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Another Dimension of Us
Mike Albo delivers a thrilling transdimensional love story in what can best be described as
The Breakfast Club
meets Brit Marling's
The OA
, as five teens travel across the astral plane at different points in the past, present, and future of the rapidly changing Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Renaldo Calabasas may be the most talented writer Heron High has produced. But at the height of the AIDS crisis and amidst the homophobia present most everywhere in 1986, not many of his fellow students seem to agree. But something changes the night Rene is struck by lightning and only his closest friend, Katie, and love interest, Tommy, can tell he's undergone some inexplicable transformation. Meanwhile in 2036, Heron High students Priss and Gaye survive an ongoing plague called "The Virus" as they try to solve the mystery of what happened fifty years earlier in what locals affectionately call "The Murder House." At the scene of the crimes, they happen upon an old self-help novel that is effectively a guide to transdimensional travel. As bodies and minds merge and travel across the astral plane, the characters discover that they are not as isolated as they often feel and that the shadow chasing them all might very well be a reflection of their own darkest secrets.
Renaldo Calabasas may be the most talented writer Heron High has produced. But at the height of the AIDS crisis and amidst the homophobia present most everywhere in 1986, not many of his fellow students seem to agree. But something changes the night Rene is struck by lightning and only his closest friend, Katie, and love interest, Tommy, can tell he's undergone some inexplicable transformation. Meanwhile in 2036, Heron High students Priss and Gaye survive an ongoing plague called "The Virus" as they try to solve the mystery of what happened fifty years earlier in what locals affectionately call "The Murder House." At the scene of the crimes, they happen upon an old self-help novel that is effectively a guide to transdimensional travel. As bodies and minds merge and travel across the astral plane, the characters discover that they are not as isolated as they often feel and that the shadow chasing them all might very well be a reflection of their own darkest secrets.
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First published January 17, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
January 31, 2023
I hate ranking a book one star especially one with a greatly diverse cast of characters. But this book was so bizarre. The plot of this book could have made for an interesting story but I think the author threw too much into the story and I never understood what the book was aiming for. We have astral projection, the AIDS crisis, past and future teens, a mystery of sorts with a murder house, all the main leads write poetry, the world dealing with a new way of life after the pandemic and more. In the first few chapters we have met three main characters. Then well into the book we suddenly get several new main characters in a different timeline who have POV chapters. This was just jarring. The astral projection elements felt like an extra rough acid trip. The writing itself isn’t bad and if the author had chosen a few of these plot elements and gone deeper into them, this could have been much stronger.
November 24, 2022
Another Dimension of Us follows two different timelines before a merge of the two due to Astral Porjection. I was definitely a bit confused with this topic at the beginning. Many time travel novels don't go this route so it was very intriguing. They start of this book immediately captured me. After that I did find it harder to get through some of the following parts due to pace change but i am glad that i did.
All the the characters felt very realistic and I liked that we got development to most of them, some more than others. Tommy was my favorite and I adored reading about his story. I loved reading about Tommy and his gay yearning even though the time period made it quite sad. Pris was also fun to read about! I loved her friendship with Jayde as well as Tommy later on. I really enjoyed the dynamics in this book. I was also a fan of the queerness in this novel all around! The emphasis on poetry and writing, especially at the beginning. was also a highlight.
There was quite a lot going on plotwise after the first section. I was rooting for our little crew throughout the whole novel. Despite it not having the ending I'd prefer, it was still well done. I cried, I laughed, I'm not sure how to feel now but yk! This was overall a very enjoyable queer and hopeful novel. I mean if that blurb and cover doesn't interest you then I don't know what will.
All the the characters felt very realistic and I liked that we got development to most of them, some more than others. Tommy was my favorite and I adored reading about his story. I loved reading about Tommy and his gay yearning even though the time period made it quite sad. Pris was also fun to read about! I loved her friendship with Jayde as well as Tommy later on. I really enjoyed the dynamics in this book. I was also a fan of the queerness in this novel all around! The emphasis on poetry and writing, especially at the beginning. was also a highlight.
There was quite a lot going on plotwise after the first section. I was rooting for our little crew throughout the whole novel. Despite it not having the ending I'd prefer, it was still well done. I cried, I laughed, I'm not sure how to feel now but yk! This was overall a very enjoyable queer and hopeful novel. I mean if that blurb and cover doesn't interest you then I don't know what will.
July 21, 2023
Thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me an eARC and physical copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I mean this in the best way possible, but what the fuck did I read?? Did I enjoy it: absolutely. Am I still kinda confused, yes 😂.
Another Dimension of Us was a wild ride. This book is definitely sci-fi but in a different way. Think more like Warcross, astral projecting and time travel! I didn’t know what to expect going into this one and I absolutely loved how weird this book was. It is truly over the place, but in the best way! I definitely plan to reread this one at some point. I really loved the characters and how the time lines crossed each other. The ending had me in tears.
Rep: white gay cis male MC with anxiety, BIPOC queer cis female MC with vitiligo, white lesbian cis female side character, Black queer nonbinary side character, Latino achillean cis male side character, various queer side characters.
CWs: AIDS epidemic (mentions/discussion, fear of it), pandemic mentions (both AIDS and futuristic unknown viruses), quarantine and virus screening mentions, death, death of loved one, homophobia/homomisia, general queerphobia/queermisia, ableism, bullying (towards character with vitiligo and gay character in separate instances), mentions of racism, fire/fire injury, medical content, lightning strike, violence, injury/injury detail, queerphobic slurs, gay used as an insult.
I mean this in the best way possible, but what the fuck did I read?? Did I enjoy it: absolutely. Am I still kinda confused, yes 😂.
Another Dimension of Us was a wild ride. This book is definitely sci-fi but in a different way. Think more like Warcross, astral projecting and time travel! I didn’t know what to expect going into this one and I absolutely loved how weird this book was. It is truly over the place, but in the best way! I definitely plan to reread this one at some point. I really loved the characters and how the time lines crossed each other. The ending had me in tears.
Rep: white gay cis male MC with anxiety, BIPOC queer cis female MC with vitiligo, white lesbian cis female side character, Black queer nonbinary side character, Latino achillean cis male side character, various queer side characters.
CWs: AIDS epidemic (mentions/discussion, fear of it), pandemic mentions (both AIDS and futuristic unknown viruses), quarantine and virus screening mentions, death, death of loved one, homophobia/homomisia, general queerphobia/queermisia, ableism, bullying (towards character with vitiligo and gay character in separate instances), mentions of racism, fire/fire injury, medical content, lightning strike, violence, injury/injury detail, queerphobic slurs, gay used as an insult.
May 26, 2023
A mind-bending delight. As someone who came of age in the 1980s, I identified with the arty goth poetry-writing queer misfits in the first section of the book but I really loved it when the queer kids of the past and the future started meeting up in the astral plane, which was like some kind of wild, Technicolor psychedelic Alice in Wonderland meets all the weirdest parts of Star Wars (the first movie! the original!) meets The Breakfast Club meets Euphoria...it's also so slyly funny and ironic in a way that adult readers, especially Gen X and Xennials, will really vibe on. Finally, it's very sweet and moving - it's a tribute to queer kids past present and future and the (sometimes queer, sometimes not) teachers who opened up our worlds and taught us to fantasize, dream and create amid the difficulties of growing up LGBTQ. I devoured this book—it's a wild, trippy, sweet rollercoaster ride of a novel! I want more from Mike Albo!
January 14, 2023
thank you to penguin young readers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
a queer sci-fi, that’s usually right up my alley. however, and it truly pains me to say this, but it was really not for me.
it started off so strong, following tommy and rené, writing their poems, silently pining after each other, and seemingly falling their way into a supernatural/magical situation. based on what i knew, from the blurbs and how it was marketed, i was mostly expecting to be following these two boys as they went searching for each other. interacting with the second timeline much more indirectly than they actually did.
but okay, for the first 1/3 or so, we did have this much more focused story. tommy, rené, and dara, each trying to figure out themselves in high school. trying to figure out what’s going on with rené and his obsession with astral projection. that was all alright. it really did unfortunately start going downhill a bit more for me when we were introduced to pris and jayde.
it’s from here that you could tell that this book was most probably written at the height of covid lockdowns. their timeline has a deadly virus that’s impacted their lives for 20+ years aka literally covid. and i, for one, do not love even the fictional idea that that many years into the future we’ll still be grappling with a pandemic. one that looks to be even more deadlier. no thank you! our currently reality is already anxiety-inducing and impactful enough.
but okay, aside from that. it’s once these characters timelines cross over that it really starts to go off the rails for me, personally. the characters spend a good portion of the book in this astral world, and while that’d be fine and dandy. it truly felt like the author was trying to think of any “whimsical” thing they could and literally throw it at the characters. the middle portion was wasted with them doing every random challenge possible. you could take that out and the book’s progression would be exactly the same. so this was definitely the most difficult part for me to get through.
after that, it definitely moves fairly quickly, but i really did just struggle to connect with the characters. and not only that but the “final battle” of sorts felt almost… too easy? idk, it just all wrapped so quickly. things happened. and then they wrapped everything up. eventually the author connected these characters back in the “earthly world”, which i did appreciate.
but beyond the big picture, there were so many little things that just added up. mainly, with when tommy and pris interacted in the astral plane at the beginning. there were so many things that tommy would ask that pris just wouldn’t answer. like, important things to their respective timelines. just so many little things…
overall, this was quite a struggle to get through. the stakes were never really that high. the idea, while it had so much potential, definitely fell so flat for me. i know this will find an audience, but that audience isn’t me this time.
a queer sci-fi, that’s usually right up my alley. however, and it truly pains me to say this, but it was really not for me.
it started off so strong, following tommy and rené, writing their poems, silently pining after each other, and seemingly falling their way into a supernatural/magical situation. based on what i knew, from the blurbs and how it was marketed, i was mostly expecting to be following these two boys as they went searching for each other. interacting with the second timeline much more indirectly than they actually did.
but okay, for the first 1/3 or so, we did have this much more focused story. tommy, rené, and dara, each trying to figure out themselves in high school. trying to figure out what’s going on with rené and his obsession with astral projection. that was all alright. it really did unfortunately start going downhill a bit more for me when we were introduced to pris and jayde.
it’s from here that you could tell that this book was most probably written at the height of covid lockdowns. their timeline has a deadly virus that’s impacted their lives for 20+ years aka literally covid. and i, for one, do not love even the fictional idea that that many years into the future we’ll still be grappling with a pandemic. one that looks to be even more deadlier. no thank you! our currently reality is already anxiety-inducing and impactful enough.
but okay, aside from that. it’s once these characters timelines cross over that it really starts to go off the rails for me, personally. the characters spend a good portion of the book in this astral world, and while that’d be fine and dandy. it truly felt like the author was trying to think of any “whimsical” thing they could and literally throw it at the characters. the middle portion was wasted with them doing every random challenge possible. you could take that out and the book’s progression would be exactly the same. so this was definitely the most difficult part for me to get through.
after that, it definitely moves fairly quickly, but i really did just struggle to connect with the characters. and not only that but the “final battle” of sorts felt almost… too easy? idk, it just all wrapped so quickly. things happened. and then they wrapped everything up. eventually the author connected these characters back in the “earthly world”, which i did appreciate.
but beyond the big picture, there were so many little things that just added up. mainly, with when tommy and pris interacted in the astral plane at the beginning. there were so many things that tommy would ask that pris just wouldn’t answer. like, important things to their respective timelines. just so many little things…
overall, this was quite a struggle to get through. the stakes were never really that high. the idea, while it had so much potential, definitely fell so flat for me. i know this will find an audience, but that audience isn’t me this time.
Want to read
July 4, 2022A queer book that’s very similar to the OA? Say less. I’ll preorder this.
February 22, 2023
DNF @ 30%
Authors stop incorporating the pandemic into every YA book challenge
I didn't vibe with the writing, and I was willing to push a little bit further to give this book a smidge of a chance, but the minute I got to Pris's perspective I was done. There is a bunch of new, stupid, idiotic, future lingo and none of it is explained. It just sounded so dumb. Not to mention the fact that her part takes place in 2044, 21 years from now, and all the technological advancements are so unrealistic. I also absolutely hate and detest how the author incorporated COVID but made it so much worse with lockdowns every two days. People read to escape reality, not to make anxiety worse.
It was just a stupid book and there is not one thing that I liked about it. Would not recommend
Authors stop incorporating the pandemic into every YA book challenge
I didn't vibe with the writing, and I was willing to push a little bit further to give this book a smidge of a chance, but the minute I got to Pris's perspective I was done. There is a bunch of new, stupid, idiotic, future lingo and none of it is explained. It just sounded so dumb. Not to mention the fact that her part takes place in 2044, 21 years from now, and all the technological advancements are so unrealistic. I also absolutely hate and detest how the author incorporated COVID but made it so much worse with lockdowns every two days. People read to escape reality, not to make anxiety worse.
It was just a stupid book and there is not one thing that I liked about it. Would not recommend
May 25, 2023
Interesting premise, poor execution.
December 13, 2024
Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Another Dimension of Us follows Tommy Gaye in 1986, who’s struggling to reconcile with his (very gay) feelings for his best friend Renaldo. But when René gets sucked into the world of astral projection (fancy way of saying they travel through dimensions and time), things turn upside down. At the same time, Pris from 2044 goes to the same high school, but by her time the world has been shook by a deadly virus and life had changed forever. And somehow… Tommy and Pris cross paths in the midst of trying to save their respective friends from a mysterious demon.
Ok, here’s the thing: this book was so promising. And I honestly think that if the plot had followed more of what the actual synopsis MAKES it sound like, it would have a better execution? But the reality is that it’s exactly as confusing as I made it sound in my own summary, and I struggled a LOT coming up with those words (hopefully it mostly makes sense).
A big problem I had with it was simply the (lack of) cohesion. The POV was consistent on Tommy for the first 20%ish and then at one point just kept switching, very rapidly, to characters I don’t think were necessary to hear thoughts from.
The pacing, too, was awkward. It started off steady, then dragged on for a good chunk as it was inching towards the point of the book, and by the time it was speeding up again, we had another problem: the plot. The plot, once the whole interdimensional travel thingy happened, was written to be so incredibly wacky and out of context, that I had an extremely hard time taking it seriously.
There was also the element that the 2044 plot was referencing a “virus” that appeared and never /DIS/appeared twenty years previous… a direct reference to covid. And, I mean, I’m not necessarily against integrating some sort of epidemic into a story based around the future, but it kinda overdramatized the effects to the point where it made it seem so silly and outlandish. When in reality, this epidemic has killed millions of people worldwide.
I also just in general did not like the characters. The 1986 timeline was better than the 2044 timeline in terms of characters, and I think that’s because they had clear motivations and a more concrete context, whereas the 2044 characters were in this very made-up world with holograms of people to BUY to have as a girlfriend, hovercars, and everything social running through a single social platform that’s never really explained. It’s just? Not at ALL what can possibly happen between now and 20 years in the future.
This book was honestly very ridiculous. I really, really enjoyed the concept, but I wish the book had been focused more on one timeline (the 1980’s timeline) and built those characters and their struggles, rather than adding external, theoretical factors.
Content Warnings: death, injury (lighting strike), disturbing imagery, coma, kidnapping, supernatural possession, bullying, infidelity (of a parent)
Another Dimension of Us follows Tommy Gaye in 1986, who’s struggling to reconcile with his (very gay) feelings for his best friend Renaldo. But when René gets sucked into the world of astral projection (fancy way of saying they travel through dimensions and time), things turn upside down. At the same time, Pris from 2044 goes to the same high school, but by her time the world has been shook by a deadly virus and life had changed forever. And somehow… Tommy and Pris cross paths in the midst of trying to save their respective friends from a mysterious demon.
Ok, here’s the thing: this book was so promising. And I honestly think that if the plot had followed more of what the actual synopsis MAKES it sound like, it would have a better execution? But the reality is that it’s exactly as confusing as I made it sound in my own summary, and I struggled a LOT coming up with those words (hopefully it mostly makes sense).
A big problem I had with it was simply the (lack of) cohesion. The POV was consistent on Tommy for the first 20%ish and then at one point just kept switching, very rapidly, to characters I don’t think were necessary to hear thoughts from.
The pacing, too, was awkward. It started off steady, then dragged on for a good chunk as it was inching towards the point of the book, and by the time it was speeding up again, we had another problem: the plot. The plot, once the whole interdimensional travel thingy happened, was written to be so incredibly wacky and out of context, that I had an extremely hard time taking it seriously.
There was also the element that the 2044 plot was referencing a “virus” that appeared and never /DIS/appeared twenty years previous… a direct reference to covid. And, I mean, I’m not necessarily against integrating some sort of epidemic into a story based around the future, but it kinda overdramatized the effects to the point where it made it seem so silly and outlandish. When in reality, this epidemic has killed millions of people worldwide.
I also just in general did not like the characters. The 1986 timeline was better than the 2044 timeline in terms of characters, and I think that’s because they had clear motivations and a more concrete context, whereas the 2044 characters were in this very made-up world with holograms of people to BUY to have as a girlfriend, hovercars, and everything social running through a single social platform that’s never really explained. It’s just? Not at ALL what can possibly happen between now and 20 years in the future.
This book was honestly very ridiculous. I really, really enjoyed the concept, but I wish the book had been focused more on one timeline (the 1980’s timeline) and built those characters and their struggles, rather than adding external, theoretical factors.
Content Warnings: death, injury (lighting strike), disturbing imagery, coma, kidnapping, supernatural possession, bullying, infidelity (of a parent)
August 4, 2023
I dnf’d this book at 51%
The writing is really good! The author managed to really capture me at the beginning of the book, I actually thought this was going to end up being a four star read. But then the author started doing to much. Multiple main characters and plots were being introduced until the point I got really bored. I really wanted to finish it but after 30% I started skipping lines and I didn’t pay attention anymore.
Along with the writing the characters were really diverse. I really liked that!
The author definitely has talent and I think if I pick up one of their other books I’ll really enjoy it. Just not this one!
The writing is really good! The author managed to really capture me at the beginning of the book, I actually thought this was going to end up being a four star read. But then the author started doing to much. Multiple main characters and plots were being introduced until the point I got really bored. I really wanted to finish it but after 30% I started skipping lines and I didn’t pay attention anymore.
Along with the writing the characters were really diverse. I really liked that!
The author definitely has talent and I think if I pick up one of their other books I’ll really enjoy it. Just not this one!
November 4, 2024
was kinda confused for most of it so i don’t really know how to rate it
January 20, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for an earc of this book!
This is such an interesting mix of historical fiction and sci-fi and time travel but really astral plane travel??? Also like possession? Lmao there is a lot going on.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and the characters. At times there was a bit much happening and the MC went hard on the self-pity, but I enjoyed the character development and the way things turned out!
This is such an interesting mix of historical fiction and sci-fi and time travel but really astral plane travel??? Also like possession? Lmao there is a lot going on.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and the characters. At times there was a bit much happening and the MC went hard on the self-pity, but I enjoyed the character development and the way things turned out!
Read
December 10, 2023dnf at 45%
thank you (kind of lmao) to netgalley and penguinteen for an eARC of this book, all opinions are my own
i feel so bad not finishing this book but it is just... it's so juvenile in its writing but so mature in its subject matter and the disconnect is really throwing me off. i really like all the representation throughout this book, since pretty much everyone in the cast is queer in some way and most are also poc. but that doesn't cover the fact that this book jumps through events so quickly and haphazardly that i have no idea what's going on and why it matters. i think the concept could've been interesting but the execution, at least up until the halfway mark, was very much lacking.
thank you (kind of lmao) to netgalley and penguinteen for an eARC of this book, all opinions are my own
i feel so bad not finishing this book but it is just... it's so juvenile in its writing but so mature in its subject matter and the disconnect is really throwing me off. i really like all the representation throughout this book, since pretty much everyone in the cast is queer in some way and most are also poc. but that doesn't cover the fact that this book jumps through events so quickly and haphazardly that i have no idea what's going on and why it matters. i think the concept could've been interesting but the execution, at least up until the halfway mark, was very much lacking.
February 8, 2023
Fascinating but flawed. This was one of those books that I enjoyed the most at the beginning, when I had no idea what was going on. The more that was explained of the plot and the world-building, the less engaged I felt. To put it another way, this starts out very "This book has everything:" astral projection! the 1980s! a murder house! big time skips! dream dimensions! a 100% queer cast! time travel! demons! the Spanish Civil War! And when you don't know yet how those things connect, it's kind of exciting. But then you start to find out. And it's just sort of like... oh.
Oh: the entire middle is a long sequence that feels like a cross between Inception and Inside Out. Oh: there are too many POVs. Oh: even when the entire cast is queer, it's still
Basically: I admire a lot of what Albo was trying to do with this book, and it's ambitious and immersive in certain details. But in others it's incredibly convoluted and I kind of stopped understanding what I was meant to be getting out of the story. mlm/wlw solidarity adventure? YES. But I also need the adventure itself to be coherent and satisfying.
Oh: the entire middle is a long sequence that feels like a cross between Inception and Inside Out. Oh: there are too many POVs. Oh: even when the entire cast is queer, it's still
Basically: I admire a lot of what Albo was trying to do with this book, and it's ambitious and immersive in certain details. But in others it's incredibly convoluted and I kind of stopped understanding what I was meant to be getting out of the story. mlm/wlw solidarity adventure? YES. But I also need the adventure itself to be coherent and satisfying.
dnf
February 9, 2023Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with an e-ARC of Another Dimension of Us & PRH Audio for the complimentary audiobook!
DNF @ about a quarter of the way.
Another Dimension of Us definitely has some nice vibes, but unfortunately, I couldn't motivate myself to keep reading. At this point, I couldn't even tell you what happened in the bit that I did read. However, this 100% feels like a me thing, so if you're looking for an LGBTQIA+ rep science fiction, check this one out and see if it works for you!
DNF @ about a quarter of the way.
Another Dimension of Us definitely has some nice vibes, but unfortunately, I couldn't motivate myself to keep reading. At this point, I couldn't even tell you what happened in the bit that I did read. However, this 100% feels like a me thing, so if you're looking for an LGBTQIA+ rep science fiction, check this one out and see if it works for you!
January 5, 2023
"Another Dimension of Us" follows a pair of queer teens as they try to rescue their friends from demons across the interdimensional planes through astral projection. That sounds like a lot, and that's because it is. In some places, the a lot is a good thing, but sometimes it bogs the story down. I almost wish this story were split into different books, not as sequels but because parts deserved their own stories. A queer boy from 1986 who has started hearing about the AIDS epidemic and is constantly bullied by his brother gets to meet someone from 2044 and learn about an accepting society and gender fluidity and queerness as something positive? I love that. I want an entire story of that. Unfortunately, that gets a little lost in everything else going on.
2044 seems unrealistic for the level of change the author describes. That's 20 years away, but everything is completely different. Books aren't a thing anymore. There's a gender affirming section in the school's sex education classes. The suburbs are an abandoned wasteland. It's just a little unrealistic to think that's all happening immediately in our lifetimes.
It's also misleading to call this book science fiction. They do travel dimensions, but it's through astral projection and dreams. The planes they travel to are much more Alice in Wonderland than Asimov. I kept waiting for the scientific explanation, but no, it's all supernatural. This book would be more appropriately labeled as fantasy.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
2044 seems unrealistic for the level of change the author describes. That's 20 years away, but everything is completely different. Books aren't a thing anymore. There's a gender affirming section in the school's sex education classes. The suburbs are an abandoned wasteland. It's just a little unrealistic to think that's all happening immediately in our lifetimes.
It's also misleading to call this book science fiction. They do travel dimensions, but it's through astral projection and dreams. The planes they travel to are much more Alice in Wonderland than Asimov. I kept waiting for the scientific explanation, but no, it's all supernatural. This book would be more appropriately labeled as fantasy.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
November 17, 2024
A promising premise with a poor and really bizarre execution.
The future timeline is a mixture of a cyberpunk and a post-apocalyptic society, the past was trying too hard to be lyrical and some historical elements felt thrown randomly in.
The astral plains had some interesting ideas but felt like a fever dream with the author unsure if he's aiming for horror or sci-fi.
Not even a satisfying finale. Quite the disappointment. Tommy and Rene deserved a better story!
The future timeline is a mixture of a cyberpunk and a post-apocalyptic society, the past was trying too hard to be lyrical and some historical elements felt thrown randomly in.
The astral plains had some interesting ideas but felt like a fever dream with the author unsure if he's aiming for horror or sci-fi.
Not even a satisfying finale. Quite the disappointment. Tommy and Rene deserved a better story!
January 19, 2023
Won Finished Hardcover in a Goodreads Giveaway!
Umm hmm. This was something else…and unfortunately not very good. It was messy, it was confusing. It had a lot of interesting potential but it was like two stories were being told at the same time, fighting for the spotlight. They just didn't mesh well together. When they were in the astral plane, it was like what absurd things can I think of to be weird and stand out? ...list... I wanted to like it. I liked Renaldo and Tommy. And I feel like it was not nearly enough in the future for what this future in 2044 was imagined to be. And the astral projection was...there was no explanation. It was supernatural. Time travel would have been better. But again, not in 2044, just 21 years from now.
Umm hmm. This was something else…and unfortunately not very good. It was messy, it was confusing. It had a lot of interesting potential but it was like two stories were being told at the same time, fighting for the spotlight. They just didn't mesh well together. When they were in the astral plane, it was like what absurd things can I think of to be weird and stand out? ...list... I wanted to like it. I liked Renaldo and Tommy. And I feel like it was not nearly enough in the future for what this future in 2044 was imagined to be. And the astral projection was...there was no explanation. It was supernatural. Time travel would have been better. But again, not in 2044, just 21 years from now.
July 7, 2023
very good and cute, i loved the queer rep but the imaginative parts of it didn’t feel very fleshed out or realistic enough for me to believe. kinda felt like when a little kid is telling you a story vibes. but nonetheless still liked it. ending broke my heart tho. id give it a 3.5 if halves existed on this app but unfortunately they don’t so here i am.
June 27, 2023
Quite a trip of a story set in the future and in the past and how they clash together as two people try to help those they love from a dire situation. An absolutely amazingly well done story that I really got into.
December 17, 2022
I don't know what I was expecting here... The premise stunned me - two groups of queer teens across time converge when they need to rescue their friends from a demon. Uh yeah, yes please!
That's about where my excitement ended. The plot felt clunky and the characters didn't really feel like teenagers. There weren't any twists and turns (uh yeah of course Nomed was a bad dude, his name is demon spelled backwards) and we didn't get to know Pris very well. The chapters were short and palatable, but couldn't make up for a lack of investment on my part.
*Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*
That's about where my excitement ended. The plot felt clunky and the characters didn't really feel like teenagers. There weren't any twists and turns (uh yeah of course Nomed was a bad dude, his name is demon spelled backwards) and we didn't get to know Pris very well. The chapters were short and palatable, but couldn't make up for a lack of investment on my part.
*Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*
August 21, 2025
the plot is so WHACK but also very enjoyable to read + everybody is gay soooo…
also i will be thinking about that ending for the next few years
also i will be thinking about that ending for the next few years
August 4, 2024
August 4th 2024
Read: August 2024
review contains spoilers
It is my firm belief that the world suffers from a distinct lack of magical realism-type books. And henceforth, any time I stumble across one, I ensure that it gets to the top of my to be read list.
Here’s a plot recap of the book: We have Tommy Gaye, our main character, who has three personality traits: having acne, realizing he’s gay (Gaye is gay! Haha, get it? Hilarious, right?), and being in love with his best friend. The ‘best friend’ here is Renaldo Calabasas, whose entire character reads as a discarded side plot from Dead Poets Society. They live in the 1980s, where being homosexual is kind of a no-no, so Tommy’s having some issues regarding the fact that he may or may not be in love with his bestie!
Aforementioned bestie is really into poetry. And then, somehow, into the occult, and alternate dimensions. He gets increasingly obsessed with astral projection, leading to one night where Renaldo’s struck by lightning, and seemingly goes into a coma. Don’t worry, he gets better! And also gets a whole personality switch. Our lovely Tommy is understandably confused, and hence seeks answers in a book about astral projection. Which leads to him embarking on his own little adventure through space-time!
Does that seem like a heavy plot? Well, fear not, because that’s only about forty-five percent of what actually happens in these 199 pages. We’ve got a whole separate storyline, of a girl named Pris and her gender-ambiguous best friend. They live in the future, and somehow get teleported into the same alternate dimension as Tommy.
Pris and Tommy go on an epic field trip across the layers of their new dimension (whose name I seem to have conveniently forgotten) to save Renaldo, who as it turns out, has been possessed by a demon. Their tour guides include a mascot from a cereal commercial, a human-shaped spider, and a library of records about every soul in the universe. Tragedy, heartbreak, and magic ensue, leaving us with our characters many years into the future, and with our own little collection of plot holes!
In case my first issue with this book has not been made exceedingly obvious, I will spell it out here: the author tried to do way too much. I understand what he was trying to do, raising awareness about the AIDS crisis, writing a fantasy and love story, poetry, the occult, and all the dimensions we hold in our subconscious.
However, that’s just too much to unpack at once. It made most of the story seem unrealistic at best, and poorly thought out at worst. We know that Renaldo and Tommy are in love, but it’s more ‘told’ than ‘shown’. Renaldo just kind of appears at the beginning, and then immediately becomes nothing more than a plot point for the rest of the book.
All the characters are queer, which I guess was the intention of the author, but also does not help in lending credibility to the story. We spend so much time being told what they identify as, which takes away from the overall progression of events. Everyone will be in the middle of a crisis, and then the book suddenly swaps to Tommy and Pris talking about how being labeled ‘queer’ used to be seen as an insult. It brings me back to my original point, that the author was just trying to do too much in too few pages.
I will say that I did enjoy some aspects of this book: particularly how the dimensions were all treated as stages of dreams, which is an interesting interpretation that I haven’t thought of before. I loved the references to the Edgar Allan Poe quote, “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” I felt like the backstories Tommy and Pris connected really neatly, despite existing in separate timelines. I wish the occult and astral projection aspects had been explored more, because those were what really drew me in.
To conclude my review, I will say that my quest for magical realism is still going strong, and it is my fondest dream that one day I will encounter a book that checks all my boxes. And hopefully it will exist in the same dimension as I do.
Read: August 2024
review contains spoilers
It is my firm belief that the world suffers from a distinct lack of magical realism-type books. And henceforth, any time I stumble across one, I ensure that it gets to the top of my to be read list.
Here’s a plot recap of the book: We have Tommy Gaye, our main character, who has three personality traits: having acne, realizing he’s gay (Gaye is gay! Haha, get it? Hilarious, right?), and being in love with his best friend. The ‘best friend’ here is Renaldo Calabasas, whose entire character reads as a discarded side plot from Dead Poets Society. They live in the 1980s, where being homosexual is kind of a no-no, so Tommy’s having some issues regarding the fact that he may or may not be in love with his bestie!
Aforementioned bestie is really into poetry. And then, somehow, into the occult, and alternate dimensions. He gets increasingly obsessed with astral projection, leading to one night where Renaldo’s struck by lightning, and seemingly goes into a coma. Don’t worry, he gets better! And also gets a whole personality switch. Our lovely Tommy is understandably confused, and hence seeks answers in a book about astral projection. Which leads to him embarking on his own little adventure through space-time!
Does that seem like a heavy plot? Well, fear not, because that’s only about forty-five percent of what actually happens in these 199 pages. We’ve got a whole separate storyline, of a girl named Pris and her gender-ambiguous best friend. They live in the future, and somehow get teleported into the same alternate dimension as Tommy.
Pris and Tommy go on an epic field trip across the layers of their new dimension (whose name I seem to have conveniently forgotten) to save Renaldo, who as it turns out, has been possessed by a demon. Their tour guides include a mascot from a cereal commercial, a human-shaped spider, and a library of records about every soul in the universe. Tragedy, heartbreak, and magic ensue, leaving us with our characters many years into the future, and with our own little collection of plot holes!
In case my first issue with this book has not been made exceedingly obvious, I will spell it out here: the author tried to do way too much. I understand what he was trying to do, raising awareness about the AIDS crisis, writing a fantasy and love story, poetry, the occult, and all the dimensions we hold in our subconscious.
However, that’s just too much to unpack at once. It made most of the story seem unrealistic at best, and poorly thought out at worst. We know that Renaldo and Tommy are in love, but it’s more ‘told’ than ‘shown’. Renaldo just kind of appears at the beginning, and then immediately becomes nothing more than a plot point for the rest of the book.
All the characters are queer, which I guess was the intention of the author, but also does not help in lending credibility to the story. We spend so much time being told what they identify as, which takes away from the overall progression of events. Everyone will be in the middle of a crisis, and then the book suddenly swaps to Tommy and Pris talking about how being labeled ‘queer’ used to be seen as an insult. It brings me back to my original point, that the author was just trying to do too much in too few pages.
I will say that I did enjoy some aspects of this book: particularly how the dimensions were all treated as stages of dreams, which is an interesting interpretation that I haven’t thought of before. I loved the references to the Edgar Allan Poe quote, “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” I felt like the backstories Tommy and Pris connected really neatly, despite existing in separate timelines. I wish the occult and astral projection aspects had been explored more, because those were what really drew me in.
To conclude my review, I will say that my quest for magical realism is still going strong, and it is my fondest dream that one day I will encounter a book that checks all my boxes. And hopefully it will exist in the same dimension as I do.
February 12, 2023
See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/anothe...
ANOTHER DIMENSION OF US is an intriguing YA sci-fi read that follows teens in two timelines, 1986 and 2044. In 1986, Tommy Gaye has a crush on his close friend, Renaldo Calabasas. They are in a small poetry club together in school, and Tommy is not sure how to let Rene know about his feelings. Rene is obsessed with a book he found at the library about astral projection, and he has been trying to make it work. That was, until he started feeling like someone was following him with potentially sinister motives. Then, one day, Rene is not at school and is instead in a coma after being struck by lightning. When he comes out of the coma, he is a completely different person and does not even seem to remember Tommy.
In 2044, Pris goes to the same high school in the post-apocalyptic landscape caused by an ever-mutating virus. Teens in the town visit the Murder House to scare themselves and each other. When she goes with friends, they find an old book on astral projection. When her best friend gets a hold of it, something strange begins happening to her.
As Pris and Tommy try to figure out what is happening, they must also learn about astral projection before it is too late to save their friends.
What I loved: The premise of the story was really interesting with some thought-provoking themes. The book differentiates between the two timelines well, and the characters felt quite different. This imagines quite a different future than our experiences in the 2020s would predict, and these were intriguing to imagine. In 2044, they are dealing with a virus that had been around for 20 years or so and keeps mutating. In 1986, they are learning about a virus that seems to be targeting LGBT people (AIDS). These viruses and the response to them were juxtaposed amidst the background of the astral projection plots.
The story really speaks to the challenges of the teenage experience in terms of figuring out who you are and learning to embrace it. This was true in both timelines, albeit with disparate culture and experiences. The reader is introduced to Tommy first, and his story seemed to take priority, though many perspectives are eventually given to tell the story. Beyond Tommy and Pris, there are other chapters told from other characters' perspectives that flesh out the story more, such as from the perspective of a teacher and her experience with friends who had AIDS.
The sci-fi elements were pretty unique around astral projection as well as the future world-building, though they seemed to take a backseat to some of the personal development plots ongoing amidst the story.
What left me wanting more: The story seemed to get a bit windy in the middle, and it was harder to follow and focus on the key characters. The other perspectives kind of took the story off-track, and it was harder to stay immersed in the story as a result. There is a lot going on in each timeline, so it could have been helpful to really get into the main characters and stick with the main plot. However, some of the side tracks were also intriguing, so there are some pluses and minuses to both. It would be easy to put the book down in the middle when things get muddled, but the end does pull things back together as the reader begins to get more answers.
Final verdict: Overall, ANOTHER DIMENSION OF US is an intriguing YA sci-fi read about finding yourself, friendship, and being true to who you are.
ANOTHER DIMENSION OF US is an intriguing YA sci-fi read that follows teens in two timelines, 1986 and 2044. In 1986, Tommy Gaye has a crush on his close friend, Renaldo Calabasas. They are in a small poetry club together in school, and Tommy is not sure how to let Rene know about his feelings. Rene is obsessed with a book he found at the library about astral projection, and he has been trying to make it work. That was, until he started feeling like someone was following him with potentially sinister motives. Then, one day, Rene is not at school and is instead in a coma after being struck by lightning. When he comes out of the coma, he is a completely different person and does not even seem to remember Tommy.
In 2044, Pris goes to the same high school in the post-apocalyptic landscape caused by an ever-mutating virus. Teens in the town visit the Murder House to scare themselves and each other. When she goes with friends, they find an old book on astral projection. When her best friend gets a hold of it, something strange begins happening to her.
As Pris and Tommy try to figure out what is happening, they must also learn about astral projection before it is too late to save their friends.
What I loved: The premise of the story was really interesting with some thought-provoking themes. The book differentiates between the two timelines well, and the characters felt quite different. This imagines quite a different future than our experiences in the 2020s would predict, and these were intriguing to imagine. In 2044, they are dealing with a virus that had been around for 20 years or so and keeps mutating. In 1986, they are learning about a virus that seems to be targeting LGBT people (AIDS). These viruses and the response to them were juxtaposed amidst the background of the astral projection plots.
The story really speaks to the challenges of the teenage experience in terms of figuring out who you are and learning to embrace it. This was true in both timelines, albeit with disparate culture and experiences. The reader is introduced to Tommy first, and his story seemed to take priority, though many perspectives are eventually given to tell the story. Beyond Tommy and Pris, there are other chapters told from other characters' perspectives that flesh out the story more, such as from the perspective of a teacher and her experience with friends who had AIDS.
The sci-fi elements were pretty unique around astral projection as well as the future world-building, though they seemed to take a backseat to some of the personal development plots ongoing amidst the story.
What left me wanting more: The story seemed to get a bit windy in the middle, and it was harder to follow and focus on the key characters. The other perspectives kind of took the story off-track, and it was harder to stay immersed in the story as a result. There is a lot going on in each timeline, so it could have been helpful to really get into the main characters and stick with the main plot. However, some of the side tracks were also intriguing, so there are some pluses and minuses to both. It would be easy to put the book down in the middle when things get muddled, but the end does pull things back together as the reader begins to get more answers.
Final verdict: Overall, ANOTHER DIMENSION OF US is an intriguing YA sci-fi read about finding yourself, friendship, and being true to who you are.
August 8, 2023
Wow. So many thoughts. I don’t know where to start.
I suppose I’ll start with the plot twist. Tommy being Mr. Richards made me gasp and spin around, making me look crazy behind the concession counter at my job. It was definitely my favorite moment of the book and it made up for the DEVASTATION that was René’s death. In actuality, I think his death was unexpected and another good plot twist.
I wished I could have seen more of René. I was invested enough in him that I was a little bit sad when he died, but it was the outrageous way in which he died (the whole thing about his body being part of the demon) combined with his lack of POV (he was the only character that did not have one). Sure, I don’t think he necessarily needed to have his own POV to be a more complex character, but I needed to know about more than his love of poetry for me to see him as a person. I also wish there had been more background into his relationship with Tommy. Oona, at times, felt like a very cardboard character to me. Her dialogue conveyed no emotion to me, even when she reveals her heartfelt story. Sally’s relationship with the kids seemed a little bit too involved in my opinion. Jayde just seemed like kind of a jerk because of how they looked down at Pris. I did feel like I got to know Pris and Tommy pretty well, though, Pris more. Pris was a likable character and her thoughts and feelings were very clear, from her being a zero to her concern for Jayde. Sometimes, to me, it felt like Tommy’s only personality trait was liking René, but when you’re in high school, sometimes a strong crush can feel like your only personality trait, so I’ll chalk that one up to YA.
Sometimes, the amount of perspectives covered made the story seem a little daunting to understand, but as I kept reading, it seemed to mostly make sense. Props to Mike Albo for pulling that off!
Every book about astral projection that I read has a different take on it, which I love. Mike Albo’s take is very fantastical, involving a spirit guide in the form of character from cereal commercials and an alive plane in the astral plane that Tommy recognizes as a toy from his childhood. Though this may be too outrageous for some people, I enjoyed the touch of fantasy and whimsy.
It was clear that this book was written towards the beginning of the pandemic, when everything was so uncertain. All the stuff about “the virus” was intriguing, but got to be a lot. I did enjoy reading such a well thought out, fictional version of the future and what could have been (thank God it’s not). Of course, we’ll never get away from the idea that everything hovers in the future. That idea is so tired to me.
A+ for LGBTQIA+ representation and racial diversity! I think it’s great to see so many authors incorporating they/them pronouns and normalizing them. Despite what those who claim that “it is not grammatically correct” say, the use of Jayde’s they/them pronouns felt completely natural and refreshing to see in mainstream media.
The book started off a bit slow, but it quickly picked up after we met both of our main characters. I LOVED that we got a snippet of the Sacred Art of Astral Projection at the end!!!
This truly was a book that made me think. I enjoyed it immensely.
I suppose I’ll start with the plot twist. Tommy being Mr. Richards made me gasp and spin around, making me look crazy behind the concession counter at my job. It was definitely my favorite moment of the book and it made up for the DEVASTATION that was René’s death. In actuality, I think his death was unexpected and another good plot twist.
I wished I could have seen more of René. I was invested enough in him that I was a little bit sad when he died, but it was the outrageous way in which he died (the whole thing about his body being part of the demon) combined with his lack of POV (he was the only character that did not have one). Sure, I don’t think he necessarily needed to have his own POV to be a more complex character, but I needed to know about more than his love of poetry for me to see him as a person. I also wish there had been more background into his relationship with Tommy. Oona, at times, felt like a very cardboard character to me. Her dialogue conveyed no emotion to me, even when she reveals her heartfelt story. Sally’s relationship with the kids seemed a little bit too involved in my opinion. Jayde just seemed like kind of a jerk because of how they looked down at Pris. I did feel like I got to know Pris and Tommy pretty well, though, Pris more. Pris was a likable character and her thoughts and feelings were very clear, from her being a zero to her concern for Jayde. Sometimes, to me, it felt like Tommy’s only personality trait was liking René, but when you’re in high school, sometimes a strong crush can feel like your only personality trait, so I’ll chalk that one up to YA.
Sometimes, the amount of perspectives covered made the story seem a little daunting to understand, but as I kept reading, it seemed to mostly make sense. Props to Mike Albo for pulling that off!
Every book about astral projection that I read has a different take on it, which I love. Mike Albo’s take is very fantastical, involving a spirit guide in the form of character from cereal commercials and an alive plane in the astral plane that Tommy recognizes as a toy from his childhood. Though this may be too outrageous for some people, I enjoyed the touch of fantasy and whimsy.
It was clear that this book was written towards the beginning of the pandemic, when everything was so uncertain. All the stuff about “the virus” was intriguing, but got to be a lot. I did enjoy reading such a well thought out, fictional version of the future and what could have been (thank God it’s not). Of course, we’ll never get away from the idea that everything hovers in the future. That idea is so tired to me.
A+ for LGBTQIA+ representation and racial diversity! I think it’s great to see so many authors incorporating they/them pronouns and normalizing them. Despite what those who claim that “it is not grammatically correct” say, the use of Jayde’s they/them pronouns felt completely natural and refreshing to see in mainstream media.
The book started off a bit slow, but it quickly picked up after we met both of our main characters. I LOVED that we got a snippet of the Sacred Art of Astral Projection at the end!!!
This truly was a book that made me think. I enjoyed it immensely.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 20, 2023
rating: 4.5/10 (2.5, rounded up to 3)
This book started off so strong. I absolutely loved part 1 with Tommy and Rene in the 1980s. Rene is a bit eccentric and really smart and loves poetry but is slowly going mad with his obsession of travelling to another dimension. Tommy juggles with being a queer boy with acne in the 80s during the AIDS crisis while also being in love with this complicated boy who he both admires and is a little scared for. And then at the height of it all, Rene is struck by lightening. By this point in the book I was absolutely invested.
And then we switch to Pris, a teen girl from the future. I don't know why 20 years from the pub date of this book is so futuristic (the world feels more like 100 years in the future not 20). The focus of this world is very much like the Covid pandemic we just had and I absolutely am not a fan of that (and the 80s part is already about the AIDS virus, why do we need all these other viruses? I think a teacher in the futuristic part tried to connect it all but eh).
I started losing interest in what had already been built up with Tommy and Rene. And then we start getting more POVs, including one from a librarian in the 1980s who is 25 years old. So then I got confused as to what age group this is for because I thought it was a little strange that a non-teenager had a POV in a YA book.
The first 25% with Tommy in the 80s was so good. It was slowly building up to something that felt really genuine and nice and I was completely on board until after the lightning strike. The rest of the book doesn't even feel like it's part of the same book that the first 25% is part of. There is just so much going on after that in a really muddled and weird way. A dream world, a mystery, a bunch of characters from the past and different ones from the future, a demon. It's just kind of a mess and a complete 180 from the great beginning.
I will add that the cast of characters is diversely queer with gay characters, a lesbian couple, and a nonbinary character. The main female character from the future, Pris, also has a type of vitiligo. So I did enjoy the range of rep in the characters.
Thanks to penguin for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book started off so strong. I absolutely loved part 1 with Tommy and Rene in the 1980s. Rene is a bit eccentric and really smart and loves poetry but is slowly going mad with his obsession of travelling to another dimension. Tommy juggles with being a queer boy with acne in the 80s during the AIDS crisis while also being in love with this complicated boy who he both admires and is a little scared for. And then at the height of it all, Rene is struck by lightening. By this point in the book I was absolutely invested.
And then we switch to Pris, a teen girl from the future. I don't know why 20 years from the pub date of this book is so futuristic (the world feels more like 100 years in the future not 20). The focus of this world is very much like the Covid pandemic we just had and I absolutely am not a fan of that (and the 80s part is already about the AIDS virus, why do we need all these other viruses? I think a teacher in the futuristic part tried to connect it all but eh).
I started losing interest in what had already been built up with Tommy and Rene. And then we start getting more POVs, including one from a librarian in the 1980s who is 25 years old. So then I got confused as to what age group this is for because I thought it was a little strange that a non-teenager had a POV in a YA book.
The first 25% with Tommy in the 80s was so good. It was slowly building up to something that felt really genuine and nice and I was completely on board until after the lightning strike. The rest of the book doesn't even feel like it's part of the same book that the first 25% is part of. There is just so much going on after that in a really muddled and weird way. A dream world, a mystery, a bunch of characters from the past and different ones from the future, a demon. It's just kind of a mess and a complete 180 from the great beginning.
I will add that the cast of characters is diversely queer with gay characters, a lesbian couple, and a nonbinary character. The main female character from the future, Pris, also has a type of vitiligo. So I did enjoy the range of rep in the characters.
Thanks to penguin for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 14, 2023
**Thank you to the publishers for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.**
Spoilers everywhere and jibberish ranting.
I struggle writing this review. Ugh. Especially since the book was free, but maybe this kind of thing is exactly what someone is looking for!
I feel like the best way to describe this book is A Gay John Green Fever Dream.
There were moments that felt socially or politically profound, emotional moments, and poetic moments, but times where I was just reeling from the weirdness/childishness.
The MC has a crush on his friend, a boy who is chasing the idea of different dimensions. His friend is struck by lightning, goes into a coma, and wakes up acting like a different person, so he tries to get to the bottom of everything, managing to travel to that different “plane” with another friend to rescue his crush.
In my opinion, this should have been where it got exciting, but I found myself longing for the normality of the beginning of the book when the talking cereal mascot with lollipop hair starts carting them around and there are skeleton teeth the size of cities and vulture-like creatures stealing mementos and erasing their pasts? When they are crawling through vents at a club? When the POV keeps switching to characters I don’t care about, like their teacher. There were lots of sort of gratuitously gory descriptions and things? Like someone got into their dimension by inhabiting the corpse of a girl who had died via drowning on one of those desperate immigrant boats? Then that body inhabitor person had a bunch of corpse faces and a spider body in the other plane? Seriously, it was just like…weird and gross to me.
I appreciated a character who came along for a while and we discover is from 2044, giving us a look at our 80’s characters in the future (called it, immediately).
I really wish there HAD been another dimension of them, bc in this one they didn’t get a HEA, I suspect so it could feel poetic, like the vibe at the beginning of the book, but after Tripping On Acid Inception I just wanted romance (and less descriptions of the MC’s acne-ridden face.) Sigh.
So, +2 for the John Green vibes and -3 for the Back To The Future meets Pans Labyrinth vibes.
Spoilers everywhere and jibberish ranting.
I struggle writing this review. Ugh. Especially since the book was free, but maybe this kind of thing is exactly what someone is looking for!
I feel like the best way to describe this book is A Gay John Green Fever Dream.
There were moments that felt socially or politically profound, emotional moments, and poetic moments, but times where I was just reeling from the weirdness/childishness.
The MC has a crush on his friend, a boy who is chasing the idea of different dimensions. His friend is struck by lightning, goes into a coma, and wakes up acting like a different person, so he tries to get to the bottom of everything, managing to travel to that different “plane” with another friend to rescue his crush.
In my opinion, this should have been where it got exciting, but I found myself longing for the normality of the beginning of the book when the talking cereal mascot with lollipop hair starts carting them around and there are skeleton teeth the size of cities and vulture-like creatures stealing mementos and erasing their pasts? When they are crawling through vents at a club? When the POV keeps switching to characters I don’t care about, like their teacher. There were lots of sort of gratuitously gory descriptions and things? Like someone got into their dimension by inhabiting the corpse of a girl who had died via drowning on one of those desperate immigrant boats? Then that body inhabitor person had a bunch of corpse faces and a spider body in the other plane? Seriously, it was just like…weird and gross to me.
I appreciated a character who came along for a while and we discover is from 2044, giving us a look at our 80’s characters in the future (called it, immediately).
I really wish there HAD been another dimension of them, bc in this one they didn’t get a HEA, I suspect so it could feel poetic, like the vibe at the beginning of the book, but after Tripping On Acid Inception I just wanted romance (and less descriptions of the MC’s acne-ridden face.) Sigh.
So, +2 for the John Green vibes and -3 for the Back To The Future meets Pans Labyrinth vibes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2024
First, I would like to note that I agreed with a number of the Goodreads reviewers in both their initial hopes for the story and eventual disappointment with the actual execution of the book. I received an ARC copy on a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Since reading the book summary, I became quite excited about the premise of this book. Since I had been really cheering for this book to become a new favorite, I felt disappointed it did not deliver enough character development and comprehensive world-building before adding characters beyond René and Tommy, who are the beating heart of the story. The concept is excellent, but there are too many complex topics introduced (but never fully explored) on a surface level, which takes away from the vision for the larger world and the reader's investment in the story. If the author had focused primarily on one aspect of the world (such as the AIDS epidemic), it would have allowed for better focus on the true heart of the story (Tommy and René) instead of introducing too many topics, characters, and sci-fi tropes. While I can see this writing style mirrors the uncertainty of Tommy's journey, it feels confusing as a reader.
Similar to other Goodreads reviewers, l felt engaged at the beginning of the story and was excited about the prospect of a queer sci-fi book. The story seemed to become too complex without enough character development before secondary characters were introduced. I really wanted to love this book, but I feel as though the execution did not live up to the promise of the premise. The book wanted to present a queer multiverse with time travel, which seemed like a less nunaced version of "A Wrinkle in Time." I found the second half of the book harder to envision, which leads to less investment in other characters compared to Tommy and René. I am sure this book will find its following, as it has many positive attributes; unfortunately, this will likely remain off my favorites list, which is a shame given how much promise there was from the beginning.
Similar to other Goodreads reviewers, l felt engaged at the beginning of the story and was excited about the prospect of a queer sci-fi book. The story seemed to become too complex without enough character development before secondary characters were introduced. I really wanted to love this book, but I feel as though the execution did not live up to the promise of the premise. The book wanted to present a queer multiverse with time travel, which seemed like a less nunaced version of "A Wrinkle in Time." I found the second half of the book harder to envision, which leads to less investment in other characters compared to Tommy and René. I am sure this book will find its following, as it has many positive attributes; unfortunately, this will likely remain off my favorites list, which is a shame given how much promise there was from the beginning.
January 10, 2023
at first when I looked at this book I thought, queer teens that have to save their friends from a demon by traveling through dreams? shut up and take my money
the book itself was a different story. if I’m being completely honest, it felt like a children’s story with the occasional f bomb to remind you that it wasn’t. I could also describe it as poorly written fanfiction, emphasis on the poorly.
the representation was there but the storytelling was off. the book switched povs too quickly for me to keep track of what the hell was going on with the plot. it felt slightly sloppy and chunky and extremely rushed.
I was originally going to rate this one star but I did love some of the characters in this book- I just didn’t get much backstory. the characters were randomly thrown in with two sentences to explain why they were there. I couldn’t keep track of who was who and where everybody was at certain points in the book.
the astral plane aspect of this book was probably the most fun part of reading- although it wasn’t explained as well as it needed to be. I had never heard of this method of reality shifting before reading this so it was interesting to learn about (as well as I could).
last thing was the time jump to the future from 1986 to 2044. we’re still in 2023- the way the author described the world 21 years from now felt way off to me. way too much of stretch. books don’t exist, the suburbs are an abandoned wasteland, everybody is still struggling from the pandemic. seems unrealistic for those things to be happening in our lifetimes. (just for now at least)
I wouldn’t recommend this book but if you’d like to give it a chance that’s on you.
~~~~~
thank you to NetGalley and penguin teen for a free copy in exchange for an honest review
the book itself was a different story. if I’m being completely honest, it felt like a children’s story with the occasional f bomb to remind you that it wasn’t. I could also describe it as poorly written fanfiction, emphasis on the poorly.
the representation was there but the storytelling was off. the book switched povs too quickly for me to keep track of what the hell was going on with the plot. it felt slightly sloppy and chunky and extremely rushed.
I was originally going to rate this one star but I did love some of the characters in this book- I just didn’t get much backstory. the characters were randomly thrown in with two sentences to explain why they were there. I couldn’t keep track of who was who and where everybody was at certain points in the book.
the astral plane aspect of this book was probably the most fun part of reading- although it wasn’t explained as well as it needed to be. I had never heard of this method of reality shifting before reading this so it was interesting to learn about (as well as I could).
last thing was the time jump to the future from 1986 to 2044. we’re still in 2023- the way the author described the world 21 years from now felt way off to me. way too much of stretch. books don’t exist, the suburbs are an abandoned wasteland, everybody is still struggling from the pandemic. seems unrealistic for those things to be happening in our lifetimes. (just for now at least)
I wouldn’t recommend this book but if you’d like to give it a chance that’s on you.
~~~~~
thank you to NetGalley and penguin teen for a free copy in exchange for an honest review
January 1, 2023
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Unfortunately, this is where the "honest" part comes in -- I couldn't finish this book. I read a little more than a third of it and just personally did not like the writing style. The entire part I read was confusing, but it was when I reached the first chapter of a timeline set in 2040 (or 2044, somewhere around there) that I just couldn't read it anymore. The world had changed a little too drastically to be realistic in that timeframe, and society was still being constantly upended by the pandemic, which I just didn't want to read because it was so pessimistic (but if you think that would be cool to read, then you might like this book more than I did). Overall that timeline was too weird, and when that was added to the fact that I didn't vibe with the writing style and found everything confusing, I didn't want to keep reading.
I wouldn't say that you shouldn't give this book a try -- I think this is one that depends on taste, so the fact that it wasn't my cup of tea doesn't mean other people won't like it.
Unfortunately, this is where the "honest" part comes in -- I couldn't finish this book. I read a little more than a third of it and just personally did not like the writing style. The entire part I read was confusing, but it was when I reached the first chapter of a timeline set in 2040 (or 2044, somewhere around there) that I just couldn't read it anymore. The world had changed a little too drastically to be realistic in that timeframe, and society was still being constantly upended by the pandemic, which I just didn't want to read because it was so pessimistic (but if you think that would be cool to read, then you might like this book more than I did). Overall that timeline was too weird, and when that was added to the fact that I didn't vibe with the writing style and found everything confusing, I didn't want to keep reading.
I wouldn't say that you shouldn't give this book a try -- I think this is one that depends on taste, so the fact that it wasn't my cup of tea doesn't mean other people won't like it.
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