Someone I Wanted to Be by Aurelia Wills

Expected publication: September 6th 2016

When an insecure teen starts impersonating someone else, her life spirals dangerously out of control in a realistic, relatable novel about finding yourself—and discovering your true friends.

Leah Lobermier dreams of becoming a doctor, but it’s hard to stay focused on getting good grades when boys make oinking sounds at her in school and her mother spends every night on the couch with a bottle of wine. Leah’s skinny and popular “friends,” Kristy and Corinne, aren’t much better and can hardly be counted on for support. When the girls convince a handsome older man to buy them beer, Leah takes his phone number and calls him, pretending to be Kristy—coy and confident—and they develop a relationship, talking and texting day after day. But as the lie she created grows beyond her control, can Leah put a stop to things before she—or Kristy—is seriously hurt?

Personally, I just couldn’t get into this book. The first half was okay and the last half was a lot better but I couldn’t ever become emotionally invested in the story or the characters. I think the biggest “problem” with this book is that is has so many tough, sad topics that I did couldn’t enjoy anything about it. It was like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong and it was just an exhausting read. There was just so much sad stuff going that it felt really depressing.