This was a cute book and a pretty fun and easy read. It's a very typical story of a nerdy girl wishing to be a part of the cool crowd. The end saved the book form being a total bore but all and all it was predictable and nothing trul special. An inoffensive and safe read. ( )

I loved this book! Seriously, loved it and may even just pre-order my own copy. I am someone who finds parallel universes absolutely fascinating and I'm always wondering what I could possibly be up to in an alternate universe. This book explores the question, what if your parents never ended up together; would you still be you?

Annie wakes up as Ayla who is really her opposite and everything she thought she wanted to be. Then Annie slowly realizes that maybe that life isn't all it is cracked up to be. I love that she really comes into her own and instead of just trying to remain at the top of the High School pyramid she actually tries to start using her power for good and changes everyone's perception of who Ayla is.

Then of course I love the whole soul-mate angle. It's pretty stinkin' romantic to think that you would always pick the person you are with in any life. Gah! It just clinches up my little heartstrings and makes me so happy. Obviously I am a romantic at heart. ( )

This book is the epitome of “Be careful what you wish for”. Annie Nutter discovers that her mom almost married a different man, one who could have made her the wife of a multi-millionaire. Annie could have been gorgeous and popular and living in a house worthy of being in magazines, all of which she’s always wanted. She is pretty much invisible at her high school, she lives with a hoarder for a father, and her family has always struggled financially, so she secretly thinks “what if”. What if her mom had married Jim Monroe instead of Mel Nutter? What would her life have been like then? Then during a lightning storm the impossible happens and Annie Nutter wakes up as Ayla Monroe and she learns that money and popularity really aren’t the key to a happy and satisfying life.

I absolutely love this book and have never read anything like it. I didn’t even really know what it was about when I requested it on NetGalley, but I’m so glad I was able to read it. I thought it would just be one of those stories about learning a lesson and then getting transported back to your life a new and changed person, and although that is basically what happens, there was so much science behind it that made it much more interesting to read.

I liked Annie at the end of the book better than I did at the beginning. At first she wasn’t really my favorite because she was a little too obsessed with anything popular and she basically cowered in their shadows. By the end, though, she becomes confident and, most importantly, happy. A lot of this change has to do with the things she faces in the alternate universe, things she never would have worried about in her “old” life. Along with dealing with her parents impending divorce, she loses not only her super hot boyfriend, but her “A-list” friends aswell. As her status disintegrates, she realizes that being popular isn’t everything if you don’t even have friends you can trust and talk to. Thankfully she befriends Charlie, the school outcast who is charming, sweet, funny, smart, and very, very kind. He helps her figure out how to get back to where she now knows she belongs.

And last but not least, I feel that the cover is a little too plain. I think they could have made a much cooler looking one with an alternate universe theme, but it’s still cute. It probably still would have grabbed my attention had I seen it in stores. ( )

Thoughts: It's simple: Money does not equal happiness. Or as Biggie Smalls would put it "mo money, mo problems". This story is like Freaky Friday meets Mean Girls. Annie Nutter is such an innocent, sweet character that gets caught in the what ifs of her mother, who is dissatisfied with her life and wonders what could've been if she married Jim Monroe. After her mother storms off in anger at another one of father's inventions, Annie finds herself without a computer that works, since he took some parts for his invention. In a spark of genius she somehow plugs her phone into it but a freak lightning storm finds Annie in another life and in the "picture perfect" body of Ayla Monroe. Thinking she is in some bizarre dream, she decides to make the most of it yet as the day goes on things start feeling too real. Now, at the top of the food chain, no longer nobody Nutter, she at first embraces her new lifestyle and persona. However, no matter how hard she tries to be this girl, her true nature comes through and she comes to detest Ayla Monroe and the rules of the social hierarchy of Crap Academy. Ayla has the life that Annie always wanted, the body, hot boyfriend and the worship or is it really fear from her peers. Annie must decide if its truly worth it to conform for popularity or rebel for herself. This story is about her struggle with her desire to be popular and her heart. How can she be Ayla without compromising what makes her Annie?


For me the best part is when she meets Charlie, they have to partner up for an English quiz and that's when he gets a glimpse that Ayla is more than he realizes. Then one night he becomes her savior after she is left to her own devices to get home, after a tryst gone bad with her boyfriend Ryder. It is emotionally, written beautifully and I found myself cheering for Annie to break the mold and go with what she feels for Charlie, regardless of how unpopular that choice may be. Charlie is smart, cute, caring and the right boy for her. He likes who she is on the inside and he may be her only hope to getting back home....that is if she still wants to go back. There so much going on this story as it has much more depth than what it seems at first. It's not just about how the other side lives but who they are in their hearts and how they choose to treat people. It is about not being afraid to be an individual in world of sharks. That said, I recommend this book to anyone that's looking for a reminder that the key to happiness in not what exists in the material world but what exists inside. Love.

Originally published on LittleLibraryMuse ( )

Wow, I completely devoured this book! I genuinely loved it and hated having to tear my eyes away from the pages. Some parts were so intense and had me feeling nervous for the characters! Don't You Wish is a wonderfully written novel and so much deeper and thought-provoking than I excepted; while still managing to be a light and fun read. I was really intrigued by the description but what I found inside the book was even more interesting.

Annie Nutter is a nobody at her school. She's been deemed unpopular, unattractive and unworthy. Her family's a little crazy and tensions are running high. Annie is sick of being treated badly by the popular kids at her school and, of course, wants out. Her mom has been feeling the same way. She saw an article in a magazine about a man she nearly married- a successful, rich man- and wonders how her life would have turned out had she gone with him instead of Annie's father. Annie's dad is an inventor and one crazy invention ends up transporting Annie to the life she has been dreaming of.

You would think this would be great. She's got everything she ever wished for. But after only a few moments in her new life as Ayla Monroe, Annie has already realized that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Ayla has a nasty personality and now Annie's stuck in her body. I felt so frustrated for Annie and hated the thought of being stuck in her position! It was so sad to see everybody be so shocked at how nice 'Ayla' was being all of a sudden. But it was great to see Annie take the high road and realize she did not have to be the stereotypical, mean popular girl.

Once Annie met Charlie- the 'nobody' of Crap Academy'- the book became so exciting! I loved how open Charlie was to accepting that Ayla was no longer the mean dumb girl he'd known her to be. It's so sweet watching their friendship blossom and to see them opening up to each other. Annie has a huge secret- but Charlie's got his secrets too. And Charlie's a genius who thinks he can get Annie back to her old life- but does she want to go?

It was heartbreaking watching Annie try to make her decision and I was freaking out at times! I was so sucked in to her life and found her really easy to relate to. I myself was agonizing over what she should do and it really made me question what I would do if I were her. This book is all about realizing that everyone has their hardships and even 'perfect' people aren't so perfect after all. I'm giving this book five stars and I don't do that lightly. The moral of the story? Be careful what you wish for! ( )