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Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

May 25, 2015June 7, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Your plan changes. Your destiny doesn’t.

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, 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.

4 Drink Me Potions

We are more real than real, said Abby to Josh, a guy whom she only met through her parallel self taking a different path than she did.

Alternate realities and parallel worlds can be so complex, but Lauren Miller did a fantastic job with this novel. Parallel is just indescribable, in the best way possible.

You ever wonder what it would have been like if you’d just done something differently? For Abby, the decision that set her on two different trajectories in life between her parallel worlds came down to this: taking drama or an astronomy class as her last-minute elective in her senior year.

Parallel alternates between Abby’s senior year, following her parallel self experiencing a different set of events after having to take astronomy class instead of drama, in which that path would have led her to becoming the Hollywood actress she remembered she was from her “real” life, and one year later where she finds herself in Yale. Now, if that doesn’t get complicated enough, every time her parallel self makes a different decision, it could cause HUGE rippling effects onto the reality that Abby is now living with as a student at Yale.

This novel explored how even the smallest decisions or events could have led to almost-lost friendships, or could-have-been moments with someone special. Not only that, but it looked into fate (we have a reason for living) and ultimately, what our destiny is even with the ever-changing realities.

I could gush forever, but Miller’s debut novel was absolutely fantastic. With Abby as an amazing protagonist trying to remain “independent” of her parallel self while dealing with a setting that could change at any moment, it made living the day to day all the more important. The conclusion of the novel was stunning, in the sense that it also covered the topic of soulmates. What if her parallel met someone who could love her in a way no one else can, but Abby in her other life chose differently and thus hadn’t met him? What then?

The answer was simple. Our path or trajectory in life may change based on our day-to-day decisions, but something destined in our lives will find its way. And that’s exactly what happened in Parallel. The ending was perfect. Sure, it was a little bittersweet, but it was still so romantic. Being able to find that someone for you even when it first came through as only memories from your parallel self, that speaks of a love that’s more real than real, with real suggesting it stays true even across realities.

At the end of the day, this novel handled everything amazingly. It was clever. Wildly imaginative and creative. I will end off with one of my favourite quotes from the book.

“Abigail Hannah Barnes,
You changed my life. A year ago today, when you walked into it. ‘Are you here by fate or choice?’ you asked me. I said choice. Now I know better.
-Josh”

Overall Recommendation:
Parallel was an absolute fantastic read. It explored so many philosophical elements, from our changing fate when making decisions in life to the ever-present destiny that we each are supposed to hold and possibly that one person (our soulmate) that lies somewhere in our world to find. It asked questions that made you really think. What if you had done something differently? Would your life have changed in ways you could never imagine? Could you miss out on meeting your soulmate if you made the wrong decision? All in all, this novel was deeply romantic and thoroughly explored elements we can all relate to. A definite page-turner & 100% recommended

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

May 14, 2015June 5, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

4.5 Drink Me Potions

I’m not sure why I waited so long to hop onto the The Lunar Chronicles bandwagon, but I’m sure glad that I’ve joined now. And boy, I can see why it’s been raved about so highly.

Cinder is a gorgeous character. She may be modelled after the classic fairytale Cinderella, but Meyer totally made this princess character into something brand new and original. She only has one human friend, surprisingly which is her younger stepsister, and one android friend. Her struggles at being a second-rate citizen are heartbreaking. She never asked to become a cyborg, to be taken in by her stepmother. Yet, the world thinks so lowly of her. She is more than what her body parts make her to be. So what if she had a hand, foot, some ribs that were metal? Or had this really cool interface part of her brain that allowed her to detect and scan things? So what? She loves and feels just like other people do, but ultimately, a label is a label.

Which is why she of course could not admit to Prince Kai what she was. And going to the ball the palace was hosting? No, that was unthinkable, right? Not only is she a cyborg, but there’s also such a social divide between them as she was only a mechanic.

Although that synopsis above sounded just like Cinderella (minus the cyborg part, obviously), there is so, SO much more in Cinder. Where many other re-tellings of the classic tale kind of stops there with the storytelling ideas, Marissa Meyer placed this whole story into a beautifully thought-out world that bloomed in the ashes after World War IV.

They live in a place called New Beijing, with Kai being the next in line for the throne of the Eastern Commonwealth. I’m digging the Asian culture going here, and no, it’s not because I’m biased or anything. Not many YA novels feature Asian culture, and for that I’m already intrigued with the author’s choice of setting. To make this world further complicated, there’s a whole community of people living on the moon. The moon . No wonder it’s called the LUNAR chronicles, hmm? Should’ve seen that coming.

These people living in Luna (no duh, ’cause that’s the perfect name for a city on the moon) are called Lunars and have powers! And they threaten war against the Earthen Union, which comprises of the 6 world regions on Earth including the Eastern Commonwealth. Solution? Marriage to Kai. But it’s not as simple as it sounds because, well – their queen is pure evil. Get it? Evil Queen?

Oh no, what will Cinder do? And how the heck does she fit into this re-imagined world? As if the problems aren’t already wracked high enough for her, there’s a horrible lethal plague that randomly selects its victims and kills them within a week of the first noticeable symptoms. Man, that’s a lot of world building to take in within the first few chapters. And I absolutely LOVE it. Sometimes you just have to set the world of the characters into clear detail before the story can really take off, and this was definitely the case for Cinder. It made me appreciate so much more the creativity that went into designing it.

Following Cinder’s adventures after she met Prince Kai was a real blast. There were so many secrets she had yet to learn about herself. It wasn’t an easy journey to find such answers, but the way she held it together even though no one respected her was very admirable. Heck, they were downright antagonistic and rude to her. If I were her, I would’ve spat at her stepmother multiple times. Kai was a loveable prince. He truly seemed smitten with Cinder, and I loved those little moments between them where it didn’t seem anything could possibly hurt their budding relationship. Of course, there was always the elephant in the room (she’s a cyborg! *gasp*), for which Cinder couldn’t truly let herself be with him. I like to think from Kai’s character that he’d get over that little fact…right?

Anyway, with threats of war from the Lunars and the plague still wiping out numbers of people, life was not easy for the young princeling. I don’t blame him for what happened at the end, though for now, this fairy tale does not have its happy ending yet. Gonna hold out and hope the conclusion to this magnificent series will truly blow my mind as Cinder has.

By the way, that cover? Genius. Who would have ever thought that Cinder(ella) could lose her “shoe” because it was in actuality her metal foot disconnecting from its wires? I repeat, GENIUS.

Overall Recommendation:
Cinder is an amazing example of a classic re-telling of Cinderella, but with tons more imagination in its world building. Our to-be princess is a lowly mechanic, but she’s also a cyborg, considered by others as not human compared to them. Cinder was a great protagonist, with such heart, but unable to prove it to most of her stepfamily. Upon her meeting with Prince Kai, things get more complicated than it already was for her, and soon, secrets about past and threats of war from Lunars loom on the horizon. With plenty of sweet sizzling chemistry between our lovely Cinder and her prince set in a dystopian world with people from the MOON that have powers to brainwash, this first installment in the Lunar Chronicles was definitely worth every single praise that was ever uttered about it.

Review: The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

May 7, 2015May 26, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

When Gia Montgomery’s boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she’d been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend— two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it’s not the real Bradley she’s thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn’t even know. But tracking him down doesn’t mean they’re done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend’s graduation party — three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

4.5 Drink Me Potions

The synopsis makes this story sound like it’s some light, fluff piece, but it’s so much more than that. The Fill-In Boyfriend follows Gia Montgomery, a girl whose life seems as normal as it gets. Popular, president of student council, has some close girlfriends and a family that hasn’t been torn apart by divorce. Everything looks perfect on the outside. That all started to change with the fill-in boyfriend (aka FIB) who is rather insightful.

Breaking from Perfection
With the arrival of the lies starting at prom, Gia’s life starts to unravel into imperfection. I love how it explores the family dysfunction in a way that’s different from other stories. Sure, her parents and brother get along fine with each other, but maybe, that’s the problem. When things don’t get resolved in order to maintain peace and have the appearance of perfection, you start to hide emotions deep inside and only work with surface emotions in every relationship. Who knew that not getting punished enough for something could cause just as many problems in a family? It also prevented Gia from being able to talk to her parents when her life was falling apart. Too emotional, right? And that would require admitting that something in her life wasn’t working just perfectly.

Outgrowing friendships
There was just so much emotion in Gia’s story. With a frenemy that was out to get her, it was awesome to have someone to hate. Sometimes, I find stories like to give redemption to those that may initially seem awful. Not this one. I absolutely can’t stand her friend who is so hell-bent on destroying Gia’s close friendships. And all for a reason that is rather lame. Although the story concludes without the neatly wrapped up ending, I was a little sad that there wasn’t as much closure with her friends. There was hope, but I guess the message is that sometimes, you outgrow even lifelong friends who may become different people as the years go by.

Finding out who you are
Besides family and friends, this story touches so much on Gia’s journey into opening up to people and finding out who she wanted to be. I love character development and this story focused so much on this gradual change that was working its way through her. By the end of it, she had grown so much that it literally brought tears to my eyes. My favourite advice was something the fill-in boyfriend’s mother had told Gia when her world started to fall apart. She was asking about how to truly gain life lessons and find herself when nothing terrible has happened to her. This is the wisest thing I’ve heard yet to answer such a question.

“We rarely find depth by looking inside of ourselves for it. Depth is found in what we can learn from the people and things around us. Everyone, everything, has a story. When you learn those stories, you learn experiences that fill you up, that expand your understanding. You add layers to your soul.”

Love, of course
Speaking of tears, The Fill-In Boyfriend definitely had a lot of romantic chemistry going on there. He brought so much insight into Gia’s life, that even though they were only going to spend just two nights together, it was hard to get him out of her life and mind. I’m so glad that there was this simmering attraction between them that was so tangible, I almost felt like I could reach out and touch it. It wasn’t only the attraction that was enjoyable, but also their witty banter that was hilarious to read. The path to romance doesn’t always have to have constant staring and romantic lines, but it may very well lie in a deep-rooted friendship. The ups and downs to their relationship was beautifully written. Falling for someone for real while pretending to only be each others’ dates definitely complicates things.

Although Kasie West’s On the Fence wasn’t as huge of a favourite with me, The Fill-In Boyfriend has quickly shown me that this author has so much to offer in YA literature. This is a beautiful story of finding who you are in the imperfections while falling for the very person who challenges all those cracks in your life and learning to let go of emotions. A definite must-read.

Overall Recommendation:
The Fill-In Boyfriend is so much more than its synopsis limits it to be. It’s a remarkably well-written story about finding love in the unexpected, seeing the beauty in life’s imperfections and staying strong when your world starts to crumble from the lies in your past catching up to you. This is Gia’s journey in finding herself, and all I can say is that it’s heart-warming and almost brought me to tears as it is so relateable in so many ways. I highly recommend this book to anyone to read. It’s way more than just fluff.