenport writes!
And lemme tell you… some of the plot twists in this big I DID NOT see coming!!! And I loved every bit of it. This was a wonderful mix of sci fi, thriller, a dash of mystery, all wrapped up in a twisted version of freaky Friday with a dash of GET OUT, and boy did it work out. I couldn’t put this book down, and I’m definitely looking forward to what else Davenport writes!
kkaaccyy_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
ameewh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
babylumberjackbaby's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
shesochi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
One word….AMAZING!!!! This book was so good. It was fun, entertaining and just an amazing story start to finish.
Anything else I can say will just be me repeating how amazingly good this story was.
Anything else I can say will just be me repeating how amazingly good this story was.
steel_city_peach's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Interesting
This was a stretch for me. I’m not a sci-fi girly, but I enjoyed this book. It was make believe infused with Black Girl Magic. The body swap plot was strange, but entertaining .The suspense of finding out how Megan would get her body back kept me fully invested. The process had so many twists and turns. The budding romance between Megan and Ryan was so cute. I enjoyed their chemistry. When everything came to a head towards the end, it got to be a little preachy. The social commentary felt forced in that scene. The ending tied everything up nicely while still leaving a bit of mystery about the potential backlash. For a genre that I usually avoid, this turned out to be a pleasurable read.
sweetiekeke's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
jdeggz's review
Nothing wrong with it. I’m just not in the mood for it right now. Might revisit later. I think it’s something I’d prefer in audio format.
betwixt_the_pages's review
4.0
Rating: 4.5/5 Penguins (rounded down)
Quick Reasons: hold your breath, race to the finish thriller; such a unique concept!; badass characters; new conspiracy theory fear unlocked; #ownvoices author
HUGE thanks to Nia Davenport, Epic Reads, and Storygram Tours for the title! My review is voluntarily written and in no way impacted by this gesture.
LC fingers the silk scarf with poppies splattered across it like blood. After she's used it to get the information she needs, she rests it next to her bed.
Penguins, this read is a good your breath to the finish line, poignant, hard hitting expose on all the things that make us human and all the ways that can be used against us. The concept, from start to finish, is uniquely and beautifully crafted. This is a thriller that will keep you with one eye cracked even while you sleep. This book will follow you home, stop you in your tracks, seep into every corner of your mind until you're second guessing and self doubting.
Nia Davenport penned a soul-splitting tale and bade readers follow along. And you will, Penguins. These characters are believable, the world building is honed and detailed, and this journey is going to leave you thinking no matter how you close the final page. There is something distinctly HUMAN about this read, as of Nia Davenport hooked her fingers into a thousand brains just to piece them all together. If you're looking for your next thriller to pick up.... THIS is the one.
And our strength doesn't lie in how physically strong we may or may not be, either. It's soul-deep; no one can take it from us.
We are fierce. We are epic. We are bold.
And all of us are survivors.
I definitely recommend this to thrill seekers, purveyors of the poignant and believable, and those who don't mind a little conspiracy theory with their morning coffee. The writing is vivid, this story is chilling, and I now need to go scrub this new found fear from the recesses of my brain. Be careful what you wish for, Penguins.
Quick Reasons: hold your breath, race to the finish thriller; such a unique concept!; badass characters; new conspiracy theory fear unlocked; #ownvoices author
HUGE thanks to Nia Davenport, Epic Reads, and Storygram Tours for the title! My review is voluntarily written and in no way impacted by this gesture.
LC fingers the silk scarf with poppies splattered across it like blood. After she's used it to get the information she needs, she rests it next to her bed.
Penguins, this read is a good your breath to the finish line, poignant, hard hitting expose on all the things that make us human and all the ways that can be used against us. The concept, from start to finish, is uniquely and beautifully crafted. This is a thriller that will keep you with one eye cracked even while you sleep. This book will follow you home, stop you in your tracks, seep into every corner of your mind until you're second guessing and self doubting.
Nia Davenport penned a soul-splitting tale and bade readers follow along. And you will, Penguins. These characters are believable, the world building is honed and detailed, and this journey is going to leave you thinking no matter how you close the final page. There is something distinctly HUMAN about this read, as of Nia Davenport hooked her fingers into a thousand brains just to piece them all together. If you're looking for your next thriller to pick up.... THIS is the one.
And our strength doesn't lie in how physically strong we may or may not be, either. It's soul-deep; no one can take it from us.
We are fierce. We are epic. We are bold.
And all of us are survivors.
I definitely recommend this to thrill seekers, purveyors of the poignant and believable, and those who don't mind a little conspiracy theory with their morning coffee. The writing is vivid, this story is chilling, and I now need to go scrub this new found fear from the recesses of my brain. Be careful what you wish for, Penguins.
vanessamariebooks's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This story is fast-paced, which I love, and keeps you flipping through pages to find out what's going to happen next. Read this in one day and did not want to put it down. While I'm not a huge sci-fi reader, I loved the concept of this one and the idea of being able to transplant/switch your consciousness with another and the ethical implications of this type of science. The only thing is I wish we could've gone deeper into this topic and the ethics/morality surrounding it, especially given the conversation towards the end (but I won't spoil that for anyone). I feel like the story gives us an introductory, surface-level exploration of the topic, but the ending does leave the possibility for future books, so if there are more books in the future, I hope we get to dig deeper into this topic/theme. Also, because this is a "low sci-fi" story," it's easily accessible to anyone new to the sci-fi genre or gets confused by heavy science topics.
I also appreciate the main character, Megan, and how smart and active of a character she is. So many books and movies like this have characters that are passive and/or react in dumb ways that makes the situation worse and the only reason for that is so the writers can raise the stakes and try to back the character into a difficult situation that puts them in peril, but this book shows that writers don't have to do this. You can have smart characters and have them do things that are smart and logical, but still get trapped into an impossible, no-win (seemingly) situation. Doing this makes the payoff, when they do finally get out of that situation, much more rewarding.
I also love that the romance subplot is a small part of the story and it doesn't overtake the story like a lot of YA novels tend to do. I love the natural progression of Megan and Ryan's relationship, it definitely did NOT feel like insta-love and it never got to be too much for the story. They both stayed focused on the mystery of the story and I appreciated that. This story also has some interesting twists that I didn't see coming until right before they happened. Not sure if that's just because of how fast-paced the story is, but I enjoyed the twists as well. Overall, this was a quick, fun read and I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you love fast-paced, YA sci-fi stories.
To hear more of my thoughts on this one, check out the Diversity is Lit bookclub discussion: https://www.youtube.com/live/zTjMj7izT3Y?si=Ns_HNIGbHK-HCQLZ
I also appreciate the main character, Megan, and how smart and active of a character she is. So many books and movies like this have characters that are passive and/or react in dumb ways that makes the situation worse and the only reason for that is so the writers can raise the stakes and try to back the character into a difficult situation that puts them in peril, but this book shows that writers don't have to do this. You can have smart characters and have them do things that are smart and logical, but still get trapped into an impossible, no-win (seemingly) situation. Doing this makes the payoff, when they do finally get out of that situation, much more rewarding.
I also love that the romance subplot is a small part of the story and it doesn't overtake the story like a lot of YA novels tend to do. I love the natural progression of Megan and Ryan's relationship, it definitely did NOT feel like insta-love and it never got to be too much for the story. They both stayed focused on the mystery of the story and I appreciated that. This story also has some interesting twists that I didn't see coming until right before they happened. Not sure if that's just because of how fast-paced the story is, but I enjoyed the twists as well. Overall, this was a quick, fun read and I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you love fast-paced, YA sci-fi stories.
To hear more of my thoughts on this one, check out the Diversity is Lit bookclub discussion: https://www.youtube.com/live/zTjMj7izT3Y?si=Ns_HNIGbHK-HCQLZ
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Vomit, Body horror, Gaslighting, Drug use, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Kidnapping