Review – Being Sloane Jacobs

TITLE: Being Sloane Jacobs

PUBLISHER: Delacorte Press

SYNOPSIS: Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

REVIEW: Being Sloane Jacobs is all about a really cool concept of running and hiding from your problems and at the same time, finding yourself. First, you have Sloane Emily Jacobs, a figure skater trying to stage a comeback she’s not entirely sure she wants and being shipped off to figure skating camp, something she definitely knows she doesn’t want. She lives a picture perfect life with her senator dad, posh mom, and easy going brother, but her life isn’t as perfect to the insiders as it to the people watching. Then there’s Sloane Devon Jacobs, an anger management challenged ice hockey player who gets sent to hockey camp for being a bit too aggressive. With a withdrawn dad, an alcoholic mom in rehab, and money problems, her life isn’t so great either.

The characters gradually became more and more developed to the point where you could easily identify who is doing the talking with the split POV’s. That being said, it was a bit confusing in the beginning because… well, they do share the same name. And there was a point where they did seem a bit like the same person, not just two people with the same name. There is a bit of really cute romance, which was real nice to read about. The romance didn’t really define the book, it was just another element in it. That’s about all I can say without spoiling the book too much. The book is basically about the two of them finding out who they really are and trying to escape what they feel like is a difficult life.

My one problem with this book is that it isn’t exactly entirely realistic. It’s possible, but not realistically so. Little details here and there kind of bothered me. I don’t really understand how you could expect a figure skater, who although has been skating all her life, but never really played ice hockey to pass as an experienced hockey player for four weeks. Or how you could expect an hockey player, who has been skating since she could walk, but never figure skated, to pass as a figure skater trying to stage a comeback for four weeks. A few days, I could understand. A month. Uhh, that’s pushing it. Plus, people can’t really change that quickly. Maybe more time would have been better. Other details like that are what nag me, but other than that, the concept and idea behind the book is really interesting. Plus, I think most of the lingo in the book for the two spots are relatively correct (I could be wrong though – I don’t do either sport).

The idea that you could trade lives with someone else for a period of time and essentially live their life pretending to be them and running away from your problems seems nice. How many times have you met someone and wished that you could live their life instead of your own? The pages just drew me in, begging me to uncover what happens with the two Sloanes and what they discover along the way. I would recommend Being Sloane Jacobs for people suffering from Olympic withdrawal and for those who are fans of figure skating and ice hockey. As well as those who have ever wished to be someone else and escape the problems they face in their lives.