Review: Through To You by Emily Hainsworth

Title:  Through To You 

Author: Emily Hainsworth
Publisher:  Balzer + Bray
Publishing Date: October 2nd 2012

Pages: 272
Genre:  YA Sci-Fi Alternate Universe

Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio

  

Camden Pike has been grief-stricken since his girlfriend, Viv, died. Viv was the last good thing in his life: helping him rebuild his identity after a career-ending football injury, picking up the pieces when his home life shattered, and healing his pain long after the meds wore off. And now, he'd give anything for one more glimpse of her. But when Cam makes a visit to the site of Viv's deadly car accident, he sees some kind of apparition. And it isn't Viv.

The apparition's name is Nina, and she's not a ghost. She's a girl from a parallel world, and in this world, Viv is still alive. Cam can't believe his wildest dreams have come true. All he can focus on is getting his girlfriend back, no matter the cost. But things are different in this other world: Viv and Cam have both made very different choices, things between them have changed in unexpected ways, and Viv isn't the same girl he remembers. Nina is keeping some dangerous secrets, too, and the window between the worlds is shrinking every day. As Cam comes to terms with who this Viv has become and the part Nina played in his parallel story, he's forced to choose—stay with Viv or let her go—before the window closes between them once and for all..

This was one of those books that I was interested in from the beginning, but was in no rush to get to it. I was excited when I found it on audio and I gave it a listen. This one is hard for me to review. There were so many good moment in the book and there were also a bunch of slow moments in the book. I liked the story, it was very intriguing, and I found myself wanting to read more but I felt like this was more of a contemporary read then a science fiction. The synopsis leaves nothing to the imagination and so the only surprise was the end. Which I am OK with since I didn't really know what to expect from the book. I do feel like the things that were not mentioned in the synopsis weren't really answered, that was a little disappointing, All in all I enjoyed most of the book, a just a tad could of been a bit better for me. I think it would have been better if the synopsis left something to question.

Camden just lost his girlfriend and is going through some pretty tough grief. He visits the site one night and finds a mysterious girl. After learning she is from a different dimension he follows her through and ends up in a parallel universe, everyone he knows is there but his life is very different, the main difference is his girlfriend, Viv is still alive and a girl named Nina is very close to him. Camden must decide which dimension he wants to live in.

I enjoyed the book. It was a good read. I was a little disappointed in some of the execution and the books slowed in a few parts, especially at that beginning, but it was still an enjoyable read.  The writing was good, very easy to follow and understand. Sometimes with sci-fi can tend to confuse me, I had not problems with this book. The book had more of a contemporary feel than a sc-fi feel, which I enjoyed. It was a great story about dealing with grief, loss, and moving on. The story also had some mystery and of course a bit of romance. It did have a bit of everything. 

The characters were well written and I felt connected to each of them in different ways. Camden was hard to  deal with at times because of the dark mood he was in. The mood was understandable and to me it was realistic. He lost his girlfriend. I wanted him to find some closure and if this alternate reality would help I was rooting for him throughout the story. I also really liked Nina. The only thing that really bothered me about Nina was the all the secrets  she kept. I could see throughout the story she knew more than she was telling Cam. Even thought I knew it was probably for his own sanity, I wanted to know what she knew! She was a strong character though. Very determined and sweet. She gave all to those she loved. She was a decent person with a big heart. I enjoyed her story in the alternate reality and I would have liked to know more of her life. 

The story was slow at times, slower than I usually like my books, but there were parts that were very exciting and kept me going even through the slow. I am glad I had this on audio instead of reading. If I had been reading the physical book, I may have given up or taken forever to finish. The narrator was good and I liked the voice he gave Camden. 

It was a very interstesting story that had some flaws but in the end I was satisfied. I was expecting more sci-fi but instead I found it to be more of a contemporary read with a sci-fi edge, which I was OK with.