Share book reviews and ratings with Shelly, and even join a book club on Goodreads. In Lizzy and Janeshe shows two estranged sisters as they attempt to reconnect during one’s cancer fight and in The Printed Letter Bookshop three women in different times of their lives come together to try to save a local bookshop. Another author who explores the relationships between seemingly different women is Katherine Reay. I would recommend them all, especially The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane, and The Bright Side of Going Dark. Kelly Harms’ novels often deal with different women coming to understand and care for each other. These messages are targeted toward women, which, sadly is as relevant as ever, but they can and should be applied to everyone as the two women learn as they get to know each other’s families. There are also valuable messages about how we treat each other and how we should be treated. Despite my frustrations, the book is full of important ideas about the roles women take on and how we judge ourselves and each other for the choices we make for ourselves and for our families. The last 50 pages were particularly exciting and fulfilling. I was all set to give the book a generous 3-star rating until the final 100 pages when the pace and the inevitable revelations really picked up (these women are really stubborn!).

I often felt as mixed-up as the characters did when trying to figure out who was talking. In this one though, I found the two women annoying, the cruelty of their judgment of each other angered me, and Harms’ writing wasn’t always clear enough to get through the potential confusion of the body switch plot. While it is overused now, I enjoy a good body switch story – my favorite is and will probably always be the 1976 movie with Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris I guess that kind of dates me. This story of two mothers with very different lives and parenting styles, who, after a night of dring and arguing at a fundraiser switch bodies Freaky Friday style, though, was largely disappointing. I’ve really enjoyed each of Kelly Harms’ previous novels though her first book, The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane, is still my favorite. That is one of the questions posed in this body-switching story of working mom Wendy and stay-at-home super mommy Celeste tries to answer. “Are working moms and stay-at-home moms really so different?”- Kelly Harms, The Seven Day Switch

The Seven Day Switch by Kelly Harms