Sixteen-year-old Blaire Adams can walk through mirrors. It’s called breaking symmetry. To her, a mirror feels like a film of honey. She can reach through it, grab things…even step inside. On the other side she lives every teenager’s fantasy: a universe all her own, zero consequences. She can kiss the hot guy, break into La Jolla mansions, steal things…even kill. When finished, she just steps back into reality and smashes the mirror—and in an instant erases every stupid thing she did. Gone. It never happened. But breaking symmetry is also dangerous. First there’s the drug-like rush she gets when passing through the glass, like a shot of adrenaline. She suspects it’s degrading her body, making a new copy of her each time. A reflection of a reflection, each one a little hazier. Then, of course, there’s the risk of getting cut off from reality. When she narrowly escapes a military quarantine zone with the San Diego Police Department hot on her heels only to discover her escape mirror littering the floor in shards, her worst fear is realized. Now, trapped in a broken reflection, she must flee through a mind-bending maze of mirrors, going deeper into the nightmare as she struggles to grasp a betrayal, uncover the chilling truth about her ability, and somehow find a way out of a dead-end universe that “never happened.” Somehow, she must find a way home.
Title: Broken Symmetry
Author: Dan Rix
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi
Rating: 4.5 blow my mind stars!
Publisher: Burning Ember Press
This book! Someone grab my mega phone! I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK!!
Dan Rix states at the very beginning of the book “No matter how you feel about this story – positive or negative – you’re likely to forget about it in a few weeks after you finish.”
No. Thats not happening. I have read countless books since this one. I have had my review sitting in my notebook for a couple of months. Yet I don’t even need to back reference in order to write it. This story stuck.
I love Sci-Fi, and all things fantasy and paranormal. This book is right up my ally. But not once have a read a story so fantastical and convincing.
Dan Rix has spun a story that held me to the literal edge of my seat. I read this book in one sitting. It is well written and just spectacular in its originality.
This book is one that once finished, you just hold it to your chest and reflect. Reflect on its ability to open a portal to a different world. To so wholly transport you to an alternate realm that it has you asking questions like, what if just maybe… is it possible? a feat that any writer is undoubtedly proud to achieve.
The unique storyline is captivating. The suspense – agonising.
Dan Rix has written a universe that while seems impossible…may well not be… if you chose to believe it.
While I will admit some of the words and explanations (scientifically) were mind boggling to me, I was able to overlook to complex information without it affecting the book. Rix’s writing style flows. The book is well written and enticing. Truely a fantastic read.
The story follows 16 year old Blaire Adams. She loses her father at age 15. He simply… vanished. Shear determination flows through Blaire throughout all of the book, she never gives up looking for her father. One year after he disappears he shows up at the police station. Blaire should be relieved, but the man who is by all accounts her father… isn’t. Facing the fresh loss of her father yet again Blaire then sets out to find answers.. at any cost.
I have to be honest, Blaire’s character being the only reason the book lost half a star. Her maturity, self assurance, strength and determination lead me to feel as though she was much older than 16. Her character just felt a lot older than her 16 years, despite her being written as that age. Her intelligence and even her sexuality came across much more mature than her written age. But overall that did not affect the book in its entirety.
I don’t want to add spoilers to this review. I could continue to peel the layers of this book away as to impress just how out-of-this-world this story is. But that would ruin the lip biting mystery. Or, I could write descriptions of our main characters to give any of you out there a first hand look at the solidity and characteristics of each one. BUT you see, neither of those things would work for Broken Symmetry. Not only would option one dull down any gasp worthy moments (and there are MANY) but it would also lay a flat, void reflection of a book that is anything but. As for option two, I just can not do these characters justice. They reached out of there world, captured my wrists and pulled me head first into their reality. A simple, neat, sequence of words from my fingers will do them no good.
So rather, I will explain why I found this book so entirely captivating – without giving away the mystery – because GUYS! have you read the blurb??? You get the picture.
I love Fantasy books. I love dipping into the impossible. Bringing it to life. Also books where you have to carefully sift through clues and puzzles pieces, slipping each puzzle piece of possibility into place. One by agonising one. All the while questioning your own judgment. Broken Symmetry gives you both; the impossible allure of a world made of reflected universes, levels upon levels of demise. Clouded in the mystery of, how? what? and who? Creatures of the shadows who feed on empty vessels in hopes of reaching the light. An ‘artifact’ that is the centre of everything – yet no one knows what it actually is. And a group of four who can effectively ‘break symmetry’ in order to move from one level to another, each losing a piece of themselves every time. Not to mention ultimately facing the possibility of being ‘orphaned’ on a lower level should their broken mirror truely be, broken. Phew! So much going ons!
You see when all these alluring possibilities are smushed up together and pop into the mind of an extraordinary writer, ink spills onto paper to form a tale of magic, possibilities and vitality. Giving us as readers and opportunity to experience a reality that is not really a reality at all. To feel what it would be, to be trapped in an unimaginable maze, where the only hope for survival is just that. Hope.
Dan Rix has written us a book that is gripping, surprising, chilling, and new. I loved every moment I spent in this impossible reality. Mr Rix, I’d like you to know, I still very much remember every detail of your book.
worms and bibliophiles 