Title: Being Sloane Jacobs

I rarely do this (in fact this is the first time!) but let me begin this review with a small anecdote.

The other day I went ice skating with a couple of friends at the mall. Having lived in a tropical country all my life, the only ice we do have apart from the ones in the freezer, are the artificial ice in a few number of skating rinks around the city. And so for my best friend's birthday we opted to go ice skating. Yay! I don't even recall the last time I went ice skating, except that I was still very very young and I had an unfortunate incident with a rogue skater who dragged me down with her, so it was kind of my first time-ish (in about 10 years) on the ice that day. 

The whole time we were ice skating the only thing I thought about was Being Sloane Jacobs which I had just finished the day before. I tried to imagine myself as Sloane Jacobs (both of them) and it was funny because I was obviously nothing like them - as I flailed (and failed) my way through the ice. Now, while I was reading Being Sloane Jacobs I couldn't actually relate much as I don't ice skate, but from my small ice skating stint, I found myself appreciating the book more (funnily a day after I finished the book).

Being Sloane Jacobs is about Sloane Devon and Sloane Emily, two girls who are completed fed up with all the pressure and stress they have to go through with their respective sports, ice hockey and figure skating. When they meet each other and realize that they not only look a bit alike but also have the same name, they decide to switch places and go to each other's summer camps - Sloane Devon at figure skating camp and Sloane Emily at ice hockey camp. Will they be able to pull it off? What happens if they get caught?

The amusing thing about Being Sloane Jacobs is that I had really high hopes for it before I read it, then got disappointed when I started reading it, then thought it was pretty awesome when I finished it and went ice skating. You might think that I'm such an indecisive penguin but not really (actually yes, maybe just a bit) it's just that I can't seem to decide whether or not I liked this book or not. For one thing, I was smiling as I read through this really adorable book, but for another I couldn't relate to the characters and didn't really feel a connection with the book. And so, I only fully appreciated the book during the time I actually did ice skate, because I found myself being able to understand the story more as I observed the ice skaters around me. Having said this, I think that while Being Sloane Jacobs was a fun read, it wasn't exactly that engrossing - and it's because I felt like it was a story written in the wrong medium!

Now I claim to be no expert on this, and this is the first time that I've actually accused a book's story as being done in the wrong medium, but what the heck. I'm probably going to book hell for saying this and all the other bookish people will probably chase after me with their pitchforks, but I felt like Being Sloane Jacobs was better off done as a film. I'M SORRY GUYS OKAY!

In the first place, what drew me into reading this book was the premise of ice. I haven't read any other books wherein the female lead characters are engaged in ice related sports, in Being Sloane Jacobs case, ice hockey and figure skating. I really really wanted this to work, but it just didn't cut out that way for me. This is exactly why I thought it was awesome when I finished the book and actually went on the ice - Being Sloane Jacobs is a story that I think you have to, if not experience, see for yourself with your own eyes. I guess it was because I thought the dual POV was a bit confusing (I just couldn't seem to differentiate the two Sloanes) and the ice skating parts of the story were not really described as vividly as I hoped, so it just didn't work for me.

Okay now I feel really bad about this review. I DID like the story and the premise, but I guess the execution felt a bit lacking, and because of that I may feel like it would fair better as a film. This is just my own opinion, and I do hope you guys read this book because you might see it in a different way.

Have you read Being Sloane Jacobs? What did you think?