review: someone i wanted to be by aurelia wills

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In Someone I Wanted to Be, high school student Leah Lobermeir finds herself trapped in a lie of her own making. Being the overweight friend of two skinny, popular girls, Leah longs for the same kind of attention her friends get from boys. So when a man who looks to be in his twenties talks to Leah to get information about one of her friends, she creates a new persona and poses as the girl he’s interested in on the phone. Of course it won’t end well. Unfortunately, Aurelia Wills also doesn’t create a satisfying ending for Someone I Wanted to Be. There’s a big build up to what should be a lesson in friendship, trust, and the dangers of skeezy older men, but Wills rushes the ending so that there’s little payoff.
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Candlewick.