I have to confess I was intrigued by a boy so rich and entitled that he literally didn’t know how to do the smallest tasks. He wasn’t allowed even to wipe his own butt; he had a high-tech bidet for that. The internal image this phrase produced made me snort.
Elijah and Susan’s wrangling of their “Prince and Pauper” scenario is eye opening for both of them. Jessica has an entire brownstone mansion to herself, even though there are rooms for guests. Elijah is forced to share a single room with nine other interns and has to wait his turn to use the bathroom. Both of them find challenges and pleasures in their new lifestyles, even as both of them know the switch is only temporary.
The story is engaging, although it fudges on some of the details. The hackathon is set up in the vaguest terms, probably to keep non-gamers from scratching their heads over technical jargon. The terrifying Chairman Lee, Elijah’s father, isn’t seen for much of the book. We feel the chill of his presence but the author spends a bit too much time TELLING us how terrifying he is rather than showing it.
Still, the mutual fishes out of water tale is amusing in spots, thought provoking in others. Elijah struggles to understand Jessica’s objections to his use of money to get whatever he wants. Jessica is frustrated by Elijah’s casual privileged attitude, the one that has him slipping doormen hundred-dollar bills just so he doesn’t have to wait on line with the rest of the peons.
Neither Jessica nor Elijah are perfect and we come to understand their very different viewpoints about how the world works. Jessica comes to realize that there’s nothing wrong with having money to smooth the way and Elijah takes pride in completing a project without the bulwark of his father’s cash to help him.
I was puzzled by the ending. Their ruse is discovered inevitably and they’re forced to go their separate ways. So how do they wind up together? How does Elijah find himself in the same city as Jessica? Is it fate or did she let slip where she was heading? Still, the preceding chapters make for light and happy reading, for the most part. I’d recommend it for anybody who likes switcheroo stories in which characters get to walk a mile in someone else’s moccasins.
Elijah and Susan’s wrangling of their “Prince and Pauper” scenario is eye opening for both of them. Jessica has an entire brownstone mansion to herself, even though there are rooms for guests. Elijah is forced to share a single room with nine other interns and has to wait his turn to use the bathroom. Both of them find challenges and pleasures in their new lifestyles, even as both of them know the switch is only temporary.
The story is engaging, although it fudges on some of the details. The hackathon is set up in the vaguest terms, probably to keep non-gamers from scratching their heads over technical jargon. The terrifying Chairman Lee, Elijah’s father, isn’t seen for much of the book. We feel the chill of his presence but the author spends a bit too much time TELLING us how terrifying he is rather than showing it.
Still, the mutual fishes out of water tale is amusing in spots, thought provoking in others. Elijah struggles to understand Jessica’s objections to his use of money to get whatever he wants. Jessica is frustrated by Elijah’s casual privileged attitude, the one that has him slipping doormen hundred-dollar bills just so he doesn’t have to wait on line with the rest of the peons.
Neither Jessica nor Elijah are perfect and we come to understand their very different viewpoints about how the world works. Jessica comes to realize that there’s nothing wrong with having money to smooth the way and Elijah takes pride in completing a project without the bulwark of his father’s cash to help him.
I was puzzled by the ending. Their ruse is discovered inevitably and they’re forced to go their separate ways. So how do they wind up together? How does Elijah find himself in the same city as Jessica? Is it fate or did she let slip where she was heading? Still, the preceding chapters make for light and happy reading, for the most part. I’d recommend it for anybody who likes switcheroo stories in which characters get to walk a mile in someone else’s moccasins.