Book Review: Sophmore Switch

Title: Sophomore Switch
Author: Abby McDonald
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Number of Pages: 296


Emily and Tasha, two very different girls switching to two very different lifestyles. Tasha is your typical Californian, blond, party hard and dates guys as frequently as one changes underwear, while Emily is your stuck up Brit girl, who always has her nose stuck in a book, studying and etc. They switch places so Emily is California and Tasha is in Oxford. Both have to learn to adjust to the foreign place and along the way learn their “true” selves.

You know there some things that are just not meant to be no matter how try you want it to work out and this book was one of those things. I tried I really tried to get into it but I couldn’t. Yes there were times that the book was interesting but others it was just too bland, in my opinion, for my taste.

I think the first problem was, I wasn’t too sure keen about premise, two girls switching lives with two very different lifestyles. Yeah, okay, so? Although, these girls were switching lives they pretty much had the same issues: making themselves accustom to the different environment (as expected), boy troubles, trying new things, and other such things of the same essence, in a way. Emily needed to learn to relax and forget about her ex and Tasha needed to stop her reckless behavior, partying and get more studious.

This book was told in alternating point of views, making it harder for me to enjoy. At certain points of the book I wanted to know more about Tasha’s situation more then Emily’s and vice versa, at other times. To clarify: say a new problem was introduced in one chapter then it would be cut off to explain the situation for the other character.

The characters were at first, really blase at first. But as the story progressed I was impressed with their thought process and actions, especially the decisions made toward the end of the book. So major kudos for that.

Overall, the book was“not to be meant to be” for me. It was boring for a good amount of the book and did not hit its stride until the third-quarter of the book.


Random: But there is a really cool site for this book, just found it. Click here.