Tether by Anna Jarzab

Series: Many-Worlds Series (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: parallel universes, parallel worlds, royalty, princes and princesses

Setting: Hyde Park in Chicago, Illinois, Aurora (a parallel world, not Aurora, IL), New York City (in this book known as Columbia City)

POV/Tense: 1st person POV (Sasha), 3rd person POV interludes of Thomas, Selene, and Juliana, and in past tense

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 305 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “Tether, the sequel to Tandem, continues the captivating tale of rebellion and romance that spans parallel worlds.

Everything repeats.

Sasha expected things to go back to normal once she got back on Earth. But now that she knows parallel worlds are real, and that an alternate version of herself exists in a world called Aurora, her old life no longer seems to make sense . . . and her heart breaks daily for Thomas, the boy she left behind. Troubled by mysterious, often terrifying visions and the echoes of a self she was just beginning to discover, Sasha makes the difficult decision to journey once more through the tandem.

Thomas is waiting for her on the other side, and so is strange, otherworldly Selene, Sasha’s analog from a third universe. Sasha, Selene, and their other analog, Juliana, have a joint destiny, and a new remarkable power, one that could mean salvation for Selene’s dying planet. With Thomas’s help, Sasha and Selene search for the missing Juliana. But even if they can locate her, is Sasha willing to turn her back on love to pursue a fate she’s not sure she believes in?”

My Review:  I enjoyed this book almost as much as the first book, Tandem. I’ve been anticipating this sequel for so long. Tether is a great sequel and it takes us deeper into the world of Aurora and we also discover another analogue or version of Sasha named Selene. Sasha is from Chicago. She was pulled into Aurora by a boy named Thomas who happens to be the analogue of a classmate named Grant. Sasha was forced to pretend to by Princess Juliana, her analogue. Now Juliana is missing again. Sasha goes back to Aurora because she misses Thomas and meets Selene. Selene’s from a world, Taiga, that was hit by an asteroid a hundred years ago.

I really enjoyed the alternate-history, dystopian-like world building. It is really interesting have Aurora is both similar and different from Earth. Aurora is a world in which the aurora is visible everywhere in the night sky. There was a second revolution against the British and the United States or America instead became the United Commonwealth of Columbia. New York City is now Columbia City and Chicago is the Tattered City. There are no presidents, only the king. It’s kind of like The Selection in that way. I love that this book is set in Chicago mostly, even if it’s alternate-Chicago (Tattered City, and in Taiga it’s New Athens). I’m from Chicagoland, so I’m always happy to read books set here.

There’s a good amount of romance in this book. Thomas is very charming and also a great leader and supportive. Sasha’s is very independent, strong-willed and stubborn, as are her analogues. But Thomas sees something unique in her that he prefers over the others. Juliana is a bit spoiled since she’s the princess, but she starting to see that her country has problems. Selene seems fearless and doesn’t understand why Aurora is so different. She’s never seen or heard of some of the worlds or technology there. Aurora is much more similar to Earth than to Taiga. This book  mainly focuses on Aurora, but Selene wants Juliana and Sasha to help save Taiga, so I think the next book will but focused on that world. Also something cool and magical happens that involves discovering an ability.

The narration switches between Sasha’s 1^st person POV, Thomas’s 3^rd person POV, and Selene and Juliana’s 3^rd person POV in italic. I like how the chapter headers change depending on the perspective. If it says Chapter at the top, it’s Sasha. If there’s falling dots, it’s her analogues. 5 stars for Thomas. The pagination on the side also indicates perspective. Circle for Sasha, star for Juliana, crescent moon for Selene, arrow for Thomas. I love it when the book design is creative inside as well as the outside. I love a pretty cover, and pretty pages are awesome too (as long as they are readable).

Cover Art Review: I love this cover just as much as the first book’s. I think the bird is a sparrow and the stars and face inside it represent Juliana. The first book was a starling which represents Sasha.

Divided by Elsie Chapman

Series: Dualed (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: action, assassins, murder, post-apocalyptic

Setting: A city called Kersh in the future

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense: West Grayer

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 309 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Random House

Summary/ product description: “The hunter becomes the hunted. . . .

West Grayer is done killing. She defeated her Alternate, a twin raised by another family, and proved she’s worthy of a future. She’s ready to move on with her life.

The Board has other plans. They want her to kill one last time, and offer her a deal worth killing for. But when West recognizes her target as a ghost from her past, she realizes she’s in over her head. The Board is lying, and West will have to uncover the truth of the past to secure her future.

How far will the Board go to keep their secrets safe? And how far will West go to save those she loves? With nonstop action and surprising twists, Elsie Chapman’s intoxicating sequel to Dualed reveals everything.”

My Review:  I wasn’t sure how Dualed would have a sequel, but I think Divided did a good job. I liked the first book better, but this book had even more assassin stuff and action. The main character is pretty interesting, but also similar to other heroines in dystopian books. West is very blunt in her narration. There’s not a lot of humor, but with the story line it works well.

She’s pretty serious and similar in personality to Katniss from the Hunger Games, but without much sarcasm. She’s also only 15 and has already killed. In the previous book she killed her Alt and assassinated other Alts. West faces the dilemma of being told to assassinate 3 other Alters in exchange for the safety of any future children she’ll have. Is there anyway to be safe in a world where everyone must kill?

The side characters still don’t feel very developed. Cord is West’s boyfriend, and also completed like her. There’s West’s trainer, Baer, a little kid named Dess and other characters. We also got to know more about the history of Kersh. They never say what country the book’s set in. It could be Canada or even Japan, since the author is a Japanese Canadian. It’s most likely in North America, somewhere on the coastline. We find out about why there are Alters and what Kersh used to be.

I can’t say I truly enjoyed Divided because I ended up skimming a lot of parts. I lost interest in some parts, but some of the action made up for it enough to be 3 stars. I like dystopian series and this one is very unique compared to other ones. The world building is good. The idea of everyone having a doppelganger that they have to eliminate. It’s a good concept, but the story wasn’t as fast paced as I hoped.

I recommend this to fans of Enclave by Ann Aguirre, The Hunger Games, and various other dystopian series.

Cover Art Review: I love the repeating girl and guy in the mirrors and the hexagonal floor tiles. The color scheme is good. The turquoise, violet and red go together.

Tandem by Anna Jarzab

Series: The Many Worlds Trilogy (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: parallel universes, parallel worlds, royalty, princes and princesses

Setting: Hyde Park in Chicago, Illinois, Aurora (a parallel world, not Aurora, IL), New York City (in this book known as Columbia City)

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV (Sasha), 3^rd person POV interludes of Thomas and Juliana, and past tense

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 428 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “Everything repeats.

You. Your best friend. Every person you know.

Many worlds. Many lives--infinite possibilities.

Welcome to the multiverse.

Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. When she was young, she loved her grandfather's stories of parallel worlds inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real--until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will.

To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love--one who knows her secret, and one who thinks she's someone she's not.

The first book in the Many-Worlds Trilogy, Tandem is a riveting saga of love and betrayal set in parallel universes in which nothing--and no one--is what it seems.”

My Review: Sasha grew up in Chicago, in the neighborhood of Hyde Park. I live in Chicagoland and when I found out about the setting I was even more excited about this book that when I just saw the cover and that it was about parallel universes. There have been so many YA book about parallel universes that came out in 2013. This book had a very unique take on them. There’s a world similar to our own called Aurora, because they can see aurora lights in the sky every night. Aurora shares some of the same history that Earth does, up until the Revolutionary War, which had a dramatically different outcome. 

Sasha is asked to prom by her longtime crush, Grant. He turns out to not be Grant, but Thomas, a version of Grant from another universe. He takes her to his world. When Sasha arrives in Aurora she can’t believe it’s a different world. She also finds out that her dreams of Princess Juliana were real and that she is somehow tethered to her analog (doppelganger). Sasha is taken to the capital city of the United Commonwealth of Columbia, Columbia City (located in what is Manhattan to us). Sasha must impersonate Princess Juliana, since she was kidnapped. She has to act like a princess and not get found out. She also has to meet Juliana’s fiancé, who’s the prince of the warring country, Farnham (which is the western side of the US, across the Mississippi River). She develops a close relationship with Thomas and there’s some romance.

I absolutely love the characters. They are very believable and Sasha’s so relatable. Sasha is a Chicagoan and book lover and sometimes gets emotional. She cries at some parts, but she’s very strong-willed and stubborn. She determined, modest and many other thing. She’s different from Juliana personality-wise. Thomas is also a pretty good male lead. He’s smart and loyal and helpful. He may be too loyal to some people, but his heart’s always in the right place. Callum, the prince, is pretty kind and sweet. He kind of seems like Prince Maxon from the Selection. He was overly sheltered and not allowed to travel.  I liked some of the side characters too. Gina was kind of an assistant and helped Sasha with clothes. She helped Sasha play Juliana. 

I also enjoyed Dr. Moss. He was basically Walter Bishop from Fringe. That’s how I pictured him. He’s a scientist, physicist and knows about parallel universes and developed some of the technology that allows crossing from one to another. This book definitely made me think of Fringe a lot. I love all the science behind parallel universe theories and that there’s an infinite number of possible universes based off of choices and diversions and events. I though it was really cool and I still keep thinking of it as “the other side” and Walter’s voice in my head explaining it.

So, I definitely loved this book. I think that there’s an infinite number of reason why I loved it and there’s so many thing that it reminded me of. So, I recommend this book to fans of the TV show Fringe. The books: The Selection series by Kiera Cass, Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris, Pawn by Aimee Carter, Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell, Crewel by Gennifer Albin, 3:59 by Gretchen McNeill, Parallel by Lauren Miller, and by Cinder by Marissa Meyer. 

Cover Art Review: I love this cover more than any other book I’ve seen this past year. The colors are amazing. It’s the kind of cover that I would make. I love aurora and prism colors. Purple, blue and teal green. I love the unique typeface used on the cover. I like the bird silhouette with the girl’s face in it. I like the sparkles and reflection and all the dots and stars on the back cover. The dot pattern is cool. I also love the graphic used in side the book to differentiate parts and chapter and perspectives. I like that there’s a different symbol under the page number for each POV (dot, star, arrow). This is the most well designed book I’ve seen inside and out. If only there was an embossed symbol under the dust jacket. I really wish I bought this book.