Someone I Wanted to Be

Leah is the main character, a bored teenager who doesn’t enjoy her life. Then she impersonates her friend and converses with a handsome stranger who is questionable. She knows it’s dangerous but she likes feeling like she is somebody. The concept of the book is relatable, but the main character isn’t learning from her mistakes. Since she continues to make repeated mistakes, it makes the book redundant. I would not recommend this book. Conflicts keep you engaged in a book. In this story, another conflict would arise without the previous being resolved. I would have liked this better if more conflicts were resolved and/or Leah would have at least gained an awareness of her weaknesses. This might sound like a happily-ever-after theory and I don’t mean that, but the character floundered too much and became nothing. The audience for this is definitely young adult. It is too angst-y to be a preteen book. I did enjoy the author’s writing style. It was very descriptive and you can “see” what she is telling you with the way she put her words together. For example, when describing Cindy the alcoholic mother, you really saw this character and felt her come to life.