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Away for the Weekend
The only thing Gabriela and Beth have in common is that they are in LA for the weekend. Gabriela is there for frivolity, fashion and fun; Beth for lectures, learning and literature. But what neither girl knows is that they are not alone. Two angels are in LA with them. And the angels have other ideas... A fast and funny body-swap comedy from a best-selling author.
- GenresYoung AdultFiction
Paperback
First published October 6, 2011
7 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
Dyan Sheldon
93 books197 followersDyan Sheldon is the author of many novels for young adult readers, including the #1 New York Times bestseller CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN, which was made into a major motion picture. American by birth, she lives in North London.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 12, 2012
I started to read it but I couldn't it was kind of boring
January 13, 2013
I now have a new favourite author!
May 21, 2012
By Dyan Sheldon. Grade A.
YA is not my genre. Though I myself am a teenager, I don’t agree with their thinking and their conclusions. I end up hating the main characters, critiquing their behaviour and attitude and comparing them to the people I know. I find most of the protagonists narrow minded, self-serving and plain irritating.
I was expecting to find all this in Away for the Weekend. So to my great shock it was nothing like the novels I have described above. The book is mainly focused on Elizabeth Beeby and Gabriela Menz and how they turn out to be better people. She had my attention firmly focused from the first page to the last.
A brainbox, a fashionista, and two angels intent on some divine interference – it’s going to be an interesting weekend!
The only thing Gabriela and Beth have in common is that they are in LA for the weekend. Gabriela is there for frivolity, fashion and fun; Beth for lectures, learning and literature. But what neither girl knows is that they are not alone. Two angels are in LA with them. And the angels have other ideas…This is a fast and funny body-swap comedy from a best-selling author.
Remedios and Otto are two angels who always end up ruining their mission. Otto is the one who keeps on thinking but is too afraid to act. Remedios acts and does not think at all. She ends up creating chaos (and sometimes assisting revolutions) and Otto does not help at all (last time he became so upset with the suffering that he hid himself on some tropical island). So finally they both are sent to a small town, on a fairly simple mission. To look after the people living there. Who knew that they would end up finding trouble there too?
Gabriela Menz is the fashion fiesta and Beth Beeby the brain box. They both get the chance to spend a weekend in LA for being selected as finalists in their respective competitions. Gabriela thinks about nothing but fashion, the rest is unimportant. She is pretty, sweet and very very popular. Gabriela Menz may be considered a knock-out among her peers. No one can ever say no to her, no matter how stupid or dumb she acts.
She wants a challenge. On the other hand, Beth worries about everything: she worries about her medicines, worries about her marks and cries if she gets A- instead of A and if there is nothing to worry about, she worries about that too. She has zero self confidence.
Remedios fixes her interest in both these girls and decides to fix them up for better. She follows both the girls to LA and Otto comes after her. She has a plan. A plan which can go wrong and ruin both girls’s lives. A plan which can as well turn out to be effective. A plan about which she hasn’t yet told Otto. And when she executes the plan, Gabriela and Beth find themselves in each other’s body and the nightmare starts.
It provided a nice change to me and many hours of entertainment with it. I loved the way Ms. Sheldon has handled this topic, mixing fantasy with real life problems in a beautiful way. And provides a message at the same time, there is always someone who is looking out for you.
The best thing that I found about the book was that Gabriela Menz was not a bitch. Most authors, in order to portray them as teenagers, end up making the protagonist a bitch. Though she has a brain but cares about nothing but fashion, she’s not a bitch. I loved anticipating what will happen next and how they both will cope in each other’s life and make themselves a better person. The author’s writing style was fun to read.
She did not dwell on the unimportant but handled the issues with a carefully wielded pen: it was laugh out loud funny at one place, and terribly poignant on the other. Her descriptions were hilarious.
You should definitely read this for some careful insight into the human psyche.
Originally reviewed at www.the-vault.co.cc
YA is not my genre. Though I myself am a teenager, I don’t agree with their thinking and their conclusions. I end up hating the main characters, critiquing their behaviour and attitude and comparing them to the people I know. I find most of the protagonists narrow minded, self-serving and plain irritating.
I was expecting to find all this in Away for the Weekend. So to my great shock it was nothing like the novels I have described above. The book is mainly focused on Elizabeth Beeby and Gabriela Menz and how they turn out to be better people. She had my attention firmly focused from the first page to the last.
A brainbox, a fashionista, and two angels intent on some divine interference – it’s going to be an interesting weekend!
The only thing Gabriela and Beth have in common is that they are in LA for the weekend. Gabriela is there for frivolity, fashion and fun; Beth for lectures, learning and literature. But what neither girl knows is that they are not alone. Two angels are in LA with them. And the angels have other ideas…This is a fast and funny body-swap comedy from a best-selling author.
Remedios and Otto are two angels who always end up ruining their mission. Otto is the one who keeps on thinking but is too afraid to act. Remedios acts and does not think at all. She ends up creating chaos (and sometimes assisting revolutions) and Otto does not help at all (last time he became so upset with the suffering that he hid himself on some tropical island). So finally they both are sent to a small town, on a fairly simple mission. To look after the people living there. Who knew that they would end up finding trouble there too?
Gabriela Menz is the fashion fiesta and Beth Beeby the brain box. They both get the chance to spend a weekend in LA for being selected as finalists in their respective competitions. Gabriela thinks about nothing but fashion, the rest is unimportant. She is pretty, sweet and very very popular. Gabriela Menz may be considered a knock-out among her peers. No one can ever say no to her, no matter how stupid or dumb she acts.
She wants a challenge. On the other hand, Beth worries about everything: she worries about her medicines, worries about her marks and cries if she gets A- instead of A and if there is nothing to worry about, she worries about that too. She has zero self confidence.
Remedios fixes her interest in both these girls and decides to fix them up for better. She follows both the girls to LA and Otto comes after her. She has a plan. A plan which can go wrong and ruin both girls’s lives. A plan which can as well turn out to be effective. A plan about which she hasn’t yet told Otto. And when she executes the plan, Gabriela and Beth find themselves in each other’s body and the nightmare starts.
It provided a nice change to me and many hours of entertainment with it. I loved the way Ms. Sheldon has handled this topic, mixing fantasy with real life problems in a beautiful way. And provides a message at the same time, there is always someone who is looking out for you.
The best thing that I found about the book was that Gabriela Menz was not a bitch. Most authors, in order to portray them as teenagers, end up making the protagonist a bitch. Though she has a brain but cares about nothing but fashion, she’s not a bitch. I loved anticipating what will happen next and how they both will cope in each other’s life and make themselves a better person. The author’s writing style was fun to read.
She did not dwell on the unimportant but handled the issues with a carefully wielded pen: it was laugh out loud funny at one place, and terribly poignant on the other. Her descriptions were hilarious.
You should definitely read this for some careful insight into the human psyche.
Originally reviewed at www.the-vault.co.cc
September 28, 2018
This book was just never going to be my cup of tea. I can completely understand that some people would enjoy this novel, but I could not stand it, and that's okay!
This book has a running motif that clever girls are ugly and don't care about their appearance. The "brainboxes" are ignored and cast aside and are all described as very masculine and forgettable. Whereas the "fashionistas" are all portrayed as airheads. This is obviously my huge problem with the book, as I feel like it promotes the idea that it's more attractive to be stupid and that you can't have both beauty, and brains.
So happy I finally finished it though! It's books like this that make me appreciate books that I mesh with and enjoy.
This book has a running motif that clever girls are ugly and don't care about their appearance. The "brainboxes" are ignored and cast aside and are all described as very masculine and forgettable. Whereas the "fashionistas" are all portrayed as airheads. This is obviously my huge problem with the book, as I feel like it promotes the idea that it's more attractive to be stupid and that you can't have both beauty, and brains.
So happy I finally finished it though! It's books like this that make me appreciate books that I mesh with and enjoy.
November 2, 2013
I normally love Dyan's books but this did not do anything for me. I found myself wishing the book would hurry up and finish.
August 24, 2013
I started to read but it was boring !
June 6, 2015
I started it but found it really boring really quickly
March 27, 2016
I actually really enjoyed this book! :)
March 5, 2021
MAGICAL. This book sweeps you away and takes you to another world, far from your own. I loved both the main characters so much. they are poles apart and still, both girls are so much like me.
June 4, 2019
So, I didn't expect to give this more than one star. This is not kind of book that I will pick in a bookstore, not for the story, not even for the cover.
I hate everything about it for almost half of it, it was boring, the characters weren't great. But things started to catch up, and it was quite enjoyable. Three stars are for character development. It was probably the only thing that I like from this book. Life lesson for teenagers y'know. Be more open, less judging.
Honestly I could relate to Beth and not at the same time. And for Gabriella, nu-uh not so much. That's why it surprised me the most when there was a particular part when Gabriella said some shits that made me 'mkay, I agree'.
Sooo, overall this book is not the best, but not the worst either. It really targeted on highschoolers? Because sorry not sorry my 21-year-old self got bored really fast with this one. Doesn't mean it's not good, just not my thing.
I hate everything about it for almost half of it, it was boring, the characters weren't great. But things started to catch up, and it was quite enjoyable. Three stars are for character development. It was probably the only thing that I like from this book. Life lesson for teenagers y'know. Be more open, less judging.
Honestly I could relate to Beth and not at the same time. And for Gabriella, nu-uh not so much. That's why it surprised me the most when there was a particular part when Gabriella said some shits that made me 'mkay, I agree'.
Sooo, overall this book is not the best, but not the worst either. It really targeted on highschoolers? Because sorry not sorry my 21-year-old self got bored really fast with this one. Doesn't mean it's not good, just not my thing.
May 2, 2020
Sadly this book was a slow starter for me and I gave up with it.
January 11, 2021
Not my style, more for teens
March 10, 2021
Not my genre, more likely for teenagers but enjoyed reading.
July 2, 2022
The storyline is super slow for me but I end up enjoying a little bit of my time reading this book.
Read
November 17, 2023theres no ‘serious’ plot so i got bored sorry😕
October 7, 2019
Eh I didn’t like this much. It was kinda boring. I liked this author a bit in middle school and got a few of her books. This one was just sitting on my bookshelf, so I read it. I was super bored when I read this btw. Like I read this on the way to college which takes 40 minutes with all the traffic. -_-
Nothing about this was impressive. the only interesting questions I asked myself while reading this were:
I wonder what it’s like to switch bodies with someone else?
If you were to switch bodies for a week with someone you know, who would it be and why?
Okay let’s move on to an interesting book now.
Nothing about this was impressive. the only interesting questions I asked myself while reading this were:
I wonder what it’s like to switch bodies with someone else?
If you were to switch bodies for a week with someone you know, who would it be and why?
Okay let’s move on to an interesting book now.
July 22, 2012
Hated this book, badly written.
May 12, 2013
Had a nice time reading
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews