The Switch Up by Katy Cannon

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Stripes Publishing 

Released: 13th of June 2019 

WILLA

Drama queen

Fashion guru

Spontaneous

Looks like Alice

ALICE

Bookworm

Allergic to fashion

Planner

Looks like Willa

LAX Departure Lounge. Two girls board the same flight to London as complete strangers. When the plane touches down, it’s the beginning of the craziest plan ever. Can Willa and Alice really swap lives for the summer?

Things are going to get complicated...

The first in a fun new series, this summer read is The Parent Trap meets Freaky Friday and is perfect for fans of GEEK GIRL and SUPER AWKWARD. 

What I Have to Say 

This might be a new favourite series! I loved the girls so much, how different Alice and Willa were but also the way that became friends so quickly. They have nothing in common except a 

very similar appearance and the fact that they're so desperate to get away from their current plans for the summer, but by switching summers and keeping in contact in order to keep up the ruse, they become proper friends. 

I loved the way it changed the girls too. It pushed them both out of their comfort zones and made them do things differently to the way they have always done. With Alice it's an obvious change. To pretend to be Willa she has to be more outgoing and has to dress completely differently. For Willa, she has to contain her enthusiasm more and think about the people around her more. It was so interesting to see how this effects their personalities as they change and grow over the course of the book. 

Learning it's a sequel is interesting. I don't know where they have to go now, but I'm sure Cannon will come up with more adventures for them. I just hope they involve more hijinks and pretending to be one another! 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Stripes for providing me with this free copy for review. 

Chasing Eveline by Leslie Hauser

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 300

Publisher: Pen Name Publishing

Released: 11th of July 2018 

Sixteen-year-old Ivy Higgins is the only student at Carmel Heights High School who listens to cassettes. And her binder is the only one decorated with album artwork by 80s band Chasing Eveline. Despite being broken-up since 1989, this rock band out of Ireland means everything to Ivy. They’re a reminder of her mom, who abandoned Ivy and her dad two years ago. Now the music of her mom’s favorite band is the only connection she has left.

Even though Ivy wavers between anger and a yearning to reconnect, she’s one-hundred percent certain she’s not ready to lose her mom forever. But the only surefire way to locate her would be at a Chasing Eveline concert. So with help from her lone friend Matt—an equally abandoned soul and indie music enthusiast—Ivy hatches a plan to reunite the band.

The road to Ireland won’t be easy, though. And not just because there is no road. Along the way they’ll have to win over their Lady Gaga-loving peers, tangle with some frisky meerkats, and oh yeah, somehow find and persuade the four members to play a reunion gig. It’s a near-impossible task, but Ivy has to try. If she can’t let go of the past, she’ll never be able to find joy in the present. 

What I Have to Say 

This book was really sweet. A story of hijinks and adventure as a couple of best friends try to raise money to go see their favourite band live, based on a story of grief and loss as Ivy continues to try to get over her mother leaving. It was mostly a fairly light hearted novel, but it had a depth to it that is always great in this kind of story. 

I loved a lot of things about this book. The band felt real and lifelike, especially the nostalgia-like feel of it. Two teenagers obsessed with a band who broke up before they were born and lamenting over the rest of their peers not wanting to listen to anything made before the 1990s is something that is easy to relate too if you've ever had the feeling of liking something that no one else is into. There was also a whole load of Gilmore Girls references, which always makes a book awesome in my opinion. 

The thing I loved most though was the friendship between Ivy and Matt. It's so great to see a male and female friendship in a book. One that is completely uncomplicated by love (aside from Matt's incessant whining about his ex). In fact when love does turn up on the horizon for Ivy, Matt is so encouraging and sweet about it all. It's something you rarely see in YA books even though this kind of friendship exists so much in real life. 

The ending was perfect for me as well. It was a very good blend of realism and a satisfying ending. Some people may have been disappointed, but this was definitely a good book for me. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Pen Name Publishing for providing me with this copy for review.