Review: Altar of Reality by Mara Valderran

Another book read, another review for you!

This one was graceful given to me by Curiosity Quills 

Press, which is a partner of TLF, actually being the first book from our partnership.

If you still don’t know this publisher go check it out, they have truly amazing books, with beautiful, beautiful cover, amazing content and they’re so nice people! Always ready to lend you a hand to make your day easier.

Synopsis:

‘’Sixteen year-old Madeline has struggled with epilepsy for most of her adolescent life, leaving her something of a social pariah. Things go from bad to worse when she wakes up from her first grand mal seizure in an extremely unfamiliar world but surrounded by familiar faces. Her hometown is in ruins, the aftermath of the Cold War turned hot.

Thomas, the boy that stomped on her heart a year ago, and his brother Brandon have been hiding her away since the explosion that killed her parents. The Lord Commander, now running the Southern Territories, believes Madeline died with them, and the brothers need to keep it that way. The biggest problem? The explosion happened when she was twelve.

Madeline isn't sure what to believe. The brothers insist her memories must be of a dream life she created while in her coma. But when she returns to the reality she knows, they insist this war-torn world must be the dream. She doesn't know if she's truly caught in the middle of a brewing rebellion or teetering on the brink of insanity.

As she finds herself flipping between the two lives, her heart becomes torn between two versions of the same boy and the lines between her realities begin to blur.’’

About the author: 

Mara Valderran is an author of young adult and new adult books, but she's more than just a madwoman with a writing box. She is an avid reader and fan of all things sci-fi and fantasy. She loves roller skating and movies, though typically not together. She hopes to one day meet Daniel Jackson from SG1, or at least the actor who played him. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, playing video games, or counting down the days until DragonCon.

Review:

First book from my partnership with Curiosity Quills Press! It’s a very tiny book (202 pages) that ends with the promise of another one. (Which I don’t know if it will come but I hope it will)

Unfortunately, I can’t say this is a great book. It’s a good book.

We are taken to the world of Madeline, a girl who suffers epilepsy, and that after a really nasty seizure wakes up in another world.

The overall concept sounds so awesome!

There’s people that can jump between realties, called Jumpers, every different version of reality that exists has a version of them and every version of them is aware of that capacity, once one of them jumps, they gain each other’s memories, as so not to be lost in that new world. But there’s also Sleepers, people who are not aware that they have that capacity and will normally jump to close realities, mostly while dreaming.

How cool is this?

Every major decision in your life creates a different world, one for every option you make. Little things like what you eat for breakfast will not have the power to create another reality because it does not have a big impact in your life; however, if the decision to it X instead of Y causes you to go to the hospital, miss school that may be a big change and so, another world is created, really close to the one in which you are. (this is actually the way it is explained to you in the book)

I find the whole of idea for this book not new, but really interesting. I rather enjoyed the way this plot evolves, turns and twists.

My problem with this book is the execution.

Not the writing. Not the passing. Not the characters.

But the decision to make the book about a love triangle more than about the – ever more interesting – existence of alternative realities. But even more than the excessive focus on Thomas-Madeline-Brandon, the jumping around from reality X to reality Y annoyed me profoundly.

I get the necessity to makes us understand both lives, but nothing is more annoying than being teleported to another place in the middle of the action. When it helps the plot moving, I get it, when it’s simply for the pleasure of making us stick to the book I feel an uncontrolled need to smack the author in the head. THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO MAKE YOU READER STICK AROUND!

That was a huge problem for me. Also for the book to be well developed I think it needed quite a few more pages, so that we could fully understand and get into this world.

 I feel like I’m always saying this, but it’s true, this is not a bad book. I enjoyed being lost in this world. It’s not like I hated every single page of it. It’s more like there were huge plot problems and flaws here and there, making me come back from an experience that should be one of the most precious… and I felt like I just wanted to write down everything that was wrong with this book.

I’m not sure if I recommend it or not, to be honest.

I will keep an eye out for the next book and if I get to get my hands on it, I’ll let you know if the author improved!

Rating: 2.5/5

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