La morte qui marchait

Dead Girl #1

by Linda Joy Singleton, Renée Thivierge (Translator)

À dix-sept ans, Amber Borden a un sens de l’orientation vraiment nul — tellement nul qu’elle prend un mauvais virage lorsqu’elle revient de son expérience de mort imminente. Elle se retrouve dans le corps de la fille la plus populaire de l’école, qui vient tout juste de tenter de se suicider. Une fille qui est tout à fait incapable de naviguer dans les couloirs de Halsey peut-elle découvrir les secrets de sa nouvelle identité tout en retrouvant le chemin vers sa propre vie ?

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Fiction, Supernatural, Romance, Ebooks

391 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

I started writing at 8 years old and when I speak to kids at schools or libraries I show them the stories I wrote as a child. I loved mystery series like Judy Bolton and Nancy Drew, and my DREAM was to write a series of my own. This happened when My Sister the Ghost was published by Avon books in 1994.

Since then I’ve been fortunate to write other series like The Seer, Dead Girl trilogy, Strange Encounters, Regeneration and Curious Cat Spy Club. I recently added a mini mystery to the Curious Cat Spy Club series titled Dog Rescue Time Warp which has a surprise ending.

I love hearing from fans and always write back. And I’ll send a spy activity packet to anyone that asks. Email link at www.LindaJoySingleton.com

Reviews

[Brandi ;) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to rate this. In the end I liked it, but at the same time I felt like a HUGE part of the story was just ignored and never answered. I will post a more thorough review after I ponder on it for a while.... for now it is getting 2.5 stars.

I pondered, here's what I thought:
Dead Girl Walking by Linda Joy Singleton
Rating: eh....I'm going to have to go with 2 STARS. Too much left unresolved.

I don't recap what the book is about, you want that then read the blurb at the top. I just review my opinion of this book, what I liked and what I didn't. There will be SPOILERS. They start now.

So I have combed through a lot of the reviews and I find it hard to believe but am I the only one that thought Mr.Montgomery is totally prostituting out his daughter to a congressman!?! I mean seriously, did no one else see that? No one else read that in that little poem in Leah's diary? Did no one else find the little 'butt slap' and 'stand up and hold out your arms and turn around slowly' a bit odd for a father to do to his daughter? He treated her like cattle. Then he tells her that she will go to a reception with him instead of her mother and that the Congressman 'is looking forward to seeing you again'. Everything in the meeting with Leah's father screamed PIMP to me. But, I thought maybe I am reading to much into this. I am an adult, with and adult imagination and I have read my fair share of adult novels so, maybe it's just a weirdo dad.
Then I get to the poem. I'm going to add it here, minus several lines, but I will leave in the obvious ones:

Beginning ...
Hands moving,
Mouth open,
Eyes closed,
Mind drifting ...

Thinking of ...
Shopping for shoes,
Pink, black or gold?
An essay due in Engilsh Lit.
About 6 more lines of rambling thoughts until:

Ending ...
Standing
Smiling
Lying
Crying.
Done.

UMMMMM.....Can anyone say blow job? On a congressman more than likely. Or who knows how many other of daddy's 'friends'? The girl tried to commit suicide. This is a serious issue, she tried it for a reason and I felt like this was totally blown over and ignored. Excuse the pun.

This book started out slow. Blah, blah, blah on the self help books. But I stuck with it because it seemed like it could go somewhere. Then when bad direction Amber went back to the wrong body, it definitely got more interesting. I felt Amber's anguish over the thought of being stuck in someone else's body and missing her real family and friends. Of trying to act like someone she wasn't and feeling hopeless. The author did a great job there. But why tell us about Mr. Montgomery's weirdo-ness and drop the hint of the possible sexual abuse/child prostitution and then go no where with it? There was never any closure about why exactly Leah tried to kill herself (which became obvious, at least to me, but wasn't discussed). It was just put out there and then at the end Leah decides to stay in her body and all is great? She's going to what? Stand up to her dad? Turn him and/or congressman in? Do nothing? What!? Who knows, it's not explained. We just get dumped into another body with another problem.

I felt like this book had so much potential and it just fell flat on it's ass by not exploring the doors it opened. The author threw some pretty serious topics out there - suicide, peer pressure, teen sex, pedophiles - and just left them there, flopping around with no explanations. In the end, all is sunny and well Amber thinks she is getting her body back, so good bye Leah and her problems. It was just too much left unresolved, too much left unanswered and too much hinted at but not explored. I wanted to like this book. I kept waiting for more, but it just never came.

[Tamora Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and silly in places, when Amber's spirit, released by oncoming death, enters the body of the school's most popular, wealthy girl, and discovers that wealth and popularity weren't enough to stave off suicide. It's also very tense as Amber discovers dark secrets in Leah's family as she tries to return to her real body.

[Reader17 Der · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book to read. I am still smiling over the end. No I won't give any clues away but what a nice setup for the next book.

I liked the charcter Amber in this book she is a very caring person but she also has flaws like not knowing the right direction to take which causes all of her troubles. What I liked about Amber was even though she was in a rough situation she was still thinking of others. I also enjoyed the relationship she had with her friends, they each have flaws but these are teenagers I can actually imagine.

Looking forward to reading the next book.

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Left or right? Amber's sense of direction is so bad that she can get lost in her own hometown, finding a cemetery that she never knew existed. And all in front of the girl she hopes will be her first management client. Amber's day goes from bad to even worse. When she finally makes it to the party, she hears a group of girls mocking her. And to cap off the entire dreadful day, she is hit by a mailtruck. When she heads toward the light, her grandmother and dog are there to greet her. Her grandmother tells her that it is not yet her time, and sends her back, but on the way, Amber gets lost. When she wakes up, she finds herself in the body of the most popular girl at school. A girl whose flawless life has driven her to suicide. Now Amber must find out if she can get back into her own body and along the way come to understand what drove this girl to do something so tragic.

This novel is very clever with great touches of humor throughout, the snarkiness of teens and siblings, and yet a serious side which supports the story with its strength. Amber is a well-written protagonist who offers the perfect perspective on what is happening. Equally nicely drawn are her friends, though the adults in the book trend toward stereotypes.

An intriguing but not dark look at death and life, this story will be enjoyed by teens who read teen novels, rather than those who read fantasy. Appropriate for ages 12-15.

[Linda]

For the month of May only DEAD GIRL WALKING is a free Kindle and Nook download. Check out Kindle FREEBIE here:
http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Girl-Walki...

[Frédérique Pelletier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pour moi, c’est un « guilty pleasure » que j’avais lu au secondaire et que j’ai relu. C’est vraiment un livre jeunesse, mais je trouve que c’est un très bon livre jeunesse.

[Arnela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clunky writing; forced, unrealistic dialog; weak plot; poor plot progression; ridiculously obvious plot holes; basic, boring, surface-level characters; awful mental health representation (amber literally refers to a psych hospital as a “place full of crazies…”, clunky, badly-established supernatural world; stereotypical, basic YA romance; nonsensical ending - not the one where it’s unexpected but kinda cool… no the kind that literally makes no sense and is purposely crammed in with no rhyme or reason so the author gets a second book out of this ridiculousness. Let’s hope book two is better. Will not be reading to find out like. Oh and the narrater was awful - every conversation between characters was a screaming contest.

[Alexandra Vlahakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was very good and it had lots of plot twists. It kept me on the edge of my seat. Although I loved the book, I did not like the ending and how the book continued to go on in a series.

[Gabika Szentandrasiova · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*
Dobrá kniha je vtipná ale aj vážna.
Koniec bol dobrý ale druhá kniha je vypredaná tak ma ide poraziť chcela som ich mať doma 😂

[Amy Butcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very lighthearted dark comedy,but great at the same time.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Amber has an out of body experience, she takes a wrong turn and ends up in the body of Leah, the richest, most popular girl in school. Now Amber has to get used to a new "somewhat" different family and a group of friends who she would never choose. How can Amber get back into her own body when she can't even convince anyone that she still exists?

This was not a terrible book, but it had many problems. One was that the characters were all "types." I'm so sick of reading teen books with the anarchist, black dressing vegan girl, the geeky techie guy friend who's just a girl with testosterone, and the vapid popular girls. Singleton does give Leah's friend, Jessica a little depth, but the rest of the popular crowd are straight out of an after school special. Also, why does Amber have to be such a ungainly clod who's the complete opposite of the body she ends up inhabiting? Isn't it possible that she could have anything in common with a popular girl? And when is a teen book going to be written where the rich parents aren't complete monsters? A steady diet of YA fiction would convince most people that all wealthy parents are evil, power hungry, controlling fiends who treat their kids like property and have more respect for their Mercedes than their own offspring. Leah's Dad was like Bart Bass (gossip girl) on steroids. Aren't there any any parents with fat wallets who also have kind hearts?

Anyway, this is a series and I couldn't even bring myself to read the sneak preview of the next book at the end of this one. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but to me this was a good plot idea that just wasn't very well written.

[Aisha (seetheworldwithbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kereeeen!!
Buku ini aku beli tahun lalu dan baru ngereview sekarang XD
Ceritanya tentang Amber, cewe yg g populer,lumayan gemuk dan suka makan Cokelat yang mati ketabrak truk setelah pulang dr pesta Jessica,salah satu cewe populer disekolah. Dia tuh ngedenger klo dia cuma dimanfaatin,makanya Amber pulangnya galau dan,ketabrak truk surat yang (padahal) bawa kabar baik buat dia!
Petualangan dimulai ketika dia dikasih kesempatan sekali lgi sm Grammy Greta (neneknya yg mungkin malaikat disana,donno) trus hrus belok kanan

Karena Amber kesulitan sama arah,dia belok kiri dan masuk ke tubuh seorang cewe Populer d sekolah yang bunuh diri (tp belum mti)

Cerita ini kocak, ngebayangin betapa frustasinya Amber hidup sm keluarga 'gila'. Banyak pelajaran yg bs diambil. Ak aja terharu sm endingnya :(
Well done deh buat Linda XoXo
Buat kalian yang suka petualangan,misteri,romance,baca nih :)

Happy reading!!~

[Courtney Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amber Borden was known as one of the most unpopular girls at school. She was as sweet as she could be and was very welcoming to all the new students by giving them welcome baskets. Amber had two very close friends, Alyce and Dustin who were always right by here side. They knew her better than she knew herself sometimes. Everything changed one day when she was hit by a mail truck and somehow ended up in the body of the most popular girl at school, Leah. Amber had always thought that Leah had the perfect life but that train of thought came to an abrupt halt when she had returned to Leah's house and saw her dysfunctional family. Amber had started to wander that if she was in Leah's body, then whose body was Leah in? Amber, aka Leah, would soon find out that what she thought of Leah's perfect life was exactly the opposite of how it had been portrayed.

[Mike Debaptiste · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got a copy of this at the library last week. I know Linda and have read several of her terrific YA books, always right up-to-the-minute with the teen culture. This one is terrific: a dying girl wakes up still alive in the body of the high school's most popular girl who just committed suicide. Original!

Way to go, Linda! This book is a hoot. Lots of fun and very well-developed characters. Linda's command of the teen vernacular is right up to the minute and had me taking notes at time. A totally HUGE book, and one that gives the whole 'dead' genre a shot in the arm. If you're gonna read about dead people, you should be laughing. A second one is due out soon, DEAD GIRL DANCING. This one ought to end up in the movies!

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could have been an easy and quick read for me, but for some reason I took more time than needed. I thought this book was great. I love the main character. A vivid chocohollic and a math lover. I thought this book was hilarious with a lot of drama that I wasn't expecting. I adore Eli in this. He is just so sweet and caring. I love the romance that happening between the two. This book had such a handcliffer. I cannot wait to read the sequel.

[Linda Figueira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sequence keeps you gripped from the beginning till the end. It shows the naivety of the main character - Barbie - in search for the vengeance and the alliance she has to make to reach her goal. Her struggle to keep the closest people far from her to avoid their deaths. This books is full of adventure and suspense. Brilliantly well-built.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[harlequin {Stephanie} · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was atrocious. If you can get past that it has a lot of good things going for it. Writer provided us with outside the norm character choices and an interesting ending.

[Edward Rempala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book

[Kim Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Dead Girl Walking by Linda Joy is about a 17 year old girl named Amber Bordon who is your typical ¨ugly¨ nerd. Amber gets into an accident that may have cost her her life but wait.. she randomly wakes up in the body of the most popular girl in the school, Leah!!?! How did this happen? This takes us into the roller coaster life of Leah ,and Amber finds out stuff you would not expect from the most popular girl in school!!

Amber is very confused on how this is possible, so she does what anyone would do. FIND ANSWERS!! She tries to find her original body and finds out it's in the hospital in critical condition. Amber is very distraught by this because if she was in Leah's body, shouldn't Leah be in Amber's body? WHERE IS LEAH?!? Since she has no idea where Leah is, she pretends to be Leah and acts normal, but she finds out stuff no one knew about Leah, like how she attempted to commit suicide..Amber realizes Leahs life wasnt as perfect as it seemed. Her father is very vile and makes her workout everyday and touches her inappropriately sometimes. She now understood why Leah was the way she was and felt sorry for her instead of being jealous.

The book has a very jittery mood. Amber finds out so much about Leah's life by living it. Amber lives in fear of the father because he is very demanding and condescending of ¨Leah¨. He treats her like a prize or toy even though he should be treating her like a daughter. It makes you nervous because Amber and Leah are two different people with two different personalities so Leah's friends noticed that and pointed it out.. But they would never believe what Amber would have to say. He also threatened to send Leah to a mental hospital because of her suicidal thoughts but said he wouldn't if she came to a dance with him. He only cares about his reputation which is disgusting.

Amber is an amusing protagonist, it was like a roller coaster from her point of view from getting crushed by a car to falling in love with Leah's boyfriend's brother. Plot twist they end up kissing. The real villain of the story is Leah's father who turns out to be a life taker (because Amber is somewhat dead) who tries to manipulate her etc. It is very exciting to see what decisions they both make and how it affects the story line. The side characters did play a sufficient role in how Amber's feelings were, such as her family members not believing that she WAS Amber and not Leah. She felt relief when she realized her closest friends believed it was her when no one else did. They made her realize she wasn't in this alone and offered help to find her body.

I would recommend this book to teenage girls who like a little suspense and romance because this book teaches you, appearances aren't always what they seem. It also has some romance tension that is fun to read. The boy is a smart guy just like her but she's stuck in his brother's girlfriend's body which makes it harder for them.

[M.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book might have been a 3 star if it hadn't been a cliff hanger, and on top of that, the second book, well...it's not up to par.
Honestly, I don't know who Amber is, other than she is annoying. Honestly, who is she aside from the main character who gets the dream body and money and automatically hates it all. Really? I can understand that she wants to be back home, but before she woke up in someone else's body, she hated who she was, she hated her life and then she gets her dream life and she hates it lie, right off the bat . She doesn't even consider it, it's just, I hate it. Idk, it irritates me. It's like, on one page she's crying and complaining about her self and her life and her family and then you turn the page and it's like "oh, look here, everything I've ever wanted I have, so let me start crying and complaining about it and try to get the life I hated back. I don't get it.

Oh, and then. It's all... Her body is dead, she is going to be taken off life support tomorrow. Then two days pass and she's still there saying good by to her body, and then another day passes and the Dr. Tells her that Amber is dead, again...(which is her body, again) and then two more days she's with her body, getting transferred back. WHAT!

Oh oh, (yeah, that was a double oh) the chapters between her going back to her body and her trying to go back into her body is filled with repetitive wining. They were filler chapters of the same thing over and over again. We know nothing about her or her new life. We know nothing because all she is doing the entire books is thinking about pointless things and complaining about how she should contact her dead grandmother. Nothing in this book ever got developed into anything. And yes, I sound upset, mainly because, I bought the entire series thinking it was goi g to be good. ( it was a rash decision. I was going to be stuck in a car for 41/2 hours, each book only has like 250-350 pages or so and I'm a fast reader. I thought I could read all the series during our drive, and at nights when I'm avoiding family gatherings) I was wrong, I couldn't get past the first chapter of the second book. Because of this book, I had to spend my time listening to my mom and grandma fighting, my grandpa's farts and my aunt telling how awesome my cousin was.) no joke.

The second book is no better. I couldn't even get past the first chapter. She ends up in her boyfriends sister's body? Wth. Let's just ignore the fact that her boyfriend, (the one she met just a week ago, the one she hasn't even kissed) is acting possessive, but the fact that she is acting the same way is mental....
Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have brought up this book, I'll leave my review on its own page.

[Faith Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the book named "Dead Girl Walking," by Linda Joy Singleton. This book is fiction because it is made up and was not based on true life experiences or facts. I'd also give it a 3 star rating just because it wasn't really that great of a book in my opinion. Anyways, this book was pretty much based upon Amber wanting to be a popular student, but after she goes through that "near death experience"(would be a spoiler if i stated) but now she oddly switches bodies with the most popular girl in school. The most powerful quote in the book is "IM WATCHING YOU." The quote at the end of the book. It is the most powerful because since it is at the end of the book its foreshadowing for the next book that Linda Joy has written. The most important event in the book was when Amber "died." During this part of the book the author made this character as realistic as possible. This is because everyone has off moments and in the story Amber has a direction problem right before switching bodies with the most popular girl in school. 3 adjectives to describe this book is hilarious, enchanting, and mysterious. Another adjective i would describe this book is typical yet unique. I say this because its really typical for someone to switch bodies with someone they once had problems with. (ie Freaky Friday) Even though it was a very unique way she had them switch bodies. The type of people that would love these types of books are people who love book series and typical highschool stories. This is because this book is about a typical high school girl trying to become a popular girl. Which is well known for in High school.

[Viri Shin · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐3.5/5

Awalnya mau kasih bintang 3 aja, tapi aku naikin deh.

Pertimbangan yg bikin aku mau ngasi bintang 3 karena ide cerita untuk beberapa scene terlalu umum, yah emang sih ini novel lama, tapi menggunakan adegan yg udah sering dipake di cerita2 lain (film/novel terkenal) tuh bikin suatu karya jadi gak orisinil.

Sebaliknya, yg bikin aku naikin ratingnya karena aku ngerasa kenal dengan universe ini. Maklum, aku baca ini kan karena dulu udah pernah baca. Jadi skrg baca dlm rangka nostalgia wkwk.

Padahal nih ya, ceritanya tuh bikin greget banget. Si Amber (pemeran utama) di awal2 sehabis konflik utama tuh bodohh banget. Gak nyangka anak SMA belum bisa berpikir matang2 dulu dlm mengahadapi masalah.
Jokesnya juga, antara karena terjemahannya yg kurang pas utk budaya sini atau emang karena gak gampang aja gitu candaannya diterima oleh semua kalangan.

Terus pembahasan tentang Dunia Lain tuh masih kurang di buku pertama, semoga bisa lebih dijelaskan di buku selanjutnya. Aku masih skeptis sama pembentukan dunia yang dihuni sama Nenek dan Cola. Karena kalo dilihat dari plot cerita, emang fokusnya adalah Amber yg ujung2nya ditugasi jadi Penghuni Sementara. Udah bukan tentang kehidupan sehari2nya Amber lah jadinya.

Yah, intinya aku berharap semoga buku selanjutnya jadi lebih keren, lebih lengkap, lebih lucuu, dan Amber gak jadi bego lagi (kan udah mulai belajar kan wkwk). Okee itu aja ✌️

[nat · Rating 2 out of 5]

- this deserves some TWs. There is SA implied as something Leah was made to go through in the past. as well as an on screen ass smack by her father who criticizes her for getting "flabby" from sitting in a hospital bed during her suicide. The fact that Leah was forced to have breast augmentation and botox as a minor and that there's a bunch of creeps in her life is a thing to be aware of.
- this obviously deals w suicide and there's some graphic descriptions of Amber brainstorming ways to do it in order to get back to her body

- I find Amber's self help book thing super cringe. Tbh I find most self help book fanatics this way because they think you can willpower your way out of oppression and depression. Amber is no exception.
- this would have made sense to be published at least 10 years earlier than it was, if not more. The tech and the issues described are a little more something that would have applied in 2010 when I was in high school, rather than now that people use smartphones, especially for directions places.

- feels weird that Amber still feels warmly about her parents despite them stealing her college fund for fertility treatments.

- Cliffhanger ending and the second book isn't on Scribd.

[Nahir · Rating 5 out of 5]

En fin, este libro como ya mencione lo comence
para una maraton de lectura y la verdad es que al
principio me gusto demasiado, me mantuvo realmente
enganchada tanto su personaje. Amber, como la
pluma de su autora.
Estamos frente a un libro de genero juvenil muy
divertido ya que su personaje, Amber, siempre logró (en mi caso) sacarme varias carcajadas a lo largo de la
trama gracias a sus ocurrencias a la forma de narrar su
historia.
Hasta ahora todo lo que he dicho ha sido bueno,
pero otra verdad es que aunque fue bueno. Hubo
momentos donde me perdi (no por la narracion) si
no por el hecho que hubo escenas que las senti muy
forzadas y eso le resto estrellas a mi puntuacion final.
Aunque aun lamentablemente para mi, quede tan
enganchada con amber ya que quitando las partes
forzadas en sus acciones, hubo partes donde conecte
con ella de manera perfecta. Y quiero leer el segundo
libro. Pero lastimosamente solo lo he encontrado en PDF en internet en su idioma original, inglés. Aunque sé leer lo básico aun me siento un poco insegura a intentar leerlo y fracasar así que, seguro esperare la traducción.

[Hollie Smurthwaite · Rating 3 out of 5]

This YA book was very YA, so I think it works better for teenagers than adults. Amber is a driven character who's a little bit awkward and trying a little too hard. But that turns out to be a good thing when she's in an accident and almost dies. Through a bad sense of direction, she ends up in the body of a classmate in a coma, Leah, one of the most popular girls in school.

It's kind of fun to watch Amber try to navigate through Leah's life (which isn't as perfect as it seems). There were quite a few, "As you know, Leah . . ." moments, though. Still, I liked the way Amber tackled obstacles and the people she was able to draw around her.

There was an element of danger from beyond - dark lifers - but I thought they were underutilized. Maybe in subsequent books they're more in play. Overall, it was an easy read and entertaining.

[Dion Yulianto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judul : Dead Girl Walking, Masuk ke Tubuh yang Salah
Penulis : Linda Joy Singleton
Penerjemah : Maria Susanto
Penyunting : Diksi Dik
Cetakan : 1, Januari 2011
Tebal : 382 halaman
Penerbit : Atria


Bayangkan mendapati dirimu mengalami semacam pengalaman “out of body experience” alias semacam mati suri sehingga bisa bertemu dengan nenek tercinta yang telah wafat. Atau, untuk membuatnya lebih mengerikan lagi, bayangkan ketika kamu masih diberi kesempatan untuk kembali ke tubuhmu, tapi kamu malah memilih tubuh yang salah. Dan, untuk membuatnya lebih dramatis lagi, bayangkan kalau dirimu bangun dan menyadari dirimu berada di tubuh musuh besarmu di sekolah. Yah, kesialan kosmis inilah yang terjadi pada Amber Borden. Ketika Neneknya menunjukkan jalan kembali menuju tubuhnya, Amber salah berbelok. Dan, ia terbangun dari koma dalam tubuh Leah Montgomery—cewek paling populer di SMAnya. Sekali lagi, sebagaimana jerat takdir yang misterius dalam kehidupan umat manusia, kesalahan Amber ini ternyata juga memiliki tujuan tersendiri.

“Percayalah, kata Grammy Greta. “Aku bisa langsung melihat hikmah dari sisi lain dan mengetahui bahwa ada sesuatu yang besar pada masa depanmu.” (hlm 27)

Terjebak di tubuh yang salah, dengan rambut yang pirang halus, tubuh yang langsing dan atletis, mata yang indah, serta kepopuleran yang tak tertandingi di sekolah justru membuat Amber merasa tidak bahagia. Segala yang dulu ia sesali, tubuhnya yang tidak langsing, rambutnya yang keriting, adik kembar tiganya yang ribut dan suka melemparkan mainan, semua itu tidak bisa ia dapatkan di rumah dan keluarga Leah. Rumah itu besar dan mewah, tubuh itu sempurna dan indah, uang mereka banyak dan melimpah; tapi keluarga Montgomery adalah keluarga yang kosong. Dibalik popularitas mereka, ada Tuan Montgomery yang koruptor, istrinya yang pemabuk, dan adik laki-laki yang kriminal. Suka atau tidak, Amber harus tinggal dalam keluarga ini, dan mencoba memperbaiki apa yang bisa ia perbaiki.

“Bukannya berterima kasih kepada orangtuaku atas banyak hal yang mereka lakukan untukku, aku malah mengeluh karena tidak punya banyak pakaian bagus dan harus mengurus si kembar tiga. Seharusnya ku tidak marah-marah kapanpun Cherry, Melonee, atau Olive merobek-robek PR-ku atau memainkan popok mereka yang kotor. Seharusnya aku memeluk dan mencium mereka. (hlm 234)

Jika pembaca kemudian membayangkan Amber akan mampu menikmati semua kemewahan ini, Anda keliru. Tubuh leah sendiri ibarat penjara. Kesempurnaan itu begitu mengikat kuat dan harus dibayar mahal dengan hilangnya kebebasan. Mungkin itulah sebabnya tidak ada sesuatu yang benar-benar sempurna di dunia ini, agar dunia bisa berjalan dengan apa adanya. Upaya perbaikan yang dilakukan Amber melalui Leah begitu berat, kadang menyita air mata. Namun, tugas sebagai perantara ini—roh yang menempati tubuh orang lain selama orang tersebut berada dalam kepompong kosmis untuk merenungkan kesalahannya—hampir-hampir membuat Amber kehilangan harapan, sebelum akhirnya ia bertemu dengan sahabat-sahabat terbaik yang selalu ingin membantunya, entah saat ia benar-benar Amber atau si Leah yang Amber.
Bukannya menghadirkan seorang konselor yang sempurna dalam diri Amber remaja, penulis menuliskan si Amber dalam Leah ini secara apa adanya. Tidak ada hasil waow bombastis yang mengubah kepribadian seperti di film-film. Amber tetaplah Amber, seorang remaja yang juga tengah mengalami perkembangan psikologis. Ia tidak bersikap sebagai dewi psikoanalisis yang mampu memperbaiki segala kerusakan di dunia. Amber tidak mampu mengubah keculasan Tuan Motgomery, juga tidak mampu menghilangkan kecanduan si nyonya rumah pada alkohol. Tapi, dengan mengalami menjadi Leah—dengan memandang dari sudut pandang orang lain dalam cara yang benar-benar harfiah, Amber mampu mengetahui fakta bahwa orang yang merasa dirinya paling sempurna pun tidaklah sempurna, bahwa menerima dan menjadi dirinya apa adanya adalah hal terbaik yang bisa dilakukan oleh para remaja, dan bahwa dengan menjadi Amber saja dia bisa memiliki teman-teman yang mengasihinya. Dengan menjadi Leah yang Amber, dia juga bisa memperbaiki hubungan buruk antara Leah dengan adik, mama, dan para pembantunya. Bukan hal besar sih, tapi itu adalah langkah awal yang bagus untuk menyadarkan Leah yang asli.

Dibalik berbagai ungkapan gaul khas dunia remaja yang mewarnai karakter Amber dalam buku ini, ada sebuah petuah mendalam yang wajib kita renungkan, yakni mensyukuri dan mencintai dirimu apa adanya. Bolehlah sesekali remaja berharap menjadi orang lain yang lebih populer, cantik dan terkenal; tapi wadah terbaik bagi kepribadian kita adalah tubuh yang telah diciptakan Tuhan untuk kita sejak lahir. Senantiasa mensyukuri diri sendiri dengan membantu orang lain, seperti Amber yang mendirikan Klub Keranjang Besar Keramahan untuk menyambut murid-murid baru di SMA, adalah cara untuk menyadari bahwa kita sudahlah sesempurna-sempurnanya kita. Lalu, apakah Amber akan berhasil kembali ke tubuhnya? Apakah ia juga akhirnya menemukan cowok yang mau mencintai dirinya apa adanya? Cobalah membaca buku yang dikisahkan dengan sangat bagus ini, walaupun endingnya agak membuat saya garuk-garuk aspal menuju kelanjutannya (eh spoiler wkwkwk).

Salut juga untuk sang penerjemah yang mampu mempertahankan rasa “remaja” dari novel yang gaul ini, misalnya dengan menciptakan frasa “fakir fashion” dan “Dustingintahu”. Sebagaimana kata Nenek Grammy Greta: “ Buku-buku terbaik tidak ditulis, tapi disampaikan.” (hlm. 53) dan buku ini adalah salah satunya.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

La verdad es que me sorprendió gratamente. La descripción me había llamado la atención pero no estaba segura si leerlo era una buena idea porque la tapa deja mucho que desear. Al final, este es uno de los casos en donde se aplica el "no juzgues a un libro por su portada", literalmente.
Es uno de esos libros que se leen súper rápido, cuando te das cuenta ya estás en el final.

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taking into account that I am about 20 years too old for the book, it wasn't terrible. 12 year old me would have liked it.

There were flaws, like the MC always seems surprised that her friends/family don't recognize her, or that the dark-lifers are completely irrelevent to the storyline. Still, a nice story with solid characters and good life lessons.

[Marielaurent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book ever since I first started reading it. It's a really great book and I enjoy and love it a lot. I love the characters, plot, dialogue, description of scenes along with everything else in the book. It's a great book to read and I give it 5 stars and recommend it to anyone else to read it.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this book once before, but I couldn't remember much about it, so I decided to read it again. It's a fun read and easy to enjoy quickly. The writing is quirky and amusing. If you want something entertaining to enjoy, I'd recommend giving this one a try.