Through to You by Emily Hainsworth
Camden Pike has been grief-stricken since his girlfriend, Viv, died. Viv was the last good thing in his life: helping him rebuild his identity after a career-ending football injury, picking up the pieces when his home life shattered, and healing his pain long after the meds wore off. And now, he’d give anything for one more glimpse of her. But when Cam makes a visit to the site of Viv’s deadly car accident, he sees some kind of apparition. And it isn’t Viv.
The apparition’s name is Nina, and she’s not a ghost. She’s a girl from a parallel world, and in this world, Viv is still alive. Cam can’t believe his wildest dreams have come true. All he can focus on is getting his girlfriend back, no matter the cost. But things are different in this other world: Viv and Cam have both made very different choices, things between them have changed in unexpected ways, and Viv isn’t the same girl he remembers. Nina is keeping some dangerous secrets, too, and the window between the worlds is shrinking every day. As Cam comes to terms with who this Viv has become and the part Nina played in his parallel story, he’s forced to choose—stay with Viv or let her go—before the window closes between them once and for all.
This book, wow, this book explored grief in a way I’d never thought to explore it. A second chance with your lost love, but do you really want a second chance?
*SPOILERS IN THE FOLLOWING*
Camden is introduced as a struggling teenager. He refuses help from adults in his life and even his friends. As we dive into the first couple of chapters, the reasoning behind Camden’s odd behavior is perhaps explained. The plot arrives fairly quickly as well, but the book has a nice set up.
Nina is a lovely side character. From the moment you meet her you can tell her love for Cam, and as much as she doesn’t want to, she’s sort of let him go.
Camedon’s overall change throughout the book is astounding. He makes mistakes, learns, realizes things but in a way that not a lot of other protagonists do. This was also a very good romantic YA book from a guy’s point of view, which you don’t see very often.
Viv on the other hand, (the alive one) is a very good lesson for Cam. He saw the way that his life could have gone if they (the other Viv) both would have made some different decisions. Although his memories of Viv were sort of tarnished, it was a lesson on his character judgment, and to not be so shrouded in love.
There are a couple of moments, the delicious kind, when you realize something right before Cam does. It’s different than seeing through the plot, because you’re almost in the same place as the protagonist. Those moment’s in this book were lovely and thoughtful. This was a very lovely read!
The only negative aspect that I have to point out is that the concept is very confusing, and it was not very well portrayed.
As the reader, you never find out why Nina is able to come through the portal. She never seems to have a reaction to it, while Camden does. That whole bit was a little off, but overall the book was very well delivered.
