Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!
Advantages:
fascinating, well written and good characters
Disadvantages:
none !
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
When I compiled my list of favourite books as a teenager a few months ago, I somehow managed to exclude my all-time favourite teen author - Lois Duncan. When I was younger I loved her stories as they managed to combine typical teenage life with some element of mysticism or mystery - whether that be voodoo, eternal youth or being on the run. I recently saw "Stranger With My Face" on amazon marketplace and decided I had to read it again. I wasn't disappointed.
"Stranger With My Face" is the story of seventeen year old Laurie - she lives on Brighton Island (an island just off the American mainland) and has recently bagged a gorgeous boyfriend (and instant popular status as a result of who the boyfriend is). But after she is unable to attend the party-of-the-year due to a vicious 24 hour bug, she finds her new friends accusing her of cheating on Gordon - they saw her on the beach with another guy.
But Laurie was in bed. How is this possible?
Over a short period of time, Laurie begins to become aware of another presence in her life. There is another girl who looks like her, who speaks to her, who tells her that she and Laurie are two sides of the same coin. Her name is Lia, and it seems that she is the identical twin sister Laurie never knew she had. Lia is astrally projecting herself from an unknown location - and she wants Laurie to learn how to do it too.
But why is she so insistent that Laurie must learn? And is it Lia who is behind the mysterious "accidents" which keep befalling Laurie's friends?
This is a great book for many reasons. For one thing it is very well written, capturing perfectly the trials and tribulations of being a teenager and struggling to fit into the popular crowd - and maybe realising that you don't really WANT to, after all. Another reason it is so good is because it deals with a subject that most people don't know a lot about - the theme of astral projection. I knew nothing about this phenemon prior to reading this book, but it is basically the act of sending your mind out of your body, and being able to go wherever you want, although your body remains in the same place it has always been. The book did not get bogged down with too much detail about this, but it was enough to raise my interest, and I believe I tried to do it myself several times (cringe!). With a success rate of zero percent, obviously!
The story is told in the first person and so we see all the experiences through Laurie's eyes, and although we can possibly see that Lia isn't really as nice as she seems a little before Laurie realises herself, generally most of what happens should surprise us as much as it surprises Laurie. In fact, one particular event, what is basically the climax that the story is leading up to, STUNNED me, but looking back at the clues beforehand, it probably shouldn't have.
I think this book has a few valuable lessons in it for teenagers - for one thing, not to necessarily take people at face value (Laurie assumes because Lia is her sister that she must be good - a mistake that lands her in hot water), that just because a guy is good looking doesn't necessarily mean he is worth spending time on, and that you shouldn't really mess with things you know nothing about, particularly that of the paranormal variety. Obviously, these are things most of us know anyway, but the book kind of pushes the point home!
Lois Duncan has wrote many fabulous books - "Locked In Time", "Daughters of Eve", "Summer of Fear" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (which I'm sure you all remember was adapted into a film starring Jennifer Love Huge Tits et al) are just a small selection - but "Stranger With My Face" is definitely the best of the lot. Obviously, it is aimed at teenagers, and this is definitely its target market, given the age of the heroine, but it is not written in a particularly "young" style, so I think people of all ages could enjoy it. I certainly did! Even though I had originally read it a good ten or so years ago, it still produced a really enjoyable read for me!
"Stranger With My Face" can be bought from amazon marketplace from £1.56.
More details
How does it compare to similar audio books?
Excellent
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?
Excellent
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