Review & Giveaway: 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil

3:59 by Gretchen McNeil
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Publication date: September 17th 2013
My rating: 3.5 stars

 Josie Byrne's life is spiraling out of control. Her parents are divorcing, her boyfriend Nick has grown distant, and her physics teacher has it in for her. When she's betrayed by the two people she trusts most, Josie thinks things can't get worse.

Until she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time—3:59 a.m.

Jo's life is everything Josie wants: she's popular, her parents are happily married, and Nick adores her. It all seems real, but they're just dreams, right? Josie thinks so, until she wakes one night to a shadowy image of herself in the bedroom mirror – Jo.

Josie and Jo realize that they are doppelgängers living in parallel universes that overlap every twelve hours at exactly 3:59. Fascinated by Jo's perfect world, Josie jumps at the chance to jump through the portal and switch places for a day.

But Jo’s world is far from perfect. Not only is Nick not Jo's boyfriend, he hates her. Jo's mom is missing, possibly insane. And at night, shadowy creatures feed on human flesh.

By the end of the day, Josie is desperate to return to her own life. But there’s a problem: Jo has sealed the portal, trapping Josie in this dangerous world. Can she figure out a way home before it’s too late?

From master of suspense Gretchen McNeil comes a riveting and deliciously eerie story about the lives we wish we had – and how they just might kill you.

3:59 was a fun action packed read from start to finish.  Throw in some romance, mystery and danger and I was a happy girl.

Josie’s life has been less than ideal lately.  With her parents separated, her mother consumed with work, and her boyfriend, Nick, distant lately, she feels a little off-kilter.  Right off the bat, things go from off-kilter to bad, especially in the romance department, and your heart goes out to poor Josie.  After an explosion in her mother’s home workspace, Josie starts to see herself, a different version, in the mirror at the same time morning and night at exactly 3:59.  The Josie in the mirror, Jo, appears to be the improved, happier version, with parents still together, and Nick still normal.  Josie longs for things to return to normal so she switches places with Jo temporarily.  Josie learns the hard way that things are not always as they appear. 

I picked this up after my last read wasn’t clicking, and was immediately hooked. The pacing was great and fast and I felt for Josie right away after she’s dealt a terrible blow! There are two Nicks in this story, her boyfriend from her world and then the Nick in Jo’s world.  Josie develops a relationship with Nick in Jo’s world, but I felt it was a bit rushed and lacked depth. I think this is somewhat inherent in a plot driven novel, and I love reading about a romance that feels real in its connection, so this was a little bit of a disappointment. Still, I did enjoy this book and I was eagerly turning the pages to find out what would happen next. 

I liked the concept of parallel existences, but to be honest, some of the plot felt farfetched.  I’m no expert on parallel theories or quantum physics so this may be due to my ignorance (probably, lol!) but a lot of it went over my head.  All in all it was a fun, fast read and I was surprised when I looked at the page count (368) because it seriously didn’t seem that long at all.  I’m wondering if there’s a sequel planned because the ending didn’t seem quite like and end.  I’ve looked but I couldn’t tell.  

 

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