Review: Tandem by Anna Jarzab

Title: Tandem (Many-Worlds, #1)
Author: Anna Jarzab
Publisher: Random House Canada

Publication date: October 1, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Sci-Fi/Parallel Worlds)

Source: Publisher

Format: Finished Copy

Pages: 428

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indigo

Everything repeats.
You. Your best friend. Every person you know.
Many worlds. Many lives--infinite possibilities.
Welcome to the multiverse.

Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. When she was young, she loved her grandfather's stories of parallel worlds inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real--until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will.

To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love--one who knows her secret, and one who thinks she's someone she's not.

I got into Tandem thinking it is a dystopian novel, however I find out it involves parallel worlds, analogs, and a politically unstable monarchy in a parallel world to earth. I've mentioned before that I haven't read much parallel world novels (other than Pivot Point by Kasie West) so this was a great book to broaden my knowledge of this genre. Tandem, while not without flaws, was a pleasant and satisfying read with a whooping 430 pages that might not have all been exciting, but the concepts behind many of the laws that govern Tandem's worlds were very fascinating, especially when explained from a physicist's perspective. 

Sasha, the main protagonist, finds herself center stage in a political and dangerous world known as Aurora. She gets kidnapped by Grant's analog; Grant being a guy in her school she's crushed on for years. Sasha however is the analog of the princess of Aurora, to be exact, the missing princess of Aurora. Which is why she has to pretend to be Juliana (even from the Queen, her step-mom) until they find the real princess. Unfortunately nothing is as it seems and clues are revealed to us that perplex Sasha as well as the readers, conspiracy theories get thrown here and there (mostly by me) and you really get involved in trying to solve this whole mystery of who is really in power and who is backstabbing who.. and yes, be prepared for a ton of backstabbing in this book. 

I have to say that I was surprised by Sasha's dilemma when she had the option to go back to earth.. I mean, family always comes first but she was willing to sacrifice that for Grant's analog, Thomas, who you should all have guessed (or bet on your life) is the main love interest in Tandem. I didn't care much for the romance initially but I have to say Jarzab portrayed Thomas in a very appealing way. I loved his POVs and wanted to know more about him. The ending isn't a cliffhanger that causes your jaw to drop, and I liked that. Tandem was definitely a unique concept and I can't wait to read more about this parallel world theory as well as the direction the author is taking with this series.