Alex Gray wakes up one morning in an unfamiliar bedroom of a house belonging to a family he has never met. It gets stranger: the house is in a different part of the country, the date is six months later than Alex’s last memory, and he finds himself in an entirely different body – that of Philip Garamond, who is also known as Flip. Alex isn’t sure what has happened or why; he tries to make sense of the seemingly impossible body switch while attempting to fit in as Flip in a life that doesn’t belong to him, which is much more complicated than it may sound. This eventually leads him to question what has happened to his own body and how – or even if – a switch back will be possible.
Martyn Bedford’s Flip is a fast-paced, suspenseful thriller that tells an impossible story from fourteen-year-old Alex’s point-of-view. The novel wastes no time in setting the scene: the reader follows Alex from his first awakening in the Garamond house on page one through his anguish at discovering the body swap and his investigations into what has happened to him and a possible return switch. Trying to figure out Alex’s circumstances and who to trust makes the novel an exciting page-turner; it was hard to resist flipping ahead to make sense of what had happened.
Although Flip would certainly be appropriate for readers as young as junior high students, it also delved into some deeper psychological and legal issues in Alex’s quest for information and a return to his own body, adding to the thrill and suspense factors. I also enjoyed the very British lingo and style of writing, although there were a few terms I didn’t understand because of it. I would recommend the book to anyone looking for a unique, fast read that will make you think.
- Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
- Date of Publication: April 5, 2011
