The Opposite of Me

by Sarah Pekkanen

[Leah]

Twenty-nine-year-old Lindsey Rose has, for as long as she can remember, lived in the shadow of her ravishingly beautiful fraternal twin sister, Alex. Determined to get noticed, Lindsey is finally on the cusp of being named VP creative director of an elite New York advertising agency, after years of eighty-plus-hour weeks, migraines, and profound loneliness. But during the course of one devastating night, Lindsey’s carefully constructed life implodes. Humiliated, she flees the glitter of Manhattan and retreats to the time warp of her parents’ Maryland home. As her sister plans her lavish wedding to her Prince Charming, Lindsey struggles to maintain her identity as the smart, responsible twin while she furtively tries to piece her career back together. But things get more complicated when a long-held family secret is unleashed that forces both sisters to reconsider who they are and who they are meant to be.


Sarah Pekkanen’s debut novel came to my attention when Sarah emailed us in 2009 about signing her book deal. It sounded like a wonderful novel and I was thrilled when in 2010 Sarah sent me a signed copy of her novel to read. It’s taken me absolutely ages to finally find the time to pick it up – partly due to how busy I’ve been with other novels but partly because I didn’t want to be disappointed by the novel. I eventually took the plunge though, and I must admit, I was very impressed with the novel. Obviously when it comes to Chick Lit there are many labels that fly around and Sarah’s novel is definitely more Women’s Fiction than Chick Lit. But then again, these days it’s all the same, we just need to find an umbrella to cover it all (’cause Chick Lit apparently isn’t sufficient)!

There are lots of novels around featuring twins. Well, three, that I can think of (this one, Getting Away With It by Julie Cohen and Sweet Valley Confidential). I must admit I’ve always wanted to be a twin. It’s a long sought after dream of mine to have someone exactly like me, to think like me, to have by my side at all times, to trust implicitly, but, er, it’s not going to happen since I’m almsot 21. Unless of course my parents sent my twin out to be adopted, but then again, I’m not in an American TV show so the odds are slim. So obviously for the twin-less me, the next best thing is novels about twins. Not that they extol the virtues of twinhood. In fact, they make it sound downright annoying and not the fabulousness I always imagined it would be. The Opposite of Me is no different, in that despite being twins Lindsey and Alex are like chalk and cheese. Alex is the pretty twin, Lindsey is the smart twin. They don’t get on, they have no twinship, and Lindsey always feels like the lesser twin.

The Opposite of me starts brilliantly, introducing us to Lindsey who is super busy at the ad-firm she works at. She’s a shoo-in for VP, until one catastrophic night changes that and she find herself back at home in Maryland, lying to her family and friends about losing her job. The most interesting part of the novel for me – apart from the obvious feud between Lindsey and Alex – was the friendship Lindsey has with a lady she helps when she’s out shopping, May. I can understand why Lindsey was reluctant to tell her family about losing her job and her subsequent new job with May. The book wasn’t what I expected, I did expect it to revolve around Lindsey and Alex but it wasn’t. It obviously was a major part of the novel, but the book was about Lindsey becoming her own person, not letting the shadow of Alex ruin her life for good.

I found Lindsey to be a very interesting and complex character. There’s a lot to her, despite her workaholic tendencies. I can understand completely why she felt the need to work so hard – after all, when you perceive yourself as the ugly twin, you need to feel as if you’re good at something, right? There’s a lot of deep-seated resentment buried deep, but despote all of her issues and bitterness (it has to be said), I was really taken in by her. I thought Lindsey really came into her own during the second half of the novel as a big twist was unleashed. I did think her crush on Bradley was stupid, but again, I understood why she thought she liked him so much, mainly to get one-up on Alex, despite the fact Alex was engaged. I expected to hate Alex, and for a lot of the novel I did. Because from Lindsey’s point of view, she does come across as a bit of a spoiled brat. But Alex is faced with something huge about three-quarters of the way through the novel and I saw her in a new light. I definitely feel like I misjudged her. One of the stand-out characters for me was Matt, Lindsey’s friend in New York. He doesn’t feature much – sadly – but he’s always there and I’d have loved to have seen more of him.

Like I’ve said, there’s a fairly large twist in the last quarter of the book, it stunned me in fact. It was a real heart-stopper, and it came totally out of left field. It threw me for a loop but it didn’t entirely make me incredibly sad like it should have. I can’t explain why not. It was shocking, it was sad, it had all the right ingredients but for some reason that I can’t pinpoint, I just didn’t feel as if I’d been punched in the gut. But it definitely opened my eyes and it definitely changed some relationships in the novel. The Opposite of Me was a wonderful read. From start to finish I was hooked, and I’m so pleased I finally gave in and read the novel, it didn’t disappoint me at all. Sarah is a wonderful new voice in Chick Lit and I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on Skipping a Beat, her second novel, it’s one I’ll be purchasing in the near future!