Review- Understudy by Denise Kim Wy

Goodreads Summary:

Adam Wharton died on his birthday, and to make things worse, Kat feels partially responsible for it. But when Adam suddenly appears in the woods, she starts to wonder if she has finally lost her sanity - which she realize is a small price to pay if it meant spending more time with him. And if that’s not enough, Eric, Adam’s identical twin brother enters the picture, throwing Kat’s already dysfunctional life out of balance.

Eric has a dark secret himself and going home to a place where everybody seems to hate him doesn't make things any easier. But Adam’s death forces him to do so, and as strange as it may sound, he feels it’s his duty to take care of Kat. That is, if she even allows him to get near her. Because for some reason unknown to Eric, Kate hates him with burning passion.

Understudy is a YA fiction novel dealing about two young people's struggle to let go of the past and forgiving oneself. It's a love story that transcends death as the living tries to cope with the uncertainties of life and the challenges of living it.

REVIEW:

*NOTE: We (The Readdicts) received a copy of Understudy by Denise Kim Wy in exchange for an honest review. We thank Denise for the book! 

I had read and really liked author Denise Kim Wy's Please Stay, so I was pretty excited when we were contacted to read and review Understudy. The book has such a pretty cover and the story sounded quite different and really dazzling to me and that's exactly how it turned out to be. For me, Please Stay had turned out to be shockingly and surprisingly good since the theme of it was new to me but I now know how Denise is fascinated by this particular phenomena so I was prepared for Understudy.  

Kat is the protagonist in Understudy and she is in a steady and supremely sweet relationship with Adam who dies in an accident on his birthday while Kat survives it and she blames Adam's twin brother Eric for her boyfriend's death as Adam was trying to answer Eric's call while driving on that fateful day. Besides blaming Eric, Kat is also suffering from survivors' guilt, out of nowhere she can still see and meet Adam, she has a love-hate relationship with Eric and all of that makes her an emotional mess.  

I liked Kat overall and even though I understood all the turmoil she was going through, I felt that was she was being too dramatic at times, but then again, I get how difficult it must have been for her to cope with everything. Her best friend Sara was a great girl who was similar to Kat in more ways than one and their friendship was really strong. Adam was a well mannered and really good guy who loved Kat and wanted to see her happy. He and his twin brother Eric shared a very complex but totally amazing relationship. Eric was the typical mysterious and quiet guy who I love to figure out. There were a few small chapters in the book from his point of view but I really wish his side of the story, especially his past, was explained in more detail. 

I really liked how a school play was an integral part of the plot of Understudy. That kind of a set up always makes for an interesting and fun read even when the main subject at hand is quite serious. Author Denise Kim Wy has a way of making the ordinary seem extraordinary in a beautiful way and her simple and smooth writing makes Understudy an easy and quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed and that left me smiling long after I finished reading it. 

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