Review: Alternity by Mari Mancusi ★★

Alternity by Mari Mancusi

Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Series:

Publication Date: October 19/2012

ISBN: 9781620510131
Page Count: 236

Rating: ★★

Review Copy: ARC
Reviewed by: Janice

Imagine waking up in a post-apocalyptic, nightmare world--and being told your whole life is but a dream. Skye Brown thought she was your typical college student--good grades, hot boyfriend, and an internship that pays her to play videogames. But then she started having the dreams.

In her dreams, there is no Earth. Only Terra, a bleak, underground wasteland where people live in squalor and oppression. In her dreams, there is no Skye--only Mariah, a rebel leader fighting against a vile, dystopian regime. And then there's Dawn, a handsome, but haunted solider who sees her as but an empty shell of the girl he once loved--a betrayer he vows to hate forever, despite what she sees deep in his eyes.

Now, ripped between Dark Siders and club kids, the mundane and the mystic, Skye finds herself in a fight against time--to learn who she really is, where she belongs..and why. The shocking truth will have her questioning her own reality...and her heart.

REVIEW

Meh.

That's my overall feeling after reading Alternity. Just....meh.

In a nutshell, the story is about a girl who wakes up in an alternate world (where everyone thinks she is someone else) and finds herself in the middle of a bitter conflict between two opposing factions. As stories go, it seems promising enough, and to a certain point, the book delivers. The writing flows well, and each scene is clearly painted. I had no trouble at all picturing everything that was going on. So why, then, did I have such a hard time finishing the book? What went wrong?

Let's start with the people of Terra, as a whole. On the one hand, you've got super-oppressed Dark Siders living in miserable conditions, and on the other, you've got the rich and (from what I could tell) clueless Indys. And of course, there is the big, bad government deceiving and using them all. If it sounds like a cliched mess, that's because it was.

Main character Skye was...okay. I thought she spent too long freaking out in the beginning, and when she went running to Senator Duske, who was so obviously a slimy villain...oyyyy. I could only shake my head in amazement. She pulled it together in the end, though, which I suppose is what counts, and I can't really complain about her narration either, because it was pretty solid overall.

As for rebel soldier Dawn...nope, didn't like him. He was too emotional and did not give off any type of alpha male vibe. He had several chances, I thought, to step up and really be the hero, and instead he backed down. I was not impressed by that.

The romance wasn't quite instalove, but it was damn close. Dawn in particular made a very sudden emotional about-face which I had a tough time believing. It all felt very....manufactured.

There's a neat twist near the end, and the big reveal to the people was rather satisfying, even if it only took up a few pages.

Final verdict, I didn't hate Alternity, but I didn't love it either. I just wanted more, and sadly, I didn't get it.

2 Stars ★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.