Parallel

by Lauren Miller

[Angie]

I loved Parallel. It is the perfect mix of science and romance, and I just loved it. Actually, I thought I was going to be annoyed once the romance started to take over the story, but by that point I was completely invested in Abby's life and had to know how this was going to turn out for her. In short, Abby's not living the life she expected. Some things went wrong with her schedule and she ended up on a movie set in L.A. rather than in a classroom at Northwestern. Then her universe collides with an alternate universe and gets tangled. Now, Abby finds herself at Yale with no memory of how she got there. Soon she finds out about the parallel universe and is determined to get her life back on track, or at least embrace the life she wants.

The two worlds of Parallel are one year and one day apart. Any big changes made by 2008 Abby have the potential of changing the present for 2009 Abby (our present day Abby). But technically, didn't this entire year already happen, so all of 2008 Abby's decisions are made, and 2009 Abby wouldn't be experiencing changes, she'd just be living 2008 Abby's life but a year in advance? Or has 2008 technically not happened yet, since the past timeline is suppose to be the dominant one now, so the decisions are still in process which is why 2009 Abby can have her life jolted at any moment? Meanwhile, as the 2008 world continues along, 2009 Abby gains new memories of those past events, as they rewrite her memories as should have happened during the collision like everyone else. Luckily, the way parallel universes work wasn't overly complicated, but it still made my head hurt to think about it too deeply. I loved the deeper sciencey parts though! Hooray for eccentric professors!

The romance...I loved it! It was a love triangle...or maybe a love square...but not really. Present day Abby starts dating a guy named Michael once she's at Yale. Things are going great, but then she starts getting memories of a guy name Josh. 2008 Abby meets Josh when she takes Astronomy instead of Drama, and things click with him. Present day Abby has technically never met Josh, so she shouldn't have lingering feelings about him, especially since she's into Michael. But eventually present day Abby and present day Josh cross paths and things...get weird. There's a twist and I was like NOOO! I was genuinely shocked. And then this is where it seems like Abby's "destiny" is tangled up in her love life, but I was still loving Parallel so I couldn't even care that her choice of boyfriend became more important than her college and career decisions.

Then Parallel shocked me again! That last page is what bumped my rating up to a full 5★. What in the world?! I suffered a bit of brain explosion, because that was perfect. No other ending could have worked. At first it seems a bit open, but it's not really. Abby ends up exactly where she was meant to be, and now it's up to her to go after the life she wants.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.