Why Can't I Be You
Publication Date: February 26, 2013
Pages: 304
Remember that episode of Friends where Monica has her credit card stolen by the woman who did fun things like take tap dance lessons? THAT episode kept popping into my mind as I was reading
Why Can't I Be You.
Jenny Shaw is on the way to the airport for a work conference when her long term boyfriend dumps her in the car. To say that she is shell-shocked is a great understatement. She goes to the conference in Seattle and is in the lobby when she hears someone calls her name, but it wasn't her name. It was Jessie Morgan's name that was called. Jenny is mistaken for Jessie at a class reunion. Rather than correct the sweet and fun, Myra, Jenny plays along. She steps into the role of "Jessie" and all that being Jessie means. Including her past - good and bad - but especially her friendships. The lonely Jenny has an "instant" family in the high school friends of Jessie and as much as she hates deceiving them, she comes to love them and their support. Will she be able to sneak out of Seattle without them discovering the truth or will the truth come out and further destroy Jenny's tenuous hold on her sanity?
Why Can't I Be You was a really fun novel to read. Even though she wasn't exactly truthful with Myra and the gang, Jenny is a really great character. I could relate to her with her jack-ass boyfriend dumping her. And I could also relate to her with the desire for that close knit group of friends - her desire to BELONG to something outweighed her common sense, but I could totally see why she did what she did. There was also a lot of MY memories stirred up with all of "remember when" discussed with Myra and the gang at the class reunion.
Bottom line,
Why Can't I Be You is a really fun novel. Jenny Shaw isn't your typical Chick Lit novel heroine. She has heart and is full of emotion and she is someone that just wants to be happy - I think we all can understand where she is coming from, right?
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