Flip by Martyn Bedford

What would you do if you woke up in someone else’s body? This is what happens to 14-year-old Alex Gray. He wakes up and doesn’t recognize the room he’s in or the face in the mirror. He’s trapped inside the body of another boy, Philip “Flip” Garamond. Everyone sees him as Flip, all except the family dog, Beagle. While trying to navigate the world he now finds himself in, he tries to remember how he may have gotten there. With no memory of the past six months, he has nothing to guide him. Trying to reach his mum, he gets told by one of her coworkers not to call and that it’s a cruel joke to play. With this answer, Alex is afraid to find out what happened to him.

However difficult it may be, he tries to live Flip’s life in Flip’s body, with Flip’s family, friends, and girlfriends. All his reactions and thoughts are Alex’s though, and in the end, he wants his life back. When he finally does go back to his own house, he learns that he was the victim of a hit and run and has been in a coma for the past six months.

Not knowing how to get back into his own body, Alex scours the Web for answers. He finally gets a response from a group of people who are known as Psychic Evacuees.

Psychic evacuation is when a psyche or soul leaves its original body and transfers to another. In doing so, it replaces the psyche of its new body, or corporeal host.

Armed with this new information, Alex attempts to find answers on how to get his and Flip’s lives back in the proper place.

This is a masterfully written psychological thriller. Even in a situation as dire as the one Alex is going through, he still maintains his sense of humanity and self while trying not to go mad. He also artfully tackles the serious subject of souls, which might require further reading. Are they real? Where do they go when someone dies? In this case, what has happened to Flip’s soul? What about identity? Can you truly become someone else? In this particular story, Alex’s personality is the dominant one. He can’t fit his identity into Flip’s life. Flip is athletic, popular, and a ladies’ man. He skims by in classes. Alex, on the other hand is quiet, asthmatic, and smaller in stature. He likes to read and play chess. This is Bedford’s first foray into the young adult world. I definitely want to check out his books for adults now.

Ages 13+

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (April 2011)

ISBN: 9780385739900

Available as an eBook

Image from www.goodreads.com

FTC Full Disclosure: I received my review copy from the local library.