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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
"Nothing's done that can't be un-,
Nothing's lost that can't be found,
Make your choice and make a world,
Find another way around."
Fair Warning: do not pick up this book before you go to sleep. You will not like what happens. Dissonance is the kind of book that really requires your attention in order to take a grasp of the concepts: Echoes, Pivots, pitches… basically all the science side of things. I made the mistake of picking it up before I went to bed and I just had to start it again the next day cause I had no idea what was going on (I WAS half asleep). Once you have a clear head though you will come to appreciate the complicated science of it all.
I like how ethereal the cover looks, but it just doesn't reflect the story between the pages. When I look at this cover I think of Greek mythology, of a pretty girl somehow sacrificing herself and being delicate; couldn't be further from the truth. Del is tough, a trouble maker. Officially labeled the black sheep of her family she is also naturally talented at Walking; navigating between Echo worlds. She is studying to become a professional Walker, where she would fix disturbances in the real world that come from Echo worlds, or disturbances in the echo worlds that could potentially screw up with the real world. Her job is to protect the real world at all costs.
"It didn't seem possible that the multiverse could contain so much grief, no matter how infinite the branches were. Endless worlds and endless sadness, and I wondered if there could ever be enough joy yo balance it out.
There are a lot of concepts to understand while reading Dissonance, and if you don't understand one it is fairly certain you won't understand the rest of it all. Something that really helped (and made the story go on smoothly) is that at the beginning of every chapter there is a "lesson", a chapter from one of Del's Walker books that goes over the anomaly that the author is about to incorporate into the story. A great way to avoid info dumping all over the place.
Del is a trouble maker. They call her reckless, Her sister is the perfect child who must please everybody around her at all costs, she is not above turning over family members if she must. Addie is a little insensitive but I still manage to somehow like the character because she had so many facets to her story (plus I loved to hate her a little as well). Did I mention Addie is into girls too? It isn't a major plot line or anything, just something mentioned in passing. How cool is that? A lesbian character that we don't have to like, her sexuality not having anything to do with it? I think this kicks ass.
"My cheeks heated. He'd told me something tragic and private, trying to make me feel less alone, and I responded by wondering what it would be like to kiss him. If there was a hell, I thought, looking out at the tilted, time-worn graves, I was definitely going there."
What can Del say, having other people bare their souls to her is kind of a turn on.
The romance was a little touch and go. I was kind of into it, but at the same time I thought things moved way too quickly. I liked the whole "being into multiple guys who are the same person from various universes" (though really she was only into one other version of Simon). It is incredibly messed up that she basically uses this echo in order to satisfy her need for intimacy with the boy who is unable to really see her, but it is a kind of messed up that is entertaining. Simon is a great guy, I REALLY like him. Though I don't know if I like horny Simon (that is what I call his echo, because he was always putting the moves on Del) or normal Simon more. They are kind of the same person, just some different facets.
One thing I did not like was the relationship between Del and her best friend, Eliot.I liked it because they were pals and they helped each other and whatever, but I did not like the pressure Eliot put on the girl. Like, him being in love with her gave him dibs. I did not like how the relationship was portrayed when the girl doesn't reciprocate, like she did something wrong just by not wanting their normal friend relationship to go to crap. Screw you Eliot. Eliot is of course the geeky friend who is totally in love with the MC. Only she is totally NOT into him, and the drama commences. Eliot isn't all bad, he is a great friend, but I just don't like how he acts throughout the second half of the novel. Not cool.
Dissonance was a fantastic read. After you get into the flow of things it is pretty easy to read it in one sitting. It is long though, and there are a lot of complicated concepts that kind of make sense but are rooted in so many explanations... your brain might start to hurt. But ride it out and you'll find yourself loving the multiverses, the echoes, the romance, the dialogue, and specially Delancey. I am so interested in reading what will come next, no matter how complicated it might be.
Nothing's lost that can't be found,
Make your choice and make a world,
Find another way around."
Fair Warning: do not pick up this book before you go to sleep. You will not like what happens. Dissonance is the kind of book that really requires your attention in order to take a grasp of the concepts: Echoes, Pivots, pitches… basically all the science side of things. I made the mistake of picking it up before I went to bed and I just had to start it again the next day cause I had no idea what was going on (I WAS half asleep). Once you have a clear head though you will come to appreciate the complicated science of it all.
I like how ethereal the cover looks, but it just doesn't reflect the story between the pages. When I look at this cover I think of Greek mythology, of a pretty girl somehow sacrificing herself and being delicate; couldn't be further from the truth. Del is tough, a trouble maker. Officially labeled the black sheep of her family she is also naturally talented at Walking; navigating between Echo worlds. She is studying to become a professional Walker, where she would fix disturbances in the real world that come from Echo worlds, or disturbances in the echo worlds that could potentially screw up with the real world. Her job is to protect the real world at all costs.
"It didn't seem possible that the multiverse could contain so much grief, no matter how infinite the branches were. Endless worlds and endless sadness, and I wondered if there could ever be enough joy yo balance it out.
There are a lot of concepts to understand while reading Dissonance, and if you don't understand one it is fairly certain you won't understand the rest of it all. Something that really helped (and made the story go on smoothly) is that at the beginning of every chapter there is a "lesson", a chapter from one of Del's Walker books that goes over the anomaly that the author is about to incorporate into the story. A great way to avoid info dumping all over the place.
Del is a trouble maker. They call her reckless, Her sister is the perfect child who must please everybody around her at all costs, she is not above turning over family members if she must. Addie is a little insensitive but I still manage to somehow like the character because she had so many facets to her story (plus I loved to hate her a little as well). Did I mention Addie is into girls too? It isn't a major plot line or anything, just something mentioned in passing. How cool is that? A lesbian character that we don't have to like, her sexuality not having anything to do with it? I think this kicks ass.
"My cheeks heated. He'd told me something tragic and private, trying to make me feel less alone, and I responded by wondering what it would be like to kiss him. If there was a hell, I thought, looking out at the tilted, time-worn graves, I was definitely going there."
What can Del say, having other people bare their souls to her is kind of a turn on.
The romance was a little touch and go. I was kind of into it, but at the same time I thought things moved way too quickly. I liked the whole "being into multiple guys who are the same person from various universes" (though really she was only into one other version of Simon). It is incredibly messed up that she basically uses this echo in order to satisfy her need for intimacy with the boy who is unable to really see her, but it is a kind of messed up that is entertaining. Simon is a great guy, I REALLY like him. Though I don't know if I like horny Simon (that is what I call his echo, because he was always putting the moves on Del) or normal Simon more. They are kind of the same person, just some different facets.
One thing I did not like was the relationship between Del and her best friend, Eliot.
Dissonance was a fantastic read. After you get into the flow of things it is pretty easy to read it in one sitting. It is long though, and there are a lot of complicated concepts that kind of make sense but are rooted in so many explanations... your brain might start to hurt. But ride it out and you'll find yourself loving the multiverses, the echoes, the romance, the dialogue, and specially Delancey. I am so interested in reading what will come next, no matter how complicated it might be.
Thank you to the publisher for giving me an advance readers copy of the book. This has in no way influenced my review.
It was okay… 3.5 stars. Halfway through the book I was SICK of Simon. Like go sit in a corner so I don't see you, sick. It was hard for me to get into and took me a few months to get into and finish( I did do a lot of other reads though).
It was okay… 3.5 stars. Halfway through the book I was SICK of Simon. Like go sit in a corner so I don't see you, sick. It was hard for me to get into and took me a few months to get into and finish( I did do a lot of other reads though).
3+
Terry Pratchett did this idea better but i still kind of want to read the next book.
Terry Pratchett did this idea better but i still kind of want to read the next book.
Read some awesome YA books lately and this is definitely one of them. Not always easy to follow but I think that almost heightens your interest more as you're constantly off kilter and trying to keep up with the plot.
CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK!
CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK!
When I first read what this book was about, I was really excited because I thought it was a good premise and thought it would be a really interesting book. I was severely disappointed. This is one of the books that I wish I could get the time back that I spent reading it, because I disliked it so much. I finished reading it because I hoped that it was building up to something in the end or at least would have a good conclusion, but again, I was disappointed.
One of the main problems was that I didn't like any of the characters and that their personalities weren't consistent except for Eliot. He's the only one I could tolerate. Del was an extremely bland and two dimensional character to read about. Her sister, Addie, flipped back and forth between tattling on her and hating her, and deciding to help her and be okay with what she was doing. Simon basically had the same problem as Del, except that he seemed to change to a completely different character every so often. As well, there was absolutely no character arc.
Now to the "love story". I didn't like the so-called love story that was put in this for many reasons. It was almost painful to read. Del comes across Simon's Echo (another version of him) and recognizes him as a kid from school, and almost immediately is obsessed with him and goes to find other echoes of him to fulfill her fantasies. Then she starts a relationship with the "real" him while continuing to visit his Echoes. This is getting weird. And then he finds out, and finds it creepy, but then is okay with it because she says she can help get a cancer cure for his mom, but then hates were when she goes back on it and says she can't, but then is later somehow okay with it? It doesn't make any sense. There's also a love triangle thrown in the mix, which includes her best friend who has apparently been in love with her forever, and who she just seems to use when she needs a favor. I found this whole thing cringe-worthy.
As I said before, I hoped that this book would at least have a decent ending. (Spoilers about the ending follow). Somehow Simon is magically a part-Walker (able to go between worlds) as well. So there they go, on an adventure, to discover the huge instability-conspiracy that's been hinted at the whole book. And it's actually caused by Simon! So they need to hide him, etc etc, but he ends up in a world that gets destroyed and trapped in the multiverse. Then it's revealed that apparently Monty (the grandfather) was the enemy the whole time, and was using Del and Simon to try and find his long-lost wife! This was a poorly executed attempt at a plot twist, mostly because the characters were two-dimensional and not very developed. There's just too much melodrama in this book for me.
This may not have been a very coherent review, it turned out to mainly be a rant because I disliked this book so much. I tried to like it, and reserved judgement until the end, but it was just not good. Personally, my advice would be to not read it.
One of the main problems was that I didn't like any of the characters and that their personalities weren't consistent except for Eliot. He's the only one I could tolerate. Del was an extremely bland and two dimensional character to read about. Her sister, Addie, flipped back and forth between tattling on her and hating her, and deciding to help her and be okay with what she was doing. Simon basically had the same problem as Del, except that he seemed to change to a completely different character every so often. As well, there was absolutely no character arc.
Now to the "love story".
As I said before, I hoped that this book would at least have a decent ending. (Spoilers about the ending follow).
This may not have been a very coherent review, it turned out to mainly be a rant because I disliked this book so much. I tried to like it, and reserved judgement until the end, but it was just not good. Personally, my advice would be to not read it.
3.5
Originally posted at Vampire Book Club
In Dissonance Erica O’Rourke imagines an alternate world, known as the Key World. This is attached to alternate worlds, known as Echoes, which form and branch off of the Key World depending on the varying choices made in everyday life by the Originals (people like you and me) that inhabit the Key World.
Walkers are people who, as theirs names suggest, are able to Walk between these differing Worlds. Walking is genetic and even though Walkers mix in with Originals in everyday life, they are pretty much a society unto themselves. Governed by The Consort, the purpose of Walkers is to preserve the Key World first and foremost. To do this they move undetected into Echoes to repair any breaks or tune any dissonance to keep them from bleeding out into the Key World.
Sixteen year old Delancey Sullivan is the youngest Walker in her family, and is no stranger to breaking the rules. She has a natural talent for Walking and would rather spend her time between Worlds than in her everyday life going to an Original school where she goes unnoticed by everyone. During one of her unsanctioned Walks, Del runs into an Echo of her longtime crush Simon Lane. Being reckless, Del sees no harm in talking to the Echo (a big no no), but during other Walks, Del begins to notice Simon’s Echo more and more. Things get further complicated when Original Simon remembers little details about Del that only his Echo should remember, if Echoes were supposed to remember that is. When things become increasingly out-of-whack with the Key World, how far is Del willing to go to protect her secrets?
Erica O’Rourke has created one of the most interesting worlds/concepts I’ve read about in quite awhile. I loved the imagery that the Key World is like the trunk of a very big tree and the Echoes are like branches. I further loved the connection O’Rourke made with music theory in how everything has its own frequency and signal sound. I think Erica O’Rourke has set up a world with so many possibilities, that this series could branch off (no pun intended) into so many different stories/directions in the future. I would love if that happened. Although I won’t lie, sometimes the imagery was a little difficult to follow; you just have to persevere with the terminology.
With that said, Del was a mess. Her knowingly reckless actions throughout the whole story made it really difficult for me to be on her side. She kept digging herself further and further into a hole and was too stubborn to stop and look at the possible destruction her actions could cause. All for a boy. This is a rare case where I wasn’t really interested in the romance. I really wanted Del to be stronger than her crush on a boy that didn’t even know she existed until a couple weeks ago. Erica O’Rourke tries to incorporate a conspiracy theory about The Consort and all the information they’re not telling the Walkers. All Del’s mistakes only made The Consort’s rules look legit and overshadowed any disdain I was supposed to feel towards them.
Towards the end, once revelations are made and secrets are revealed, I did become interested in where book 2, Resonance, will go. Ending on a cliffhanger, I’m hoping these events caused Del to grow up a little bit to consider what actions she’ll take next.
Originally posted at Vampire Book Club
In Dissonance Erica O’Rourke imagines an alternate world, known as the Key World. This is attached to alternate worlds, known as Echoes, which form and branch off of the Key World depending on the varying choices made in everyday life by the Originals (people like you and me) that inhabit the Key World.
Walkers are people who, as theirs names suggest, are able to Walk between these differing Worlds. Walking is genetic and even though Walkers mix in with Originals in everyday life, they are pretty much a society unto themselves. Governed by The Consort, the purpose of Walkers is to preserve the Key World first and foremost. To do this they move undetected into Echoes to repair any breaks or tune any dissonance to keep them from bleeding out into the Key World.
Sixteen year old Delancey Sullivan is the youngest Walker in her family, and is no stranger to breaking the rules. She has a natural talent for Walking and would rather spend her time between Worlds than in her everyday life going to an Original school where she goes unnoticed by everyone. During one of her unsanctioned Walks, Del runs into an Echo of her longtime crush Simon Lane. Being reckless, Del sees no harm in talking to the Echo (a big no no), but during other Walks, Del begins to notice Simon’s Echo more and more. Things get further complicated when Original Simon remembers little details about Del that only his Echo should remember, if Echoes were supposed to remember that is. When things become increasingly out-of-whack with the Key World, how far is Del willing to go to protect her secrets?
Erica O’Rourke has created one of the most interesting worlds/concepts I’ve read about in quite awhile. I loved the imagery that the Key World is like the trunk of a very big tree and the Echoes are like branches. I further loved the connection O’Rourke made with music theory in how everything has its own frequency and signal sound. I think Erica O’Rourke has set up a world with so many possibilities, that this series could branch off (no pun intended) into so many different stories/directions in the future. I would love if that happened. Although I won’t lie, sometimes the imagery was a little difficult to follow; you just have to persevere with the terminology.
With that said, Del was a mess. Her knowingly reckless actions throughout the whole story made it really difficult for me to be on her side. She kept digging herself further and further into a hole and was too stubborn to stop and look at the possible destruction her actions could cause. All for a boy. This is a rare case where I wasn’t really interested in the romance. I really wanted Del to be stronger than her crush on a boy that didn’t even know she existed until a couple weeks ago. Erica O’Rourke tries to incorporate a conspiracy theory about The Consort and all the information they’re not telling the Walkers. All Del’s mistakes only made The Consort’s rules look legit and overshadowed any disdain I was supposed to feel towards them.
Towards the end, once revelations are made and secrets are revealed, I did become interested in where book 2, Resonance, will go. Ending on a cliffhanger, I’m hoping these events caused Del to grow up a little bit to consider what actions she’ll take next.
It is more a 2.5 stars. This book almost ended up on my DNF list. It was hard to get through the first half. On the up side it did pick up in the second half. I am still unsure if I am glad I finished it or not.
Delancey was ridiculously obsessed with Simon. She hooked up with his echo and started a chain reaction of weird. I wish that Erica O'Rourke would have spent a little more time on the other echoes and not on the ridiculous obsession with Simon.
Of course there was a love-triangle between Delancey, Simon, and Eliot. Eliot is the best friend that never stood a chance. Of course this book wouldn't be complete without Addison the sister that betrayed Del to the consort and started the whole problem to begin with. Oh wait that was Delancey because she couldn't follow one rule through the entire book.
Delancey was ridiculously obsessed with Simon. She hooked up with his echo and started a chain reaction of weird. I wish that Erica O'Rourke would have spent a little more time on the other echoes and not on the ridiculous obsession with Simon.
Of course there was a love-triangle between Delancey, Simon, and Eliot. Eliot is the best friend that never stood a chance. Of course this book wouldn't be complete without Addison the sister that betrayed Del to the consort and started the whole problem to begin with. Oh wait that was Delancey because she couldn't follow one rule through the entire book.
FIRST THOUGHTS:
I'm still torn between rating this 3 or 4 stars. I really liked the idea of Echoes and Walkers. The complexity of the world and its tenets was definitely really great! The story also wound up working well, even though I thought the beginning was a bit clunky. I do like most of the characters BUT I am not sure about the romantic relationship.
REVIEW:
(Originally posted on Alexa Loves Books)
Dissonance is quite a study in mixed feelings for me. I liked the concept of Walkers & Echoes a whole lot, and didn’t get too confused over the terms introduced. I also liked the characters as individuals, though the romance and I didn’t hit it off. With a combination of things that worked and didn’t, Dissonance falls somewhere in the middle on the rating scale.
Here are the things I liked about Dissonance:
The concept: The idea of Echoes & Walkers, and all the other things that meant was absolutely fascinating. It was the biggest reason I couldn’t set down the novel, as I rose to the challenge of trying to understand this world. While there are still a few things that aren’t too clear, I think I had the general concepts down pretty well. Plus, to me, the descriptions of how the Walkers moved among Echoes just had a distinctly musical spin to them.
The characters: Honestly, as individuals, the characters were pretty good. I’m mostly focused on Delancy, her sister Addie, her grandfather Monty, her best friend Elliot & of course, her crush Simon. Each of these characters had a pretty solid profile, and I appreciated getting to know them over the course of the novel.
Here is the thing that I was okay with in Dissonance:
The story: In the end, it worked out okay, as I did start finding it thrilling when the stakes got higher. However, the beginning was kind of… convenient? It also read a bit clunky. I was also not a super big fan of the repetition that occurred in the plot for most of the middle, even though I suppose it makes sense in context.
Here are the things I wasn’t so fond of in Dissonance:
The characters: I still do kind of wish that the Council and Delancy’s parents had come into more focus in this story. I get that they were busy handling some big deal occurrence, but still, it would have been nice to have them more involved and less abstract.
The romance: If there’s one complaint I had, it was this. I just couldn’t get behind the romance 100%. I mean, I could understand the attraction between Delancy & Simon, sure. But it kind of confused me, and slightly freaked me out that she was visiting the Echoes of him, and falling for him via them.
There you have it, my quick rundown of thoughts on Dissonance! While I mostly liked it, there were definitely things that didn’t resonate well at all. I’m still undecided as to whether I want to continue reading the series, so that should give you an idea of how mixed my feelings are about it. If you think the concept sounds at all intriguing, and you won’t mind a romance that’s a bit odd, then you should certainly give Dissonance a shot.
I'm still torn between rating this 3 or 4 stars. I really liked the idea of Echoes and Walkers. The complexity of the world and its tenets was definitely really great! The story also wound up working well, even though I thought the beginning was a bit clunky. I do like most of the characters BUT I am not sure about the romantic relationship.
REVIEW:
(Originally posted on Alexa Loves Books)
Dissonance is quite a study in mixed feelings for me. I liked the concept of Walkers & Echoes a whole lot, and didn’t get too confused over the terms introduced. I also liked the characters as individuals, though the romance and I didn’t hit it off. With a combination of things that worked and didn’t, Dissonance falls somewhere in the middle on the rating scale.
Here are the things I liked about Dissonance:
The concept: The idea of Echoes & Walkers, and all the other things that meant was absolutely fascinating. It was the biggest reason I couldn’t set down the novel, as I rose to the challenge of trying to understand this world. While there are still a few things that aren’t too clear, I think I had the general concepts down pretty well. Plus, to me, the descriptions of how the Walkers moved among Echoes just had a distinctly musical spin to them.
The characters: Honestly, as individuals, the characters were pretty good. I’m mostly focused on Delancy, her sister Addie, her grandfather Monty, her best friend Elliot & of course, her crush Simon. Each of these characters had a pretty solid profile, and I appreciated getting to know them over the course of the novel.
Here is the thing that I was okay with in Dissonance:
The story: In the end, it worked out okay, as I did start finding it thrilling when the stakes got higher. However, the beginning was kind of… convenient? It also read a bit clunky. I was also not a super big fan of the repetition that occurred in the plot for most of the middle, even though I suppose it makes sense in context.
Here are the things I wasn’t so fond of in Dissonance:
The characters: I still do kind of wish that the Council and Delancy’s parents had come into more focus in this story. I get that they were busy handling some big deal occurrence, but still, it would have been nice to have them more involved and less abstract.
The romance: If there’s one complaint I had, it was this. I just couldn’t get behind the romance 100%. I mean, I could understand the attraction between Delancy & Simon, sure. But it kind of confused me, and slightly freaked me out that she was visiting the Echoes of him, and falling for him via them.
There you have it, my quick rundown of thoughts on Dissonance! While I mostly liked it, there were definitely things that didn’t resonate well at all. I’m still undecided as to whether I want to continue reading the series, so that should give you an idea of how mixed my feelings are about it. If you think the concept sounds at all intriguing, and you won’t mind a romance that’s a bit odd, then you should certainly give Dissonance a shot.
If there was a single theme that I can pick from 2013 that I fell in love with it was definitely parallel worlds. They absolutely INTRIGUE me, and I cannot get enough of these stories so needless to say when I seen Dissonance on Edelweiss I jumped at the opportunity to read this one.
Surprisingly none of the characters really took hold on me except for one. I liked Delancy and Simon, they were definitely interesting and I liked how there feelings spread across the multiverse but it wasn’t until nearly the end of the story that I truly cared about what happened to them. The character that I did love immediately though, was Monty, Del’s grandfather. I just adored him from the second he came into the story. He has a lovely relationship with Del and I really can’t wait to see what happens with him in the second book (because SERIOUSLY?! there has to be more there!!).
Despite the characters not wowing me, what really makes the whole book is the world building. It’s absolutely PHENOMENAL. The way it’s explained is fascinating and I love that it’s compared to music. It’s very different from any other parallel world novel that I read and I couldn’t get enough of the echos. I think it just fascinates me because it’s infinite… there are so many Echo’s that you could cross to. And the cleaving, the inversions, the tuning… it was all remarkable and explained so, so well. Often in science fiction, the world building is confusing and is dumped upon you but that’s not the case at all in Dissonance. It’s a wonderfully crafted and well thought out world and has you nearly itching to be a part of it.
The ending shocked me, the story went down a whole different road than I thought it was going. I’m not entirely sure what to make of one of the plot points and I’m sure there is more there but it’s a given that I will be continuing this series. I’m actually really sad upon finishing this book and I had tears in my eyes during the last few paragraphs. It’s going to be a looooooooong wait for the second book!
Surprisingly none of the characters really took hold on me except for one. I liked Delancy and Simon, they were definitely interesting and I liked how there feelings spread across the multiverse but it wasn’t until nearly the end of the story that I truly cared about what happened to them. The character that I did love immediately though, was Monty, Del’s grandfather. I just adored him from the second he came into the story. He has a lovely relationship with Del and I really can’t wait to see what happens with him in the second book (because SERIOUSLY?! there has to be more there!!).
Despite the characters not wowing me, what really makes the whole book is the world building. It’s absolutely PHENOMENAL. The way it’s explained is fascinating and I love that it’s compared to music. It’s very different from any other parallel world novel that I read and I couldn’t get enough of the echos. I think it just fascinates me because it’s infinite… there are so many Echo’s that you could cross to. And the cleaving, the inversions, the tuning… it was all remarkable and explained so, so well. Often in science fiction, the world building is confusing and is dumped upon you but that’s not the case at all in Dissonance. It’s a wonderfully crafted and well thought out world and has you nearly itching to be a part of it.
The ending shocked me, the story went down a whole different road than I thought it was going. I’m not entirely sure what to make of one of the plot points and I’m sure there is more there but it’s a given that I will be continuing this series. I’m actually really sad upon finishing this book and I had tears in my eyes during the last few paragraphs. It’s going to be a looooooooong wait for the second book!