Both Of Me - Jonathan Friesen

Synopsis:

From award winning author, Jonathan Friesen, a contemporary story dealing with mental illness and an unexpected friendship.

Elias Phinn copes with his painful reality by slipping into the imaginary realm of Warilia, a world that colors his every waking moment and feels more real than the actual one around him. When his carry-on luggage is switched with that of the beautiful and mysterious Clara, Elias becomes convinced that she is a Warilian diplomat’s daughter. But as the two become friends and their carefully constructed worlds begin to crack, Elias must save them both before everything falls apart.

Poignant, heartrending, and powerfully real, Both of Me is the latest young adult novel from award-winning author Jonathon Friesen. As it explores themes of friendship, mental illness, and self-discovery, this gripping novel will catch—and keep—the attention of teen readers.



Review:

I have to admit that when I asked for a copy to review and BookLog Bloggers said yes and provided me with a copy, I wasn't completely sure on what to expect from it, but at least the synopsis was promising. I went in with an open mind and I can say that it satisfied some of me but it never reached higher than that.

It was supposed to be just a simple plane journey, yet another escape to a foreign place where she could forget about her past and her attachments. Well that is until Clara finds herself seated next to a mysterious boy named Elias Phinn, a boy who seems to know some of her secrets that she has barely managed to admit to herself.

When her hand luggage is accidently switched with Elias' identical one, Clara uses the luggage tag to track down her things, but once at the address on the luggage tag she discovers there isn't just one Elias, but two: the odd, paranoid, artistic and often angry Elias that she met on the plane who lives in an imaginary world of his own called Salem; and the kind, sweet and soon irresistible Elias who greets her at the door that day, and who has no recollection of ever meeting Clara on the plane.

After she learns of his Dissociative Identity Disorder, and finds herself entangled in both of Elias's lives, Clara makes a single decision that could change all of them forever. She is going to find out what the Salem Elias knows about her and her past and even if it means having to play along with his otherworldly quest. Along the way she decides that she is going to find a way to keep the gentle Salem free Elias whom she is beginning to love, from ever disappearing and leaving her again.

I have to admit I never saw anything coming, every page turn held a mystery for me and I have to admit I was hooked by the first page. I laughed, wondered and cried. It gets a 4 out of 5 from me, it hit all the right spots but there was just something that didn't give me a reason to give it a 5/5. It was still a great read and I would truly recommend it to anyone who wants to read an entirely different kind of mystery and come to understand a little about
DID.