In this universe, Ayla lives in glitzy Miami instead of dreary Pittsburgh and has beaucoup bucks, courtesy of her billionaire—if usually absent—father. Her friends hit the clubs, party backstage at concerts, and take risks that are exhilirating . . . and illegal. Here she's got a date to lose her V-card with the hottest guy she's ever seen.
But on the inside, Ayla is still Annie.
So when she's offered the chance to leave the dream life and head home to Pittsburgh, will she take it?
The choice isn't as simple as you think. (From Goodreads)
This book is adorable. Who hasn't wondered how their life would be different if they were born into different circumstances? And this book explores that possibility so well. The characters were great and the fantasy of living the my-sweet-sixteen life is spot on. I want to hug this book for how cute it is, but at the same time, it is exactly what it looks like. You wonder how it is, you go - have a blast, learn a few things about life, and come home from that vacation (or finish the book) and live your life just the way you did before. Still it's worth exploring the possibilities of all the different ways you could be living your life.
Annie/Ayla is such an endearing character. It's remarkable that Roxanne St. Claire completely took a character out of her own body and made her unique. It wasn't the things she did, what she looked like, or what she was surrounded with that made who who she is. Somehow, and it's hard to point out exactly what it is, but this character is specifically Annie - it's like you could spot her no matter what body or life she was put into. You hope that if you were put in Annie's situation, you'd have the strength to remain true to who you are and do what you feel is right. So with all this universe hopping it comes down to that it is what is inside that defines you - something that is really great to see demonstrated in a YA novel.
Image plays a big part in this novel - and it probably says a lot more than I care to go into here - but the representations of image that stand in the foreground are engineered. There is science and thought that goes into creating those images. It creates an interesting battle of popularity vs. geekdom, as well as unnatural beauty vs. natural beauty. Of course, it's hard not to notice these things because they are completely saturated through the entire story line. It's all about how everyone looks.
But there are some really great, mechanical things going on under the surface. The parallel universes need scientific explanation - a feat that was handled gracefully. I'm the biggest dunce when it comes to science and math, but I never felt like I didn't understand what they were talking about. And of course, all this science stuff is wrapped up in a sweet, smart boy and that makes it easier to pay attention.
It's a quick read and it's a lot of fun. You can read it and speculate what your life would be like if you woke up in another version of yourself. You can wonder what you would do if you were Annie and woke up as Ayla. It's a great summer read that's light, but doesn't make you feel like you're losing brain cells. Actually, you might inadvertently learn something - which is always a nice surprise.
