Customer Reviews

The Opposite of Me: A Novel

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I love the whole premise of this book - how the roles we are given when we are growing up stick with us. In this case it's about two sisters (fraternal twin sisters here) - one who is the smart one, and one who is the pretty one. Having grown up with two sisters, I can totally relate to the labels that our own parents, teachers, family and friends gave us. My whole life (even now into my thirties), I've been defined by those labels put on me (and the same for my sisters) when we were young.

This novel is about how Lindsay (smart one) and Alex (pretty one) begin to understand that those roles they were given, which caused them to feel very opposite of each other, may not be who they truly are, definitely not all they are, and that they have more in common than they thought.

Sarah Pekkanen has a fresh and funny voice, I laughed out loud many times and could relate to both sisters who were adoringly flawed and fantastic. The premise is that Lindsay, who was working in NYC at a high powered ad agency, gets fired (thanks to a comical bad decision and scenario in the boardroom) and goes back home to Maryland to get her ducks in a row. Back home, her beautiful sister Alex, who seems to have it all, is getting married to a gorgeous, rich prince charming. There's also the old high school flame and the very funny parents. Things unfold in a humorous way, at a good pace and even when things get serious and the story turns in a way that's unexpected, Pekkanen has the gift of balancing the right amount of humor and heart.

You will LOVE this book... If you love Jennifer Weiner, Emily Giffin and Allison Winn Scotch, then be sure to embrace Sarah Pekkanen because I believe her career in women's fiction (fun, relatable and real stories for women) is just taking off.

I just finished The Opposite of Me: A Novel by Sarah Pekkanen and I absolutely loved this book. The author did an incredible job of describing the competition that occurs between sisters no matter how much they love each other. It had wonderful insight into what siblings are really feeling. I was drawn to the main character Lindsey and became her biggest cheerleader. I wanted her to find happiness, success and herself. When a crisis in her sister's life occurs and brings her closer to her twin you see them grow in new and wonderful ways. I am definitely going to share this book with my sister. Highly recommend this book!

I Loved this book! I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy and was hooked from page one, when we are thrown into the life of ambitious advertising exec Lindsey Rose as she prepares to receive the promotion of a lifetime.

When things don't work out exactly as planned, Lindsey is forced to move back in with her parents and face the many issues she has with her seemingly perfect twin sister.

Poignant and funny, THE OPPOSITE OF ME is a must read for any Giffin or Weiner fan. I couldn't put it down!

I was one of the lucky ones who received an advanced copy of Sarah's book. To say I DEVOURED it in a day and a half would be an understatement. From word one, sentence one, page one, I could not put the book down. Her hilarious writing, relatable characters and unexpected plot twists hooked me and, even more importantly, kept me hooked. I'm an avid reader, often giving up on books mid-way through when the story either fizzles or just seems to drag on. With THE OPPOSITE OF ME, I became re-excited with each chapter and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Up until the very last page, which I was very sad to reach, I was intrigued, entertained and for lack of a better description, SUCKED IN. Kudos to Sarah for writing such an out of the gates fantastic book as a debut author. I hear People Mag is giving her 3.5/4 stars and if you haven't already heard, Jennifer Weiner has taken her under her wing. She's an author to keep following and to keep reading. As a side note, follow her on Facebook because she's freakin' hilarious.

Okay, so I've got a crapload of sisters. I have two older sisters and two younger sisters (although the youngest sister is 16 years younger than me and only six so she really doesn't fit into the competitive mold), so I understood the relationship between Lindsey and Alex perfectly. While my sisters and I have all gotten over the whole competitiveness a few years ago, I still remember when it was rampant during our teenage years and it was FIERCE! So, again, I identified with Lindsey on that and that was why originally I intended to give this book five stars. But then, it turned for me.

I liked The Opposite of Me for the most part, but in the beginning I thought that it was wonderful. I loved it and couldn't wait to get back to it when I put it down. I just loved Lindsey and was so curious about her relationship with Alex. But then the sob story happened. I'm sorry, but does EVERYTHING have to have a sob story?! Don't get me wrong, I don't want the very few chick-lits I read to be all fluffy and airless, it's just that that particular sob story has been done to death. I would've preferred a different sob story, one that doesn't happen in every other women's fiction/chick-lit book. And another thing: that HUGE family secret? A bit on the disappointing side and just made Alex seem more like a Mary Sue. And I don't like Mary Sue characters. At all. Also, I didn't buy that crap that Alex said (very mild spoiler here) about not knowing that Lindsey was jealous of her. No one is that oblivious.

Now that I got that off my chest, I have to say that I did like some of the other aspects of The Opposite of Me. I loved the whole dating service storyline. I thought that it was actually a good way to have a dating service. I also adored Lindsey's parents. They were just so cute and hilarious. Speaking of hilarious, Matt was also great. Such a sweet and great friend. Basically, all of the supporting characters in this book were good. Plus, this book was a major (and I do mean MAJOR cause even when I was complaining about it, I couldn't put it down) page-turner. I basically read it in one day in breaks between my classes.

So, regardless of my little rant above, I did like The Opposite of Me. I thought it was pretty funny and pretty sweet if a bit predictable. However, I would've liked it more if it had been sans big sob story and a little more about the sisters dealing with their issues without that major thing prompting it.

The Opposite of Me has a complexity to it that many critics of books about the interests of women deny is possible. They have a notion in their heads that these books are silly at best and dangerous at worst. If women writers want to be taken seriously, we're told, they have to write about serious matters -- as if love and family and the search for identity is the small stuff. Of course, slap a man's name on a lot of the books that get dismissed and they'd magically be seen as weightier.

I selected this because I saw the author on a message board and she seemed pleasant and mentioned to someone in the course of that conversation that Jennifer Weiner had been particularly kind to her and enjoyed the book. It was enough to make me buy a copy.

When we meet Lindsay, she is a workaholic bucking for a vice presidential position on an ad agency. The opening is fast and witty and very much what we've come to call chick lit. Soon the tone changes as things don't work out as Lindsay expects and she's forced to reevaluate who she is, how she ended up so driven, and where she wants to go with her life.

We discover early in the book that Lindsay feels competitive with her sister, Alex. Lindsay is the smart one and Alex is the pretty one, but the book tells us that this is too simplistic. The sisters are who they are because of who they perceive the other one to be -- but what if they'd been wrong?

I might be an only child, but I've spent time wondering how my childhood shaped me. Wondering how you sort through the lessons you want to keep and the ones you want to discard and find who you were really born to be and all of this is at the heart of The Opposite of me, a very appropriate title.

Read this one fast, stayed up all night to finish. Enjoyed.

I found this to me a well-written book, but some of the juxtapositions, some of the moments, seemed a little too perfect. Novels get to boil life down a little to the essence, but sometimes moments can be made trite if an author isn't careful. It didn't happen often here, but occasionally events were coincidental in a way that seemed artificial. Small criticism.

Lindsey Rose is a true workaholic. With virtually no friends besides a co-worker, she spends the nights sleeping in her office and is constantly trying to get further in her promising career as a top New York advertising executive. When she is passed over for a promotion and then fired after getting caught in a compromising position with another employee, Lindsey has no choice but to pack up her belongings and head back home to Maryland to live with her parents.
Lindsey is the complete opposite from her twin sister, Alex. While Lindsey is the smart one with mediocre looks, Alex is gorgeous, flirty, and completely selfish. With her upcoming nuptials to a wildly rich and successful man, Alex's life dominates in greatness over Lindsey's. Lindsey clutches furiously to hold on to her friendship with Bradley, who crushed on her all throughout high school, but she finds out Bradley has moved on- to the complete unexpected. Lindsey throws herself into a new friendship and a new job- as a matchmaker for singles. When a devastating medical diagnosis hit the family, Lindsey is forced to take a closer look at her and her twin's lives and the stereotypes they have been leading- and finds an unexpected twist that makes her re-evaluate the way she has been living her life.
The Opposite of Me, the debut novel from Sarah Pekkanen is a heartwarming tale that brought me to tears at the end. It did seem slightly slow-paced at times, but I thought each plot twist was unpredictable. When I was positive I knew what was coming next, the opposite happened, making me enjoy this book even more. I will definitely look forward to Pekkanen's next novel, and I am hoping maybe there will be a spin-off that follows Alex's journey.

I don't even have much time to read these days, but I found myself making time to finish this book! "The Opposite of Me" offers the perfect mix of sibling rivalry, family secrets, and plenty of laughs along the way. I actually purchased one for my sister so she can enjoy it like I did! Author Sarah Pekkanen offers an easy read with enough build-up to keep the pages turning. I recommend it to anyone, especially to tote along with you to the beach this Summer!

Lindsey and Alexandra Rose are twins--fraternal twins, of course. And they couldn't be more different from one another. Not only do they look different, they have assumed very distinct roles and purposes in life: the responsible one and the beautiful one.

Living in New York and working for an advertising agency has been a dream of Lindsey's for a long time, and she finally seems to almost have it all. She prides herself on her work ethic, which borders on workaholic behavior at times, but she delights in hearing the continual praise about her accomplishments.

Alex lives in Washington, D.C., and has a glamorous job as a TV personality, with occasional modeling gigs.

Whenever the two sisters are together, Lindsey feels herself disappearing into the shadows, with her sister taking up all the space and air in the room. Consequently, the two have not talked nor seen each other much in years.

When Lindsey is vying for a huge account, and also hopes to be appointed to a vice president position in her agency, her world looks like it's finally coming together perfectly. Then something happens to ruin it all--a huge disappointment, a subsequent scandal, and a loss that sends her catapulting home to Bethesda, Maryland where her parents live.

Over the next few months, Lindsey is reminded once again about how it feels to be around Alex, and the feelings are not happy ones.

What will it take to finally draw the sisters together? Will they ever move beyond the rivalry that has stalked them since they were children? And what family secret will change their perspective about everything they believed about themselves and each other?

I must admit that I didn't like Alex very much. Perhaps I was too empathetic about Lindsey's feelings and the disappointment of being "less than." Maybe I only saw the selfish side of Alex. Or maybe I actually only could see Lindsey's point of view. But when things started to change, and when some of Alex's feelings came out, I could see that the two of them were not as different from one another as they'd believed.

The Opposite of Me: A Novel is the kind of family story that shines a light on parenting issues, sibling rivalries, and the hard lessons that we all have to learn along the way. Five stars.

I really liked this book and the character of Lindsey stuck with me. She was funny but also smart, and I could really relate to her and her love/hate relationship with her sister, Alex, also with her struggle over what direction she wanted her life to take. I was a little disappointed in the ending, but overall it was a worthwhile read.