Jill is one of those kids everyone envies. She is a good kid. She gets good grades. Her friend Ramie is the type she can tell anything to ... or is she? You see, Jill has a secret. Once a month, she has to go into hiding for four days. Everyone at school, include Ramie, thinks she has a rare blood disease and that she takes the time out of school for blood transfusions. The reality is that for those four days, she is locked up in her bedroom.

You see, she was born a hermaphrodite, one of those people who exhibits both male and female sexual traits. Once she hit puberty, her body started to develop in the usual ways, but she uses meditation and her own will to control it. For most of the time, she is all girl, which is interestingly enough her mantra. But once a month, her body seems to morph into all boy, and the sex-starved, all-guy Jack takes over. He holds all the memories of her experiences when he is hiding away in the recesses of her mind.

Unfortunately, their mother was so horrified by Jill & Jack's dual natures (or is it split personalities) that Jack is a non-being that only causes problems for Jill. Now, it is Jill's senior year, and she is looking forward to the prom. She has set her eyes on Tommy, an average sort of guy that she is just interested in. Things hit a bump in the road when he tells her that he is bisexual, which as you can imagine is horrible for Jill's mother, but she quickly comes to accept. Who can really blame her when she has her own dual nature.

Making things even more complicated is the fact that Jill's memories of her friend Ramie have awakened something in Jack. While he lusts after porn to the extent that the household doesn't even have Internet access, it is really to hide the fact that he cares for Ramie. He starts sneaking out of the house and pursuing her, only to find that she is also interested. She is a little put off because something about him seems familiar, but she knows she cares about Jack.

As the school year progresses and prom gets closer and closers, things become more and more complex for Jill & Jack. She is exploring her true nature as he learns that he wants not to just exist locked away in Jill's room and would rather have an opportunity in his own life. Her usual 28-day cycle starts to shift, making Jack's appearances occur more and more often.

As you can probably guess, everything comes to a head at the prom. The conclusion spares nothing in intensity, but the book ends up concluding pretty quickly, allowing very little opportunity or denouement. The resolution is basically left out to be included in the sequel, (Re)Cycler, which comes out later this month.

I have to admit that I was really drawn into the mix. I had been expecting an interesting and complex story relating to the challenges of being a hermaphrodite, particular those relating to gender issues. The fact that there are two distinct personalities involved and their shared body seems to "magically" shift between the sexes does add a bit of smokey reality to the story. At times, the reader does have to suspend belief as certain plot devices are used to stretch reality.

All-in-all, though, I found it an enjoyable read. I definitely want to get my hands on the sequel to see where things are going.

The book is interestingly enough, targeted for teens, though, the intense sexual situations makes the target audience on the older end of that range.