Review: Someone Else's Life

Someone Else’s Life

by Katie Dale

Why did you choose this book? I saw it as a pre-release and the story sounded interesting

When did you read this book? April 2012

Who should read this book? readers of young adult fiction 

Here is a synopsis of ‘Someone Else’s Life' from Goodreads, where it rates 3.98 stars.

Source: library ebook

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.

My Review 

I noticed this book on the coming soon list earlier this year and it sounded interesting; a ‘switched at birth’ story. In this case learning that Trudie was not her birth mother was a mixed blessing for Rosie. She was relieved to learn she could not inherit Huntington’s Disease, but she was angry to learn she’d been lied to. She was determined to find her ‘real’ parents! And she could not believe that Trudie let her agonize and worry about inheriting Huntington’s Disease....until she learned that Trudie never knew. You see, there were two babies born that night 18 years ago. One mother, Trudie, was an older mom and had been waiting many years for this baby. The other mother, a young, scared teenage mother, left the hospital after her baby was born, abandoning her. That same night, on the way to the hospital, Trudie’s husband was in a fatal accident. Her baby was born very weak and sickly, and was transferred to a bigger hospital for care, but not given much chance to survive. And the abandoned baby was born strong and healthy. Sooo....the midwife, a friend of Trudie’s, switched the ID bracelets before the ambulance arrived! So far, so good.

Now I want to say, if you have already made up your mind to read this book, please stop here, and don’t read any other reviews. Most mention what I am about to tell you, and I am very glad I didn’t know this before I started reading the book!

Still with me??? Here come’s a spoiler!

Ok....where the midwife’s plan went failed...

the sickly baby did NOT die! So when Rosie finds her family, she also finds this 18 year old girl who looks like just Trudie, living the life that ‘should have been hers!’ She now must decide whether to retreat and let this family continue to live as the happy family they have been to now.....or to share the fact that the daughter they think is theirs might have inherited this terrible disease! (I did not know the baby lived until I read the book, and I think it would have taken something from me to know, which is why I warned you not to read this spoiler.)

I really enjoyed this story with all its twists and turns. The chapters were very short and it was a quick read. After the first few chapters, where the background is laid out, the story alternate points of view between Rosie, an Holly, the ‘other’ baby. At times this got a little distracting and ‘choppy’, as the chapters were very short. I would have liked to have spent more extended time with each girl. But overall, it was a good story. And for fans of Jodi Picoult, this ending will remind you of her books; one of those that you have to think about and your not really sure you like how it ended!

My Rating:  ★★★1/2   3-1/2 Stars

Counted for these challenges:

• Support Your Local Library Challenge
• Young Adult Challenge
• New Author Challenge
• Debut Author Challenge
• Ebook Challenge

Here is the trailer for the book.