first line: "At sixteen, Alaric and Naia were as alike as any two people of opposite sexes can be."

Michael Lawrence bases his Withern Rise trilogy on the premise that when there are two equally possible outcomes to a situation, sometimes both occur, and reality splinters. In one reality, a woman gives birth to a girl; in another, her baby is a boy. In one reality, a passenger survives a train wreck; in another, she isn't so fortunate.

In A Crack in the Line, Alaric Underwood accidentally crosses into the reality of Naia, his female counterpart. (Not quite the same as getting in touch with his feminine side....) The novel traces the experiences of and developing relationship between these two teens.

Lawrence's writing is simple but elegant, his characters interesting and discrete (even Alaric and Naia), and his execution of the theoretical premise satisfying. On finishing this book, I couldn't wait to begin Small Eternities. ( )

A creepy, edge-of-your-seat fantasy about two young people who are living ALMOST the same lives! Thought-provoking, mysterious, entertaining ( )

An interesting take on the view of the possibility offered by physics of multiple universes. However, not very realistic at all although the characters and the situations they found themselves in were intriguing. ( )

Alaric's life has not been the same in the last two years since his mother died. When he is suddenly transfered between realities he discovers Naia, who is pretty much the girl version of himself, living his same life except that her mother survived the train wreck. This book explores the possibility that when there is an equal chance of things happening, the idea that reality cracks and the two possibilities both are created. Really interesting stuff to think about and a well-written story. When I finished I couldn't wait to see what the author did with book 2 of the series. ( )

A young man finds, by accident, an alternative existence where the circumstances of his life and the characters that he is familiar with have taken another turn. It is similar to the mirror in Harry Potter books, where Harry can see images of his parents or in the movie “Sliding Door” which portrays a young woman with romantic decisions to make and the alternative roads that she may have taken if she would have made other choices. The book ends surprisingly with Alaric’s transformation into his alternate world for good. ( )