Dissonance by Erica O'Rourke

Dissonance (Dissonance)

by Erica O'Rourke

Delancey Sullivan knows for sure that there is more than one universe. Many more. Because every time someone makes a choice, a new, parallel world spins off the existing one. Eating breakfast or skipping it, turning left instead of right, sneaking out instead of staying in bed - all of these choices create an alternate universe in which an echo self takes the road not travelled. Del knows all of this because she's a Walker, someone who can navigate between the worlds, and whose job is to keep the dimensions in harmony.

But Del's decisions have consequences too. And when she secretly starts to investigate other dissonant worlds she's intrigued by the echo versions of Simon Lane, a guy who won't give her the time of day in the main world, but whose alternate selves are uniquely interested. But falling for Simon draws Del closer to a truth that the Council of Walkers is trying to hide - a secret that threatens the fate of the entire multiverse.

Reviewed by Angie on

4 of 5 stars

Share
I really liked Dissonance! I love parallel universes, and I think the author did an amazing job explaining how they work and making them believable. Del is a Walker, meaning she can walk between parallel worlds, known as Echos. Walkers in general are tasked with fixing problems as worlds become corrupt so that the damage doesn't spread to our world. Del isn't licensed yet, since she's only sixteen, but that doesn't stop her from taking unauthorized walks. Then she accidentally unravels an entire world. Oops.

Del is kind of a pain in the butt, but I liked her! She's not one to really obey authority, and of course, that gets her into lots of trouble. She skips class to visit other worlds, because she loves the possibilities. The world she accidentally destroyed? Well, she wanted to fix it, since they are populated with people. I loved this aspect of Dissonance. The parallel worlds are created when you make a decision, so whatever you don't choose creates a world where that was your choice. But are those real people? Del thinks so, especially since the boy she has a crush on only seems to notice her in other worlds.

Dissonance has an interesting romance, since Del kind of starts seeing the Echo of Simon. He's popular, and Del is not, so she's not on his radar. However, in some of the worlds he's not a basketball star, so she runs into him and they hit it off. But is she really falling for the same boy? DNA wise, it's him, but he's made totally different choices and is in a different place in life, so maybe not? Then things get complicated when the "real" Simon starts coming onto her. Is it cheating? Does he like her for her or because of his alternate selves? Who knows!

The main plot of Dissonance has to do with some of the Echo worlds corrupting. It's happening faster than the Walkers can keep up with, and they have no clue what's causing it in the first place. They higher ups' solution is to just cleave the broken worlds, instead of tracking down the source. Del, of course, tracks down the source. It's kind of obvious what's causing it, but not at all why. There's a good explanation, but it did bring up more world building questions for me. Not everything has been revealed, so I'm hoping those will be addressed in the sequel.

Dissonance is really great! The way Walking worked was really clear, since the author includes "excerpts" from Del's text books, and she uses actual examples instead of just similes to explain how things work. It made the logistics more concrete rather than just some idea. Something weird is happening here, and I cannot wait to know what happens next!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 16 December, 2014: Finished reading
  • 16 December, 2014: Reviewed