Are you fascinated by parallel dimensions? Does magical realism make your heart beat faster? Then definitely check out Wishing for a Parallel World by Arriah Kiprujistho!
Thank you, Arriah, for sending me a copy of your book in exchange for an honest review.
Wishing for a Parallel World
Wishing for a Parallel World tells the story of Meera, a girl from a parallel world who finds a mysterious journal on earth in which the owner seems to be longing for a parallel world. This tickles her curiosity and she decided to try and find out who wrote these words. Her best friends are less enthusiastic about this idea, but when an accident strands them all in our world, an unforeseen and exciting adventure sweeps them all up. Will Meera ever discover the identity of the person who owns the diary?
A supernatural romance
The concept of the parallel world is developed beautifully in this novel, as is shown by the following citation:
[…] for every world there is another parallel world. Of this earth too, there is a parallel earth and this earth in a way is of prime importance for us. We have a responsibility in our hands to take care of it. Any kind of disturbance in the natural environment of this world will affect the parallel one. So to keep the balance in check, we come here from time to time and if any changes are observed, we take action to keep our world safe. [Our world] that is similar to the earth in many ways and different in so many ways. […] As far as people are concerned, we all possess some sort of power. There is love, friendship, cooperation, faith, trust, belongingness…and we value these things the most.
The opening chapters are dedicated to world building, but the story is mainly dialogue driven afterwards, which I greatly appreciated. The main characters are a diverse group of friends in their early twenties, which gives the story a very young quality. Not in the sense that it’s written for a young audience but in the sense that you get this positive feeling that everything is still possible. It’s a very optimistic vibe, which I really liked.
The aspect of magical realism also brings a contemplative, almost spiritual undercurrent to the narration, which ties the events beautifully together.
This is a self-published novel, and a debut at that, so in earlier reviews, you might see that people mention editing issues. I did not encounter any, so don’t let those earlier remarks stop you from discovering this story! Perfect for the fans of Dr Who! Three out of five gemstones:
Age Category: Young Adult
Do you want to discover more?
If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the following online store:
Amazon.nl: Paperback edition
Amazon.nl: eBook edition
Similar to this
If you enjoyed this novel, you might also want to check out Those Were Not Love Letters But Still I Fell in Love by Arriah Kiprujistho, which is a Contemporary YA romance story. Arriah’s third book is currently in progress!
If you are into YA science fiction, also check out Fire Wave by Ana Stanojevic. This first part in an upcoming trilogy introduces us to a superheroine faced with extraterrestrial mysteries… My review can be found here.