Someone Else's Life [Hardcover]

Katie Dale (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 14, 2012

When 17-year-old Rosie's mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington's Disease, her pain is intensified by the knowledge that she has a fifty percent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself. Only when Rosie tells her mother's best friend, "Aunt Sarah," that she is going to test for the disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie wasn't her real mother after all. Rosie was swapped at birth with a sickly baby who was destined to die.
Devastated, Rosie decides to trace her real mother, joining her ex-boyfriend on his gap year travels, to find her birth mother in California. But all does not go as planned. As Rosie discovers yet more of her family's deeply buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonizing decision of her own, one which will be the most heart breaking and far-reaching of all.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

KATIE DALE studied English literature at Sheffield University, spending a year at the Univeristy of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by a year at drama school, a national Shakespeare tour, and eight months backpacking through Southeast Asia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (February 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385740654
• ISBN-13: 978-0385740654
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,345,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic and moving March 25, 2012

By Evie Seo (Bookish blog)

Format:Hardcover

Katie Dale concocts a deliciously compelling blend of personalities, heartbreak, and family drama, in a story of one girl's journey of self-discovery and finding her place in the world. Someone Else's Life is a compulsively readable novel, and one that is sure to resonate with its readers.

The plot line focuses almost entirely on Rosie, a seventeen-year-old girl who just lost her mom to Huntington's Disease and is now terrified by the possibility that she herself might have inherited the disease. Just as she's about to get tested for it, her mother's best friend, Sarah, tells her the truth. And the truth is heartbreaking. Rosie's mom was not her biological mother. Devastated, lost and confused, Rosie decides to find her real mother, and she will travel across the continent to trace her.

Rosie's story was a deeply moving one. From the very beginning every page is loaded with her emotions. And they are very convincing, vibrant, even gut-wrenching at times. The love she has for her mother is deeply felt, and her regrets about the past and her fears and hopes about the future are heartbreakingly real. She's a very relatable protagonist, and one that you can truly connect with. Katie Dale did a really great job crafting her character, as well as all the other fantastic protagonists in her novel - to the point that you really don't feel like you're reading a YA contemporary book, more like you're listening to a story told by your best friend. There's a very comforting feeling of familiarity to this book. The characters described in it could be people you pass by on the street every day. Their worries and dreams, all the battles they fight - they're the same worries, drams and battles that we experience every day. Perhaps that's why this story made such a huge impression on me.... I was really moved by it, really glued to its pages, hungry for more, impatient to find out what will happen to Rosie, Andy, aunt Sarah, Nana, and Kitty Clare.

Speaking of characters, I feel that I need to mention how delighted I was with Rosie's strong personality. This girl went through so much and yet there was no self-pity, no whining, no throwing fits nor crying into the pillow for hours. She was such a reasonable, understanding, patient, compassionate and forgiving character. So tough, brave and determined to find true happiness, taking special care not to hurt anyone else in the process. I loved her. I really did. I cheered for her, and laughed and cried with her. Andy, too, was a very thoughtful character. Unlike many boys in YA literature of modern times, he was not a picture perfect. He had his flaws and that made me like him even more. It made him real. Sure, he was handsome, caring and supportive. He was also quite romantic and swoon-worthy, but at the same time he had his bad (or not-too-good) moments, when he couldn't understand what was happening with Rosie and the frustration coming from that would make him impatient and angry. And that was perfectly fine, because that's how normal people react. Like I said, Katie Dale did a phenomenal job fleshing out her characters and breathing life into them. I was completely and utterly impressed!

The plot line itself is a harrowing one. At times it will make you sad, at times it will make you smile or even laugh. Few scenes might make your heart pound faster. Ultimately, though, it will make you think. If you're anything like me, you will be thinking about this story long after you'll turn the last page. This book does that to you. Rosie's lively first-person narrative will inspire some long hours of pondering issues ranging from identity, self-acceptance, to family and relationship complexities, along with deciding what truly matters in life. Anyone who has ever dealt with death in family, or wondered about their place in the world, will find it really easy to relate to this beautifully-written, charming novel.

And it will also teach a you a very important lesson: that the blood-relation does not make a family. People who truly love you, care for you, and accept you for who you are - they make a family. And the love that comes from that transcends blood.

Katie Dale has written an intimate and authentic portrait of a teen who finds herself struggling to embrace her uncertain future. It's a fabulous read. I strongly recommend it! Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Emotional March 1, 2012

By brandileigh2003

Format:Hardcover

Ms. Dale sure knows how to write. The beginning (and really all throughout the book) she conveys such heart wrenching emotions through her characters, she also does well at the highs, and capturing the true essence of teenage emotions, from one extreme to the other then back again in a new york minute. The emotions really came alive to me with her vivid descriptions.
The jumps in narration was a little confusing for me at first, and then I totally got it, and it was a masterpiece! I love the generational struggles and how they transcend time, she did a really good job with that.
I also had a hard time getting a grasp on Rosie at first, one minute strong and standing up for herself and then the next doing things that seem extreme like being all over a random guy, but I guess that grief, especially raw and fresh grief will do that to you. All in all, I think that her character ressonated with me more than Holly's because she came across as selfish. I tried to remind myself all she faced and the fact that she is just a teenager, but I never really could bring myself to like her much until the end.
This was a hard book to read in that I have no clue what I would do if I were in Rosie or Holly's shoes (or even Kitty at first for that matter.) With the Huntington's hold and the cycle of choices and possibilities, and then the whole family situation to deal with--on top of Holly's other secret, I just can't imagine.
I really liked the adults in this book--Trudie was so strong, and through Nana we can see she had such a positive attitude even in the face of such a horrible disease, and Nana herself is awesome--she reminds me of my own grandma in some ways and that is high praise. Jack is so strong and such a great dad. I can't say alot more without spoilers....
Review from Blkosiner's Book Blog Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read March 28, 2012

By pragya

Format:Hardcover

This book awe'd me from start to finish.

I started reading this thinking I will read a few pages till bedtime but my plan didn't work. I read this book in a 5 hour marathon reading session finally sleeping at 4 in the morning. And no, reading the rest of the book in the morning was NOT an option.

Shut yourself in a secret place where no one can find you before you start reading. Distractions play havoc with reading.

Be FOREWARNED, do not eat much before reading this book. This is a roller coaster ride with lots of twists and turns and you don't want to heave, right?

The Good

The book gripped me right from the start and played hide and seek with my imagination. It surpassed my thinking and every time I felt like I have figured this book out, it would take another completely unprecedented turn. Phew! Was I tired!

The concept is novel and engaging. You feel for the characters.

The book is so well-written, one thing leading to the other, entwined so nicely that I almost gasped at times.

The Not so Good

The length could have been shortened a bit. There were some unbelievable and filmy things that I just couldn't believe. And I wish the book title was shorter. I love one word titles, two word ones are good but three is long, no? OK, maybe I am just finding a reason to disagree about.

In all, a great book that hooks you into the plot. In some way, it reminded me of Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard, perhaps it was the travelling bit.

It is books like this which make me give up on writing. If someone can think like this, I better resort to reading. I can't think like THIS!!