J. Q. Coyle

Alicia wonders whether she's insane, thanks to blackouts that have been getting stronger, lasting longer, and now involve her long absent father. When he reappears at her sixteenth birthday party and tries to tell her she's not crazy and needs to stop taking all the pills her uncle has been prescribing for her, it's the crack in her unstable life that starts her on a very strange journey. It involves multiverses as she's what is known as a spandrel, and like her dad is quite a powerful one. In order to stay safe and make sense of everything, she must move through several different realities and deal with different iterations of each person in her life. It's scary. Read the book to see how she pulls it off.… (more)

The Infinty of You & Me, a collaboration between authors Julianna Baggott and Quinn Dalton, is a fascinating take on multiverse theory. Every decision made creates a new parallel universe. And for Alicia, every single decision is a paralyzing moment, no matter how seemingly insignificant the choice. Her entire life has been plagued by disorders and medications, which are now escalation into hallucinations. It has left her, at times, barely able to function in the world. Without the help of her best friend, life would probably be unbearable.

Alicia lives alone with her mother, her father long gone. But during her birthday party, he shows up and explains to her that she isn't crazy, that there is nothing wrong with her. Her hallucinations are real, glimpses into other universes, a gift that not everyone has but that many want to use for their own purposes.

I love multiverse books, and this one was no different. The multiverse theory, while theoretical at best, is thought-provoking. Are the parallel universes as real is the original, the people as important? This question is at the center of the novel. Where is the line of ethics when it comes to the multiverse? That, too, is at the center of the book, relying heavily on the answer to the first question.

It is interesting to read books like this and compare the ways in which they make the multiverse real and viable. In one series, a device is used to take a traveler from universe to universe. In another, the traveler slips between the threads of frequencies that make up the "walls" between universes. In this book, it is physical triggers of pain applied in specific places that does the trick.

As a fan of the multiverse genre, I really enjoyed this book. The authors added some unique twists to the theory.… (more)