Author: Emily Hainsworth
Published: October 2, 2012
Paperback, 272 pages
5 Gold Stars
(summary from Goodreads)
Camden Pike has been grief-stricken since his girlfriend, Viv, died. He'd give anything to have just one more glimpse of her. But when Cam visits the site of Viv's deadly car accident, he sees an apparition. Her name is Nina, and she's a girl from a parallel world. When Cam follows her there and makes an unbelievable discovery, it's as if all his wildest dreams have come true. But things are very different in this other world. nina is hiding a secret, and the window between the worlds is shrinking every day. As Cam comes to terms with the truth, he's forced to make a choice that will change his life forever.
The synopsis of this book drew me in quickly. It sounded scary and sad and thrilling and it was all of these things, but not in the way I thought. It was much more about moving on and trying to get through life after a horrible disaster. Camden lost his girlfriend, Viv, in a car accident that he caused. Trying to get through life is hard and Cam is nothing like how he used to be. He spends his days where he and Viv used to hang out and at the spot where she died, looking at the shrine left behind. He has lost a lot too, no longer the star athlete after he hurt his leg in the accident. But when one night at the shrine, he sees a girl who at first he thinks is Viv, he follows her into another world, a parallel world to his own where things are drastically different. The car accident still happened, but instead of Viv dying, he did and Viv is still alive here. Cam's world soon turns upside down and he spends days with Viv, trying to become who they used to be. But this Viv is different from his and he is not the man he was in this world, and Nina, the girl he saw at the shrine, is more involved in his life than he ever would have thought.
This book was much too short for me and a lot happened in that short amount of time that I know there could have been room for more character development. I would have liked more background on Cam and Viv as I think that would have made me like their relationship more. From what I saw, they didn't seem as in love as I would have liked. I saw more love between Cam and Nina and much liked them together better instead. Although it was short, it packed a punch. The mystery behind the alternative world and what might happen to Cam if he kept going there was enough to make me want to turn the page. Cam lives a tough life since the accident. His parents are divorced, his knee is injured and he's lost his girlfriend. But when he finds out the Cam in the parallel world lived a much better one, he's still not sure if he'd rather that life instead and he's not sure if Viv likes that Cam more than him. It gets complicated and heartbreaking, wanting someone you thought you lost and suddenly can have again except they are a totally different person than the one you lost.
It was a very emotional book and Hainsworth's writing is beautiful and flowing. I wish it had been longer but it was also perfect in its shortness and simplicity. A nice departure from regular contemporary books and I'm excited to see what else Hainsworth has in store for us.
"If I had my phone with me, I could try to call her, but I'm not sure my calling plan covers inter-dimensional roaming."
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