ARC Review – Parallel by Lauren Miller

• Title: Parallel
• Author: Lauren Miller
• Series: No
• Source: Received for review from Edelweiss
  
• Release Date: 5/14/2013

Description from Goodreads:

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

I received this book for review from the publisher via Edelweiss.

Parallel is another book I heard about from Epic Reads’ Tea Time. Seriously, if you’re not watching, you’re missing out. I’m pretty sure I add at least one book to my ever-growing TBR list. So, when I saw that it was available on Edelweiss, I jumped at the chance to read and review it and requested it. Of course, by the time I got approved, I no longer remembered what it was about. lol When I reread the synopsis, I was a little unnerved. I mean, a book about parallel universes? This could really go either way.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved Parallel. I think it is one that could be enjoyed by many people, even ones who aren’t really into sci-fi/paranormal.

When Parallel starts, Abby is on a Hollywood stage, filming a movie. Her dream was never to be an actress, but due to a strange string of events in her senior year of high school, that’s where she finds herself the night before her eighteenth birthday. That night, she goes to sleep and dreams of an earthquake. When she wakes in the morning, she finds herself in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room.

The writing style of Parallel is really interesting. The chapters (mostly) switch off between present (2009) Abby and parallel (2008) Abby. It’s really interesting because the chapters about parallel Abby seem mostly harmless, like any other day in the life of a high school senior. Little things happen that may even seem inconsequential, yet when we switch back to present Abby’s perspective, we see that things have changed in her current reality. However, the things that change are hardly ever what I expected to happen while reading the previous chapter. What I find the most interesting about the writing in Parallel, though, is that it almost reads like a contemporary. You read about Abby in high school or college, negotiating relationships and trying to find herself. However, there’s always that slight twist that she’s not sure what’s going to happen next or even what happened in most of the last year.

The characters in Parallel were all pretty great. Abby, as a main character, was actually very likable. There were moments where her parallel self had me cringing, but for the most part, I really liked both versions of her, and I was invested in her journey. Throw in an amazing, super-hot and super-smart best friend in Caitlyn, and a couple of super hot boys, and it made for a great read. Also, a crazy-looking mad scientist type. He was really interesting!

I found myself feverishly flipping the pages of Parallel. I was always fascinated with how the decisions parallel Abby made affected present Abby’s reality. I was also dying to find out if the parallel worlds would separate again and what would happen if they did. I was hesitant to put it down! There were some twists that I absolutely did not see coming at all, which really surprised me.

The ending was, by far, my favorite part. I can’t even quite put it into words because even trying to be vague, I feel like it would give a lot away. So, I’ll just be super vague and say that I thought it was perfect.  I definitely didn’t see it coming, but I thought it was a great ending!

Overall, I thought that Parallel was a great read that could be enjoyed for both its contemporary and sci-fi merits.. It comes out May 14th, and I would highly recommend reading it as soon as you can!

Tagged: 5 stars, ARC, HarperTeen, Lauren Miller, Parallel, review, sci-fi, YA