Review: Switched by Cassie Mae
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 9, 2013
This is a good YA book about learning the difference between a longtime crush and real love. It has a good message about the personal growth of learning to be a good friend by considering someone else's feelings and not just your own. There were a lot of things I really liked about this book. I thought the characters were well developed and the dialogue was fun. Especially between Wesley and Kayla, the two best friends "in love" with their best friend's girlfriend and boyfriend, respectively. I liked Wesley right from the start, but Kayla took awhile for me to warm up to.  She was just so selfish and whiny in the beginning, but in the end that just meant she had the most room for growth and her transformation was well-written by Ms. Mae. The book started off slow to me as the relationship dynamics of the four main characters were developed, but once the story got going I was turning the pages as fast as I could to see how it would play out. There was a twist at the end that I didn't see coming and that rarely happens to me, so Ms. Mae definitely gets a high-five from me for that.  Overall this was a fun read that I would rate 3.5 stars and I highly recommend it to YA fans.*I hope you won't be put off by the 3.5 stars because the things I didn't like were more my own issues than a true lack in the writing-style or story. However, I believe my rating should reflect my personal experience and they did interfere with MY total enjoyment of the reading. For instance, it's told completely from first person POV through Kayla. I always feel a bit cheated by only getting one character's perspective. The second thing being, it's been a long time since I was 18, so I had to keep reminding myself the maturity level of the characters was probably spot on, and my age group is not the intended audience the book was being written for. But like I said having to do so took away from MY enjoyment.  I'm certain a younger audience will find it much easier to relate to the characters and their motivations than I did.~Complimentary copy received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.