Book Review: Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill

Being Sloane Jacobs
Author:  Lauren Morrill
Publisher:  Delacorte, 352 pages
Publication Date:  January 7, 2014
*Received ARC from publisher via NetGalley

From Goodreads:
Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

Review:
A cute, fun, feel-good read that made me smile.  Sloane Emily is an ice skater who is supposed to be making a comeback while Sloane Devon is a hockey player who has started to feel pressure and nerves and isn't sure she can make a shot anymore.  They're both headed to camp during the summer and run into each other (literally) at the hotel the day before they're supposed to show up.  When they discover that they have the same name, Sloan Emily comes up with the idea that they should switch places for the summer.  

The book is told in alternating POVs and I enjoyed how they both thought the other one had it easy and discovered that just wasn't true.  They both had to deal with learning a different sport, hazing from other competitors, pretending to be someone else, figuring out who you are and what you want to do, and dealing with pressure.  They make friends and find love.  My one complaint is that because the book is split between the two I didn't feel as connected to either Sloane (or the other characters) as I did in Lauren Morrill's first novel, Meant to Be.  

Posted by:  Pam