I’ve never read/listened to an NR Walker book before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The story definitely did not go how I expected (which is actually a good thing because I can usually tell the ending from the beginning). The blurb made it sound like the story was truly focused on Iz being switched at birth. And while that did affect his actions, most of the story focused on him and Sam.
I adored Sam – I do mean adored. He was behind Israel every step of the way, was so wonderfully there for him. He’s the kind of best friend/lover I would love to see more of in a story. (And I would have loved more scenes with his family and Iz because they were such a wonderful juxtaposition of how they treated him vs how his parents treated him. It would have been nice if Iz had recognized them as a truer form of parentage since they’d been his second parents since he was 15.)
I liked Israel, but he was a bit too angsty for me… not that he didn’t have reason. He did. Just not my kind of character.
The narration by Leslie was good, but I’ve heard him and his English and Australian accents and he seems to have only three voices -the female voice used for all females, and two male voices. If he could keep them separated enough, that works. However, in this book, Iz’s voice changes several times. Sometimes he sounds like himself, other times he sounds like Sam, and in one long scene, he sounded like Donna.
However, that said. I do highly suggest the book. Even if it’s only to fall in love with Sam like I did.