THROUGH TO YOU by Emily Hainsworth

Through to You
Emily Hainsworth

Rating: B-
Release Date: 10/02/12
Synopsis:
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.

My thoughts on the book:
This is a difficult review for me to write because I didn't enjoy the first 40% at all, but I liked the next 40%, and loved the ending. Now that I've read the entire novel, I understand why the first part was so angsty and depressing, but at the time, I did not like that. To me, this book is a perfect example of what happens when someone makes someone else their entire world. It's dangerous and unhealthy. Either way, the character growth in this novel was astounding, and the ending blew me away. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something different. 

Cam and Viv had an extremely codependent relationship, and I got really sick and tired of hearing about Viv, let me tell you. However, once Cam began to grow as a character, I really liked him and was rooting for him. The secondary characters, other than Nina, weren't that developed. I wish that I had been able to get to know them a little bit better. 

The plot was unique and engaging. Even when Cam was whining, I still kept reading because I just knew something was going to happen. Of course, a lot of that was given away in the synopsis, but Hainsworth has a wonderful writing style that keeps you reading. I'm also very grateful that the author didn't try to explain the parallel dimension thing in great detail because that probably would have given me a headache. 

As stated previously, Cam's character development was excellent. He is a first person narrator, and I felt that he did a good job for the most part... once he got past his angsting. The ending tied things up nicely, but kind of let the reader create his or her own ending as well. I know how things ended up in my version of the world. Even with the open ending, I don't feel that a sequel is needed to wrap things up. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something different to read. This book has a more contemporary feel than most of the alternate dimension/sci-fi type books, so even fans of contemporary should enjoy it. Give it a try, you won't be sorry!

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