Author: Dan Rix
Genre: Science Fiction
Published on: July 28, 2013 by Burning Ember Press
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.
I thought Broken Symmetry would be about a teenage girl's mirror escapades, but no. It was a lot better. We learn that Blaire’s father went missing when she was fifteen. He vanished without a trace. At the start of the book, the police inform Blaire that they’ve finally found her father. The only problem is, he can’t remember anything that happened since Blaire was four. The only thing he carried was a diary. Blaire tries to find out where her dad has been. Unfortunately, he becomes severely ill. At the hospital, the doctors fail to save him.
After learning about her unusual genome, a nurse puts Blaire in touch with a man who may have answers. This man, Charles Donovan, is the owner of Intelligent Symmetry Design and Interiors. Blaire had previously got accepted for an internship there. She decides to start it early. Things seem normal, until Blaire discovers her ability to crossover, or break symmetry. That's what they call walking through mirrors. From then on, she starts learning more about herself and the world around her. It turns out that the U.S. Army is investigating something in the city. ISDI’s purpose is to find out what that is. Whatever the investigation is about, Charles believes it has to do with Blaire or other people who can crossover.
The characters' power of walking through mirrors is very well thought out. The author clearly did a lot of research on the subject and explains the power with science. I also liked the mystery of the book. Blaire is going to learn something that will change all she thought she knew about her world. A special thing about her is that, unlike the others, Blaire's power seems to be more resilient. The power to break symmetry comes at a toll for those gifted with it, but apparently this doesn't apply to Blaire.
There's also a romance subplot between Blaire and a guy named Damian. He also works for Charles and can crossover. Blaire is at first reluctant to date the "pretty boy", but she slowly falls for him. Things get funny when Blaire uses her power to seduce Damian without him knowing. Unfortunately, she has no idea that there's more she has yet to know about the power to break symmetry. Damian is indifferent toward Blaire at first. He’s even furious with her at one point. Blaire and Damian end up falling for each other. Their love developed steadily, which helped keep it from eclipsing the sciency part of the plot. Broken Symmetry is a sci-fi book after all, not a romance.
Blaire was a good character, though I felt she needed more development. She’s a 16-year-old emancipated orphan, so she lives alone. Blaire attends high school like everybody else, but she has next to no friends. I found that incredibly strange. It’s uncommon for girls to have zero friends, especially a female one. A guy named Josh is pretty much the only person Blaire interacts with who’s from her high school. They had a budding relationship at the start of the book. Unfortunately, it fizzled out when Blaire started learning about her power. And then Damian came into her life…well. Blaire could really have used some friends. Even better if they had nothing to do with the world of breaking symmetry. MILD SPOILER AHEAD: It's possible the author didn't give Blaire any friends on purpose. There's a big twist at the end of the book. It causes a drastic change for Blaire's life. You'll see when you get to that part. Maybe Blaire being friendless isn't so detrimental after all.
This was an interesting and enthralling read. By the time I finished the book, I was like "wow!" It's seriously amazing, loads better than I thought it would be. The story might seem slow at the beginning, but don't stop. You might just love this book too.
My rating: ★★★★★
5 stars - Absolutely must-read. It's outstanding!!!
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