Review: Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

From Goodreads: Fast-forward to a time when Apple and Google have been replaced by Gnosis, a monolith corporation that has developed the most life-changing technology to ever hit the market: Lux, an app that flawlessly optimizes decision making for the best personal results. Just like everyone else, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn knows the key to a happy, healthy life is following what Lux recommends. When she’s accepted to the elite boarding school Theden Academy, her future happiness seems all the more assured. But once on campus, something feels wrong beneath the polished surface of her prestigious dream school. Then she meets North, a handsome townie who doesn’t use Lux, and begins to fall for him and his outsider way of life. Soon, Rory is going against Lux’s recommendations, listening instead to the inner voice that everyone has been taught to ignore - a choice that leads her to uncover a truth neither she nor the world ever saw coming. 

My Rating: 4 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Although it took a bit of time for me to get into Lauren Miller’s Free to Fall, I eventually ended up sucked into the book because of all the twists that it kept delivering. Initially a story about a girl attempting to discover more about her mother, the plot becomes so much grander and ends up filled with secrets, lies, and conspiracies!

Learning more about her mother really causes Rory grows throughout the novel. At the beginning of Free to Fall, she’s very much dependent on Lux for decision making; but as she learns more about the app, she starts to rely on her own inner voice. (I would have preferred the Doubt to have been more like an intuition rather than an auditory hallucination though.)

I also liked the romance, which I thought was paced nicely. I did think, however, that the misunderstanding between North – who I found very cute – and Rory before they got together wasn’t really necessary. But, the two were rock-solid once they did become a couple.

Finally, I enjoyed the message Miller attempted to convey. Using Milton’s Paradise Lost as inspiration along with a strong dose of neuroscience and psychology, Free to Fall demonstrates the importance of choice and examines how people’s dependence on technology can lead to corporations manipulating their consumers.

A fantastic sci-fi novel, Free to Fall was released by HarperTeen in May 2014. 

Comments About the Cover: It kind of reminds me of Parallel’s cover, even though both of Miller's novels are standalones.

Reviews: Pivot Point by Kasie West and Parallel by Lauren Miller

Thoughts on the Novels: The theme of parallel universes/alternate realities seems to be a growing trend in YA. So much so, that HarperTeen released both of the debuts that I recently read – Kasie West’s Pivot Point and Lauren Miller’s Parallel. As such, rather than reviewing them separately, I’ve decided to a compare and contrast type of review.

My Rating: 4 hearts 

Set up of Plot: As a Divergent, Addie has the ability to Search how two options presented to her can affect her life on a day-to-day basis for however long she chooses. When her parents tell her they’re divorcing and her dad will be leaving the Compound to live in the Normal world, Addie decides to Search which parent she should live with. Chapters therefore alternate between how Addie’s life would be like were she to live with her mom versus if she were to live with her dad. Essentially, it’s like reading two stories at once, with some common events between the two. 

Protagonist: Addie is someone I can totally picture being friends with! She loves to read, is organized, doesn’t care about popularity, and prefers hanging out with a smaller group of close friends than going to something like a party. 

Worldbuilding: In Pivot Point, the Para-community does its best to ensure that its existence is kept a secret from the Normal world. They hardly interact with Norms, and appear to be mentally and technologically more advanced. 

Romance: Since I thought Trevor, Addie’s Norm friend, was sweet, and disliked Duke, Addie’s romantic interest in the Compound; I hoped that Addie would opt to live in the Normal world because it seemed like her decision would ultimately be based around a guy. So, I was pleasantly surprised that Addie’s choice wasn’t influenced by a guy in the end. 

My Rating: 3.5 hearts 

Set up of Plot: In Parallel, two universes collide, with the alternate universe being a year behind in time of the present one’s. As a result, alternating chapters reveal how the older Abby’s current circumstances are affected by her younger alternate’s decisions every day. Like the older Abby, I was constantly confused as to what was going on in the beginning because details of her reality kept changing. But, I liked how Miller showed that even a small choice can change a person’s course of life dramatically. 

Protagonist: I was never able to form a connection with the older Abby. Meanwhile, alternate Abby was sort of nosy and seemed kind of dumb. Who thinks it’s a good idea to walk around barefoot in a construction zone?! Also, both versions of Abby seemed to develop crushes very easily. 

Worldbuilding: By far the best part of Parallel was the theory behind alternate universes because Miller explains the physics in such a simplistic manner. 

Romance: I didn’t really care which guy older Abby ended up with because neither captivated me. There was also lots of talk about soul mates, a concept I don’t believe in. 

Overall Comparisons: Despite the fact that both Pivot Point and Parallel have very romance-centric plots, it’s a lot more obvious in Parallel. That, combined with West’s engaging writing and my preference for Addie over Abby means that I’m more likely to recommend Pivot Point over Parallel. Where Parallel wins though is definitely the worldbuilding. 

In exchange for an honest review, Parallel was received from the publisher (HarperCollins) for free via Edelweiss.