I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Two girls bound for London from LAX decide to pull off the biggest prank ever. Willa Andrews and Alice Wright have never met before, but when they are put together in the Unaccompanied Minors lounge, abandoned by the parents for the summer and sent to stay with people they've never met, they hatch a plan. For the three weeks they are going to be away from home, they'll swap lives, and be the other person. Alice wished she could stay with her father in Australia, rather than being shipped off to London to stay with his 'friend' (girlfriend), and Willa wants more than anything to be in London, at her acting course, rather than on a farm in Italy. It sounds like the perfect plan, and somehow, they pull it off. But the longer they spend with the people they meet, the harder it is to lie and keep up the facade. And what will happen when the truth, inevitably, comes out?

This is a book that I've tried to read about three times now, and every other time I only managed to get about a third of the way through before moving on to something else. However, I decided to start 2022 focusing on old ARCs, and persevered through The Switch Up, and it's sequel, quite quickly. This was an okay book. It's definitely one focused on more of the younger side of YA, and I reckon kids in years 7-9 would love it. Out of the two characters, Alice was my favourite. I think she has a similar personality to what I had as a teen, whereas Willa was too much of an extrovert and very dramatic for my liking. I did feel really sorry for them, feeling abandoned by their parents for the summer, when they were going through changing and challenging times in their lives. I enjoyed the book, but I think the amount of lying to others and lack of planning annoyed me a little too much, so I only gave this book 3 stars. If you enjoyed The Parent Trap or Freaky Friday, this is probably a book for you.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in this genre. In the past year my reading taste has changed a lot and I no longer enjoy YA contemporary unless it's from a few select authors. Because of this I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not read and review this book as someone who is already disinterested in the genre, and instead let the reviews of people who do like this genre speak for the book instead. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

I absolutely adored The Parent Trap when I was growing up. I always wished I had my own secret twin to cause havoc with. So, seeing Willa and Alice live out my dream life was super entertaining.

Light, fast paced, and very gripping. A great teen beach read for this summer.

A fun spin on the Prince and the Pauper/ Parent Trap tale. It’s a perfect summer read that isn’t too taxing or angstsy.

The Switch Up has two similar looking girls swapping places for their summer, where they are both going to places where the people don't really know them. Willa, who is being shipped off to her aunt's place in Italy, wants to instead go to London for an acting course; Alice, who is being sent to live with her dad's old(new) (girl)friend doesn't want to really get to know her, so Willa convinces Alice to switch places. Alice gets to go to one of her mother's favorite places in Italy and Willa gets to attend the course - seems simple, but of course there are complications.

From the different personalities of the girls, to their polar fashion choices, and the details of them specified to their temporary guardians, the girls have a lot of homework to do on the other, seeing as they were strangers to each other. Each of them gets what they want, but they also come to feel bad for deceiving their temporary guardians, who are nothing but nice to each of them. I think the age of the girls (14) plays very well into making this low drama (yeah, the cover does say drama, but it is more of the family variety than teen variety), and also keeps romantic developments out. The family aspect of it is highlighted more, as a result, and keeps the story's focus on that, which was good.

On the whole, it is a nice, entertaining, light-hearted, yet emotional, story about families.

Fun summer read about two girls who are doppelgängers and have entirely different personalities swapping places for the summer. With echoes of The parent Trap and Freaky Friday this is light, and fun-hearted read. Thoroughly enjoyed.

I enjoyed this, but it wasn’t my favourite read. It was interesting but nothing new or original, the characters were nice, but it just seemed a rehash of popular switch movies and books. The characters felt a little immature at times, it’s a fun read, but overall I wasn’t blown away.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This might be a new favourite series! I loved the girls so much, how different Alice and Willa were but also the way that became friends so quickly. They have nothing in common except a
very similar appearance and the fact that they're so desperate to get away from their current plans for the summer, but by switching summers and keeping in contact in order to keep up the ruse, they become proper friends.

I loved the way it changed the girls too. It pushed them both out of their comfort zones and made them do things differently to the way they have always done. With Alice it's an obvious change. To pretend to be Willa she has to be more outgoing and has to dress completely differently. For Willa, she has to contain her enthusiasm more and think about the people around her more. It was so interesting to see how this effects their personalities as they change and grow over the course of the book.

Learning it's a sequel is interesting. I don't know where they have to go now, but I'm sure Cannon will come up with more adventures for them. I just hope they involve more hijinks and pretending to be one another!

First and foremost, this was such a fun read that had me longing for summer and wanting to get away and go on holiday. This was my first trip into a Katy Cannon book and it really didn't disappoint. I was whisked away on this crazy adventure, which let's be honest none of us (even myself at 25) would have the guts to do. Also, as I love the movie Freaky Friday I was instantly hooked in by the premise of this novel.

Yes, the swapping lives trope has been done countless times but I felt that in The Switch Up there was a unique twist. It didn't feel like a copy of anything else and I really did enjoy the whole concept within the book. The plot was easy enough to follow, but was a little bit predictable. However, this didn't deter me from enjoying it. I absolutely loved the dual POV narrative between Alice and Willa. This was, in my opinion, the best way to tell their story and it was just great to get to know both characters equally. Both girls had totally different personalities and I loved getting into both of their heads. If this was done from a single POV narrative I don't feel like the story would have had as much appeal.

Can we also talk about the settings for a moment? Both were just as gorgeous as the other and I loved being taken to London for one chapter and then Italy the next. As someone who is a big fan of London and who lived there for a while the descriptions of the capital took me back to my time there and I found myself starting to reminisce. It is amazing when a book does that to me and I just adored it. Italy, well I have never been there before but just by reading The Switch Up I know I have to go in the very near future. From the descriptions it sounds beautiful, and I did feel at times like I was there. The descriptions of both settings were very vivid and this just added to the whole vibe of the book.

Alice and Willa were both really interesting characters with equally as intriguing personalities. However, it did take me a while to warm up to Willa. When I first met her I found her to the your typical 'spoiled brat' and I did start to worry if I would like her in the long run. I didn't need to worry, mind you, as as the story progressed I found myself getting to know her more and more and you do start to realise that under the facade is a pretty normal teenage girl. With Alice, well I saw a lot of myself in her. I too am a bookworm and a careful planner and I just related to her a lot despite the age difference. It was a joy to see her come out of her shell throughout the book and have her develop into a more confident young woman.

The Switch Up was an amusing, beautifully written clean teen read. It, in my opinion, is the perfect book to accompany you on your summer holiday this year or if you aren't going on holiday it is the perfect book to chill out with in your garden on a sunny day.

Willa and Alice are two complete strangers trying to escape their controlling parents and who happen to look almost identical. After meeting in an airport they decide to swap lives for the summer and of course mayhem ensues...

I was very apprehensive going into this book as I didn't realise just how young the characters were. They're both fourteen (I'm almost 23) so I was worried that I would feel no connection to anyone and it would be one of those cringe inducing books where the characters are all frustratingly immature. Honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be though. I hardly remember what I was like at fourteen but I think Katy Cannon did a great job with making both girls as realistic as possible. There were a few times when it got a little juvenile such as Alice with her crush and Willa acting like a total brat but I was probably the exact same at fourteen so I can't complain too much. The plot is very straightforward, predictable but fun.

I definitely preferred Alice to Willa. Alice was pretty much me as a fourteen year old, quiet, very organised and constantly with her nose in a book. She seemed very reasonable about the whole situation and her sections of the book were my favourite parts. Willa was a bit too spoiled and careless for me to like her, I just never really warmed up to her and that stopped me from enjoying her storyline. Alice's summer in Italy was a really great setting. The farm and village she stayed at sounded adyllic and so peaceful. I honestly wouldn't have minded if the entire book had just been about Alice and her summer rather then switching between the two.

The Parent Trap is one of my all time favourite childhood movies so I got a bit of a nostalgia kick from the similarities between the two. It didn't stop this book from being incredibly unrealistic though. The whole 'swap summers cause we're practically twins and no one will realise' is very far fetched. However, I can't completely hate it cause I know that as a fourteen year old it would've been my dream to do something like this and have an adventure in Italy for the summer. I admit I did have fun with this book, it wasn't amazing but it was a pretty cute read that would be perfect for younger readers just starting to transition to young adult.

Willa is forced by her parents to go to Italy to stay with a relative despite having her summer planned to be in London on a theatre course.



Her mum is an actress in LA while her dad is away shooting in Edinburgh.



Meanwhile at the airport, she meets Alice and the pair get mistaken for sisters. Leading Willa and Alice to talking about their plans and hatching the idea to swap places for the next few weeks.



Alice lost her mum to cancer but her marine biologist dad is away working sending her to stay with his girlfriend in London.



As the story progresses, the pair swap info online alike they swapped possessions and keep on impersonating the other they're playing.



Alice's friend Hal recognizes Willa isn't her so she ropes him in to her plan meanwhile Alice visits the waterfall her mum told her about while her dad or rather Willa's dad turns up randomly...their game is up.



The location choices were great who wouldn't want to be in Italy or London two of the greatest cities in the world to explore and especially how the girls families didn't recognise the girls were different was shocking but understandable after so many years apart.



Like a modern parent trap this book was super fun and keeps you on your toes reading on in eager suspense about each girls summer and the outcome it'll be good or bad.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Plot is wholly ridiculous & how it pans out is fairly predictable but it's absolutely fine as a bit of fluffy escapism/wish fulfillment. Teen shelf filler that's lightweight & safe

A good story for younger teens / middle grade readers. Occasionally a bit far fetched and the pacing was a bit too rushed at the start of the book, and Alice's crush on Antonio seemed odd and inappropriate, but the story had good heart.