Through To You by Emily Hainsworth

Through To You by Emily Hainsworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads: 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: Besides Kristen White's trilogy, most paranormal YA books are rather dark and moody. This isn't quite paranormal which is fresh and interesting. It's not quite dark but definitely moody. It begins with Cam trying to plod through life after a car accident that killed his girlfriend, Viv. Cam's a downer. Life will never be good again because Viv was all of his life. He had football but blew out his knee. It still hurts. So he sits on the corner of the scene of the accident and smokes. And broods. Then one day he sees an apparition of a girl. Could be...? But it's not. It's a stranger. But there is a portal to an alternative reality. Cool.

What I liked about this book is the exploration of "what if..." If things were different and Cam made different choices, what would his life look like? In the alternate reality, there it is. Who he knew as Viv, through different choices, blossoms into a person different than the Viv he knew, although not completely. It's the same personality, just played out differently. Oh, so interesting. I liked that the reader could experience the two worlds and understand the personalities of the main characters more clearly. Potential is a funny thing. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Language is strong.
Sex has strong innuendo.
Violence is mild beyond death. Which is not violent but not detailed.

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