A review by michelle_pink_polka_dot
In Some Other Life by Jessica Brody

4.0

Ever since I saw this adorable cover, I'd been pining for this book. Plus, I love parallel universe stories, because who doesn't daydream about where our choices would've led us if we chose differently??

Kennedy is one of those uptight, Type A characters that I usually don't love. I just don't relate to the "Miss Perfect" types. And it's definitely not that I related to Kennedy, but I did like reading her story. That's how I know the book is well-written-- when I can be totally turned off by the main character and STILL really want to read on.

I thought this book was adorably cute and fun to read. It wasn't like I haven't ever read a story like this before, or that I didn't know where it was going-- but I totally have and did-- but that's okay. Not every book has to SHOCK me to entertain me. I valued this book for it's entertainment. It's nice to do some lighter reading every now and again and just not THINK so hard.

There are a few romantic storylines in this book, but they DO NOT take over the book's focus. I'm not the biggest romance fan, and I found nothing annoying about what was involved here. That's usually not the case with most light-hearted YA Contemporary, so big thumbs up to Jessica Brody!!

My fave part: I loved the sciencey geek younger brother, who was the same in both dimensions. Without Frankie, I'm not sure Kennedy would have figured anything out. I know she was going through a confusing experience, but she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to putting things together.

Takeaways: This book focused on the pressures that young people can have on them before they're even out of high school (or even younger than that in some cases). Kennedy came to a point where she really had to question if being #1 in her class and having everything be perfect, was worth the toll it was taking on her mental state and all the people in her life.

I also thought it was interesting that in going to Windsor, Kennedy ended up losing the main passion in her life and she had to figure out if it was worth giving that up. Lots of choices in this book, and that's what made it fun to read!

OVERALL: Super cute, fun, light YA Contemporary. If you like movies like The Family Man or other parallel universe stories, you'll like this. Everyone wonders what-if at some point in their life, and this answers that question for Kennedy. This was definitely one of my fave books that came out this summer!!

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