Alter Ego

As someone dealing with health issues…I am beyond excited to share my thoughts on this book. I can relate so much to its content and message and I will be sharing a full review and thoughts very soon.

Reading this novel was an incredibly powerful and moving experience, as it cut through to the heart of what it means to be a young woman with a hidden disability, and to feel understood and heard. It’s also brilliantly funny and poetic, a novel as entertaining as it is important.

Hattie is a disabled woman in her late 20s. She lives with her best friend Ella but has decided to move to Wales and try and start a new life where nobody knows she's disabled. This involves a lot of lying to her friends and family and a monumental struggle to try and hide the difficulties she has at her new job. I really don't think I've read anything quite like this book and I quite literally couldn't put it down. It's a brilliant perspective and should be read by everyone, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Hattie moves to a remote 'hut' in the countryside to get away from her old life and try to start a new life where no one knows anything about her and her disability. She also tries to keep contact with her 'friends' , making up stories about where she is living and working so as not to make them suspicious about what she's really up to - which is trying to get away from everything including them.
I really enjoyed this book which i found funny and heartbreaking at times.
I loved the whole aspect of her trying to find people she could connect with and found it heartbreaking the reasons why she couldn't connect with her childhood friend, even though, deep down, that's what she really wanted.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an uplifting page turner.

The final line of the blurb is what sold this for me for requesting Alter Ego.

"This is a story for anyone who has struggled to accept who they are or to love themselves".

While I'm not disabled like Hattie, I have struggled to love myself and fit in more than once in my life and while I can see how some people dislike her as a character I relate to her in more ways than I expected to. I too have found myself lost and wanting to start again, I was rooting for Hattie to succeed the entire way through reading this, so much so that I read it in one sitting. I'm excited to see what's next from Helen Heckety.

"Sometimes you just need to get a little lost before you find your way back again.."

Thank you Dialogue Books, Renegade Books + NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before it publishes on 18th July 2024!

I really enjoyed this book. As a sufferer of a hidden illness which affects my daily life I was curious to hear what Helen Heckety had to say and what she did say did not disappoint. Helen put into words what I have been struggling to vocalise to my family and friends for many years and has made me realise my own faults primarily that of assuming other people automatically know what I need! Well done Helen for an enlightening read.

Alter Ego is exactly the book I've been searching for. Helen Heckety crafts a marvelous narrative that is relatable on so many levels. "Why can't I be who I want to be" is a particular line that has stayed with me. The honesty and humanity of the main character made her feel like a true friend. I finished the book last night and already miss spending time with her.

I powered through this book in two days and can't wait for Helen's next work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Renegade Books for the ARC.

5/5 Stars

All I can say is WOW, what a beautiful book! I couldn't get enough and absolutely devoured it! Equal parts hilarious & heart-wrenching, this read has given me a lot of food for thought at how disabilities, especially hidden disabilities, are viewed in society, and the struggle people with disabilities go through daily just to try and live in a world built for non-disabled people.

Whilst the character of Hattie was sometimes frustrating (shouting at my kindle to stop digging the Oliver shaped hole!), I appreciated the flaws of her personality, as a young woman trying to adapt and hide parts of herself that she thinks would not be accepted by others.

I think the last page of this book really cemented this as a 5* read for me, sometimes we really need to 'hold on' to ourselves!