Review Detail

Abby Barnes has recently had her life turned upside-down. Instead of starting college in the way she had always planned, she has plunged into the life of a budding actress, complete with the heady ego-boosts of impending fame and attention from attractive stars. That is, until her life is *really* turned upside-down when parallel worlds collide...

The complex and sometimes confusing plot didn't deter me from reading to get to the bottom of Abby's story. I appreciate when a complex concept manages to move a story along and has a solid foundation in the author's mind, which is clear throughout the whole of this book. As someone who enjoys attempting to wrap her mind around things like the theory of relativism, I didn't find the time warp-age to be that daunting. The story explores the idea of whether or not we truly have a destiny (in this case, a destiny concerning who Abby is to be with) and how our choices affect that fate. The way Abby goes about trying to figure out the truth and put together the pieces of the puzzle that is now her life kept me turning the pages.

I also adored Abby's love interest Josh--Miller thankfully created a guy in the story who was unique and desirable. Abby's best friends, Caitlin and Tyler, were exceptionally well-written and likeable characters. Without them, however, Abby herself falls flat. I don't know if it is because of her always trying to figure out which future/past/present is actually HERS, but Abby's character was one I could just not grasp. She seemed so shallow, so superficial--especially when it came to guys. She didn't seem to have many core values, and when compared to her dearest pal, it really stood out. I found this surprising because I could sense a depth to the author throughout the book that I appreciated, and could even sense that her values lined up with mine. But creating a character who had very few limits or boundaries made it difficult for me to connect with her, and instead made some of her actions seem inserted to somehow fit in with an idea of typical teenage/college life that may be the norm (or may not) but did not endear her character to me.

Parallel offers a look into what would happen if you discovered the life you would lead had you made one seemingly insignificant yet different choice--what it would be like to know the results of to different choices and to live them out day by day. It is a thought most of us have considered and this story manages to take the reader on the rollercoaster adventure in a captivating, thoughtful way. In spite of my aversion to some of the MC's traits, this ended up being a page-turner and holding my attention.