 |
 |
Author: Lauren Miller
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD
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.
“Your path will change. Your destiny doesn't.”
Even though my instincts usually mess up with my reading experience when I end up guessing the ‘twist’, I still rely on it. I can’t help it. It is sort of my gauge if the book managed to wow me. So, obviously I started reading this book with the usual routine of trying to guess what happens next. That was a wrong move. All it did was to confuse myself while I try to debate with myself whether this situation in Abby’s life is the real one or the one that exists in the alternate universe. So after a few chapters, I stopped jotting down notes mentally and decided to go with the flow and read the story. Then I had no idea where this would go.
This was my first book I’ve read about parallel universe. I was literally confused with what’s happening and I hated the feeling of not knowing where this story will go. But after I decided to just read it, I started to enjoy it. Dr. Mann’s explanation, although quite a bit complicated, gave a more realistic feel to the story.
For me, Abby is between the likeable and unlikeable character. The original-Abby’s, who is currently on the parallel universe, has her life dependent to parallel-Abby’s decisions. Actually, she suffers from whatever mistake parallel-Abby commits. But despite her mistakes, parallel-Abby a typical teen that goes on with what she thinks is best at the moment. Having a friend who knows what’s happening to her helped a lot in the story. Sure, it would be more challenging if she’ll do it on her own but I really can’t imagine Abby surviving it on her own. At least Caitlin and their relationship with each other weren’t an exception to the changes that happen when parallel-Abby does something.
With the boys, I’m with Josh with this one. It’s not just the typical I like him better than the other one. One factor was that Josh’s character was given more screen time, therefore I sort of know him better than Michael. Although Michael seems to be a good guy based on the last few chapters, I never had the chance to really know him.
Despite the really complex stuff, the message it meant to deliver (or what I understood) was that every action, no matter how small, would definitely affect your future. Although it also told us that you’ll meet your soul mate, no matter what happens or in any circumstance.
If you’re too confused at first, stop figuring things out and just go with the flow. Parallel is worth your time.
