Connected to Me | Review

 

Aoi Kanemoto is Japanese, cute, shy, and a certified genius. Despite graduating top of her class at Caltech, she struggles to find a job in the fast-paced tech industry. Her family, although very loving, doesn’t understand her at all, and her little sister seems poised for success. But Aoi suffers from deep-seated trust issues that keep her from pursuing her dreams.

Then she meets Christian Sterling at a local ramen shop. An Afro-Hispanic foster child and fellow tech-head, Christian’s gentle demeanor and kind gestures cut through Aoi’s emotional barrier. But as they chat and grow closer, the shy girl’s anxiety causes her to flee the restaurant before he can even ask for her number. Getting ditched is bad enough, but Christian has no idea that this chance encounter is about to turn both their lives upside down.

The next morning, Christian and Aoi are shocked to wake up in each other’s bodies. They have no idea how to get back! As Aoi discovers how lonely Christian’s life really is, Christian must confront Aoi’s strict parents and help her find the courage to stand up for herself once and for all. And the more they learn about each other’s lives, the deeper they fall in love. But are they trapped in each other’s bodies forever? And if they do switch back, will their new-found romance survive?

I finished reading Connected to Me by Marc Kage, and it's quite a good book. I've only seen Your Name in the body-swap genre, so this book was a good chance in the usual genre I read. It was a pretty fun and easy read. 

The book didn't have too much drama, which I personally liked a lot about this book.  Although I liked this book a lot, it was quite bland, No sudden plot-twist, and some of the things were very quickly dismissed. Celia played a vital role in the whole book, but in the end, Christian didn't even reject her properly. 

Also, Hina, which the book implied had a significant role in the entire body-swapping, was also undermined, and we didn't get to know how or why the body-swapping was devised. But I felt like there was so much more to her, especially when you read the epilogue.

I found Travis a bit annoying at the start, but as the story progressed, I really started to like him. Travis and Tucker's reaction to the news about their father was one thing that pleased me. The whole mood of the book would have been ruined if they reacted on impulse. Travis and Johara's relationship was crafted very neatly and was a great one. Their relationship is worthy of a spin-off definitely. Travis was shown as the player, non-commitment guy who changed for Johara. The fact that Travis realized his mistake once he learned about their father was one of the best scenes ever.

Christian and Aoi's relationship was love at first sight for Christian, but I didn't sense their relationship is being developed throughout the book. In the starting, Aoi had insecurities, and her paranoia was pretty straightforward, but once the swap happened, she didn't have the paranoia anymore. Christian was a really lovely guy throughout the relationship, and both of them being Tech Geniuses added more to the relationship. 

If we talk about characters, my favorite was definitely Christian. I wished the author would have gone more in-depth about Christian's real parents but maybe in the sequel. It was mentioned that Christian didn't dwell on his past, so It would be an excellent but cliche drama if the sequel had that. If there is a sequel. Christian was shown as a calm but hardworking guy, and those aspects of him were established throughout the book.

Overall, I feel that the book has some aspects that can be changed according to my view. But this book is definitely worth a try.