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Books

While You Were Gone by Amy K. Nichols

Be careful what you ask for…

I was mildly interested in the mirror image story from the other Duplexity novel. This one tries the star-crossed thing with much less interaction, making it a greater strain to believe.

If you enjoyed the first book, this one is an enjoyable continuation. If the first seemed like a stretch, this doubles that feeling. But it’s a quick read with a mostly charming, balanced pair of POV characters. The biggest problem comes from the social strata differences–the governor’s daughter circulates in very different circles, and it strains credulity when they cross paths. (Well, even more than the “wrong universe” thing would make you think!)

Anyway, for me it was fine because it was quick, but I doubt I’ll reread either of the pair.

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Books

Now That You’re Here (Duplexity, Part I) by Amy Nichols

This is a book about normal teens in a glitzy but almost normal version of Palo Alto. It felt like a privileged high school world, a little exceptional (very skilled scientists teach at high school, because), but without telepathy or magic.

It’s actually about teens in two parallel universes; one as I mentioned above (a slightly glitzier near future cutting edge Arizona of our reality off 10 degrees) and a second, totalitarian America, also Arizona, much further askew. The book alternates chapters between Danny and Eevee; Danny from totalitarian America, and Eevee from almost our universe. Very early, something happens that switches Danny’s consciousness; so now totalitarian world Danny’s mind is in almost normal world.

From there, it’s a very interesting mashup. Part of it is a little sigh inducing–it’s a romance between our main characters. Very surprising to the characters, unfortunately not surprising as a reader.

The investigation into the “jump” between worlds is interesting; since it’s carried on by teens, it’s stripped down and long on hypotheses, but they can’t investigate a lot of lines of research, even on a Palo Brea teen’s budget. Speaking of which; I really enjoyed Eevee and Warren’s background–it felt fraught and authentic, with the unspoken assumptions that come from complete familiarity.

All in all, I liked it and am interested in the flipside book, While You Were Gone. Now That You’re Here is very much a YA book, including the limited perception of the world of adults–so it might feel a bit “simple” if that’s a peeve of yours.