Stay On The Other Side of the Mirror

Expected Publication:  May 14th, 2013
Parallel
By: Lauren Miller
HarperTeen
ISBN-13:  9780062199799

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn't choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

Review

 

     Abby Barnes had a pretty great life until she was thrown a curveball - she has to take either drama or astronomy her senior year because her chosen elective was cancelled.  So she takes drama, which instead of leading her to Northwestern for journalism like she's planned on forever, threw her into the lead of the school play.  Then she was discovered and cast in an action movie.  Now Abby is feeling like her life is going in a direction that she never approved of and so she wishes for a do-over.  The next morning she wakes up in a dorm room at Yale with no idea how she got there.  Someone out there must have been listening, because Abby's wish has been granted.  But after the collision that put her in this parallel world happened, Abby is year behind in her memories.  And with her parallel making new decisions daily, every time she wakes up things are different.  With the help of her friend Caitlin and each new set of memories, Abby is able to piece together some semblance of a life.  But when the decisions of her parallel (who is still trying to live by the rules) begin to get in the way of what Abby really wants, will she find a way to forge her own path and take control of her destiny?

     The premise of this book is one of my favorites - surviving when time travel/parallel universes/alternate realities throw things out of whack.  I don't necessarily even require a well-drawn scientific explanation (although that's definitely a bonus factor).  What I do require is a coherent plot, interesting and relatable characters, and a satisfying ending that makes me feel like I didn't completely waste my time as a reader.  This book started out with the first two requirements being met, but things degraded as the plot progressed.  I'm still trying to decide if it met the last requirement in any capacity whatsoever.  Abby, the displaced and disillusioned girl who finds herself in a parallel life was like an alien lifeform to me.  She treated everything that didn't fit into her life plan with complete disdain, was a jerk to almost everyone she came into contact with and don't even get me started on the Josh/Michael debate.  The little plot twist about their connection to each other had me gagging and seeing red alternately.  Her best friend Caitlin, on the other hand, is the best kind of character.  One with faults, but who doesn't let bumps in the road completely derail her.  The evolution of her character was my favorite part of the book.  Well, besides crazy Dr. Mann's lectures and odd little mannerisms/actions.  I felt like most of the side characters were very underdeveloped, with the most cardboard ones being Ilana (the stock slut character), Tyler (the 'sensitive' jock/popular guy), and Michael (the mysterious/perfect boyfriend).  It made the interactions with the secondaries very bland and kind of annoying to me.  When the book was focusing on the disparity between realities and the affect on Abby and Caitlin, it had my attention and interest.  But when it became completely centered around 'soulmates' (Bish PLEASE!) and who was in love with who, it really took a nosedive.  By the time it ended I was completely disgusted and mad that I hadn't quit reading it earlier on.  The full circle idea for the ending was a good one, but the destiny concept pissed me off so bad I couldn't see past my anger/disdain.  Such an easy out for an author!  Overall, if you like romance and EXTREMELY light sci-fi, this might be the book for you,  Especially if you believe in using people like your own personal toys, without remorse and in predestination.

 

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via Edelweiss. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is May 14th, 2013.*

Clockwise Is Newly Defined

Published: November 19th, 2011

Clockwise (Clockwise # 1)

By: Elle Strauss
ESB Publishing
ISBN-13: 9781466440968

Casey Donovan has issues: hair, height and uncontrollable trips to the 19th century! And now this—she’s accidentally taken Nate Mackenzie, the cutest boy in the school, back in time. Awkward.

Protocol pressures her to tell their 1860 hosts that he is her brother and when Casey finds she has a handsome, wealthy (and unwanted) suitor, something changes in Nate. Are those romantic sparks or is it just “brotherly” protectiveness?

When they return to the present, things go back to the way they were before: Casey parked on the bottom of the rung of the social ladder and Nate perched high on the very the top. Except this time her heart is broken. Plus, her best friend is mad, her parents are split up, and her younger brother gets escorted home by the police. The only thing that could make life worse is if, by some strange twist of fate, she took Nate back to the past again.

Which of course, she does.

Review

     Casey Donovan is an awkward teenage girl and for her, high school is Hell.  In that respect she's very normal.  The one little thing that sets her apart is her pesky time-travelling problem!  She never asked to be transported to the past every time her life gets stressful.  But after six years of it happening, Casey is used to it.  Then the unthinkable happens and Nate, her crush and the most popular boy in school, is transported back with her!  The year is 1860 and the country is on the brink of a Civil War.  The two find shelter and work with the Watson family, old friends of Casey's who have always helped her when she's in the past.  But to preserve her reputation, Casey tells them Nate is her brother.  They have plenty of adventures together, helping a runaway slave named Samuel hide from the slave-catchers and going to hear famous abolitionists speak.  Casey even receives a marriage proposal, albeit an entirely unwelcome one from a cruel man with Southern sympathies.  After they return home, Casey and Nate return to their lives apart from each other, in different social spheres.  Casey's heart is broken and her family is falling apart, plus her best friend Lucinda is angry and feels left out.  When she and Nate are carried to the past again, can they make things right with each other?  And will both of them make it home in one piece?  Also, who among their new friends is a traveler like Casey and are they connected closer than they ever could have imagined?  

     This was such a fun book.  I absolutely ADORE anything that had time-travel in it, especially if the characters travel into America's past.  I identified with Casey a lot, because I know what it feels like to be a dork and an outcast as a teenager.  I loved Lucinda, who was hilarious and a great friend.  To me Nate seemed very shallow at first but exhibited the most character development of any of the teens in the book.  Casey's family issues on top of her school stress acted as a trigger for the time travel, which was basically a double life for her.  The relationship with the Watson family was great and I loved the way they took in Casey, a.k.a Cassandra as one of their own.  The fact that Casey always returns at the exact moment she left, only exhausted and with huge dark circles under her eyes, was a great plot device.  It definitely provided a realistic explanation for why her parents and the people around her never discovered her absence and the truth of where she was.  And the mystery of Sam being another traveler and the incident where Casey accidentally travels with him to his time was totally unexpected.  It did explain a lot of things to me though and I loved their hidden connection revealed at the end.  Overall a fun book, with a cute romance and some mystery to it.  It managed to touch upon some important historical issues and was very relevant to me, as a young adult who was quite recently a teenager.  I highly recommend it to fans of time travel and YA books.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Stay In The Shadows

Published: June 26th, 2012
Thief of Shadows (Maiden Lane # 4)
By: Elizabeth Hoyt
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN-13: 9781455508327

A Masked Man . . .

Winter Makepeace lives a double life. By day he's the stoic headmaster of a home for foundling children. But the night brings out a darker side of Winter. As the moon rises, so does the Ghost of St. Giles—protector, judge, fugitive. When the Ghost, beaten and wounded, is rescued by a beautiful aristocrat, Winter has no idea that his two worlds are about to collide.

A Dangerous Woman . . .

Lady Isabel Beckinhall enjoys nothing more than a challenge. Yet when she's asked to tutor the Home's dour manager in the ways of society— flirtation, double-entendres, and scandalous liaisons—Isabel can't help wondering why his eyes seem so familiar—and his lips so tempting.

A Passion Neither Could Deny

During the day Isabel and Winter engage in a battle of wills. At night their passions are revealed . . . But when little girls start disappearing from St. Giles, Winter must avenge them. For that he might have to sacrifice everything—the Home, Isabel . . . and his life.

Review

   Winter Makepeace runs an orphans home in the middle of St. Giles, a city no better than a slum, by day.  At night he is the masked harlequin avenger who protects the citizens from evil.  After freeing pirate Charming Mickey (newly his brother-in-law) from execution, he is chased by a mob and nearly killed...until Isabel Beckinhall takes him into her carriage.  Driving him to her home, she tends to a rather serious wound on his leg, admiring his naked body.  Of course she never makes the connection that he could be Winter, whom she thinks to be a dour, stern man that she butts heads with over the oprhan home that she is a patroness of.  A few days later, Isabel comes to the home to begin tutoring Winter in the ways of society, because the other patronesses are trying to have him replaced in his sister's absence.  Reluctantly he allows her to school him so he can stay with the orphans.  Meanwhile, Winter is trying to figure out who is snatching little girls off the streets of St. Giles and to what purpose.  Can he hide his true identity from Isabel, especially once the chemistry between them begins to explode.  Will she be able to trust him enough to give up her heart?  I was expecting more from a book that is supposed to be about Winter.  From the other three novels, I got the impression that he was far too much of a stuffed-shirt to get sexually involved with someone like Isabel.  Also he never struck me as the type to be the Ghost of St. Giles.  I honestly sympathized with Isabel's barrenness, but never really liked her much as a character.  I felt like she was smart, but too focused on the superficialities of life whereas Winter was almost the exact opposite.  The side-story with the kidnapped girls was too disconnected from the main plot for me.  They just didn't seem to mesh together all that well.  Seriously, Joseph Tinbox was my favorite part of the entire book.  But I'm unsure that I will like it when Hoyt decides it's his turn to have his character practically butchered.  Not my favorite in the series by any means.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published June 26th, 2012.*