Review : Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Being Sloane Jacobs
Author : Lauren Morril
Publication Date : January 7th 2013
Publisher : Delacorte Books
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

Personal Thoughts

Being Sloane Jacobs is the perfect book for readers wanting to have happy feels by the end. I've read and loved Lauren Morrill's debut novel, Meant To Be, so I was beyond excited for the chance to be able to read Being Sloane Jacobs early. I know a lot of people didn't enjoy it as much, but I ended up loving it because I got out of it what I expected, a book that left me with a smile etched on my face and a sense of satisfaction.

Being Sloane Jacobs tells the story of two teenagers who share the same name. One of the Sloane Jacobs is a hockey player (Sloane Devon) while the other is a figure skater (Sloane Emily). A chance meeting leads to them taking each others places for a couple of weeks which results in a logically flawed, but highly entertaining read. While I enjoyed the POV of both Sloanes, I have to say that I was slightly more invested in Sloane Emily's story. I felt connected to her a bit more easier than I did with Sloane Devon. Sloane Emily was going through a rough phase in her life. She learns something terrible about her senator father which left her feeling rather frustrated and alienated from her family. Plus, she also had the expectations of her mother pretty much stifling her and all she wanted to do was get away from it all. Sloane Devon also has her fair share of her issues stemming from her lack of anger management which led to her being uncomfortable on the ice. Both Sloanes grew throughout the book, learning more about themselves and learning to become better people and I adored watching that happen. In addition, Being Sloane Jacobs had a great set of secondary characters. I especially loved Andy, a male figure skater Sloane Devon befriends. He was such a fun character and I loved every scene he was in. I also really appreciated how much he pushed Sloane Devon and prevented her from drowning in self-pity. To me, he was the star of the book!

The main theme of the story was undoubtedly the growth as individuals separate from their lives of these two girls. However, they also each had their romances which never overshadowed the real plot. While both guys were genuinely sweet, I fell harder for Sloane Emily's love interest, Matt. That was probably because he was a much more prominent character than Sloane Devon's love interest, Nando. Also, you got to watch Sloane Emily and Matt become emotionally attached to each other from a rather antagonistic relationship to friendship, which eventually led to something more. There were plenty of swoons from these two for sure. On the other hand, the romance between Sloane Devon and Nando lacked chemistry together and their romance felt underdeveloped. But the great friendship between Sloane Devon and Andy made up for the lack of development in the romance. Lauren Morrill's writing was as lovely as ever. She has this slow and easy writing style that's so easy to get immersed into. I did think that Sloane Devon and Sloane Emily had rather similar voices, but because they were most of the time surrounded by different groups of people, it wasn't much of a bother to me.

In the end, I thought Being Sloane Jacobs was a delightful read and Lauren Morrill is definitely one author who will shine in the YA contemporary romance genre. I can't wait for more from her!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5


Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the e-ARC of Being Sloane Jacobs.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In My Mailbox (8)

Image
In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren . Touch (Denazen #1) by Jus Accorda Summary (from Goodreads) When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home. Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized. Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation—an organization devoted to collecting “special” kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons—his entire life. And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills. The two team up with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking dow
Read more

In My Mailbox (3)

Image
In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren . Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer Summary (from Goodreads) Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. The Alchemy Of Forever (Incarnation #1) by Avery Williams Summary (from Goodreads) Seraphina's first love made her immortal...her second might get her
Read more

In My Mailbox (10)

Image
In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren . Don't You Wish (Obtained From Net Galley - Big Thanks To Random House Children's Books for the ARC) by Roxanne St Claire Summary (from Goodreads) 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 a
Read more