Parallel

I loved this book. And it wasn't because of the writing or the plot. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure entirely why I loved this book. It kind of reminded me of Gimme a Call, but instead of the Abby's being apart of the same time stream, in this one the girls live in two different dimensions. I think one of the reasons I loved this book is because one of the themes was how choices can define your life and you as a person. And if someone is different, who's to say that the people they choose to love and love them aren't so different either? Abby-from-Here (the true main character) starts dating this guy named Michael while she's attending Yale. Which she is absolutely beguiled about because she wanted to study journalism at Northwestern (this was a flaw for me in the novel because Yale doesn't have journalism, yet we never learn Abby's major or if she even has one) and in her world she's currently staring in a movie that she was forced to give up college for. That is until her world collides with a parallel Earth (let's call it Earth 2)and her life starts being dictated by Abby-from-There's (Abby 2's) choices because her world takes place a whole year later.

I've been searching all over for novels about situations similar to the premise of this book. Just the other day I finally got a hold of one called Don't You Wish but could barely get through it because of how boring and superficial it was. Sure, this book had it's bad points but another reason I loved it, was that it made me think. People always wonder how different choices could have determined their lives or themselves as a person and in this novel we really got to see that. I understood Abby-from-Here's fear about waking up and being in a whole new place with a new history every night. I understood her confusion about Josh although that could've been emphasized. And I definitely understood her wish to get her best friends, Caitlyn and Tyler together and it soooo sucked that that backfired. I especially understood her anger and anguish when Abby-from-There (2) caused the car accident that could've killed Ilana (the mean girl) in her quest to get her friends together and how it nearly killed all her friendships.

But I mostly loved the ending. Although I had a few problems with it. We got introduced to all this scientific theory in the beginning, I expected that in the end, this would be the savior. But it also makes sense about why that didn't end the book. I guess I just felt like it was rushed. Abby-from-Here and Abby-from-There chose the boys that we didn't actually get to see them dating in the novel. Instead we got brief moments with them before Abby-from-Here chose to be with Josh and Abby-from-There chose to be with Michael (ha! I caught onto them being brothers only paragraphs before it was revealed). But looking back, it kind of made sense for Michael and Abby-from-There to be together. He loved/wanted/liked the Abby who was a rowing/boating team member. Haha, that's my only clue but still. However, I didn't like we were kind of pushed into that direction. Both Abby's had a flash of the future in which their "soul-mates" starred and from there, realized who they should be with.

Abby-from-Here took this widely romantic gesture after breaking up with Michael on a whim to be with Josh, who she barely knows. However, luckily she doesn't have to be with a Josh who already knows how to be with her. In the end, the earth's separate (or that's my theory) and each Abby's life is her own. Abby-from-Here's life reverts back to the beginning of the novel where she is starring in a movie. Only luckily as fate has it, she was supposed to be with Josh after all and ends up meeting him for the first time at the baseball game she Choose him at. So now, she has the chance to be with Josh and it's assumed after main Abby declares it, that Abby-from-There chose to be with Michael and go to Yale and be on the rowing team. I kind of wished we had gotten to see more about that but this book wasn't about Abby-from-There but Abby-from-Here. Overall, though I enjoyed it.