Julie's Review: The Opposite of Me

Summary: Twenty-nine-year-old Lindsey Rose has, for as long as she can remember, lived in the shadow of her ravishingly beautiful fraternal twin sister, Alex. Determined to get noticed, Lindsey is finally on the cusp of being named VP creative director of an elite New York advertising agency, after years of eighty-plus-hour weeks, migraines, and profound loneliness. But during the course of one devastating night, Lindsey’s carefully constructed life implodes. Humiliated, she flees the glitter of Manhattan and retreats to the time warp of her parents’ Maryland home. As her sister plans her lavish wedding to her Prince Charming, Lindsey struggles to maintain her identity as the smart, responsible twin while she furtively tries to piece her career back together. But things get more complicated when a long-held family secret is unleashed that forces both sisters to reconsider who they are and who they are meant to be. ~amazon.com

Review: First off, I just love the cover of The Opposite of Me! It just makes you feel good. I mean who wouldn't want to be looking at the ocean on a nice sunny day? What's in between the cover and the back, is just as enjoyable. You can't help but fall a little in love with Lindsey when you first start the book. In fact, I was so attached that within the first 50 pages I was already getting teary-eyed with her ordeal. That doesn't mean that Lindsey isn't without faults, because she definitely has them. She could use a little self-esteem when it comes to her personal life and her looks. She's so self-assured in the conference room but so lost outside of it. She has always banked on being the "smart" sister, since her twin, Alex, has always been the gorgeous one.

Life throws Lindsey a major curve ball, causing her to re-think her whole life. Has she just wasted 8 years of her life proving to herself and her family that she's the smart one? Does she really want that life she was aiming towards any more? How does she admit to herself that she messed up? Since the story is told through Lindsey's eyes, obviously you only see people how she sees them. This is obviously good and bad. I wonder what my opinion of Alex would have been if she was narrating the story in tandem with Lindsey? Would it be different? In the end though, this is Lindsey's story. How she perceives herself and how she perceives others around her is the making of a great, character driven story and Ms. Pekkanen delivers.

Did the ending surprise me? No, but I'm totally OK with that. You know where the book could be going but you are never really 100% sure. I enjoyed the ending and it made me smile, which is sometimes really what you want from a book.

I would love to revisit Lindsey and May to see how Blind Dates is coming along. Plus I found that Mr. and Mrs. Rose were hysterical in their content with each other. Their ability to argue without really arguing. If you are looking for a book about our relationships to our siblings and how they can define us, then check out The Opposite of Me.

I am looking forward to reading Ms. Pekkanen's second novel, Skipping a Beat, early in 2012.

Final Take: 4/5