Plot:Laurie Stratton is a high school junior living on a picturesque island off the cost of New England. She has a fairly happy life - a hot boyfriend, a great family, and an upper middle class (if not outright wealthy) lifestyle. Then one day, a girl who looks exactly like her begins to appear in her life, a girl who claims to be her long-lost sister Lia . . .Characters:Laurie Stratton: Our Duncan heroine for this book. She's a mature, thoughtful girl who loves her family. I mean, she's really close with her family and deeply loves her younger siblings, who can have their moments of bratty-ness. Despite the fact that she wasn't the most colorful character, I liked her. She has one flaw that really bugged me, which was that she was way too trusting of her long-lost sister who does a LOT of sketchy stuff in this book. Thankfully, she wised up, but good lord, it took a long time to get there.Jeff Rankin: The love interest. I liked him, too. He's the cool, ineffectual loner type, but not the asshole kind that's overdone nowadays. Half his face got burned off during an accident, which makes people feel uncomfortable around him, and he treats them in kind.Meg Stratton: Laurie's little sister, who's still in elementary school and has an army of stuffed animals. Honestly, she's my favorite character of this book. She's sweet, childish, fearless, and perceptive. She's also the only person in Laurie's family who understands and supports her.Laurie's Parents: I think their names were Shelley and Bob, or something like that. I did not like these people. Duncan tends to hit or miss when it comes to writing parent characters, and this one is a big miss. Honestly, they are the reason that is a four star review instead of five stars. I'll talk about my issues with them later.Lia: The antagonist and Laurie's long-lost twin sister. She is so Obviously Evil that I can't believe Laurie didn't see it sooner. She's not that smart of a villain, either. I mean, I don't know how she thinks she can get away with half her schemes. (view spoiler)[She plans to steal Laurie's body and impersonate her, and then have the various members of the Stratton family "mysteriously" die off in accidents to get the inheritance money. Did she think that nobody would question this? Also, she has apparently done this several times before, and failed so badly the last time that she got imprisoned. (hide spoiler)]
This was a pretty good tale, and the first time for me to read anything from Lois Duncan. I have become intrigued with this Authors talent, and plan on reading more of her works in the future. No the book did not blow me away, but it was still very well written. The story was very fluid and easy to read and follow. I was a bit confused at the ending and felt like I was left hanging a bit, like it seemed to be left open for a sequel, but I would have liked a little more closure though.Our main character, Laurie, was probably the strongest and best developed in the book, I loved her determination and courage. Her parents were not likable at all for me though, They were so close minded throughout the entire story. I could not imagine not even listening to my kids when they were distressed about something. It was like they did not wanna deal with problems that were brought into the story, wanted to act like nothing was wrong at all.I thought the premise of the book was great, loved the idea. I would liked to have seen a bit more work put into it though. I feel as though the story could be so much more than it was, kinda fell a little short. This could have easily been a 300 - 350 page novel. This book gets a 3.5 rating from me.
What do You think about Stranger With My Face (1982)?
I think that this book was really interesting and very descriptive , and i also think this is mainly a book for girls but if guys would just try to read this they actually might like it just like me. I think it was really the most interesting in the beginning of this book because Lauries boyfriend was saying that he swore that he saw her with another boy but Laurie was home sick for hours and how could she be at two places at once. So this made Lauries boyfriend a little crazy. So Laurie goes to investigate this problem.
—John
Stranger With My FaceBy, Lois DuncanMay 26, 2014 tFor this 17-year-old girl, living in New England, Laurie Stratton High school has become a challenge for her along with many others. At Laurie’s high school, you “had to be rich.”, and you “had to be pretty.” (Duncan 16) If you weren’t, then you apparently didn’t fit in with the popular crowd. This is why she didn’t like her school. One day, Laurie was invited to a party by her boyfriend, which doesn’t happen to her often. She was really exited to go but she got really sick and thought it was best not to attend the party. The next day, her boyfriend Gordon isn’t really acting like himself because he swore that he saw Laurie on the beach with another guy. Something isn’t right here and Laurie knows it. “I swear it was you. It looked exactly like you and you said you were sick. Apparently not.” (Duncan 59) Who is this person haunting Laurie, and destroying her friendships and relationships? Who is stealing her life? Read Stranger With My Face by, Lois Duncan to find out what really happens to Laurie Stratton.tI thought that this book was interesting from the beginning but then it became uninteresting the farther I read. If you’re the kind of person that picks up a book then has to read it until the end then O think this is a good book for you. But If you get easily uninterested with things, then I suggest that you don’t read this book. This definitely wasn’t one of my favorite books that I've read.tI would give this book a two and-a-half out of five star rating because, like I said in the previous paragraph, I didn’t really find the book Stranger With My Face by, Lois Duncan an exciting book that I would read and read until the end.
—Claire
this book is awesome i don't know when i have ever going to finish it but i love this book and i am scared to go in the dark too LOL hope u send me something back about this book
—Ashely Nicole
