This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Cheryl Schopen for Readers' Favorite
The Stand-In: My Life as an Understudy is one of Elizabeth Stevens’ latest young adult novels. Chloe Cowan has always been in her sister Ella’s shadow. Chloe has always been her understudy, literally. And Chloe is completely fine with it. She just wants to go through the motions of doing what Ella wants her to do and just being known as Ella’s sister until she turns 18 and can be free to live her own life. Then, something happens. Ella not only has Chloe filling in for her to help set up and decorate for the school formal, but she also wants Chloe to make sure that Eli, the most popular guy in school and talented rockstar, asks Ella to go to the formal with him. A couple more tasks from her sister can’t possibly have any real effect on Chloe’s life, right?
Elizabeth Stevens wrote one of my favorite books, Accidentally Perfect, so I wanted to give this one a try. And I have come to one conclusion: Elizabeth Stevens is an amazingly talented writer. She has a gift for making stories come to life. The dialogue is just very authentic and realistic. Throughout the whole book, I was thinking that this is exactly how people really talk and how conversations would happen. I also really enjoyed the plot and the characters. While there is romance, and it’s oh-so-good romance, a big focus of this book is on friendship, which I absolutely adored. So many YA books are only focused on the romantic relationships, but this one was different. We were able to see Chloe’s friendship with her best friend and Eli’s friendship with his friends and how important all these people are to each other. This story proved that sometimes our friends are our families.
With a relatable main character, relationships that would make you envious, and such real situations and dialogue, The Stand-In is a hit. Now after reading two of her books, I know that the first one wasn’t a fluke. Elizabeth Stevens really was born to write, and I’m so thankful I discovered her books. Onto the next one.
