The Nobodies

by Alanna Schubach

[PAPERBACK print edition] The story of two young women whose friendship offered -- and demanded -- more than either should share. For fans of Sally Rooney and Claire North. "Sometimes I wondered if I imagined it," said Nina. "But deep down I knew I didn't." Jess said, "We did too much damage for it not to be real." Jess and Nina, Nina and Jess ... to everyone else they're typical best friends, sharing closeness and confidences in their own little world. But Nina and Jess have a secret. Simply by touching their foreheads together, they can swap bodies. In Jess's assertive persona, self-conscious Nina turns bolder, free to say what she's frightened to voice on her own. Inhabiting Nina, Jess becomes part of the loving, stable family she craves. Now, in crisis after her father's death, Jess has reentered Nina's life following a long separation. Once again they switch bodies, and their worlds begin to mesh. Each deceives the other, confesses, is forgiven. But how deeply can you sink into another's life before there's nothing left of you? Set against the vibrant backdrop of New York City, The Nobodies poses questions about the nature of intimacy, the many flavors of betrayal, and the value of female friendships.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Magical Realism, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Science Fiction Fantasy

338 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 2022

Reviews

[Matt. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, sad, and completely realistic tale about two friends who can't help but love and harm each other. A stunning, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful novel. Do yourself a favor and purchase this book when it comes out on June 21st. Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this advanced copy.

[Alicia Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Nobodies


Alanna Schubach

“You were told, when you were young, that the possibilities were endless. Only with Jess had that ever seemed true.”

This was an excellent book. It was so much more than just a tale about two friends who can body swap. It was about friendship, connections, loss, betrayal and love. Jess and Nina are two completely realistic characters, trying to make it through life. Throw in the body swapping and it makes for a book that will leave a mark.

Thank you NetGalley and Black stone publishing for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Jordyn Roesler | Sorry, Booked Solid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such an interesting premise but such a let down of a book 😭 it just felt sooo mundane for me. I was way more interested in the past timeline than the present and was hoping for more twists and turns and creative use of the sci fi element. I think there’s an audience who would enjoy this slow, melancholy, character-study book, but it’s unfortunately not me!

[Geonn Cannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really hate when authors decide to alternate chapters between past and present. It's the same people, who know each other's history, and the present-day chapters have them being vague and circumspect entirely for the reader's sake. This time I refused to play along and just skipped chapters to read it chronologically. It was a weird experiment, because all the "past" chapters were good, well-written, flowed together well (so well that sometimes I found it hard to believe there were entire sections between them). The "future" chapters were just... odd and disjointed and comparatively uninteresting. It felt like the plot was being rushed through and, again, I couldn't imagine getting snippets of their history in between each segment of their adult selves.

So the experiment to read the book chronologically technically failed. But honestly, I think I would have liked the book even less if I'd been forced to jump back and forth in time every chapter.

[Seth Sawyers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling, melancholy, absolutely real-feeling novel about two friends who can't help but love each other and hurt each other. A beautiful, devastating, and ultimately hopeful book.

[Helly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic novel about female friendships. Think Neapolitan Novels meets Freaky Friday, but much more than that.

[Stacy40pages · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Nobodies by Alanna Schubach. Thanks to @blackstonepublishing for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jess and Nina become best friends immediately when meeting as children. They soon discover they have the capability to switch bodies with the touch of their foreheads. After a dramatic blow-up, they part ways only to come back together and swap again as adults.

One thing I really liked about this book was that it was true to life, except for the whole body swapping thing of course. Their time as kids and teenagers was so realistic, especially their relationship with each other. I remember close childhood friendships and how there was always a strand of envy. I found myself much more invested in their past than the current timeline, which does happen to me often. I was still curious enough to stick with it.

“It was weird, and right, to be side by side again as though five years hadn’t happened; as though she hasn’t had to learn, wobbling like a newborn animal, to stand on her own. Exiled for so long to ordinariness that she’d begun to believe it was better.”

The Nobodies comes out 6/21.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This premise—best friends who can swap bodies—could have gone a number of directions. It could have had a genre feel—sci-fi, horror even. It could have been Freaky Friday-esque YA. But it’s not any of those things, and while I probably also would have enjoyed it as sci-fi or horror, the deeply psychological and literary novel it ended up being is more complex and nuanced than what I expected.

I’m sure I’m not the first to make this comparison and won’t be the last, but the book reminds me of Elena Ferrante more than anything. It’s a moving portrayal of female friendship, but dark and without sentiment.

I only just put it down, and am still of two (or three) minds about the ending, but that’s sort of fitting. Schubach has taken what could have been a gimmick and teased out its most uncomfortable parts. So it seems appropriate that I’ll probably be turning the ending over in my head for awhile and deciding what taste it’s left in my mouth.

[Anna Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a mesmerizing read from start to end, and I found myself left with a feeling after finishing it that was not at all what I thought I would end up with. It was moving in a way I didn't quite expect, and though the premise was surreal—two friends who can body-swap—it detailed friendship in a way that was all too real; sometimes friendships simply feel that deep, to the point where lives become intertwined.
Schubach writes beautifully; the prose was eloquent, and the structure of alternating chapters was incredibly well done.
I have a feeling this one is going to sit with me for a while, but I can immediately tell this is a favorite: highly recommend.
ARC Provided by the Publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Matthew Taub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing story of a childhood female friendship safeguarding a shared supernatural power. Lurid details portray settings from New York to Japan, from adolescent angst to meandering adulthood. Fascinating philosophical questions are presented by the tension of Nina and Jess, lifelong friends with a special bond. Who are we, really, if we aren’t always ourselves? And how much of our outlook and disposition is the result of our appearance, and the way others treat us? Finally, what happens when a power that can bring two people closer is used to deceive others, ultimately pushing them away? A slow buildup of tension, criss-crossing decades, ends with a profound culmination.

[Jody Blanchette · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nobodies is a book about friendship. Friendships can be deeper and more emotional then a lover. Some friendships can be soulmates. The women in this book have that kind of friendship. They have no boundaries.
Nina and Jess can swap bodies by touching foreheads. They have the chance to live in someone else’s shoes, see what it’s like in someone else’s skin. Sometimes it’s wonderful, sometimes it’s horrible. But what happens when you are happy within your own life, and you no longer want to share it? This is what forms the crack in their relationship. Swapping bodies doesn’t mean they can decide how the other lives, or make choices for them that can change everything.
A strange yet beautiful book, The Nobodies is a fresh take on astral projection and real friendship. It’s almost a Sci Fi thriller, but maybe woman’s fiction too. I felt a ton of emotions, loved and hated the characters, and couldn’t put the book down. I know I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

[Juneyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conceptually rich exploration of an intense friendship. The body-switching conceit is beautifully handled. I found the book unsettling, exciting, poignant, wise. It moves quickly but leaves plenty of time for one's thoughts to expand. An absorbing read.

[Dan Zak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unpredictable, unconventional. Funny, sad. Crisp writing that evokes instead of explains. This one will enrapture, then linger. O. Henry meets Patricia Highsmith meets Marilynne Robinson meets Lois Lowry meets Philip K. Dick.

[Kate Ringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two girls discover, at the age of ten, that if they press their foreheads together, they will switch bodies. The story follows them from there, all the way to age 30. The premise was everything to me in this book, and Schubach didn't disappoint with the arc of the story. What a metaphor, too, for the way that through friendship you can become so acquainted with the fabric of your best friend's life -- how you can remain a stranger to your best friend's mother, yet know some of the most intimate details of her life, for example.

[Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book about toxic female friendship except add in body swapping.

While this could be viewed as a gimmick, it adds an interesting element to this friendship....an element of double-crossing that others aren't able to add. It's more than just breaking into someone's phone or email account, reading someone's diary, and telling someone's secrets. It's literally living inside of someone's body.

Jess and Nina are connected in ways that are unexplainable. Best friends since childhood - with a brief break in their friendship after high school - the young women reconnect and fumble through a post 9/11 New York. They float through their lives, struggling with relationships and boundaries, the same boundaries that once broke them apart.

I loved everything about this book. The weirdness of the body-swapping, the various timelines, the toxicity of the friendship that endured despite everything.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Zachary Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read that examines the concept of body-switching on an in-depth level. It takes the supernatural element of being in someone else's body, and shows it through a realistic lens of how it would affect your relationship with them. Great for anyone who enjoys the conceptual side of sci-fi.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Smart" as in highly intellifgent and also "smart" as in smart*ss. Alanna Schubach has a great voice and a great sense of fun. The central idea is something I, for one, have not encountered in speculative fiction before; like the best spec-fic conceits it tells us something about our not-so-speculative real lives. The whole question of how well we really know oursleves and each other comes along at just the right time. How is the very idea of individual human identity changing right now? Read "The Nobodies" and find out. (Well, have it *suggested* to you.) Plus, add a new favorite author to your list.

[Scott Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alanna Schubach's debut novel is replete with insight into human nature and displays great empathy and humor with intellect to spare. These characters will be instantly relatable. A fun head-scratcher of a concept as well!

[Iphigenia]

I wanted to read this book because the idea of two friends being able to switch bodies and experience each other's personas and lives was so compelling. But this book was so much more than the "trading bodies" idea. It was a deep dive into the nature of friendship. Recommended.

[Allyssa (Book Ally) · Rating 3 out of 5]

RELEASE DATE 21 June 2022

Thank you to netgalley and blackstone publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review

n this book we are following two girls/women, Nina and Jess. Both extremely different people, living very different lives. They meet at a very young age and connect straight away and have that instant typical bestie bond. Their connection however goes slightly deeper than the norm, because they can swap bodies.

It follows them through from childhood through to teens until they fall and then they reconnect again when they are older.

The premise of this book had me so intrigued. It sounded so unique and original and I love a great book about female friendships.

First off I reckon this would actually make a great movie because in all honesty I found if super confusing at times because your following both perspectives and then they are also swapping bodies so I was often thinking wait who is this speaking? Obviously if adapted to screen that wouldn't be an issue, because for me it actually did hinder my experience quite a bit because I was getting confused and having to reread parts again to figure out who was doing what.

Negatives aside this book was very interesting and also very hard to read at times. I felt it was a pretty accurate representation of young female relationships, especially toxic ones. I found Jess very unlikeable, not sure if that was the intention and I'd love to know what others who have read it felt about the characters. She came across as a user and very manipulative.

I also enjoyed the family and other relationship dynamics with each individual character and their own families/relationships. Both severely different which obviously made it all the more interesting to read about when they would swap.

I did enjoy the multiple timelines but maybe wish it was more defined by maybe a new chapter? I usually have a preference to one particular timeline but found them both very fascinating. I felt a lot with this book, I could relate to some of it, found some parts super cringe but probably rather realistic, I got annoyed, felt sympathy, felt uncomfortable and shocked by some parts.

I would love to have a look at a finished copy to see how it is laid out because I really feel like that could make or break an experience for someone reading this book and how confusing it can get! However I would recommend this book still, Maybe people who love a quirky book that's a bit weird.

[Artemis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning foray into the outlines of identity, jealousy, and insecurities. Just how much can you share part of your life without losing what you have? Who are you if people don't realise someone else is in your body?

We are reading Nina as the main protagonist, though it's still third POV. Nina put into words a lot of things I empathise with, such as wanting to retreat into yourself when you feel that no one is seeing you. I understand why she's not emotionally close with her mom, something that Jess doesn't understand. I think Nina's mom, as a social worker, was surprisingly perceptive, so I wish we saw a little more of her mom! I felt for Nina, I can tell she knows on some level that what Jess is doing isn't good for Nina, but doesn't know how to say no.

I enjoyed the jumps in time, in between childhood and adulthood and Japan. I started liking the writing and the book from when their childhood chapters began, as well as in Japan. I liked the New York Nobodies blog and podcast and how they came full circle, back to their childhood, with the dynamics in play once more.

I felt sad that Nina and Adrian didn't work out, because there was such potential and he seemed like a total green flag. But I think Nina had to realise Jess crossing the line as a necessary push for her characterisation; Nina cutting off Jess was best for her, and being a mom is helping Nina through her trauma because she finally learns to love what is there and not focus on the absence of what is not.

In my mind, Nina will reach out to Adrian, years later, tell him the story of the two girls again, and when Adrian meets her mom, she will also tell her mom the story. She will continue to believe that Jess will make her way fine into the world, although Jess will probably always feel that the world owes her an answer – for the deaths in her life, the injustice of not having good adults around her, the way Nina easily had everything Jess wanted.

In the end, some friends are only good for some seasons.

The world is big, Nina thought, and nothing much seemed worth worrying about. It was one of those realizations that later, upon the plunge back into her life, seemed at once true and impossible to return to.

[Henry Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a tightly constructed and intimate portrait of the unusual relationship between Jess and Nina. The narrative weaves back and forth between a childhood world of discovery and imagination, and a New York living in the immediate and fearful shadow of 9/11. Both narratives are compelling and propulsive. The “gift” that Nina and Jess share only serves to heighten and intensify problems of identity and connection in both childhood and adulthood.

The characters’ adolescence and early adulthood are unique and uniquely bound to one another. And yet this only serves to emphasise the universality of their experiences. Whether it’s unwanted attention from boys, the dawning realization that their parents have just as many secrets as they do, or the prospect of trusted authority figures abusing their power, none of this is made any easier by Jess and Nina’s ability to “share the load”.

Alanna Schubach’s writing really captures the close imaginative core of a childhood friendship. The girls’ relationship takes in astral projection and “tasting numbers”. There is fun and innocence and imagination in the early body swapping efforts of the main characters. But there is also always the growing shadow of the adult world, and the question of how the girls will negotiate the adolescent years of finding their authentic identities when burdened with this “gift”. The really subtle strength of this book is that it uses the girls’ ability to swap bodies as a way to delve into themes of individual identity, religious and cultural identity, and what it means for each of us to live in those “nothing” spaces where we’re not really sure who we are.

This novel sheds light on the delicate balance involved in close friendships; who benefits most from the friendship, is one party “using” the other, and can another person ever be a “sanctuary” for us?
The adult sections of the book are a study in how people push and test and then trample all over the boundaries of other people they are supposed to care about. Schubach excels in creating and building dramatic tension in both the childhood and adulthood sections of the novel. There are moments of dread and anxiety that immobilise Jess and Nina and will take readers’ breath away.

[Arthur Dutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written debut novel that kept me intrigued from beginning to end. I think that if I wasn't me (perhaps due to body swapping?), I might give it five stars. But I don't think we can escape who we really are, so I'll have to acknowledge that this book wasn't really for me. There are a number of reasons for that, but the main point is that you aren't me and I could see why a lot of people - especially women - may love this book where I merely like it (but I do like it).

This is a book about two women with the unique ability to swap bodies with each other. While that could be a science fiction or fantasy premise, depending on how it is approached, it is primarily used as a narrative device in Nobodies. So I'll avoid discussing whether it is either or both of those genres as that is a distraction from the story at hand. As a narrative device, Schubach effectively uses body swapping to delve deep into female friendship at different stages of life. It feels autobiographical, largely in a good way where you get the sense she is drawing on a lot of personal experiences and reframing them in the relationship between the two main characters. The world she reveals is rich and nuanced and not one I felt that I could entirely relate to as a man.

But I think that's a good thing.

It bought this on a whim after reading a few positive reviews. I was expecting a somewhat more traditional sci fi exploration of the body swapping concept, but I'm glad I stayed for the journey the characters took. However, I think the Schubach missed a few opportunities to explore the concept further. She laid the groundwork for believable body swapping but didn't push it to any unexpected places. To an extent, that choice was in service to her characters and the story, but it still felt like an unfulfilled promise.

Overall, a well conceived and very well crafted story. It will be interesting to see what the author writes next.

[Stacey Browne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so good. Nina and Jess were such nostalgic characters, their experiences are the kind of thing that just feel so familiar. The extreme of being able to actually swap bodies let the book go deeper into some of the more uncomfortable aspects of growing up and discovering yourself. And the toxic love they have for each other. They were operating as if Nina owed Jess everything. Jess violated Nina over and over, stealing time with her family, forcing her into her first relationship, showing off her body, finally actually getting Nina pregnant. Still, Nina felt she was justified because while she was Jess she got to be confident and attractive and impulsive. And of course Jess was being put through the ringer, between her abusive stepdad and the pedo teacher, there was definitely more than enough going on in her life. This is one of the things I loved about the book. The complex morality of their situation, especially how young they were at the time so much of it went on. What Jess did in the end was so in character for her, but still so evil. Leaving Nina in her body sick at home while she went out with her boyfriend is insane behaviour. Even before that, taking Nina’s body exploring Hiroshima without any warning was so unnecessarily brutal. And Nina the whole time loved Jess too much. I liked that she ended by herself. What a thoughtful and heart wrenching story. Girlhood was captured so faithfully. Even the faded inspirational posters in the high school. Even the disjointed conversations and oversharing. And then they grew up to realize maybe they weren’t so special after all, but Nina still saw how special Jess was. And Jess did love Nina too. Yeah, this was so good.

[coco's reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've spent the last week trying to figure out how I feel about The Nobodies, and even now I can't say whether I fully liked it or not, but what I can say is that I appreciated how it approached what's typically a sci-fi trope. The main characters' ability to swap bodies is never explained, the reasoning never even hinted at, and this was something I actually quite liked because the reason for it isn't important: it's what Jess and Nina do with that ability. Which, unfortunately, wasn't much. Although I liked the prose and seeing these women as girls growing into themselves (and each other), Schubach didn't go the full mile; we're told they did a lot of damage and seemingly did so to other people, when in reality the damage they do is to one another and themselves, and while I liked watching them sort of self-destruct because they were so enmeshed, I wanted more consequences for their actions. The consequences we did get were expected and not dealt with in a manner that satisfied me, but the codependency and jealousy kept me engaged, even if Nina and Jess (and everyone, honestly) were forgettable in the end.

"Just because we invent our personalities doesn't mean they're not real."
[...] "But what about what we really are, deep down?"
"No such thing," Jess said. "There's only what you do, and what you don't."

[Arianna Mclaughlin (arianna.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pub: June 21, 2022

I picked The Nobodies off my shelf (that cover!) and jumped right in without reading the synopsis. This was the right approach for me as I'm not naturally drawn to magic realism and I'm really glad my preconceptions didn’t stop me from reading the book.

The Nobodies traces the decades long friendship between Jess and Nina. Yes, they switch bodies, but the story of their friendship is firmly grounded in reality.

Young girls are often drawn to magic and games of imagination. The rituals between Jess and Nina remind me of childhood games I played like Bloody Mary and seances with a Ouiji board.

Schubach does a great job capturing the different phases of female friendship and how jealousy, intense intimacy and a desire for connection can easily blur the lines between love and hate.

Don't skip over The Nobodies - there is so much depth to the story that makes it worth your time.

Thank you to Blackstone for the gifted finished copy of the book.

[Stroop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nina and Jess can swap bodies with the touch of their foreheads. The more they swap, the more the boundaries between them blur and the shakier the trust. This is the story of a powerful, toxic friendship between two young women. I appreciated the premise and the writing is lovely but ultimately found the story a bit too creepy and tense for my taste.

The story takes place between 1992 and 2018 and moves back and forth through various years, as we learn more about Nina and Jess, and their unique relationship. Recommended to readers looking for a moody, thought-provoking read about adolescence, envy, and love.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not going to lie, I was a little bored when reading. I enjoyed some bits and pieces but overall it wasn’t what I would typically pick up.

This story is so thought-provoking. Imagine if you and your childhood best friend are able to trade bodies by touching your foreheads together. I’m not sure what exactly I expected going into this, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The book follows Nina and Jess, two girls with different personalities. They find out they are able to switch bodies and live inside the other to experience life from the other’s perspective. I enjoyed how this book followed Jess and Nina into adulthood as well and touched on several real topics including domestic abuse, relationships, and grief.

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two best friends can swap bodies whenever they want. What a cool idea for a YA book! It's also a book about friendship. But, in this case, the friendship is toxic and both girls use each other, and it wasn't fun to read about. These characters were believable, but not particularly kind. I just didn't care about their lives after seeing what they would do to their best friend with no remorse. Not for me.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel tells the story of two young women who, as children, learn they have the ability to switch bodies, and the expected antics ensue. I found the prose and characters a bit uninspiring, and felt a lot more could have been done with the premise. Still, a reasonably enjoyable read for someone interested in borderline-urban fantasy focused on female relationships.