Author: Roxanne St. Claire
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication date: July 10, 2012
How I got the copy: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review (and from Netgalley--thank you!).
From goodreads.com
When plain and unpopular Annie Nutter gets zapped by one of her dad's whacked-out inventions, she lands in a parallel universe where her life becomes picture-perfect. Now she's Ayla Monroe, daughter of the same mother but a different father—and she's the gorgeous, rich queen bee of her high school.
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 insde, 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.
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 insde, 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.
þ Thought provoking: What would you do in this situation? Can $ buy happiness?
þ Characters that talk, think, and act like true High School kids.
þ Hard to put down
I saw this cover on Netgalley and instantly was interested. It's just so glamorous and colorful. The summary sounded kind of typical, but the last two lines really had me hooked. Would you leave your current life to live your dream life? I had to find out if Annie did.
Annie is a great character though because she does stay true to herself the whole time. When she is deciding if she should go back to being herself or stay Ayla she thinks about others before herself. In some ways staying Ayla would help her best friend from her other life, her friend's sister, the invisibles at school, and she'd get to stay with her boyfriend. I think if I was homesick like her I would have just wanted to go home and not cared what happened to the people in the new universe I had only known for a few days. Well maybe that's not ture...her love interest is really cute and I wouldn't want to leave him either! But Annie isn't selfish. She strongly considers staying to help others. One thing that did bother me was that everyone she told her secret to instantly believed her. I think if I told someone I was from another universe I'd end up in a straight jacket and a room with padded walls. But it was necessary for people to believe her for the plot to move along so I understand why the author did that.
Overall, I really liked this book. It was really fun and light and definitely a perfect summer read. It's kind of a modern day Wizard of Oz. A girl is wishing for a different life and ends up in a new one. There are some people in this new life that remind her of people from her old life. In the end will she also believe there's no place like home? Find out July 10th.
This book comes out July 10, 2012.
“Money doesn't make you happy," Mom insists, whipping carrots and lettuce out of the cart. "Money doesn't make you laugh when you're lonely, or make you full of contentment on Christmas morning.”
― Roxanne St. Claire, Don't You Wish
― Roxanne St. Claire, Don't You Wish
