Relativity

by Cristin Bishara

If Ruby Wright could have her way, her dad would never have met and married her stepmother Willow, her best friend George would be more than a friend, and her mom would still be alive. Ruby knows wishes can't come true; some things just can't be undone. Then she discovers a tree in the middle of an Ohio cornfield with a wormhole to nine alternative realities. Suddenly, Ruby can access completely different realities, each containing variations of her life-if things had gone differently at key moments. The windshield wiper missing her mother's throat...her big brother surviving his ill-fated birth...her father never having met Willow. Her ideal world-one with everything and everyone she wants most-could be within reach. But is there such a thing as a perfect world? What is Ruby willing to give up to find out?

• ISBN10: 0802734685
• ISBN13: 9780802734686
• Publish Date: 10 September 2013
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 16 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Walker & Co
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 278
• Language: English

Reviews

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Relativity is sharp, intelligent science fiction young adult novel, that is wonderfully gripping and compelling. Delightfully entertaining and highly imaginative, Cristin Bishara will definitely wow you with her storytelling abilities, imagination, and originality. The sci-fi element of this novel is just amazing and I fell in love with the characters and their journey. It's just a super fun read that was incredibly hard to put down. I was up until all hours of the night reading, because my curiosity level had sky rocketed through the roof.

One of the most gripping aspects of this novel, was the wormhole to nine different realities. The approach that Bishara took with each reality, was what made the story very much real and alive. Her ability to blend fantasy and sci-fi elements, as well as realism contemporary storytelling together in a way that worked flawlessly made this novel more enjoyable. The alternate realities weren't out of this world vastly different from normal reality, but yet illustrated slightly altered realism in different parallel universes. In a sense it reminded me of that old saying, "the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same." All of these elements seemed to come together organically and work in harmony with one another, creating an intriguing story full of some fantastic characters.

Ruby is such a kickass phenomenal character that I absolutely fell in love with. Bishara definitely won me over with her heart wrenching story. She was incredibly easy to connect with on an emotional level and it was easy to see why she wished for certain things to be different, to be honest, anyone in her shoes probably would I think. It was incredible, the depth and layers that Bishara gave to her character, when witnessed in the various altered realities. The complexity in her character and journey alone, is enough to definitely keep you invested in her story.

Relativity offers a fascinating spectrum of broad realism blended perfectly well with original sci-fi elements that anyone who enjoys both contemporary and science fiction would enjoy this book. I would highly recommend this to anyone. I think it's definitely near the top of my list of favorite reads this year, where science fiction and contemporary are concerned. Definitely give this book a shot, for sure. It's entertaining, fun, and completely amazing!