Tandem Review

Tandem by Anna Jarzab

Title: Tandem

Author: Anna Jarzab

Series: Many-Worlds Trilogy #1

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: October 8, 2013

Genre: Science Fiction; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 428

Format: Hardback

goodreads

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.

"Everything repeats. You. Your best friend. Every person you know. Many worlds. Many lives-infinite possibilities. Welcome to the multiverse."

Sasha has an unfortunate crush on the best-looking guy in school, named Grant. She is pretty sure he doesn’t even know she exists. But when Grant asks her to prom, she is surprised but quite understandably happy. Prom night is perfection: the dancing, the guy, the dress. Sasha doesn’t think it can get much better than this–until Grant takes across something called the Tandem into another universe that parallels ours. Then, he tells her that his name is not actually Grant but Thomas and she is going to be forced into impersonated a mysteriously vanished princess if she ever wants to go home again. Yeah, this is going to be fun.

It’s hard to do parallel universes right. I have read so many bad ones that I almost didn’t believe that a good one even existed. But, apparently it does. Parallel universes are hard to do (which is probably why nearly everyone gets them wrong), but Jarzab makes it surprisingly simple and even a little bit interesting. You’ve gotta admit, the thought of another universe with another you that may or may not look identical to you, may or may not love the same things you love, may or may not speak the way you do is intriguing. It certainly entertains my mind for hours on end. I could probably just sit and think about the possibilities of parallel universes and never be bored. While Jarzam could’ve added even more depth to her story by elaborating on the exact implications of parallel universes, I am glad she kept as simple as she did. No one wants to read something that gives you a headache.

I finished this book relatively fast. What can I say? I’m a saucebucket for romance. And Jarzab does romance almost as well as she does parallel universes. I loved Thomas even though there was that whole Stockholm syndrome thing going on. Couldn’t help it. I just really like Thomas. Callum, the prince whom Princess Julianna (Sasha’s doppleganger) is supposed to marry, however, was oh-so coincidentally movie-star handsome and seemed very very fake the entire book. I really could not stand that character or how he was written. It just made me frustrated. The “chemistry” between Sasha and Callum was forced and unbelievable. It was annoying.

Overall, not a bad book. Just relatively okay. A good book for filling up time and space. Maybe in another universe, I love this book, but not in this one. I’ll probably read the sequel, but I’m not falling out of my chair waiting for it. 

Tether