Transfer Student

Starjump #1

by Laura A.H. Elliott

Two Worlds––Two Teens––One Wish

Rhoe and Ashley would never be friends.
Even if they lived on the same planet.
But, they’ll become so much more.
They’ll transfer.

Earthling Ashley’s world revolves around winning daily popularity contests at Beverly Hills High School and surfing competitions with sweet scholarship prizes that will finally help her break free of her control-freak mother. Ashley never loses. Ashley never wishes on stars. But that changes when her senior class takes a field trip to the Griffith Observatory where conflicting feelings about her predatory best frenemy Tiffany causes Ashley to throw away her own carefully-crafted Queen of B.H.H.S. title under the bus.

Meanwhile on planet Retha, Rhoe misses his dad, loves his mom’s home-cooked Glechy crag with a side of ory sauce, is desperate to heal his sick brother and wants more than anything to win The Retha New Invention Competition. He and his best friend Yuke have worked for the past two years constructing the teleporting telescope Rhoe started building with his dad before he died in an airboarding accident. Rhoe’s never kissed a girl. Rhoe’s hero is the eccentric physicist, Ramay. But that changes when the telescope teleports Rhoe across the universe with an unintended side effect, Ashley and Rhoe transfer. They swap lives when they make the same wish at the same time.

Popular-surfer-turned-boy-geek alien Ashley must handle life on Retha as Rhoe complete with webbed feet, low-gravity, and an obsession with Yuke, all the while being hunted by Rethan spies and resenting her hairy, flat chest. Boy-geek-turned-popular-surfer Rhoe must fit in at Beverly Hills High School as Ashley, compete in The Laguna Beach Invitational without becoming shark food, dodge boys’ affections, cool his preoccupation with Tiffany and his new body, and find the healing rocks he believes will save his brother’s life.

If only it were that simple. Some wishes can’t come true. Some have to.

Genres: Aliens, Science Fiction, Young Adult

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 29, 2012

About the author

As a teenager, Laura’s love of story began in the Amazon where she water-skied with piranhas while learning about head hunters. A ghostwriter of best-selling, award-winning books and screenplays, she lives at the beach in Santa Cruz, CA, with her husband, near
her daughters and grandchildren. Her search for the truth, wherever it leads, calls her on many adventures. Some come in heartbeats and others in decades. Dear Laura, A Lost Chapter of WWII: An Father-Daughter Adventure of Courage, Faith & Freedom is my first memoir. For more about Laura, visit laurasmagicday.com.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who wouldn’t love to swap bodies with an alien from another planet? That also just happens to be the opposite sex? Well, Ashley and Rhoe for starters. Sucked from their respective planets due to an ill-timed wish, the teens are now trapped inside the other’s life: and body. As Ms. Popular, Ashley is always on top -- the one who says and does whatever it takes to get what she wants. In contrast, Rhoe is the geek who always gets picked on for standing out. While Rhoe searches for any trace of his Dad’s disappearance, Ashley is finding a side of herself that she didn’t know existed. Now Ashley is stuck on Retha, with no idea of how she got there, and feeling very unsettled now that she suddenly has two hearts (and is a guy!). Meanwhile, Rhoe is trapped on Earth where this geek has to learn how to be popular and fit in or risk ruining Ashley’s life… assuming they will ever be able to switch back. Only one thing is sure: both of their lives will be changed forever...

The first thing that this book teaches me is this: be careful what you wish for. So many times a day, I wish that I had done something differently, said a more eloquent phrase, or even just that I didn’t have so much homework. Ashley and Rhoe are confused, to say the least, but they both really snap back quickly and take their new lifestyle in stride. Ashley bounces back from the shock and is very cautious about not upsetting Rhoe’s life. She doesn’t make people think he is crazy, or spend her days crying in his room about her situation. Instead, she goes out and tries to make the best of it. Rhoe makes more than a few errors in his efforts to act like Ashley, but they are never intentional. He tries to blend in as best he can and even adds in some of his own talents to give her a boost.

One aspect that is really hard to grasp about Transfer Student is that Rhoe and Ashley are a guy and girl, respectively. But then, during the transfer, they switch brains which basically means Rhoe is now inside a FEMALE human’s body while Ashley is in a MALE Rhethian’s body. So, certain situations are rather odd because they both still have the feelings and… ahem… desires of their original sex. What saves this from being completely awkward for me to read is the fact that they are thinking the thoughts of a male and a female.

I am VERY surprised (and a little disappointed) with how this story ends, I don’t feel any real closure and it seems like a LOT of loose ends are left open. Now, this is not a bad thing, IF there is going to be a Book Two, but I am not sure that there is. Normally, I dislike when a book alternates between two different characters, but in Transfer Student I do not mind it at all. It would seem weird to only know one person’s thoughts when they are both trapped in a strange situation! Elliott did a FANTASTIC job getting into the mind of all of the characters. Rhoe is especially surprising for me; Elliott does the first-person of her male protagonist shockingly well. She really portrays well the thoughts and feelings of an outcast, nerd who misses his dad. Basically, Transfer Student is a book not to miss! Any fan of Aliens, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Fiction should definitely pick up this book!!

The Cover:

When I first see this cover, I am blown away! I love how it portrays both Ashley and Rhoe facing each other but not making eve contact. The contrast between Ashley and Rhoe is also very noticeable which makes them pop out at me. I also really like that half of the letters in Transfer are backwards; it really catches my attention! Basically, I think this is One. Stunning. Cover.

I give Transfer Student 4 out of 5 stars: Great Book!

More of my reviews here: www.epiloguereview.blogspot.com

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this book I didn't look too closely at the description. So I had no idea the two people switching bodies were a male and female. It made things quite interesting. I love aliens and I love body switching stories so I was excited to read this based on that alone. Ashley is a beautiful and popular girl but her mom expects her to marry rich. She wants to be a doctor. Then on another planet there is Rhoe. He is a geek and is currently working on a science project to starjump. His mom and friends think he should give up on it. They both want to escape their lives for different reasons.

You kind of have to let go of reason with this read. Rhoe works on his telescope and believes he has figured out how to starjump. He looks through it one night at the same time Ashley is looking through a telescope at a space center and they switch. Ashley ends up in Rhoe's body on planet Retha. She can speak and understand the language so I guess we just assume it's English although they have different terms for things like days and years which they call rays. She is rather upset to learn he is a geek and looks like a frogman Twinkie. LOL If she has to be in a guys body she at least wants some abs or something she can work with. But when she sees his best friend Yuke, she realizes some of these aliens have hot bodies after all.

Then we have Rhoe in Ashley's body on Earth. He is a big dork and feels like he will ruin Ashley's reputation and she will be so mad. He uses his stories in drama class and falls for her friend Tiffany. Here is where things get kind of weird. I wasn't a big fan of the romance. Not so much because it was Ashley in a guys body falling for a guy and visa versa. It just happened way too fast. Yuke didn't believe Ashley was in Rhoe's body for a long time. When he finally believed her I thought they would spend a long time getting to know each other and then Yuke would fall for the girl inside his best friend's body. But all of a sudden he believed her and they were kissing. It was way weird. I think it would take a long time to fully fall for someone before you would be able to look past them being inside your lifelong best friend's body.

It is really difficult for me to explain all the different thoughts and happenings. It just has to be experienced. I wasn't confused reading it but I find it very hard to explain. I loved the world building of Retha. The planet has no water so the toilets were just stalls with grass, they wind surfed, and they could fly. Ashley definitely has some interesting thoughts about having a penis and Rhoe also enjoys having a female body. It was a fun story and there were a lot more deeper emotions than I expected. I loved the journey Ashley and Rhoe went on and they both grew tremendously from their experiences. I think a switch was what they both needed. Very curious as to where the story will go next.

"Really?" It's going to be hard to make this look good. I'm a freaking frogman!
I whip off my shirt. Six-pack abs would compensate for a hairy, flat-chest and webbed-feet. But this guy is a total Twinkie. Great. I'm a Twinkie frogman. I run my hand through the hair on my head, and thank God I've got some.

"I think about cars, silent treatments, natural-looks, being popular, cover girls, drugs, and cheating. Regular-Earthly-teenager thoughts."

[Sarika Patkotwar · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I were to describe Transfer Student using only three adjectives, I'd say that it was- captivating, interesting and impressive.
From the moment the author Laura A.H. Elliott spread the word about the book, I wanted to read it and was lucky enough to have won a giveaway hosted by the author herself for which I would like to thank her once again.
Transfer Student is the story of two teenagers- one living on Planet Earth (Ashley) and the other from Planet Retha (Rhoe). A task as simple as star- gazing through a telescope makes these two switch planets and their bodies. So we have Rhoe as and in Ashley on Earth and Ashely as and in Rhoe on Retha. Without getting much into the plot, I would just like to say that, from there on, the book is a complete page- turner.
In the initial chapters, Ashley's life on Earth seemed liked that of any American blonde girl. However, after the Transfer, reading about Earth from Rhoe's point of view was absolutely hilarious and giving a broader sense of awareness at the same time. Reading about Planet Retha from both, Ashley's and Rhoe's POV was an interesting. Live on Retha, it's people, how things work there, even simple things like how they use wheatgrass in place of water was all put down well. Ashley and Rhoe each fall for each other's best friends after the Transfer. It was so funny to read about a girl in a guy's body falling for his best friend or a guy in a girl's body falling for her best friend! But as Ashley says, all over the galaxy, boys are falling for girls and girls are falling for boys.
Transfer Student was a completely different read and at the same time, being a Sci- Fi book, it had a contemporary aspect. I would recommend Transfer Student if you're up for something different.

[Paula Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you watched all those movie's like The Hot Girl , The Change-Up etc . The one's where something magical happens and somehow you end up swapping bodies with them ? Ever since, I was a little girl I have loved the story of The Prince and the Pauper. The one where the prince and the pauper look identical and they switch places and nobody realises till the very end of the book.
Laura Elliott's new novel is like that "Transfer Student" takes places when Ashley - Miss Perfect and Popular from modern day earth and Rhoe from the alien Planet Retha accidentally swap bodies. It all starts when Ashley takes a trip to the Planeterium , stars have never been her forte but when on impulse she decides to peer down the telescope ,something changes within her . Rhoe , is a boy living on the Planet Retha , he is trying to re-create what is called StarJumping - a form of teleportation that his father was working on before he died. Whilst out surfing Laura makes a wish for someone to save her life and Rhoe is locked in his father's shed re-creating the StarJumper when all of a sudden they switch bodies and wake up as the opposite sex. Now the two of them must learn to not only live as a different gender but also blend into their new worlds. Have the pair swapped for a reason ? Will Ashley and Rhoe ever switch back to their own bodies and Will this experience change both their lives for the better ?
Find out in Laura Elliott's new amazing book "Transfer Student".

[ѦѺ™ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a bolt out of the blue Fate steps in and sees you through When you wish upon a star Your dreams come true - Pinocchio, 1940 Walt Disney animated film


from across the universe, two teens get transferred when they make the same wish at the same time. Rhoe finds himself on Earth while Ashley lands on Rhoe's home planet Retha. the problem is that Rhoe takes on Ashley's physical form and Queen of Beverly Hills High Ashley is now an alien boy - parts and all.
author Laura A.H. Elliott spins an interesting intergalactic tale of identity and corporeal switching reminiscent of the movies Freaky Friday and The Hot Chick.
the adventure takes off when geeky Rhoe and popular Ashley literally find themselves in each other's shoes. their voices alternate in this book as each relates the challenges they face and how they deal with them in their new roles and bodies.
i was impressed with the way Ms. Elliott drew her main protagonists and gave them their distinct personalities. she was able to capture very well how teenagers think, act and speak. even in an alien world, the language was hip and contemporary .
incorporating actual locations around Los Angeles made some parts of the story conceivable. the descriptions of Retha and some of its history were also well-done.
i also liked how the author focused on and played around with Rhoe's and Ahsley's favorite leisure activities which mirrored the other's interest albeit in a different form.
i was amused by the awkwardness both teens displayed and by their physiological reactions when they were crushing on their respective best friends.
there were some surprising sub-plots here that went well with the entire story too.
the best part of the whole affair was how the beauty and the geek finally made it back home.
i guess there is some truth to the adage that one should really be careful when wishing for anything. you never really know what you would get or where it might take you.
overall, this was a fun and enjoyable book and i highly recommend it.


Disclosure of Material Connection: i received an eARC of Transfer Student from the author herself. i did not receive any payment in exchange for this review nor was i obligated to write a positive one. all opinions expressed here are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, the book's publisher and publicist or the readers of this review. this disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

[Autumn Review · Rating 3 out of 5]

As some of you now, I usually do my own summary of the book, but as it is already listed above, I will keep my review to my thoughts only. I typically don't read books about aliens or anything sci-fish, but I decided to give this a shot. I had the pleasure of meeting Laura a few months ago, so I was looking forward to reading some of her work.


Transfer Student was nothing like I thought it was going to be. It wasn't heavy on the sci-fi, which I was happy about. I mean there is alien terminology and culture discussed, but I could easily understand it. There was some humor, some romance, and some personal growth that helped to keep me interested and less feeling like I was reading about aliens.


I liked Rhoe better than Ashley to be honest. Ashley was pretty shallow until they switched. She was searching for something more and I believe once she really made the decision to change, she LITERALLY did. Rhoe, on the other hand, was a sweetheart. I felt connected to his character pretty quickly. He to was searching for more, but also wanted to help save his brother and find answers to his father's death. Without revealing too much, I did like that they connected the first time through means more centered around Rhoe's life, but when they reconnected towards the end it had more of a personal tie to Ashley's life.


There were a few things I had trouble with. At the beginning of the story, I did feel a bit confused as to what exactly was happening. I think it wasn't until about 40% in that I really had a clear picture. The only other thing that I had issue with was that Rhoe and Ashley both make romantic connections while switched; Rhoe with Tiffany and Ashley with Yuke. I didn't really feel like there was a solid build-up into those relationships. It seemed like all of sudden they wanted to kiss. Hmmm


This book almost felt like a novella to me. It's a good segway into a bigger story. What makes me want to read the next book was the ending. I felt like the ending made the story a "come back for more read". If you are interested in alien romance, this is a great read for you. 3 out of 5 stars.

[Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

My take on this? It was kind of like Freaky Friday meets another world.

What do I mean by that exactly?

Instead of a mother and daughter switching places we have a boy from one planet (Retha) and a girl from our planet who both long for the same things. Both are wanting to be better. They want to change their lives, they just want more.

They both happen to be attracted to the stars and in a freak twist of fate, their souls travel through time and space into each others bodies and then the chaos begins.

This was a very interesting read. I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like it or be able to stick with it but I really wanted to see what would happen so I pushed through and kept reading and I really am glad that I did.

This wasn't just another Freaky Friday copy cat, not at all. It had a lot more twists and turns to it than that and really it was about two people finding their way in life and becoming who they were meant to be.

I think the author made something unique and while it wasn't perfect, the plot and characters could have used a little more depth to them, it all just seemed to work.

I am not sure if there will be a sequel to this or not but if there is, I think it would be fun to see where Laura takes it from here. I would love to see the chartacters develop more and of course I would love for them to be able to find a way back to one another and have another adventure as themselves this time.

[Bryna Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Great, my first wish killed me." ~Ashley

I wouldn't call myself a sci-fi fan, but I read Laura Elliott's "13 on Halloween" and loved it so much that I thought I would give this one a try. I quickly found out that it's less of a sci-fi story and more of a boy/girl finding themselves story. Her descriptions bring the planet of Retha alive through Beverly Hill's popularity queen Ashley's eyes. Elliott never disappoints when it comes to originality. That is perhaps this book's most endearing quality. Just as unique as the alien planet and all that it holds is Rhoe's views on our planet. Would an alien really figure out how to sit in a car seat? Even if he could understand English, would he understand that "over my dead body" doesn't mean that the speaker has a death wish? I also liked the way that alien Rhoe would give Retha names to things on Earth, like calling a car, a pod. That seemed very natural. I've always been very fascinated by the habit of putting a name to everything.

But my favorite part is the very beginning when Ashley discusses her repulsion of yellow stars. She talks about how the other kids always made the stars in their pictures yellow, when in truth they are not. The yellow stars are fake, a lie that's been generally accepted. This rang very true to me and I found it to be very insightful of the author to include it. EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT A SCI-FI FAN, YOU'LL LOVE TRANSFER STUDENT!

[Kate's Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The newly released "Transfer Student", Laura A. H. Elliott, puts a whole new spin on the Freaky Friday/Trading Places theme. Rhoe and Ashley are two teenagers from totally different planets. When they both wish upon a star for things to change the starjumping machine that Rhoe built allows them to switch places.

Rhoe is a teenage boy on planet Retha and a self proclaimed 'quark' (or nerd in earth-speak). Ashley is the popularity queen of Beverly Hills High School. They are both shocked when they discover that they are inhabiting the body of someone of the opposite sex. As they struggle to learn the ways of their new planets, family and friends they uncover what is really important.

"Transfer Student" is an engaging young adult read that adults can enjoy as well. Laura richly described planet Retha and it comes alive for the reader. The characters are well developed and very relate-able.

[C.A. Kunz · Rating 5 out of 5]

An ABSOLUTE AWESOME READ. OMG I love everything about this gem of a story. The world that Ms. Elliot created is amazing and described so well I could visualize every little part of this BRILLANT READ!!!!! I lost so much sleep over this book I look like a Zombie, but who cares I so enjoyed the book and didn't want it to end. I can't wait for the sequel! Take a chance, you won't be disappointed! 5 STARS for sure and a definited TWO THUMBS UP! LOVED IT :)

[Bryna Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not usually one for sci-fi but this was one that I'd recommend. Fun read. Sci-fi feel without the extreme sci-fi geekiness. Alien learns to drive a stick and surf, what more can I say. Powerful storytelling. Don't be a quark...read it!

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***


Rhoe is a teenage male alien on the planet Retha who’s lost his father to the other side, a place where no one ever comes back from, and hold on to his memory by desperately pursing their last experiment together a project called starjumping. Rhoe is convinced that starjumping to the planet earth will give him what he needs to heel his dying brother and somehow bring his father back to him. Ashley is the most popular girl at Beverly Hills High, but something’s not right with her life. Her best friend has become a frenemy, a person she no longer understands or trusts and nobody really knows anything about her but the image she presents to the world, an image that isn’t really her. When Ashley and Rhoe look into a telescope from different planets in different worlds but make the same wish something magical happens and they find themselves on different planets in different bodies. Now Ashley must learn to be a teenage male alien in a world where she’s a geek and she’s got a crush on her male best friend while Rhoe has to figure out how to be the most popular girl in school while crushing on Ashley’s female best friend. And while they’re figuring out how to be someone so totally unlike themselves, they also have to figure out how exactly to get home. Will they find the answers they need before the dangers of being on planets they don’t understand kills one of them or both?

I debated a bit on rating for this between a three and four stars because I really did enjoy this story, however some of the issues I had for it just wouldn’t let me give it a four stars. First of all I found the enhanced version thing distracting with the links in the middle of the text. I’ll be honest in that I didn’t click on them because I don’t want to be pulled out of a story, but the color differences would kind of jerk my imagination out of the scene which I don’t think is beneficial when you want to tell a story. One of the issues I had with this book was the first person present tense from an alien point of view. The present tense thing is just a personal preference thing, I don’t like present tense writing, that’s just me. The first person thing in the beginning was in my opinion somewhat detrimental to the story. It was bad enough in Ashley’s Beverly Hills teenager point of view in the opening. Apparently modern day Beverly Hills teenagers speak practically a different language because in the opening chapters I had to reread some things twice to understand what she was saying. However the opening chapters from Rhoe’s point of view, it didn’t really matter how many times I reread it, I didn’t get it until I saw Rhoe’s word through Ashley’s eyes. The problem with a first person point of view in these scenes are there are certain basics in live you expect everyone to know that don’t bear mentioning for example I don’t need to tell you that humans need air to breath or that rain is wet. Unfortunately in a alien’s point of view it’s the same deal, he doesn’t need to explain what catchers are or that there’s little gravity on his planet because it’s expect that anyone he’d tell a story to would know that because they live there. So the opening scenes on his planet were mostly me reading through pages thinking huh, over and over again. We don’t know the physical basics of his world, the laws of his reality and because he’s telling it in a present tense kind of like we’re in his mind he doesn’t bother to explain these things that are basic to him. I mean it might not have so much been a point of view issue if it was in the past tense and Rhoe the character knew he was telling his story to an Earthling such as Elliot’s readers, but that isn’t the case. However after the body switch the first person worked wonderfully for giving us access to exactly what they’re feeling which was kind of cool. At the same time an outside perspective would have been nice too. In a way I would kind of have rather seen this in a close third person for multiple reasons, one a close third person still allows for thought processes but it offers more room for description and more point of view options. Elliot would have had the opportunity to really describe Rhoe’s world from the get go so that readers understood and picture the planet with its Dr. Seuss trees right from the first time we arrived on it. Two that that point of view would have given us more than just Ashley and Rhoe’s thoughts. Like am I the only one that would have liked to been in Tiffany’s or Yuke’s mind? It’s not that I didn’t like the story it’s just that the point of view choice kind of limited the options in telling it and in the beginning caused some confusion. Another thing that bothered me about this story is it felt rushed, the plot, the character reactions everything happened so fast and it was over in a heartbeat. This also made some of the romantic interludes hard to believe. I mean Rhoe doesn’t even tell Tiffany he’s not Ashley before he kisses her and she just sort shrugs it off and when he finally tells her she just accepts it. Yuke may not have believed Ashley at first but shortly after he does believe her he’s kissing her and trying to protect her like insta-love. The story needed more bulk to it to build the world, slow down the relationships and make the connections between Rhoe and Tiffany and Yuke and Ashley come across as realistic. These characters didn’t just switch planets they switched sex and maintain a straight mentality when they did so. Their counterparts are straight and people don’t just start doing gay things overnight if they’re not gay. If I wound up switching bodies with a man, my husband would not instantly kiss me in a man’s body. Even with our previously established relationship it would take time for him to take that step because it’s not in his nature, and he’s not naturally attracted to men. Without a previously established relationship that step would take even longer. We’d have to journey through the slow process of falling in love before he’d do something that didn’t feel natural to him. I’m guessing the same could be said if the person was gay and his true love ended up in a body of the opposite sex. It’s not that I don’t think with the right amount of connection and feeling this hurdle could be crossed, it’s that it takes time to establish that feeling and Elliot didn’t provide enough of it to make this believable. I liked the connection between the romantic characters, but I just think the story should have had more time to establish it. With this science fiction romance Elliot is building a world as well as trying to recreate to stories of true love, which in my opinion, takes a lot more pages to establish than she’s given us. Do I think she could do it is she was willing to add the bulk? Definitely, what descriptions she offers us when we move further into the story are vivid, the tale is original and the idea is intriguing as well as gripping. Most of the indie authors I take the time to read are because I’ve had some sort of interaction with the author, they asked me to read and review their work or we chatted in some group. Granted I’ve found a lot of really great stories that way that I wouldn’t have found otherwise, but I took the chance based on the writer, not based on the story. It’s likely I’d have never have come across the story on my own and some of those stories I would have sorely missed having not read. Elliot had that talent just in her promoting and excepts to get my attention even when I was barely checking into the blogosphere. I’ve never had any interaction with her, I just caught an excerpt and blurb about the book and it was one of those ideas I couldn’t resist. I bought the book as soon as I heard it had finally been released. Judging from the amount of people on Goodreads with this story on their to read list I’d say I’m not the only one. If she can garner that much attention from a blurb, excerpt and self promotion that’s enough to show she’s got talent. Either that or really good connections, but after having read the story I’m leaning toward talent. Her writing is at many points vivid and engrossing, there’s just not enough bulk to the story for me to feel like it’s been told as it should be. Another thing I’d like to have had a little more bulk to is the explanation of how exactly Rhoe and Ashley switched bodies. We get vague idea and explanations here and there, but it’s not like anyone stops and say this happened because…. My final issue with the story is the ending, I mean it’s a little open, and I was left saying that can’t be it. There’s so many person relationships unresolved at the end of this story and questions unanswered, first in a series or not I’d like to have had more of a resolution than what we’ve been given. But overall it was in fact a really good story that I really enjoyed reading. It was quick, fast paced and highly original, there just needed to be more of it.

The characters were well developed for the most part, obviously we got a really good sense of Rhoe and Ashley since we were looking at the world through their eyes. While Ashley was a little on the perfect side for her world she did still have flaws like a drug and alcohol problem and a serious case of insecurity. Rhoe had a lot more issues, but he had a lot of strengths too. Elliot gave us a good sense of Yuke, Tiffany, Sean, Xanny and Rhoe’s Mom. I’m not sure if I’d say I felt like I totally knew them but we had a good sense of the individuality of each character. The interpersonal relationships of the characters however left us very confused at the end. For example Rhoe’s not interested in guys but he likes the way it feels when Sean looks at Ashley with that I’ll love you forever sort of look. Ashley’s not into girls but she ends up kissing Xanny and feels that connection between Xanny and Roe. Yuke is I guess dating Xanny, but falls for Ashley who in return falls for him and then there’s Tiffany and Rhoe falling for each other as well. I’m just kind of confused how it’s going to work out because it just can’t be over. How are Sean and Xanny going to fit, now it might be interesting to see them fit with each other, but considering the characters have no previous interaction I don’t see how that’s going to happen. I’m hoping to see more of these characters and hopefully because it’s a series I will, though that’s not always the case with series sometimes they move on to new characters displacing the originals to background character and cameo appearances. However I’m hoping that when we return to these character and their world that we’ll be offered a chance to better know all of them, maybe a little more of the world from each of their points of view. Rhoe’s parents have a lot of answers I’d like to have and all the teenager characters have such potential to be those kind of characters you relate to and feel like you know.

Overall despite its issues listed above I’d definitely recommend this book. Though rushed and a little confusing at the beginning it’s a story worth reading and considering I don’t normally like science fiction and tend not to read it that’s saying something. The characters and their plight make this so much more than science fiction and their story is definitely one worth traveling.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 Stars

Transfer Student starts off almost sleepily & sort of meanders it's way into the action. There was almost an alien feel to the Earth described in the first few chapters surrounding Ashley. I can't pinpoint exactly why that was but perhaps it was merely foreign to me to be in the inner circle with the supposed "in crowd" as they wildly hurtled themselves through drugs & sexual references while on a field trip. That Ashley behaved so masculine with regard to her sexual desires & daydreams that made me instantly dislike her. I think her cavalier & careless attitude toward it was unattractive. But she didn't stay unattractive long.

Rhoe struck me as more naive & juvenile than Ashley. I felt his personality & thoughts were more age appropriate & his dedication to his family was honorable. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see both his world & our world through his eyes. Sometimes I laughed out loud reading how he viewed things like cars & drinking water once he & Ashley had swapped bodies across the universe. I appreciated his side of the story by far more than Ashley's but Ashley did eventually grow on me too. There was some good depth & character growth among the two protagonists that I felt was handled very nicely & realistically.

Both the world we know & the alien world of Retha were brilliantly painted. It felt very tactile & relatable whether we were surfing the waves in LA or gliding through the air toward the divide between Retha & the Other Side. And once the story really got going, it was a pretty fun read. I did roll my eyes every so often at the gratuitous topic of sex/sensuality in all its various states & I feel I would have given this 4 stars if that part of the narrative had been largely absent. I do understand that hormonal teens finding themselves in the body of the opposite sex would be quite the sensory overload but I felt there was so much more that could be explored outside of that.

Transfer Student was a very interesting read. It's not meant for younger readers but belongs with more mature readers. The entire idea behind this book is fascinating & I would definitely look forward to more books in this world/series if the focus is slightly shifted.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book sent me to sleep.
It was that boring.

I have been struggling somewhat with what rating I think this book deserves and I have settled on 1.5 stars.

I was so dissappointed since it sounded so good.
I had to fight with myself to keep my eyes open and to finish this book.

The start is so slow and not much happens. You keep waiting for it to pick up and get going but truthfully it hardly gets any better at all.

First off you meet Ashley and Rhoe. Ashley being a gorgeous and popular human girl and Rhoe is what you may call an 'alien' from a different world. You get to know them, their lives and familiarise yourselves with their friends and hobbies.

Then Ashley has an out of charachter revelation that she likes the stars and accidentally wishes on them. Rhoe perfects his dads stargazing project at the same time Ashley wishes on a star and they switch bodies.

Rhoe ends up falling for Ashley's best friend and likewise with Ashley whom falls for Rhoe's best friend before they then switch back.

How exciting, original and unpredictable.. Not.

I'm sorry but I struggled to read and finish this and I'm jut glad I didn't pay for it as to me, it would have been a waste of money- really.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is interesting enough but holy crap was this thing not ready to be published. Confusing sentence structure, abrupt changes in characterization and I don't even know how many times I re-read a segment wondering if there were missing words. I came away thinking that it could have been much better with a thorough edit.

[Tianna✸loves books✸]

Just a Note to Self....
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