Sunday, September 14, 2014

3:59 by Gretchen McNeil


Published:September 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 368
Copy Provided by: Library
Summary: Goodreads

Summary:
Josie Byrne's life is spiraling out of control. Her parents are divorcing, her boyfriend Nick has grown distant, and her physics teacher has it in for her. When she's betrayed by the two people she trusts most, Josie thinks things can't get worse.

Until she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time—3:59 a.m.

Jo's life is everything Josie wants: she's popular, her parents are happily married, and Nick adores her. It all seems real, but they're just dreams, right? Josie thinks so, until she wakes one night to a shadowy image of herself in the bedroom mirror – Jo. 

Josie and Jo realize that they are doppelgängers living in parallel universes that overlap every twelve hours at exactly 3:59. Fascinated by Jo's perfect world, Josie jumps at the chance to jump through the portal and switch places for a day.

But Jo’s world is far from perfect. Not only is Nick not Jo's boyfriend, he hates her. Jo's mom is missing, possibly insane. And at night, shadowy creatures feed on human flesh.

By the end of the day, Josie is desperate to return to her own life. But there’s a problem: Jo has sealed the portal, trapping Josie in this dangerous world. Can she figure out a way home before it’s too late?

Review:

I really enjoy titles by Gretchen McNeil.  Her books tend to be stand-alone titles.  She does have a new title coming out entitled Get Even next week that is on my TBR list already.  The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars.  Sounds deliciously mysterious to me!

3:59 was a bit of a departure from my regular reads.  I really had to wrap my head around this separate universe that Josie had discovered.  What I enjoyed is that I had not encountered this concept in a YA stand-alone before.  Gretchen took a seemingly complicated concept and made it readable and identifiable.  There are several themes you could pull from this read to turn it into a challenging ISU title.  This was such an interesting read!  Josie has a chance to keep things in her life similar but live them better.  Pretty tempting when your life feels like it is falling apart, or is it?  

My question for you readers is this - if the same people in your life existed in a different universe, would you want to "switch" and have a chance to live your life differently? 


1 comment:

  1. the story sounds cool and a lot like Parallel by Lauren Miller. But seriously Gretchen McNeil is one author i am itching to check out on, haven't had the chance but reading so many great reviews is getting me excited. As to your question i am always up for a little adventure but before i do something like that i would make sure the other me won't get the chance to double cross me.... :)

    Aparajita @Le' Grande Codex

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