ARC Review: Dissonance by Erica O'Rourke

Dissonance

Series: Dissonance #1

Author: Erica O'Rourke

Pages: 496

Source: Publisher

My rating: 3 stars

GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

Delancy Sullivan has always known there’s more to reality than what people see. Every time someone makes a choice, a new, parallel world branches off from the existing one. Eating breakfast or skipping it, turning left instead of right, sneaking out instead of staying in bed ~ all of these choices create an alternate universe in which an echo self takes the road not travelled and makes the opposite decision. As a Walker, someone who can navigate between these worlds, Del’s job is to keep all of the dimensions in harmony.

Normally, Del can hear the dissonant frequency that each world emits as clear as a bell. But when a training session in an off-key world goes horribly wrong, she is forbidden from Walking by the Council. But Del’s not big on following the rules and she secretly starts to investigate these other worlds. Something strange is connecting them and it’s not just her random encounters with echo versions of the guy she likes, Simon Lane.

But Del’s decisions have unimaginable consequences and, as she begins to fall for the Echo Simons in each world, she draws closer to a truth that the Council of Walkers is trying to hide ~ a secret that threatens the fate of the entire multiverse.

Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke is a wonderful sc/fic story about the Walkers, people with the power to travel through parallel universes.

This is the story about Delancy, a walker in training… and a troublemaker.

O’Rourke created an amazing world where every decision we make creates a new universe, an Echo World, a copy of the Key World, the original.

The concept of this book is fantastic. I found myself in love with the idea of those parallel worlds. The world-building was well created, the dialogues were great and the writing was clean and enjoyable.

Sometimes the book has too many information and it was a little confusing, but if you put close attention, you get it. 

The big “but” of this book is Delancy, the main character.

See, the cover of Dissonance is stunning, the summary sounds dark and thrilling and it is… but Del was too reckless and immature. I found it hard to connect with her because voice was too young and I was expecting something darker and mysterious.

The rest of the characters were okay, but not memorable. I especially liked Montey, Del’s grandfather.

I also liked Elliot, the best friend. Despite the fact that this was the typical case of best-friend-wanting-more-than-friendship. Which was really sad because that developed in a love triangle, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of Simon, the love interest.

The cliché in the romance is something I didn’t enjoy either. The golden boy that finally notices the invisible girl, that wasn’t surprising or amazing. But I have to say that the love story grew slowly, which looked realistic and I’m really thankful for that.

I still find this couple immature, I wish I could tell you why, but that could a spoiler…

The ending however was unexpected and action packed. I loved the twist in the story and the last betrayal. This was the strongest part of the book.

Overall, Dissonance is a great story, and a new and original world that you’ll like to meet. If you like books about multiverse with young but entertaining characters, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one.