Book Review: Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale

Someone Else's Life
By Katie Dale
Release Date: February 14th, 2012 (Sweet! It's Valentine's Day! ;)
Publisher: Random House Inc. 
Format: Paperback ARC, 445 pages
ISBN: 978-0-385-74065-4
Get a Copy:
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Goodreads Summary: When 17-year-old Rosie's mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington's Disease, her pain is intensified by the knowledge that she has a fifty percent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself. Only when Rosie tells her mother's best friend, "Aunt Sarah," that she is going to test for the disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie wasn't her real mother after all. Rosie was swapped at birth with a sickly baby who was destined to die.
Devastated, Rosie decides to trace her real mother, joining her ex-boyfriend on his gap year travels, to find her birth mother in California. But all does not go as planned. As Rosie discovers yet more of her family's deeply buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonizing decision of her own, one which will be the most heart breaking and far-reaching of all.

Cindy's Review: Yes, this is another one of those free books I got from San Leandro's Public Library's Teen Read Week. When I first saw the book, I didn't expect it to be this good. ;)

Also, I asked the author for an author interview, but she never replied to my questions, but I hope at least she's reading my reviews. ;) 

The Cover:

At a glance, I would say it was a sad book. From the title, I thought of The False Princess plot, where this girl finds out one day that she is not the true princess. You can find out more about it through the link above. But it turns out it's actually a whole different, and different story. 

The Characters: 

The book starts off with Rosie's POV. Rosie's mother, Trudie died of Huntingdon's disease. At the age of seventeen, she had to suffer through her mother's death alone, taking it really hard. When she learned that she had 50% chance of inheriting Huntingdon's Disease, she decides to check up. There, she learns a whole lot more of her story and her messed up family tree. 

At the end of each chapter, there would another girl's POV. At first, I thought it was Rosie's true mother's POV, but it turns out it was Holly's, the girl who was living the Rosie's life. Holly is actually the true daughter of Trudie.

The Plot: 

The book begins with Rosie, after Trudie's death. It is then and there when Rosie finds out that she was swapped at birth, with the real Rosie. In this case, her name is Holly. When Rosie (the one who's supposed to be Holly), her mother left her in the hospital and ran away. Holly (the real Rosie), was sick and weak. Trudie's best friend, also known as Rosie's Aunt Sarah, who works as a nurse there, quietly  switched the babies. She thought the real Rosie wouldn't survive. That same night, Trudie's husband, David died in a car crash. Sarah didn't want Trudie to suffer even more. Little does she know, that that tiny switch there changed two young girl's lives. 

When Rosie finds out she isn't Trudie's true daughter, she sets out to hunt for her mother and father with her ex-boyfriend, Andy. When she finds out that Holly really did survive, she sets out to tell Holly about Huntingdon's Disease, but Holly doesn't believe her. Holly thinks Rosie is trying to take her life.  When Rosie isn't being accepted by Holly and Holly just might be taking her ex-boyfriend from her, what does Rosie do?

The Ending:

The ending? Truly good. ;) Reminds me of kdrama endings. ;) (Btw, if you don't know me, I'm also a korean pop fan <3) The ending is a few years after the setting of the book. So it's later on, kinda like in a kdrama, after they got over their love, a little, and moved back on to daily life. The resolution in a story map. Yeah. But in the end, they do end up together kind of thing. And then they sail away on a boat or whatever. Get the feeling? Yeah. I'm probably not making sense. LOL

The Bad:

Hmmmm. The POV at the end of each chapter was kinda confusing. It wasn't till later on that I caught on it was another girl. At first, I thought it was Rosie's thoughts and or like a from a different time-period Rosie. But I guess it was kinda how it also sucked me in to reading more of the book.

The Good: 

The book was really attention sucking. I couldn't even put it down. ;) Oh. And I also cried when her ex-boyfriend started like caring about Holly. Yeah. Stupid me. LOL. 

Rating: (1-10): 9.2!!

Happy Reading~