Dissonance and TSTL Syndrome

Published:  July 22nd, 2014
Dissonance (Dissonance #1)
By: Erica O'Rourke
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13:  9781442460249

Delancey Sullivan has always known there's more to reality than what people see.  Every time someone makes a choice, a new, parallel world branches off from the existing one.  Eating breakfast or skipping it, turning left or right, sneaking out instead of staying in bed - all of these choices create an alternate universe in which an echo self takes the road not travelled and makes the opposite decision.  As a Walker, someone who can navigate between these worlds, Del's job is to keep all of the dimensions in harmony.

Normally, Del can hear the dissonant frequency each world emits as clear as a bell.  But when a training session in an off-key world goes horribly wrong, she is forbidden from Walking by the Council.  But Del's not big on following the rules and she secretly starts to investigate these other worlds.  Something strange is connecting them and it's not just her random encounters with with echo versions of the guy she likes, Simon Lane.

But Del's decisions have unimaginable consequences, and as she begins to fall for the
Echo Simons in each world, she draws closer to a truth that the Council of Walkers is trying to hide - a secret that threatens the fate of the entire mutliverse.

Review

     Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a nut for anything involving alternate universes or time travel.  Basically, anything that lets us explore the greatest mysteries in the universe, all beginning with the words: "What if?"  But I felt like that potential was wasted in this particular book.  I seem to be in the minority, with so many glowing reviews on this one floating around.  But I honestly found the world-building, mythology and technical terms to be really convoluted.  I may not be the most scientific person ever, but generally I can follow along in these types of books.  The way things were explained about the Walkers, the dissonance, the alternate worlds, etc. was kind of a mess.  I felt like at the end of the book I still didn't get exactly why Del was able to "cleave" worlds, or why the Council was after her and what all Simon had to do with it.  The connections were not clear between any of the key points of the conflict.  

     As for the characters, Del was an arrogant brat.  Yeah, her parents were pretty absent and her sister was a bitch.  But Del acts without thinking, has no thought for consequences and basically trys to elbow around them when they happen.  She's always pouting and sneaking out, walking through other worlds even when she's not supposed to.  Her crush on Simon seemed more like an obsession, as she uses more and more of her walks to find and hook up with alternate versions of Simon, under false pretenses.  There were a lot of filler scenes that seemed to lead nowhere, and really weren't necessary in the grand scheme of things.  I found myself flipping through pages and skipping a lot, mostly out of sheer boredom.  This book was about two-hundred pages too long, and those pages did nothing for the plot.  They gave no clarity, development or resolution.  It needed a lot more editing, that unfortunately it didn't receive.  

     The love triangle between Del, Simon and Del's friend Eliot was disgusting to me.  She's totally leading on Eliot and using him the entire book, until he calls her on it, all under the excuse that she "didn't know" he had feelings for her.  If that's true, Del's even stupider than I thought she was (better than cruel, I guess).  The outright lack of reasoning capability on the part of the protagonist and the lack of direction in the plot (which led up to a big reveal that made even LESS sense to me personally), leaves this one as a do-not-recommend for me.  Not a fan, and I feel like I wasted my time.  It only gets the rating it does because I got through it and it had potential, even if it was unrealized.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

**I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's was published on July 22nd, 2014.**

It's All Relative

Expected Publication:  September 10th, 2013
Relativity 
By: Cristin Bishara
Walker Children's
ISBN-13:  9780802734686

If Ruby Wright could have her way, her dad would never have met and married her stepmother Willow, her best friend George would be more than a friend, and her mom would still be alive. Ruby knows wishes can't come true; some things just can't be undone. Then she discovers a tree in the middle of an Ohio cornfield with a wormhole to nine alternative realities. 

Suddenly, Ruby can access completely different realities, each containing variations of her life—if things had gone differently at key moments. The windshield wiper missing her mother’s throat…her big brother surviving his ill-fated birth…her father never having met Willow. Her ideal world—one with everything and everyone she wants most—could be within reach. But is there such a thing as a perfect world? What is Ruby willing to give up to find out?

Review

     Ruby is un-enthused to say the least about moving to Ohio from California.  Especially when it means that she's gaining a new 'Mom' and a psychotic stepsister.  So when the aforesaid stepsister, Kandy, is terrorizing her one day Ruby comes across a tree that is famed for being haunted - killing anyone who tries to chop it down.  So when she sees a door in the tree she uses it to escape from further pain.   Once inside the tree, things get really weird.  When Ruby steps out again she's in a universe where her dead Mother is still alive, she has an older brother and she's a popular girl - an average student and purveyor of the color pink.  Desperate to find out what's going on (especially when she realizes that the money is different and history has changed), Ruby does some investigating.  She finds out that each time she goes in and out of the tree, she enters an alternate universe where everything might be different, or just a couple small things.  In one she lives in Ohio, but so does her best friend George from California and they start dating.  In another her Mom is her Math teacher, and lives in an apartment by herself, while Ruby and her brother live with their Dad.  Will she ever be able to get back to the world she belongs in?  Or will she choose to live in another universe, as a slightly altered version of herself?

     I really thought that Bishara managed to be creative and fresh in a world of growing amounts of alternate dimensions/freakish time exchange novels.  It managed to throw in some decently explained scientific stuff, while still packing in the action and keeping me glued to the edge of my seat.  That said, I feel like it could have used another 50-100 pages so that a little more explanation could be done on the tree and some specific differences in the history of each dimension.  The addition of a brother to Ruby's life in a couple of the dimensions was interesting and actually added something to it in my opinion.  I did like Willow, her stepmother, but felt like she wasn't very interested in Ruby or what Kandy was really doing when no one was watching.  Ruby's Dad seemed well-intentioned, but was more interested in his advertising campaigns than in making time for his daughter (leaving her mostly to her own devices).  The relationship she has with George is obviously a really intense and close one, but I felt like it wasn't really the focus of the novel.  

     The main question of it was this:  would you choose to live someone else's life just to have things exactly the way you always wanted them?  Even if it meant you'd no longer be yourself?  The ending (with the lightning strike) was pretty fitting, but I felt like this story was too open-ended for my liking as a reader.  I really did like that Ruby got a chance to know the Mother she lost so young to a bad car accident.  But at the same time, the action's focus did feel jerky sometimes.  I guess I'm in the minority that likes a medium to slow pace on novels that have a complicated story to tell.  My only complaint is that it gave me a lot, but not enough.  Overall, a really great read that I would recommend to fans of sci-fi and time-travel/alternate universes.  It's definitely a fresh piece of literature for someone who geeks on that stuff.  I oughta know, cause I'm one of those people! :)

VERDICT:  3.75/5  Stars

**I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is September 10th, 2013.**

It's a Crewel World for a Woman or a Girl

 

Published: October 16th, 2012

Crewel (Crewel World # 1)

By: Gennifer Albin

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

ISBN-13: 9780374316419

 

Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl is in charge of other’s destinies, but not her own.

Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die.

Thrust into the opulent Western Coventry, Adelice will be tried, tested and tempted as she navigates the deadly politics at play behind its walls. Now caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power. Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it.

 

Review

 

     Adelice Lewys has just turned sixteen years old and taken the test that will decide her future.  Because of her hidden talents Adelice is in demand by the branch of the government that recruits Spinsters - women who weave the fabric of reality.  But because of her parent's training her to hide her abilities and trying to run away with her when they came to retrieve Adelice, her entire family is ripped away.  Her Mom and Dad are dead and her little sister is re-woven into another life - and another family.  Adelice will do anything to protect Amie, even if it means playing along and pretending that she's given in.  But when it's revealed just how much power Adelice really does have over her future, she's in a race against time to break free of the trap she's been caught in.  But will it mean death and destruction for her new friends, her sister and their entire world?  I had never thought of the possiblity that someone could weave the fabric of space and time, to keep reality running smoothly.  It's a very original idea and the execution was beautifully done.  I did feel that Adelice was a bit bland as a heroine, but the novel was character driven in a way that a lot of dystopians (even sci-fi oriented ones) are not.  I LOVE a character driven novel.  It sucks me in and gets me involved, making me care what happens.  In the novel, women are second-class citizens and oppressed beyond belief.  They really only have two viable choices - marriage or to become a Spinster.  I loved that Adelice didn't just give in to their demands and bribes after they'd destroyed her life and left her with nothing.  The relationships with Jost and Erik were very different and it was easy to tell which was the more real of the two.  I can definitely say I was NOT expecting the revelation at the end of the book about how they were connected to each other.  Cormac the villain seemed a little too 'muhahaha' for my taste, which is saying something.  Maybe I'm just tired of villains whose only motive is power.  It just seems weak to me as a reader.  The other revelation about Arras and Earth was interesting, but more than a little confusing.  I guess I'll just have to read the next one to find out more!  Overall, an enjoyable sci-fi, dystopian YA debut novel with a fresh idea and good execution.  Not anything above and beyond the norm though.  I wasn't 'wowed' by it's awesomeness.

 

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.**