School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-In Shirvington's (Between the Lives) latest, 18-year-old Sabine lives two lives, shifting between different worlds every 24 hours and remaining the same, even though everything else changes: her family, her home, her friends. This story is written in the first person, and the narrator, Matilda Reed, has effectively established Sabine's ability to adjust to two different worlds: one where she lives a life of privilege in Wellesley, MA, and another in Roxbury, MA, where she's more streetwise. The two Sabines give the reader twice as many thoughts and situations with which to identify and empathize or reject. Traditional young adult themes of parental and sibling relationships, first sex, physical abuse, drugs, and drinking abound. Sabine finally shares her secret duality with a man she meets at a substance abuse hospital, only to lose him to cancer. Listeners will grieve with Sabine, but a surprise happy ending is in the cards for her. Recommended for young adult collections everywhere.-Mary Lee Bulat, Harwinton Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Every night just after midnight, Sabine "Shifts" between two lives, living every day twice as two different girls. In one, she leads a privileged life in Wellesley, Mass.; in the other, Sabine lives in nearby Roxbury with a working-class family. Sabine is understandably exhausted by this situation, and begins to consider killing off one of her lives, shifting to the other at the last possible second. After Sabine confesses her double life to her Roxbury parents, they immediately have her committed and put on suicide watch. This puts her in the way of handsome nurse-in-training Ethan, who might believe Sabine and be willing to help. Shirvington (Entice) gooses the premise by placing Sabine in high-tension situations (such as being on the brink of death or being physically abused) just as she Shifts, effectively pausing the fallout for a full day while Sabine spends time in her other life. Conveniences abound, beginning with the close proximity of Sabine's two lives and concluding with a too-neat ending, which arrives in the wake of a melodramatic twist. Ages 14-up. Agent: Selwa Anthony Literary Management. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
What if you had to choose between the perfect guy and the perfect life? Every night at midnight, Sabine shifts, getting pulled endlessly back and forth between two parallel but very different lives. One is defined by struggle: her parents work long hours to make ends meet, and Sabine's expectations of life are low. The other is defined by privilege: she drives an Audi and is starting Harvard in the fall. Exhausted by the constant stress of living an unwanted double life, Sabine begins a dangerous experiment, seeking a way to stop shifting. Just when it appears that she has found a solution, she meets Ethan, and choosing between lives suddenly becomes impossible. This psychological mystery will hook readers with its compelling protagonist and philosophical questions. Don't get caught up in the mechanics of shifting; it exists only as a point from which teens can explore classic themes of choice, responsibility, and self-actualization. This is perfect for readers who like to ponder life's deeper questions, and the romance adds a nice spark.--Hayes, Summer Copyright 2010 Booklist
