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WHERE I END AND YOU BEGIN by Preston Norton

WHERE I END AND YOU BEGIN

by Preston Norton

Pub Date: June 4th, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4847-9835-5
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Ezra Slevin and Wynonna Jones are sworn enemies—until they start swapping bodies and realize that they have more in common than they thought.

Ezra has been in love with Imogen Klutz since the fourth grade, and after years of pining for her, he decides to ask her to junior prom. There are, however, two problems: the first is Ezra’s social anxiety and the second is Wynonna, Imogen’s best friend, who bullies him relentlessly. On the day of the solar eclipse, Ezra’s best friend finally convinces him to ask Imogen out. But his world turns upside down when, in the middle of a scuffle, he swaps bodies with Wynonna and then switches back to himself. The incident kicks of a pattern of the two constantly flipping between each other’s worlds. As they begin to uncover each other’s secrets, Ezra and Wynonna realize all they share—and that, chillingly, the switch might end up being permanent. Ezra’s narratorial voice is well-crafted and witty, and the characters are layered and complex. Although the book deftly explores the fluidity of gender and sexuality without moralizing or oversimplifying, there is little mention of race and all main characters are white. Unfortunately, while the end of the novel flies by in a stream of fast-paced action and nuanced character development, the first two-thirds are overwritten, with unnecessarily detailed descriptions and strange tangents.

An entertaining queer romance that could have benefited from some additional editing.

(Romance. 14-18)