"As If" by Isabel Waidner, publication date 16 June 2026
I liked this both for the story and the style of writing used by the author. I could picture some of the places used in London but also felt a real sense of involvement in the story. I felt that the story had tension and humour. The concept seemed so bizarre that two individuals could trade places with each other and then want to do better in the others' life which then seemed to cause annoyance on the part of the other. I wasn't sure if there were actually two men or if there was one man imagining the path his life might have taken. As I neared the conclusion of the novel and looked for some kind of ending (as the characters seemed to with their own role swap), I decided that it was a story about one man who was imagining an alternative life with a different ending. The book left me puzzling and did provoke my thinking which I liked. I don't think either of the main characters is particularly likeable and I think the book is about life more broadly than the individu...