Thank you to NetGalley and Trevaney Bay for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
//TW: death, torture, violence//
All quotes are taken from The Twin Paradox by Charles Wachter.
Spoilers are marked with *SPOILER*.
~Quick Statistics~
Overall: 5/5 Stars
Plot: 5/5 Stars
Setting: 5/5 Stars
Characters: 5/5 Stars
Writing: 5/5 Stars
Memorability: 5/5 Stars
“Albert Einstein, the second one, wasn’t born yesterday. This was all bullshit.”
~Quick Review~
A timeless tale and a future classic, The Twin Paradox is an original and fascinating story that will stand the test of time. The Twin Paradox is full of adventure, science, theories, friendship, danger, and survival. Reminiscent of Jurassic Park, I could not stop reading this fantastically unique and vibrant novel.
“We are not built for this time period. This is a disaster. We should not exist. We died. Our DNA is outside its time period.”
~Other Information~
Publisher: Trevaney Bay
Page Count: 384 pages
Release Date: August 23, 2020
The Twin Paradox is the first novel in the Twin Paradox series. The sequel, Divine Paradox, is set to be published on January 31, 2022.
~Book Description (via Goodreads)~
With ten years passing for every three minutes on a remote stretch of Texas coast, planes fall out of the sky, evolved species are on the hunt, and people die inside one of the most vicious ecosystems ever grown—all a result of the government’s efforts to slow down time.
A lot can happen in ten years. That’s the point. Governments are always racing for supremacy, for scientific breakthroughs, for technological advantages—and these things take time.
Until something goes wrong.
With the grounded yet massive world building of READY PLAYER ONE, thrilling scientific questions of JURASSIC PARK, and the time-bending teen drama of BEFORE I FALL, Wachter’s THE TWIN PARADOX is a brilliantly plotted tale that is both intimate and massive, relentless yet deliberate, and explores the themes of self-acceptance, self- confidence, and natural selection in a richly hued and unforgettable world. Ultimately the eternal question of Nature versus Nurture is boiled down into this fast-paced thriller told over the course of five days and culminates in one single question:
Do we get to choose who we are?
~Characters~
The Twin Paradox has a large cast of characters: Alastair, Leo, Milk, Katherine, Zack, Isaac, Jimmy, Paul, and Ralls. Alastair, Leo, and Milk have been friends since they met at their school for super smart kids. Turns out, that school I mentioned? Well, it’s for super smart kids who are biological copies of history’s greatest individuals. Alastair is a copy of Albert Einstein, Leo of Leonardo Da Vinci, Milk of Martin Luther King Jr, and Zack and Isaac both of Isaac Newton. Jimmy is an ex diver for an oil rig, Paul is someone from the Pentagon, and Ralls is the manager of Cornerstone, a top secret project that practically consumes anyone it involves.
In terms of Alastair, Leo, Milk, Kat, Zack, and Isaac, it is very interesting to analyze their characters. On one hand, they are normal kids and act like it. On the other hand they are very similar to the historical figures that they are replicas of. The Twin Paradox begs the question: are we born the way we are or do we evolve into ourselves? It handles this question beautifully and shows that our environment truly does have an effect on us. *SPOILER* When Alastair discovers that he was the control in the experiment, and not truly a biological copy of Einstein, he is still himself. He is still an intelligent and stubborn kid.*
Milk, the intelligent, beautiful, and humane character that she is, was by far my favorite. Throughout the novel she is constantly calling Ralls out for his inhumane and possibly illegal experiments. Raising a class of kids as an experiment? Probably not the best thing to do. Running an experiment that accelerates time in an enclosed area, allowing that area to be evolved far past everywhere else? Most definitely not a good thing to do. Speaking of Ralls, I absolutely hated him (which I was probably supposed to, anyways). He was constantly concerned only about himself, and didn’t at all care how his actions affected everyone around him. I hated him so much!
“There is nothing special about us. There are no rules that keep us alive. Everyone dies. But because we are the center of our own story, we feel special, like we will buck the odds, but we’re not and won’t.”
~Writing and Setting~
The Twin Paradox, though written a little too sciency for my taste, was super visual and creative. I felt transported into the story, which was slightly terrifying, but I couldn’t stop picturing myself in the scenes.
A large part of the novel takes place in Cornerstone, a large circular jungle that is enclosed by Texas and the sea. Inside Cornerstone, ten years pass for every three minutes on the outside. After running the cycle at 3 pm for 8 months, millions of years have passed and millions of years of evolution have taken place. The once familiar ecosystem morphed into a dangerous, unfamiliar, and undiscovered biosphere. Navigating Cornerstone is a challenge that the characters must endure. And when it comes crashing down around its manager, Ralls, it becomes even more perilous to be inside Cornerstone.
“It’s called the Twin Paradox. If one twin left earth on a spaceship at the speed of light, time would pass slower for him, dilating to accommodate the speed, and then eventually, when he returned, his brother would be much older, or dead. Here, this is backward. Time passes faster.”
~Plot~
So much goes on in this novel, it’s hard to keep track. The novel was fairly fast-paced; I think the frequent changes in point of view allowed for that. Alastair and his friends are sent to Cornerstone by Ralls, unaware of what truly lies there. Once Jimmy’s workplace (an oil rig) sinks, and he sees some of the creatures from Cornerstone, Paul, from the Pentagon, is enlisted to hire Jimmy and his father to work at Cornerstone. However, despite the apparent smooth sailing the kids endure, *SPOILER* in secret, other countries are racing to keep up with the American’s and Cornerstone. This conflict causes the kids to become trapped in Cornerstone with the cannibalistic ‘humans’ that live in Cornerstone, not to mention the other creatures.*
“I am now alone in an infinite hell of your creation. You are the great Satan. I come to haunt your soul.”
~Overall Review~
I love this novel so much; it has the perfect mix of adventure, science, horror, friendship, and discovery. Personally, I cannot wait for its sequel, Divine Paradox. I need to know more about this world that Charles Wachter has created and brought to life, for it is so creative, unique, and sprightly that I feel so connected to its characters.
“The past is a terrible prediction for the future when it comes to complexity.”
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