This book was written for pop culture enthusiasts, nerds, and others everywhere. One of the funniest books that I have read in a very long time. Norton encapsulated the torment of being in love, in high school and not quite fitting in or understanding oneself. Then once you are wrapped in that misery, he takes it a step further. Switching bodies between female and male characters who don’t really like each other all that much and allowing for such a personal insight was funny and allowed feelings of empathy for each person’s personal baggage. Looking for more Preston Norton on Amazon and hoping that someone make a movie out of this book.

I was weary going into this about how to author would pull off an original version of freaky friday and I was pleasantly surprised by how well it all came out.

Ezra and Wynonna were quite an unlikely pair and end up really getting to the bare bones of each other to figure a way to handle the situation.

3.5 stars rounded down to 3.
Quirky and cute teenage rom-com that actually manages to touch on lots of modern topics - sexual harassment, gender fluidity, etc. Our teenage protagonists are stuck in a weird "Freaky Friday" style body switching routine while also performing the play Twelfth Night, adding an additional dimension to the body swapping situation. What could possibly go wrong there, right?

I do wish there had been more about the circumstances behind the swapping (its not overly explained) and more insights into how the characters navigated their regular high school lives, not just the parts that revolved around their love interests and the play. Overall, a fun read that I think a younger YA audience would enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a bit to get into this book, but once I did, it was interesting to read. It was a lot like Freaky Friday and another movie (or two) I have seen. I liked the details of both boy/girl perspectives - it provided some good humor.

I received a copy of this Where I End and You Begin from Disney Book Group through Netgalley.

The description if this book had me at Twelfth Night and body swaps but it is so much deeper than that.

It's not just a guy trying to get the girl, it's also about building meaningful friendships and being honest with yourself.

I loved this book and would definitely recommend it.

Where I End and You Begin is quirky and delightful. Ezra is struggling - he can't sleep, he agonizes over everything and he is just trying to figure out where he belongs in the vast universe. The one thing he thinks he knows is that his life would be better if he could just get up the courage to ask Imogen - his longtime crush - to the prom. However, everything changes during the night of the solar eclipse. Ezra and Willow - Imogen's badass, best friend - begin body swapping and come to know each other in ways they never expected. Throw in a high school drama production of Twelfth Night, family drama, teenage romance and all of the sarcasm and angst associated and the result is a funny and lovely story about friendship, love and figuring out who we are really meant to be.

Fascinating read. One part Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, a bit of the Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik, and a lot of gender norm questions that are witty yet poignant.

Overall rating: 2.5-3 stars

Thank you, Disney, for sending me this ARC through NetGalley! I'm a huge Twelfth Night fan and was excited to read this book when I read the premise.

That being said, even though I read the book in a day, I found it underwhelming. I think there was a lot of promise at the beginning, but the book was so all over the place. Let's start with things that I liked about it:
- exploration of gender and sexuality: this part was awesome. I love how this book questions gender norms and what it means to be attracted to someone.
- platonic friendships: there! are! so! many! good! friendships! Seriously though, I enjoyed the abundance of m/f and m/m friendships.

Now with what could be improved upon:
- the plot: when I say this book was all over the place, it wasn't necessary hard to follow; instead, it felt like the author had so many threads that he didn't know what to do with them. Some were deftly resolved, others were knots that even Maniac Magee wouldn't know what to do with.
- underdeveloped characters: Wynonna and, to some extent, Ezra are the only fully developed characters. I wanted to know more about Imogen, but she felt so flat at the end of the book.
- the weird Johnny Depp parts: I don't even know how to parse this. Basically, Ezra does these Johnny Depp impersonations, though he doesn't idolize Depp as a person, just as an actor. There's a throwaway line about separating the art from the artist, which is just...I'm not going to dive too deep into this, but using domestic violence allegations as an example of Depp's weirdness did not settle in great with me.
- the long explainy parts: ugh less of these, please. I don't need a multi-paragraph explanation of Twelfth Night. I think this book could've used a few more rounds of editing, so I'd wait to see how the finished copy deals with that.

This book could've been so much more, but I felt so disappointed once I reached the end.

This was a Freaky Friday and Twelfth Night mash-up that I really enjoyed. Norton does a stellar job writing in a voice that's relatable for the YA audience. Characters were well-developed and easy to connect with. Some of the pop-culture references were hit or miss for today's audience. So many laugh-out-loud moments. As a middle school teacher, I would recommend this to students with a bit more maturity, as some of the themes require it. But it's a solid read and definitely adding it to my classroom shelves.

I received a free ARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Between this and Neanderthal, I am a BIG, HUGE fan of Preston Norton. This was one of the most entertaining and insightful books I’ve read in a long time. I need to buy a hard copy when it comes out just so I can mark all of the passages I will be repeating for, like, ever!!! Or a really long time anyway. Oh, Wynezra, I love ya so.

It took a little bit to get into this because of the swapping bodies. But not to long, and I loved that the author had Ezra refer to Wynonna as Wynezra when she was in his body. That really helped. The language was a little strong to me, but I am realizing that seems to hold true with most YA. My generation was raised that intelligence can always find a better description. Sad that that is still not the case. All in all though I thought this was a great book.

This was a fun new take on a classic YA contemporary trope. I think high school readers will definitely enjoy this story!

I am so excited for this book to be published so I can recommend it to all of the teens at my library! Body-swapping plot seeped in oodles of queer discussion with actually funny jokes and likable characters - this is my favorite book of 2019 so far.

This was an interesting retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The characters are funny and the body swapping is an interesting idea. The drama in the various pairings of characters made this special.

The real strength of this YA contemporary was the characters, who were well-drawn and had realistic relationships that pulled me along through the reading. I think the book considered itself somewhat funnier than it actually was, it needed to change a lot of the pop culture references (so many of them seemed better suited to teens growing up in the eighties or nineties; if there hadn't been mentions of cell phones and YouTube I might have thought it was a period piece) and include fewer chunks of Shakespeare quotations, and the changing back and forth, along with the sort of wiggly sexuality stuff, got quite confusing toward the end, but overall very readable.

Where I End And You Begin is a truly unique story. It was not what I expected, but I liked it because it's unusual and requires you to think. The characters are likeable and engaging and entertaining. The story is well written and kind of crazy but in a good way. I think young adult readers will enjoy it. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the story of Ezra and Wynonna! The author did a great job of drawing in the reader and I really enjoyed reading this book! I will be recommending it to friends. Thanks!

I personally liked the perspective change and I think many young adult reader's will enjoy this novel because it is fresh and different from everything on the shelves right now.

*Thanks so much to Disney Book Group for providing me an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 / 5 stars

Where I End and You Begin follows the troublesome situation of two teenagers body-swapping. Ezra and Wynonna must navigate acting like each other until they can figure out how to stop swapping. Ezra and Wynonna definitely do not see each other eye to eye at first, but they must learn how to better understand and support each other so that they can stop this unique situation.

This book is filled with meaningful friendships and conversations. Everything went a lot deeper into diverse topics than I thought it would and I really appreciated it. I genuinely enjoyed most of the characters all the time throughout the story. I thought it was interesting how the story follows Ezra but is still able to give a deeper inside look to Wynonna through Ezra swapping lives with her. I thought the approach for this would be a bit different but this was actually a more impactful approach to me.

Overall I enjoyed this story and I found it to be quite humorous at times. The writing was fairly simplistic but it really captured the important moments and content well. The idea for this story is not original but it does take it in a pretty unique direction that others have previously avoided. The book does include some language that may not be suitable for all readers. It was a good contemporary read for me and I would recommend it.

I really enjoyed Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe, and I was excited to see this new book.

I was not disappointed. The book tells the story of Ezra and Wynonna, two high school students who hate each other, but are connected in a very interesting way. This book tackles gender issues, attraction, love, and what it means to connect in a modern, insightful and fun way.

As an adult, I loved this book, and as for a teenager, especially for one who is struggling to define him or herself, the book would be engaging and offer an interesting perspective on gender issues.

I do not want to spoil any of the plot, but if you enjoy witty romances, this is the young adult book for you.