Ever wonder what it would be like to be a guy? Just ask Jill McTeague, and she'll tell you it's not all that, or she would if she could remember any of her time spent as a guy. Every time she returns to her girl form she meditates, repeating the mantra "I am all girl" to herself while erasing all the memories of "Jack time" from her mind. To Jill turning into a boy every four days out of her monthly cycle is a nightmare, a deep dark secret that she can't even tell her best and truest friend Ramie about for fear her secret would spread and she'd be sought out for tests and studies. As if turning into a boy with... *cough* boy parts....isn't scary enough!
On the flip side you have Jack, Jill's masculine side, who's just about had it with living off of Jill's premenstrual days, and wants to break out and live his own life for once. He lives trapped in his house, with two parents who wish he didn't exist, and no outside contact with anyone, living vicariously through Jill's memories, especially the ones involving a certain beautiful, spontaneous, wonderful, girl by the name of Ramie. Jack knows they can never really be together and tries to push her from his mind, but he just can't seem to shake the feeling he gets when he thinks about her. He's in love.
As Jack's personality develops it becomes harder and harder for him to remain in his prison of a life, and as he strives to take control of his and Jill's shared life, he's making it nearly impossible for Jill to keep her little secret. Who knows, maybe it's time for her secret to come out? At least that's what Jack thinks...
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OMG you guys, I know people say "I couldn't put this book down," to the point where it's uncool to say, but I literally couldn't put Cycler down, or at least I didn't want too! Admittedly there were a few parts that I felt were kind of inappropriate, and I didn't love those, but overall it wasn't enough to make me put it down, and it ended up being a GREAT book! I'd totally recommend it, though you should know before you read it that there's some fairly mature content so you might want to have a parent or older sibling flip through it before you do, unless your about 15 or your parents (and you!) don't mind.
NE-ways GREAT READ!!! I can't wait for the sequel!
I give Cycler 5 stars, for rocking my socks!
Her Official Site:http://www.laurenmclaughlin.net/
And here's a few interviews she did, talking about Cycler.
http://boingboing.net/2008/07/02/lauren-mclaughlin-ta.html
http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=514
Enjoy!
xoxoxo
