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An I.V.F mix-up sees two families lives turned upside down!

When Raf Maccioni receives the results of an online DNA test for his 14 year old daughter Ammy’s school science project he is confused and devastated when they reveal that there is no biological match to him, nor to his ex-wife Kelsey.

It is soon revealed that the I.V.F clinic they used made a grave error, and that another couple �� Nathan and Shona Jones �� are in fact Ammy’s biological parents, and Nathan and Shona’s 14 year old son Zac is their child genetically.

How do these four parents even begin to come to terms with this life-altering news �� when they’ve each loved and raised a child they’ve thought was theirs in every way for fourteen years? And what about Ammy and Zac? How will they cope? Plus Nathan and Shona have another child who’ll be affected by the news �� 11 year old, Pippa.

The Mix-up was my first read by Australian author Kylie Ladd, and it was a unique take on the whole ‘Switched at Birth�� storyline. This novel was light entertainment crammed to the brim with lifetime movie-style, family drama, but also dealt with the trauma, displacement, and rejection surrounding this situation in a realistic and emotional manner. It was great to hear from all six perspectives with the four parents (Raf, Kelsey, Nathan, Zac) and the two teenagers (Ammy and Zac) all narrating. It was a fast, easy-to-follow read, but wasn’t a 5 star one as at times characters behaviours and reactions felt off to me, and their were some conversations that were either rushed or skipped over that I would’ve liked the novel to focus on.

But for the most part I enjoyed this read very much �� the family dynamics and differences between the two families, the fact that every character had unique personalities, hangups, and backstories and were easily distinguishable from one another. I loved the whole found family vibe and the various ways the two families tried to come up with solutions to the issue. And I loved the dogs.

I listened to the audiobook of The Mix-Up and Zoe Trilsbach definitely contributed to this being an easy and engaging listening experience. Kylie Ladd is certainly an author I’ll be reading more of in the future. I highly recommend this novel.

P.S: I love the cover art!