3.75⭐️

If you could swap bodies with someone on demand, would you do it? That’s the premise behind Sarah Zachrich Jeng’s latest thriller. It’s Freaky Friday with the help of technology and with a definite edge.

After a major fallout in college, Mary and Elizabeth parted ways, but Mary never quite got over what Elizabeth did to her. After years of planning and preparation, the opportunity to take her revenge appears in Mary’s mailbox. She can step into Elizabeth’s charmed, shining life, but that life may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

It’s an interesting premise, but ultimately I found the two main characters to be unsympathetic. I guess I was rooting for them in theory as the story unfolded, but I didn’t really like them.

I kept turning the pages on this one because I wanted to see how everything would end, but there are a lot of morally grey happenings in this book.

And things got a bit overly dramatic for me.

It sure was an interesting ride, though.

I received an advance copy of the book from Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

This was a unique one. What happens when you can literally walk in someone else’s shoes ? This device allows for that but in a thriller it’s not just as simple as experiencing someone else’s life. It’s best to go in to this one blind. I had zero clue what to expect with this one!
Huge thank you to #berkleypub and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
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Thank you @berkleypub for my complimentary digital copy and @prhaudio for the audio version. My thoughts are my own.
#penguinrandomhousepartner

This book contains such a unique storyline and deals with themes of rivalry, envy, and revenge. I literally could not stop reading (and listening to) it!

Elizabeth and Mary are best friends and college roommates. Mary, the brainier of the two, works in a lab where they are experimenting with switching bodies. Mary ‘borrows’ a set of empathizer (body switching) bracelets, and she and Elizabeth begin to enjoy secretly switching bodies…that is until everything goes terribly wrong at a fraternity party.

Years later, Mary and Elizabeth are estranged. Mary stalks the perfect Elizabeth online. Jealous of her beauty and her Instagram-perfect life, Mary plots revenge because of the repercussions of that night at the fraternity party.

MY THOUGHTS: Mary and Elizabeth’s stories unfolded through alternating perspectives. I enjoyed both points of view, but I was more intrigued by Elizabeth’s perspective, especially once I saw the MESS Mary had transferred herself into! Suddenly Mary (as Elizabeth) found her new life overshadowed by affairs, deceit, and a murder investigation. She was forced to turn to Elizabeth. As I read, I wondered how Mary and Elizabeth would resolve things. The stunning conclusion will keep you thinking!

I preferred the audio version of this story. The alternating personalities caused confusion at times, and the audio (with two narrators) made the characters easier to distinguish.

I absolutely loved this audiobook! Jesse Vilinsky is one of my faves and Louisa Zhu also did an outstanding job! It was so helpful to have two narrators for this particular story since the two main characters can change bodies Freaky Friday style.

Normally, stories or movies where characters can switch bodies or pretend to be someone else can easily confuse me but the author made it easy to follow along and I always had a comfortable grasp on what was happening in that aspect. What kept me on my toes instead were all the twists and turns! Told over two main timelines, we get to see how Mary and Elizabeth are able to swap bodies and how often they do it. In the past, they both have to deal with an unsavory character and they devise a plan to make him pay for his actions. What actually happened changed Mary’s life negatively but Elizabeth has moved on to be a successful influencer with a seemingly perfect life. Now, Mary has found a way to exact her revenge on Elizabeth but she quickly learns that everyone has problems. Is it possible her life isn’t really as bad as she thought?

I received a gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

Sarah Zachrich Jeng's When I'm Her could be compared to Freaky Friday on steroids. The story alternates between two women, as well as flashbacks to 8 years ago. Elizabeth and Mary were roommates in college. Elizabeth was the gregarious gorgeous one. Mary was the one nobody saw, and pretty much overlooked. Mary was an intern for a company named Confluence Innovations which invented a device called Empathyer. The Empathyer was a pair of bracelets that look like smartwatches that can be worn by two separate people.

It allows you to swap bodies and literally walk in the other person's shoes. Elizabeth urges Mary to steal a pair of Empathyzers to see if they work. Surprisingly, they do with minor issues with Mary in Elizabeth's body. Until Halloween 7 years ago, when Mary and Elizabeth swapped, and a sexual pervert named Garrett came onto the wrong woman which ended up with him falling down a flight of stairs. To this day, Detective Johns has always thought that Mary got away with assault, and he isn't going to let it go anytime soon.

The story is actually told in the past and the present the chapters are labeled: Mary (Elizabeth) and Elizabeth (Mary) the first name being the actual person and the second name in parentheses, being the body they are inhabiting. So, for 7 years, Mary has been obsessed with getting revenge on Elizabeth for allowing her to be blamed for what happened on Halloween while Elizabeth was inhabiting her body.

7 years after her expulsion from college, the victim's rich parents have successfully destroyed her life and taken away everything. She lives in squalor, and she has little money because it is taken from her each payday. Mary has been trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life by avenging the person who ruined everything she worked for. Elizabeth, a highly popular, rich influencer, is living her dream life, married to Nate, the boy Mary fell for in college.

But without one of the Empathyzers, Mary has to bide her time. But finally, her prayers are answered by an anonymous benefactor who sends her the Empathyzer, which may help her switch bodies with Elizabeth and live her life to the fullest, just as Elizabeth might also take the blame for the death of her college nemesis who ruined her entire life. But what if Elizabeth's so-called happy life isn't exactly what it may seem? What if the only way to get out of this circumstance is to team up with her arch-nemesis to save both of their lives?

I can honestly say that I didn't much care for either main character as well as certain secondary characters like Garrett, Nate, and Detective Johns who does everything he can to make Mary feel as though she's a criminal. I can sympathize with Mary but there are some things you need to say no to, especially your best friend who ends up costing you everything. Elizabeth should have never waited so long to do right by Mark, especially since she was far from living the perfect life. The ending of this book needs to be examined by a professional to see if it actually makes sense, and no, I will not spoil it for you.

Freaky Friday premise starts the ball rolling and for a while, it's fun and games for college roommates Mary and Elizabeth as they swap bodies and have some fun. But then the switch turns deadly and Mary winds up having her life ruined by Elizabeth's actions, setting the stage for the revenge tale this becomes in the latter part of the book. While I'm not sure the science was as well-grounded as it might have been, if you can let your imagination run wild and accept the initial premise, this is a wild ride. I'm a fan of revenge plots so this was right up my alley and Jeng did a great job of keeping me guessing.

This Sci-Fi Thriller mash-up was an absolutely fun ride. Two best friends use some kind of innovative advanced tech device that allows them to switch bodies. Only someone almost gets killed and they go from besties to enemies. Years later, after one has stewed over the downfall of her life and watches her old bestie living the high life, devises a plan to take over her life to get what she feels she deserves. This is a story of revenge, reckoning, and finding out the grass is not always greener on the other side. The ups and downs, the twists and turns, and the excitement of not knowing who knows what made this such an entertaining and fun read.

Mary and Elizabeth were friends in college. They had a device called an Empathizer where they could switch bodies. When an accident happens while they are in each other’s bodies, Mary is blamed. Elizabeth ruined her life and Mary will do anything to get revenge, even if that means swapping bodies again.

Well, that was a wild ride! The concept was a little out there for me but it ended up working for this story. I don’t read much sci-fi and this book definitely has some sci-fi elements to it but overall it’s a psychological revenge thriller (if that’s a thing!). It was an interesting concept seeing what it would be like getting to be the person you always envied. Sometimes things aren’t better in someone else’s shoes which Mary gets to see in this book. I don’t want to say too much though because spoilers.

I thought the author took an original take on seeing what it would be like to be someone else. There were some twists and I honestly didn’t figure a lot of it out. The ending wasn’t what I was expecting but it really worked for me. I did have to suspend disbelief while reading this, and a lot could have been fixed if Mary and Elizabeth just communicated with each other, but overall I enjoyed this intriguing story.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Let's face it, I'm a sucker for a great thriller BUT when you read as many as I have, you tend to set a higher precedence and become a bit picky.

When I'm Her

Let me first start out by saying, I was captivated by the cover alone. I was also intrigued with this being a "new to me" to me author. After reading the reviews on Sarah Zachrich Jeng's previous work, I knew this book was a shoe in and the instant FOMO began to set in.

I hit the magic button, and requested this sure to be bestseller.

APPROVED!

Berkley, you are too good to me!

Secrets, lies, betrayal... revenge

All key components to deliver one heck of a wild ride!

This book is EVERYTHING.

There is also a sense of originality, with the "empathizer" bracelets (almost a slight dip in the sci-fi pond)

The dual timelines lead to a wild twist, I did not see coming.

Big thank you to Berkley, Sarah Zachrich Jeng and Netgalley for allowing me to read this showstopper early in exchange for an honest review!

Out today, March 26, 2024!!!

TEASER:

How far would you go to get even with the woman who ruined your life?

In this electrifying thriller, a young woman gets everything she’s ever wanted—and everything she doesn’t—when she swaps bodies with her sworn enemy.

Though polar opposites, Mary and Elizabeth are as close as can be—until the night Elizabeth makes an irrevocable mistake and leaves Mary to take the blame. Years later, Elizabeth seems to have forgotten Mary exists.

Mary hasn’t forgotten her.

She follows Elizabeth’s every move online, obsessed with paying her back for the betrayal that cost Mary her dreams. Now Mary has found a way to switch bodies with Elizabeth, and she’s got a plan to steal her charmed life. Her career. Her looks. Her husband.

They do say living well is the best revenge.

Or is it? The more Mary uncovers about Elizabeth’s life, the more she realizes she may have made a deadly mistake. And she'll need the help of her worst enemy to stay alive.

Thank you Berkley Pub for the free book! #BerkleyBookstagram #berkleypub #BerkleyIG #berkley

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈’𝐦 𝐇𝐞𝐫
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐠
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

★★★★

I went into this book blind and was so surprised by how much I enjoyed this thriller! There were sci-fi elements woven into this thriller, and while that’s not my go-to genre, I really found myself enjoying this book so much! This book was full of secrets, revenge, betrayals, and it was so well written! This is definitely one to add to your TBR if you love a unique thriller!

Mary and Elizabeth and complete opposites and the best of friends. All that changes one night when Elizabeth makes a mistakes and leaves Mary to take the blame. As the years pass, it seems as though Elizabeth has forgotten that Mary exists. But Mary has not forgotten her. Mary has followed Elizabeth’s every move online, and has found a way to switch bodies with Elizabeth, and has a plan to steal her life. The only problem is, the more Mary uncovers about Elizabeth, the more she realizes she may have made a mistake.

🖤Thriller
🖤Multiple POVs
🖤Revenge
🖤Swapping Bodies
🖤Toxic Friendships

Posted on Goodreads on March 25, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- March 26, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on March 26, 2024
**-will post on designated date

Have you ever wanted to swap lives with someone? I certainly have.

In SARAH ZACHRICH JENG’S newest novel, WHEN I’M HER, that’s exactly what Elizabeth & Mary do. But in thrillerland you know this Freaky Friday premise is going to have a dark twist. So basically - sign me up.

Elizabeth & Mary are college roommates + close friends, but they couldn’t be more different. Elizabeth is enigmatic, her personality commands a room, her beauty a magnet for attention. Mary is used to people looking right through her, being ignored in the spaces she inhabits. Elizabeth is fun and carefree. And Mary cares about exactly two things — her internship at STEM start-up, Confluence and her friendship with Elizabeth.

The semi-controversial Confluence is beta-testing devices that will allow two people to body swap. But all the experiments are failing.

Then Elizabeth convinces Mary to steal two devices. They are stunned when they actually work. It starts as a fun experiment - spending a few hours in each other’s bodies. Until Elizabeth brutally betrays Mary, walking away from Mary, whose life is in shambles.

Seven years later, Mary is still out for revenge. Elizabeth is now leading a charmed influencer life, with the perfect husband, house and dog in tow. But Mary isn’t interested in destroying Elizabeth’s life - she wants to steal it from her by doing one last body swap.

This is a whole new twist on keep your enemies closer.

But be careful what you wish for. As Mary quickly learns, the life she’s coveting is not what it seems and her decision to become Elizabeth again could end up being fatal.

Told in dual timelines and multiple POVs we see the rise and fall of their friendship in college and how both women are navigating the present day. With haunting secrets from the past + new secrets revealed at every turn this book explores envy and insecurity, toxic friendships & toxic masculinity and the complicated and, at times, deeply obsessive nature of female friendships.

Huge thanks again to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC. It’s a must read!

this was such an intriguing premise!! it gave all of the sci-fi blake crouch vibes, but unfortunately fell flat for me on the execution… I wanted so much more body switching and less female rage stories 😩

if this technology, a bracelet that can cause two people to switch bodies, existed in real life, the human population would be extremely screwed 🤣 because mary’s lil revenge story would be the least of our problems…

I was waiting for a further body switching crazy twist at the end to blow my mind, but sadly, everything played out pretty predictably. I really enjoyed the premise and learning about mary and elizabeth’s adventures as each other - but in present day, the revenge story was a little overdone.

the way sarah writes, however, was absolutely brilliant, keeping a fast-paced story with a slow burn plot! I binged the entire thing in less than 4 hours!!

thank you to berkley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review - this one is a unique premise you won’t want to miss!

rating: 3.5 stars
wine pairing: new zealand sauvignon blanc

HOLY COW. I binge read this book in a day. I could not put it down. It's one of the best thrillers I've ever read. It's a thrill ride of friendship, broken relationships, and revenge. But everything isn't as it seems and revenge isn't as sweet as you might think. A must read for any thriller lover out there!

Would you switch bodies with another person so you can literally walk a mile in their shoes???? I don’t think I can! I would be too worried that I might not get my own body back lol!

When I’m Her is a super suspenseful sci-fi psychological thriller that kept me glued to the book from the first page! I’m usually a polygamous reader but this one had me hooked so I wasn’t able to read another novel at the same time. Despite this, I found myself impatiently wanting to get to the finale. I thought that some chapters regarding the past were dragging and could have been deleted. I was also confused at times on who’s who despite the chapter titles stating the character’s POV and which body it was inhabiting. Yes, I did a lot of SMHs and had to reread the title chapter multiple times to get my characters straight lol! Other than these minor (me) issues, I think the book was a good thriller. It touched on my favorite topic, female friendship, which we all know is very dynamic, highly nuanced and can be toxic at times. I liked reading about Mary and Elizabeth’s relationship - how it began and evolved, its ups and downs and also how they resolved their issues. I didn’t like both characters but towards the end, I was rooting for the ladies to have a HEA. If you like unique plots, complex characters and stories about friendships and revenge, then do consider picking up this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC of When I’m Her!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
👯‍♀️ have ever wanted to trade bodies with someone
📸 are a big time influencer with all eyes on you
✋🏻 were ever blamed for something you didn’t do
👀 enjoy multiple POVs

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Though polar opposites, Mary and Elizabeth are as close as can be—until the night Elizabeth makes an irrevocable mistake and leaves Mary to take the blame. Years later, Elizabeth seems to have forgotten Mary exists.

Mary hasn’t forgotten her.

She follows Elizabeth’s every move online, obsessed with paying her back for the betrayal that cost Mary her dreams. Now Mary has found a way to switch bodies with Elizabeth, and she’s got a plan to steal her charmed life. Her career. Her looks. Her husband.

They do say living well is the best revenge.

Or is it? The more Mary uncovers about Elizabeth’s life, the more she realizes she may have made a deadly mistake. And she'll need the help of her worst enemy to stay alive.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was such a fun read. I admittedly didn’t read the synopsis and I think I liked it more that way, especially because you quickly understood the general plot line. I loved Mary and Elizabeth for different reasons and my feelings toward them both changed constantly as the story progressed. Each of them had so much emotional baggage that could have been fixed with a simple conversation, but the way they handled it by switching bodies via the Empathyzer, made it all the more fun. I was definitely shocked that certain people turned out to not be who they appeared, and was thrilled by the ending. It would be fun to see a sequel made about these two characters!

I received a gifted galley of WHEN I'M HER by Sarah Zachrich Jeng for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review!

Who wouldn't want to try out life in someone else's body just to see what the world looks like from their POV? WHEN I'M HER explores the lives of two roommates who tempt fate by trading places multiple times during college through a device called an Empathyzer. Elizabeth is the head-turner and Mary is the one people always seem to overlook, so once they switch bodies, they get to experience an entirely different reality than the one they've both known their entire lives. It's addicting, and when Elizabeth betrays Mary, the best way Mary can think to enact revenge is to take over Elizabeth's life by becoming her. This twisty sci-fi/thriller blend will keep readers guessing, and rapidly turning pages, all the way to the shocking end.

College roommates Mary and Elizabeth share a dark secret. Thanks to Mary’s internship at a tech company, she “borrows” a proprietary technology called an Empathyzer, without her boss’s knowledge and at the risk of arrest if anyone finds out. But how can Mary evaluate the effectiveness of the Empathyzer without using it? The bracelet is deceptively simple-looking for a device that allows two people to switch bodies. When Mary, a quiet and less-than sociable type, has the opportunity to explore the world from inside the body of drop dead gorgeous extrovert Elizabeth, her desire to keep switching places with her roommate grows with each out-of-body experience. Many years later after their friendship has long-since shattered, a detective confronts Mary about the suspicious death of her former coworker at the tech company. Mary suspects that Elizabeth is involved, and Mary has access to another Empathyzer. Her desire for revenge leads her to take over Elizabeth's life, but once she’s back in Elizabeth’s body, her perfect plan quickly crumbles. Things aren't as they seem through the social media lens of Elizabeth's too-perfect life, and Mary realizes she’s in far more danger as Elizabeth.

crazy wild thriller! v different than her last one but in more of a sci fi and fun way, I enjoyed the body switching,

What a story about revenge! If you like a good revenge story, this is fantastic!

Though polar opposites, Mary and Elizabeth are as close as can be—until the night Elizabeth makes an irrevocable mistake and leaves Mary to take the blame. Years later, Elizabeth seems to have forgotten Mary exists.

Mary hasn’t forgotten her.

She follows Elizabeth’s every move online, obsessed with paying her back for the betrayal that cost Mary her dreams. Now Mary has found a way to switch bodies with Elizabeth, and she’s got a plan to steal her charmed life. Her career. Her looks. Her husband.

They do say living well is the best revenge.

I LOVE A REVENGE STORY! This book took a little science fiction turn which I don’t always love but the book was smartly written and intense. The two characters in the book can swap bodies, so just suspend your disbelief for a minute as the characters switch bodies and the revenge plot takes over.

Here is what you need to know about When I’m Her by Sarah Zachrich Jeng:

How far would you go to get even with the woman who ruined your life?

In this electrifying thriller, a young woman gets everything she’s ever wanted—and everything she doesn’t—when she swaps bodies with her sworn enemy.

Though polar opposites, Mary and Elizabeth are as close as can be—until the night Elizabeth makes an irrevocable mistake and leaves Mary to take the blame. Years later, Elizabeth seems to have forgotten Mary exists.

Mary hasn’t forgotten her.

She follows Elizabeth’s every move online, obsessed with paying her back for the betrayal that cost Mary her dreams. Now Mary has found a way to switch bodies with Elizabeth, and she’s got a plan to steal her charmed life. Her career. Her looks. Her husband.

They do say living well is the best revenge.

Or is it? The more Mary uncovers about Elizabeth’s life, the more she realizes she may have made a deadly mistake. And she’ll need the help of her worst enemy to stay alive.

Out on March 26

I initially wasn't sure about this one for fear that it might be too science fiction-y and that's definitely out of my comfort zone, but I was very much intrigued by the revenge aspect of the plot so I decided to give it a shot. I am happy to say that I found this to be an enjoyable read, although it was hard at times to keep the characters straight.

Check this one out if you enjoy:
-Thrillers with sci-fi elements
-Revenge plots
-Mind swapping
-Toxic friendship tales
-Nonlinear timeline/shifting POV