Member Reviews
Like never and always tells us the story of Olivia, Morgan, Nathan and Clay. One night they have an accident and Liv wakes up in the hospital in the body of Morgan, her best friend. She will discover that Morgan had secrets, that she was not perfect at all and she will try to solve the enigma left by her. She’s also going to learn to be a new person, not Liv or Morgan.
I loved this book, quite frankly for a long time I wondered how it was possible, a lot of theories went through my head and finally without answers or belief I was carried away by history.
Liv is an intelligent, shy young girl and she will have a lot of trouble between Clay and Nathan, between her future and her past. She is angry and I understand her, her body is not hers, her life is not hers, she doesn’t dare to talk about it because people would think she is crazy. On this point I don’t think she’s wrong. I love Liv very much, she doesn’t let what happened get in the way, she tries to understand why and she also tries to make her life something good.
Clay is also a character I like, it took me a while to understand the relationship he had with Morgan but I really liked that boy. Her brother, Nathan, who is Liv’s boyfriend to him, or at least was, is totally different, he made me much less of an impact. I may have been unhappy to see him so sad and self-destructing through guilt and loss, but I find Clay more touching.
Ann Aguirre is a goddess, no matter what she writes, she always manages to make me vibrate, I don’t know how she does it but I love her.
Quick word: An exciting and surprising book.
I’ll start off by saying that I really liked this book although at times I felt like I was forcing myself to keep going with it (that could just be because I prefer reading real books as opposed to staring at a screen though).
It was a rocky road experiencing life through Liv’s eyes as at times I felt her actions were difficult to account for even given the otherworldly circumstances. I kept wishing it had come as more of a shock to Liv that she was being mistaken for Morgan and from the very beginning I was annoyed that she had already come to the conclusion herself long before it got to the part that should have shocked us all. Liv accepted it fairly quickly and set about unearthing Morgan’s secret life but I suppose the book had to start somewhere and that it was her way of coping with it all and thinking all would return to how it should be.
I could not believe what Morgan had been keeping to herself and it really made me see her character in a different light (despite her not featuring as herself there was a lot of other views depicting the person she’d been before Liv’s take over).
I have read similar stories before and was worried that it would hold me back from fully enjoying this but it didn’t. There was so much going on and it gave me a lot to think about (particularly what I’d do in that situation) and I was very intrigued to find out more. The way the story was told was highly compelling and I really felt like I was in Liv’s (or more so Morgan’s!) shoes.
I would definitely recommend this book as it has a bit of everything to keep you interested (eg. Romance, mystery) and is a real treat to delve into!
If you've ever wanted to live someone else's life, this is the book for you. For the entirety of their friendship, Liv was in awe of what she assumed was the perfect life. Morgan had her own car, money, and all the freedom that came along with it. What Liv didn't realize was that with all that freedom came a ton of responsibility.
For the most part, Liv was the girl next door. She had loving, involved parents, an annoying younger brother, and your average middle class life. Waking up in Morgan's body changed all of that drastically. Compared to Morgan, her life was boring, but predictable. The deeper she gets into Morgan's secret life, the more Liv comes to understand that boring and predictable have a comfort all their own.
The premise behind Like Never and Always was a good one. I think I may have watched entirely too many soaps with my grandmother as a child, but the whole idea of waking up in someone else's body immediately attracted me to this novel. I'll be honest, I first thought that it was due to a brain injury or some kind of selective amnesia, but I was wrong. While the reason for Liv being in Morgan's body wasn't explained well enough for my curious mind, you are at least given a somewhat decent reason for the swap. The way Liv stumbles into Morgan's secret life is interesting and true to the teens I know. And while the sort-of-maybe love triangle could have been left on the editor's desk, it did work out well in the end. Overall, a well-written young adult thriller suitable for teens or adults.
I hate to say this but I didn’t like this book much. At times it felt like I didn’t know if I was reading a mystery book or something else. I was confused more times than I wasn’t. I really hate that too. I really wanted to love this book. From the cover to the blurb it immediately caught my interest but that was as fast as it went.
This wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t great either. I wanted to like this book so bad because it was written by an author who’s work I’ve previously enjoyed but this just didn’t do it for me. The plot was just too convoluted for me. It was like the plot was fighting itself for what genre it was and that made the pacing awkward at times and some of the scenes unnecessary. I think if the mystery aspect would have been taken out and just focused on the body swapping it would have been a much stronger novel.
I don’t truly know how I feel about this book. The synopsis alone is very intriguing and add in the fact that Ann Aguirre wrote this? Even better!
However, I’ve come to realize that psychological thriller type books aren’t my thing. I don’t like mind games as it is and just reading about it makes me weird.
Anyways... Liv wakes up in a hospital after a bad accident. People keep calling her Morgan and I find it peculiar how she doesn’t try to correct them the first thing. She just goes with it because she figures that once her face is revealed everyone will see the truth. But that’s not what happens. She IS Morgan but she’s still Liv.
She finds herself in a position where she wants people to know that she’s actually Liv however she’s finding things out about Morgan and wants to fulfill her wishes.
She’s stuck between two boys. One she knew as Liv and the other she’s getting to know as Morgan. Her feelings are jumbled and she needs to figure out what she wants as the person she is now.
I feel like some parts of this book were repetitive and others were intriguing but I don’t like that we had a clear answer on the “why she switched bodies” kinda thing.
Love the writer but not this genre.
Like Never and Always by Ann Aguirre, is a fantastic young adult thriller, that I really enjoyed. Two couples riding in a car when they have a terrible crash. One girl dead, and one seriously injured. The two young men, brothers, are both fine. Liv wakes up in the hospital, but everyone is calling her Morgan. How could this have happened? I don't want to give away too much of the plot. Excellent book, I will be reading more by this author. Strongly recommend.
I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
**Review posted at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ **
Liv and her best friend Morgan as well as their boyfriends were coming home from a party when they were in a car accident. Liv wakes up in the hospital, but something is just not right. When Morgan's father and boyfriend hover around her, call her Morgan, and tell her that Liv is dead, Liv knows that this is more wrong than she could have ever guessed. But when she looks in the mirror, she sees Morgan's face and body. It seems that Liv is now somehow in Morgan's body, living her life. But Morgan had secrets and was playing a very deadly game that Liv is now in the middle of...
Wow what a hot mess of a book, and I mean that in the best of ways! Look as how pretty and creepy the cover is- I had to pick up this book to read for that factor alone. I was not certain what I was getting myself into when I started the book. I mean really, based on the synopsis and the first chapter I had my doubts as if this was a supernatural read or a psychological one. And that is a question I will not answer and leave up to the reader to guess or speculate about for themselves. But this is one for the mystery lovers regardless of anything else.
I liked how this was a mystery inside of a mystery as well as all the drama of high school, romance and family. And the angst!! It was practically tangible! I was so wrapped up in the personal drama that I was not certain what I wanted to happen or who I wanted Liv/Morgan to be. And yes, there was a love triangle of a sort- maybe a love square? It was seriously the most complicated of romances- Morgan was dating Clay who is Nathan's brother who Liv was dating. So, yeah... try to puzzle that one out. I will say the end choice was perfect and filled me with happiness but the journey to get there was so emotional (and at times swoony, and boy did Clay need a hug).
I will say that the ending was a little bit rushed for my liking. There was a lot of build up and then within a chapter everything was resolved and I was left slightly miffed. I would have liked the ending to be just a little bit more drawn out, or a little bit more complicated to match how freaking complicated the entire rest of the book was. (and can somebody please tell me who was responsible for the missing girls? I know there was speculation but I would love a direct answer.) Overall I was really happy with this story and I blew through it in just a day or two, it was easy to keep reading because I wanted to know more. This was my first read by this author and I would love to try more now.
I want to thank to Tor Teen and NetGalley for having provided me with this copy in exchange for an honest review
I think the main idea of the book is so interesting and captivating, it was what kept me wanting to know what would happen at the end. On the other hand, and being very honest, I think that it failed in the way in which this idea was executed. Even so, I think I would like to read something more about the author because I liked her writing
After a car accident Liv wakes up in the hospital and feels very confused because everyone calls her Morgan, at the beginning she thinks it's a mistake, but after seeing her face in the mirror she doesn't actually see herself but her best friend Morgan reflected. Liv will have to lead now with the fact that she's trapped in the body of her best friend, and even when everyone sees Morgan as the rich girl of the perfect life, Liv will be immersed in her life and discover dark secrets and crimes, that surrounds her best friend and her family, of which she had no idea. And meanwhile she also have to deal with her best friend's last request
The synopsis doesn't say much actually, but I've tried to put together a little more informative one here , without spoilers of course. The thing is that when I read the synopsis for the first time I felt that this was the perfect book for me, because as you already know, I LOVE mystery, and more when it involves best friends, besides you have to admit that it sounds incredible. And honestly I was very happy when I was approved with the ARC and even though I had some problems with it, I'm glad I gave it a try, I think the author has very good ideas.
I liked, as I said before, the idea that there's an accident and then something supernatural happens, that's always interesting. Liv's trapped in her best friend body, and has to discover how to get out of that situation, find a way to return to normality or even follow her life that way. All these things are super interesting, because as you read the story many questions begin to appear in your head, and obviously you want answers. And here's the thing, I really don't feel that we have answers to all those questions, I think the author deviates a lot the main issue, to other things. In fact, I really would have loved to know why this happened in the first place and after finishing it you never know it for sure, and I hate that, because it makes the story feel incomplete for me. There's, in fact, a moment where our MC begins to think that she's suffering from some mental illness but this never develops, and I think it would have been a VERY interesting.
I didn't like Morgan, I mean the real her, not even a little, I think she was very manipulative and such a liar, I usually enjoy unlikeble characters, but this girl is impossible . I think the fact that Liv defended her all the time made me irritate even more. I love best friends plots, but in this case I think Liv adored Morgan but not the opposite around, you know? Liv begins to find out some secrets that her friend hid from her, that are really painful, things that only a treacherous person would do, and she lets them pass so easily, I'm sorry, but I would be SO angry.
There was a love triangle here, and I have nothing against them, sometimes I even enjoy them, but this time it was awful. The triangle involves Liv (who's now in Morgan's body), Clay (Morgan's boyfriend) and Nathan (Liv's boyfriend/Clay's brother), so you can pretty much get an idea of how complicated this was.
I feel that Clay's a lovely person, I loved him as an individual and I feel that in other circumstances they would have made an adorable couple, but everything happens in such a strange and dramatic way that it wasn't to my liking. Nathan on the other hand, I just couldn't stand him.
After finishing reading it I think it's a kind of messy book, if the author would have focused more on the main idea and less on the romance, maybe it would have worked better for me. I think maybe she was scared of going for a darker side with it but I feel that it would have worked well if she had taken a risk. I really enjoyed the interactions with Liv's family, I think that helps me to know how she really was like before all this happened, even so, I would have liked a bigger development of this aspect because we know all about Morgan's life, but not much of Liv's, which would have been interesting.
There's also another aspect in the plot that involves a crime, and it ends up being quite important in the book until becoming a central part, and honestly it was a bit boring and predictable, which I hate to say because I look for the opposite in this kind of books. But, I was not really interested in that aspect really. And the plot twist almost at the end was SUPER convenient
In summary, I think the idea is brilliant but I would have liked to see it more developed, especially because it's a paranormal aspect and it would be nice to have seen something happen with that, it was handled in a very strange way. I think the first 50% of the book is great, quite engaging and leaves you wanting more, but then nothing ends as I would have liked and seems like the author has taken the easy way out and left me with more doubts than I had at the beginning.
After a car accident, Liv wakes up in her best friend's body. At first Liv is sure that it's just the bandages that are making everyone confused, but when they come off, Liv sees Morgan in the mirror. Afraid to tell anyone what happened, she quietly slips into her best friend's life and discovers that Morgan was hiding things, dangerous things and now Liv doesn't know who to trust.
This was a ridiculously compelling read. I had a hard time putting it down. Liv is full of emotional turmoil as she tries to figure out what happened and what to do next. Should she tell her own family that she's still alive? Is it fair to watch them grieve for someone who isn't gone? How can she reconcile a relationship with Morgan's boyfriend while watching her own boyfriend grieve? What might happen if she tells someone? Who can she trust? Who is lying to her? What if it wasn't an accident?
This is the perfect book for readers of teen thrillers - great for fans of Kelley Armstrong.
Live Burnham and Morgan Frost are best friends, but on a lonely road, when the car they are riding in crashes, Liv and Morgan become one. When Morgan wakes up, she is Liv, living in Morgan's body. It is hard to adjust to the change, especially when Liv's boyfriend, Nathan, is responsible for the crash, but it's Morgan's boyfriend, Clay, who helps her pick up the pieces. And Liv discovers that being rich isn't always the great thing it appears to be on the surface. Morgan was keeping a lot of secrets and Liv needs to uncover them to find any kind of piece. A rather predictable read that was not as good as other Ann Aguirre books I have read previously.
Upon waking up from an accident Liv finds herself in a hospital with a breathing tube and a wrapped face. Unable to explain her identity she realizes that everyone thinks that she, Liv, has died from the accident and that she is Morgan. Only Morgan is taller, has a different eye color and… well, shouldn’t dental records have resolved the true identity of the teen that passed away from the accident?
Her confusion only becomes worse once the gauze is removed and she looks into Morgan’s familiar eyes. Something terrible has happened but Liv “lies low” so to speak in Morgan’s life while she tries to unravel the mysteries surrounding this change (is she really Morgan through and through just with some kind of survivors guilt or has she suppressed her real memories for her friend’s through the trauma?) as well as the mystery surrounding the creepy older man following Morgan and death of Morgan’s mother.
Questions abound in this book… and while not all of them are answered I’m surprisingly okay with that. Liv/Morgan/Elle tries to figure out who she is with the underlying understanding that if she asks too many questions aloud she might be locked into a psych ward. Instead of pushing too far into the supernatural she works on her feet to resolve the problems of merging into another’s life and fitting her former personality into something new. Okay, so writing that sentence makes me feel like I sound crazy. Yes, one friend has been placed into the other’s life…. But she does it well?
Aguirre has done a great job creating a story that half drags (because you have unanswered questions) half walks (because you hope there will be answers at the end) you though.
I received an electronic copy of this title in exchange for my unbiased review.
Waking up from a coma is hard enough but this girl steps into a mystery that almost kills her. Interesting using science to explain the phenomenon of displacement.
Like Never and Always was a very strange story, and it felt like it didn't quite know what direction to take... I enjoyed the beginning very much, but as the story went on, I felt rather meh.
Morgan / Liv wasn't a very compelling character, and I didn't really connect with her very much until the very end.
I’m a huge fan of Ann Auguirre and this didn’t disappoint despite being completely different from the dystopian and sci-fi books I came to know her for. In many ways this is a classic ‘the grass is always greener story’. There were moments of genuine creepiness but the book never got too dark. It was fast paced and had plenty of page-turnability. Interesting premise. Not a favourite of the authors work but very readable.
* Received from the author for review.
After a car accident, Liv wakes up in her best friend Morgan's body. How will she cope and what is Morgan hiding from her best friend?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's the fastest I've read a book in a long time. I couldn't put it down. I was skeptical about the living in another body plot, since I'm usually not very interested in books like that, but I was so pleasantly surprised at how Mrs. Aguirre handled it. I didn't find any of it cheesy or boring. I appreciated the attempt by Liv to explain what was happening scientifically. That made it easier to suspend my disbelief and fully immerse myself in the story.
I really enjoyed the writing. I was never distracted by the language because it didn't sound like teenagers trying to be cool or speaking in slang. The descriptive language was just enough. It fit with the story perfectly.
I was able to guess the outcome of some of the mysteries but they played out in such a way that I didn't expect and it wasn't boring. The pacing was great. It never lagged in places it shouldn't and moved along at a great speed especially at the end. It wasn't too fast. It was just right. I was so glad at how Mrs. Aguirre reconciled the Morgan/Liv sharing a body plot. It was handled with respect and was so satisfying. It also gave me something to really think about and ponder. I loved the idea of a chosen name for who you are.
I was able to relate to Morgan and Liv's friendship with my own friendship with my best friend. I found a lot of parallels. My best friend and I have been together since elementary school. We're older now than Morgan and Liv but I had to think about what if I woke up in her body. I know a lot of her life experiences but I don't know everything and would be totally lost. We're alike in a lot of ways but also opposite in ways too and I think Mrs. Aguirre did a great job of making Morgan and Liv relatable in that way.
Overall, there wasn't much about this book that I disliked. The plot, mysteries, friendships, "love triangle", and the end were all excellent. Even though the MCs are in high school, I think this book transcends age and is a good story for anyone.
This was easy to read, at times hard to believe story. But it's well explained at the end, so don't worry.
For a YA novel, it was very well written with stellar character development which for this plot played a major role in getting my 4 stars.
Love, envy-jealousy, teenage uncertainty seemed to all play at least some parts. But the best was the authenticity of her inner journey. Guess it's never what you thought it would be to be in someone else's skin.
Thank you Tor Teen for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.
Pretty bland and boring. So after an accident, Olivia wakes up in Morgan's body. So now everybody thinks Olivia died and Morgan survived. While alive, Morgan was dating Clay and Olivia was Dating Clay's brother, Nathan. Oh oh, who will Olivia stay with?
Duh! That's no brainer because, how is Olivia in the body of Morgan choose Nathan (Olivia's ex boyfriend and Clay's brother)? That would be like "whaaaaat! The accident messed up with you!"
At the same time, there is a little mystery to solve that the real Morgan left for Olivia in case she died (because, you know, that is what teenagers do). Anyways, the new Morgan has to expose the real Morgan's mother ex boyfriend who probably killed her. Once again, that is what teenagers in YA do best, solve crimes that the police are too stupid to solve.
I DNF this book because new Morgan/old Olivia had no personality, the story was simple and engaging, and I am tired of the poor-rich-girl-characters.
Obviously, Olivia is/was a better person so now living as Morgan, she will give this new body meaning and purpose.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this title
I...sort of don't know where to start with this review. This book was everything I thought it would be and nothing like I thought it would be. It took a few turns I wasn't expecting, but it ended up going down the perfect road and delivering a story I didn't know I wanted until I read it.
In other words, I'm a messy tangle of confusion. Just a mess. (so excuse any rambling, because my thoughts feel like they're all over the place.)
At it's heart, this is a book about secrets and lies and the lengths a person will go to to keep those secrets hidden. Frankly put, everyone has secrets. Liv is hiding her true identity from everyone because (a) who would believe her when she's living it and she hardly believes it herself and (b) as Morgan's secrets start coming out, she doesn't know who to trust. Honestly, as a scientist, Liv is surprisingly level headed about her predicament. She analyzes and draws conclusions and does what she has to do to keep everyone thinking she's handling things.
It isn't until she gets deeper and deeper into Morgan's mystery that her handle on things gets shaky.
(Okay, I'm going to be intentionally vague here so as not be all spoilery...) The romance. MAN, I didn't see that coming. It worked. Perfectly. But I wasn't expecting it. It was sad and sweet and surprising and I want to read this book all over again just to see it unfurl. (My fangirl heart is honestly swooning a bit. I loved it. Hard.)
Like I said, this book ended up being the book I didn't know I wanted to read until I read it. So say I came away from it totally satisfied would be an understatement.
Liv and Morgan are best friends who both end up in a terrible car accident while out one night with their boyfriends. When Liv wakes up, she is somehow in Morgan’s body while her own has been buried. While Liv comes to terms with her new life as her best friend, she starts to realise she didn’t know her loved ones at all. With a mixture of mystery and the paranormal, with a lot of unfinished business, this book was fast paced and very readable.
Just when I thought I had a handle in this book, it threw me for a loop, over and over again. This book will appeal to fans of “Before I Fall”, but it is enjoyable in its own way.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.