Now That You're Here Review: Eevee and Danny

Phoenix.

A normal day for Eevee.

A normal day for Danny.

But not in the same Phoenix.

Not in the same world.

Not in the same universe.

Until Danny finds himself in Eevee's world.

Inhabiting her world's version of Danny.

And he has no idea how he got there.

Eevee can't believe the Danny she knew isn't the same Danny now.

Danny can't believe the Eevee he kissed isn't the same Eevee now.

And they can't believe they just discovered the existence of parallel universes.

Eevee might be Danny's ticket home.

Danny might be Eevee's ticket to freedom.

Together, they can figure it out.

Hey guys! Check out what I just finished reading!

Book: Now That You're Here

Author: Amy K. Nichols

Series: Duplexity series

Book standing: Book 1

Setting: Phoenix (modern day, as in this world's version)

POV: first person, told by both Eevee and Danny

Genre: YA sci-fi

Reading: first time

Favorite part: Eevee and Warren discussing Danny while setting up a science experiment. One talks about Danny's situation, the other confuses the conversation for being about the experiment, and vice versa. They keep confusing each other, and it's hilarious.

Categories: parallel universes! 
Rating: 4 stars

There are two main characters here, and unlike in the Defiance series where though there are two main characters, there's one that stands out a little more than the other, in this book, it's both Danny and Eevee who are the main characters. Eevee, who's trying to figure out how to get Danny back, and Danny, who's trying to adjust to that world's version of Danny and figure out what's going in his own world. Both story lines are interesting and compelling. There's no obvious character arc here that stands out in comparison to the other; this story is truly about the two of them.

First off: WORMHOLES ARE EXPLAINED. I'm serious. There's a lot of science (don't worry, none of it makes any sense to Danny, so it's fine), and bam! Wormholes are explained. Neutron stars are explained. Chaos theory explained. Electromagnetic pulses are explained, even created. How awesome is that? You have to sit back for a bit just to applaud the author for all the research she must have done.

So, let me ask you: if you suddenly found yourself in a body that's yours but not, in a city or town that has the same name but isn't, with all the people you knew all completely different, what would you do? My first step would be to freak out. Just like Danny. He goes around, trying to find someone familiar, someone who knows him, unaware that everyone knows that world's version of him. I don't know how Danny managed to pull it off once he realizes he's in another version of him's life, but he somehow he did. Pretending to know people he doesn't, pretending to be familiar with everything that isn't. Yikes.

Danny doesn't recognize anyone expect Eevee. But the Eevee in his world was a painter, and the Eevee in this parallel world is an science academic. His parents in his world are alive, yet his parents in Eevee's world are long dead. Danny's world is more of a dystopian version of our world, whereas Eevee's world is, well, our world. There are lots of similarities and differences between their worlds, like people and their occupations...But regardless of all that craziness, Danny was still able to be true to himself. In his own world, he's a graffiti artist, which is what he resorts to in order to find some peace of mind. It's how he, and everyone else, knows that he's not that world's version of Danny.

And then we have Eevee. The super-smart girl, who lives and breaths physics. The one who ever entertained the idea that what Danny is telling her, about having no clue where he is and talking about things that don't exist in her world, is the truth. She brings a whole bunch of quantum theories, and together, they realize that Danny's from another universe. And it's not merely psycho-babble. It's mind-blowing to her. If I ended up in a parallel universe, I very much would like an Eevee to be there for me, to both believe me and help me figure a way home.

In the book, we know that Danny basically switched places with Eevee's world's Danny. Meaning that Eevee's version of Danny swapped places with Danny, and ended up in the dystopian-like parallel universe Danny is from. The question: what happened to him? How does he get back? The answer to those questions: the next book! The sequel (companion novel?) to Now That You're Here is While You Were Gone, which deals with the other Danny and the Eevee of that world. Because we know that right before Danny ended up in Eevee's world, he was in a world of trouble. That Eevee's world's Danny has no idea what's going on, and is probably in a lot more danger than the Danny in Eevee's world.

Wow, that's complicated. But believe me, it makes a lot of sense when you read the book. Kudos to the author for breaking down such a complex issue into simple and understandable terms! While You Were Gone comes out August 4th, 2015, so check back sometime after that to listen to more of my rambling about parallel universes!