Anyone remember my review of Meant to Be? How I gave it 3 stars because I felt pretty strongly that the main character was completely disagreeable? And the plot holes? And the generally unsatisfying nature of the drama?
Well, the strange thing is that I'm giving Lauren Morrill's second book the same rating, but none of those problems existed in this one. It's like she fixed those but left out the things that I actually liked about Meant to Be at the same time.
Being Sloane Jacobs is about two girls with the same name-- Sloane Jacobs, as you probably guessed. Sloane Devon Jacobs is a hockey player with an injured knee and a mom in rehab, and Sloane Emily Jacobs is a figure skater who's been out of competition for a while and has just discovered the stereotypical scandal that could ruin her father's senatorial career. They both have things to run from, so that's what they do. After running into each other at a hotel in Canada-- each of the Sloanes on their way to skating-related summer camp-- they decide to switch places. So it's Sloane Devon who's off to a prestigious figure skating camp, and Sloane Emily who's off to play hockey for the summer.
And that's basically it. There are minor subplots, but not much serves to keep your attention here. It seemed like, with twice as many characters, the details of each character were cut in half. If my problem with Meant to Be was that I felt too strongly against Julia, my problem with Being Sloane Jacobs was that I didn't feel strongly enough about either Sloane. They could have both been the kind of exaggerated characters that I love, but their differences ended up being very on-the-surface, and then even those got whittled down until they were practically the same person. And their love interests were not interesting in the least-- definitely no Jason Lippincott/Logan Echolls equivalent to be found here.
Oh, and yet more phone-related plot holes persist in this one, too! Like, why would it be an issue that Sloane Emily's parents might call Sloane Devon while they were switched? Was there some kind of landline in the BSI room, or...? It was never really explained, and the moment Sloane Devon got that call I was taken out of the story trying to figure out why it happened.
Another reviewer on Goodreads compared this book to a Disney Channel original movie, and I feel like this hits the nail on the head. It's decent entertainment even if the switching-places plot is a little tired, and you don't really *have* to get attached to the characters to enjoy it. But personally, I want to get attached. I'd prefer to keep going because I want the characters to be okay, not just because I know they will be eventually and I want to get there faster.
All of this said, I'm convinced that someday, Lauren Morrill is going to write a book I absolutely love. I can tell she has it in her. I just think it's a matter of finding the right story, the one that no one else can tell better.
★★★☆☆
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