Double Take

Double Take
Author: Melody Carlson
Pages: 271
publication date: June 1 2011





Summary:
It's spring break of her senior year and Madison Van Buren is fed up. Stressed over Ivy League pressure, her parents' marital problems, and her boyfriend's neglect, Madison gets in her car and drives west. Meanwhile, eighteen-year-old Anna Fisher wants to escape the so-called simple life--which for her consists of caring for younger siblings, sewing, cooking, and gardening--and she's well aware that her future will simply be more of the same with a man she doesn't love. Suddenly, worlds collide when Madison and Anna meet in a small town, realize they look uncannily similar, and decide the grass is definitely greener on the other side.
Readers will love this funny and provocative tale of switching places from bestselling author Melody Carlson. As they get a glimpse into two very different worlds, they may find themselves happy to be just who they are, where they are.





Review:
Madison is a spoiled rich girl who lives in a penthouse in New York City. She is fed up with all the stress and just wants to get away. Her mother wants her to go to Tuscany for spring break, while her dad wants to go check out Harvard, her best friend wants her to come along with her to vacation and her boyfriend wants her to stay home so they can be together for spring break, so many stressful moments for Maddie.

Anna lives the Amish lifestyle, she works all day with her parents and he parents are forcing her into a marriage that she doesn’t want. She is in love with Jacob but he left Amish life and moved to New York, leaving her behind. Her Aunt is almost ready to have a baby and she is requested to live there for however long it will take and help with all the chores and the four kids. She just wants to escape Amish life.

Once day while at a coffee shop they bump into each other and see the resemblance. Maddie has the crazy idea of switching lives for a week, Maddie will learn to see what it’s like to be Amish and Anna moves to the city for a week, to experience what it’s like to live in the big apple. While she is there she hopes to find Jacob.

Both live in each other’s lifestyles and learn the difference in each other live. They didn’t realize how much different it was going to be and they were changed forever afterwards.

What I loved about the book was it wasn’t just the two characters in the book who got to experience what it was like living the rich/ Amish lifestyle, I learned a whole bunch and I felt like I was experiencing it with the both of them. I loved reading about the Amish, it was always interesting to read and I got a great outlook on how they live.

Reading this made me take a look around and see all the luxuries that we have and others won’t ever experience. I see life a whole lot differently after reading this novel. I appreciate things more now than I ever did. The only thing I didn’t like was how at the end she never wrote what happened after they went back to their old lives. I was a little disappointed in that.

I recommend this book to everyone, it a great way to learn about the difference between both worlds.


4/5 stars