Book Review: Free To Fall by Lauren Miller

This is the same author that wrote Parallel. I didn't like this one as much, but still really enjoyed it. I didn't like it as much because it messed me up. Not like the other one where I just didn't fully grasp how the science behind it worked until the end. No, this was a whole "wtf why are they doing that, why am I reading this, why". When you read it you'll understand. It was very 1984 in the concept. Scary about how the things that are supposed to protect/entertain us can be turned against us very quickly. (Everyone panic! The world is ending because of cell phones and social media!!!!!)

Since it did mess with my brain and made me question any app I ever get again, that means it was written very well. Only books that are written well can make you believe the things they are telling you and mess with your brain like that. 

It's a little predictable however. If you've read enough young adult novels (not saying they're all the same, but there is a trend) to figure out what will most likely happen once you read the blurb. I did read it for those exact reasons, though. The execution wasn't as polished as I was hoping for. It was just too fast for me. Girl meets boy, boy challenges girl's thinking, girl realizes that maybe things aren't always what they seem, happily ever after, etc, etc. Yeah. I'm totally okay with that. There was just one part that ruined it. Love interest does something wrong and the narrator is so quick to forgive him. No! Make him work for it and prove that he'll never do it again. Preferably when one of you is dying- that means more angst and I enjoy angst a lot. Sigh. Girls, make your love interest prove to you that they won't mess up again, don't just believe them right away because you "love" them after three days. Maybe that's just me. I don't know.

The ending was pretty good- a little cheesy, but good. It could've laid off the whole "phones and social media will kill you" morale, but it had some good points in there. If she writes another book, I'll probably read it because I like her style of writing. I hope she continues with the sci-fi genre. Who knows.

Read: August 2015
My Rating: 4.5 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

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.

This had been on my radar for quite some time but never got around to actually reading it. I don't know why I waited so long because it's a time travel/parallel universe story and I love those. They are easy for me to understand, and I love seeing how each author explains how these worlds work. 

Surprisingly, this one took a lot of brain power to fully understand. Actually, to be completely honest, I still don't fully understand. It's definitely a new theory/adaptation on parallel universes that I haven't read before, so really happy about that. You kind of learn with the protagonist through her journey to understanding it all. There's also a lot of scientific jargon that make it more believable. 

There's also a time leap from chapter to chapter. The protagonist doesn't remember the her senior year and we get to see everything that leads up to her present. Well, technically it's just her consciousness living out her parallel's life. Complicated, I know. It was weird seeing the path lead out for her while also adjusting to changes being made. It's confusing if you don't read it. How it happens it's that you make choices and in a parallel universe, you made a different one than the one you made. So interesting to think that the littlest things can have the potential to greatly steer our lives onto different paths. Anyways.

I did not like one of the love interests. Like, at all. I was very, very happy when the ending that explained everything and made it nice again happened. No spoilers, sweetie! But man, getting there, whoo boy. There's a point in the book where everything just goes to shi- poop. Just everything. It was So. Painful. You just wanted everything to go smoothly and her to end up with the right guy and UGH.

THE ENDING THOUGH. GOODNESS. I really want a sequel. Or an epilogue. SOMETHING. I know everything will be okay because it ended and stuff, but I want to know for sure. Everything just went poof! and all the trouble gone. Just read it. It's a good book in its own right and does a fantastic job in the parallel universe department, despite my slow understanding. I felt things and I wanted to throw the book. That means it's written very well. Ugh.

Read: July 2015

My Rating: 4.5 stars / 5 stars