3:59

This book has a fascinating concept/premise. I really liked the alternate world scenario, and the doppelgangers who weren’t quite copies of each other. They had their own personalities—some similar to Josie’s world and some far from it. The physics jargon went over my head, but that tech-speak did lend an air of reality to the novel. I was surprised by the ending, but how it turned out is probably more realistic. The thing that bothered me the most (I’m trying to stay vague and avoid spoilery details here) was the kissing scene near the end that occurred right after a horrific death. I sincerely doubt either of them would’ve been in the mood to kiss after that. It’s like they forgot it even happened, which was far from emotionally realistic. Parts of the novel were extremely gory in description, with the Nox attacks. Overall, an entertaining read.

3:59 is a great blend of sci-fi, suspense, and mystery with a splash of horror to keep things fun. When her mother conducts an experiment in her basement a portal to an alternate reality is opened through her bedroom mirror At first the reflection looks like her room, but when she notices minor differences she takes a closer look. When she touches the mirror she realizes she can pass through the thick jello-like membrane between the worlds. With only a minute window in which the portal is open, 3:59, Jo has to act quick. Jo talks to her alternate self and together they hatch a plan to switch places for a day, though Jo has no idea how different the alternate world is from her own. She has to think quick and use her head to try to fix things in the world she is in and make her way back home.4 Stars, this book had me from the beginning and it is a fun read that keeps you guessing.

This isn't the first Gretchen McNeil book for me. I also read her book Ten (which I thought was a nice little page turner if not exactly perfect). So I figured, rightly, that this story would set up a great premise and then have a bit of okay characterizations back it up.What I enjoyed about the story was the mysteries that kept popping up even before the main character stepped through the mirror. If this spoils the book for you, sorry. But a big part of the story is Josie switching places with Jo and how she finds out that Jo's world is waaaay more messed up than Josie's. In fact, Jo's world is downright dangerous and to survive it she'll have to be brave.I liked all of this. The subtle changes and the big ones. Josie's parents in Jo's world and her friends. But this is also where the story started to annoy me.I get that Josie is a teen, that her thoughts have been pretty messed up by her boyfriend breaking up with her andSPOILER*******SERIOUSLY, DON'T READ PAST THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!!!!!dating her best friend. It was pretty wrenching. So naturally finding a world where her boyfriend isn't dating someone else, I get it, it's Wish Fulfillment 101. But, there are bigger things going on, like not dying and saving the world!So, I guess the teenageness of the story started to annoy me more and more and sometimes I skipped dialogue just to get back to the more action-y parts. But it was still a pretty fun book and I'd love it if more of my friends read is we could talk about it together.

Ever since I read Pivot Point by Kasie West and re-read Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan, I've been a bit obsessed with parallel worlds. After reading Gretchen McNeil's other book, Ten, I knew I needed to read her most recent book.The title and the minimalist cover immediately caught my attention.First of all, I would just like to pint out hat the book has really short chapters, which I love. It highlights the important times in Josie's day and night. The short chapters also keep me thinking "okay now, Annie, just one more chapter before bed". Of course, that doesn't really work because I just end up continuing to read.This book is suspenseful, mysterious, and dark. The author mixes those elements so well. I kept guessing and making up theories until the very end. Side note: THAT ENDING! Oh my god, I expected some parts of it, but it still tore me up inside a bit.I really like how despite the book is in third-person perspective, I can really connect with the protagonist. I feel like I can feel exactly what she feels, especially her confusion throughout sections of the story.A bittersweet thing about the book is the scientific explanation. I'm torn about how I feel. While I do generally critique books when they either make no sense scientifically or have no scientific evidence to support the situations, this book makes me question that. It's packed with physics theories and laws. I'm unbelievably horrible with physics, but would other readers understand the theories? I do understand that the book wouldn't work as well without the science, but it really distracted me.To me, the characters are also a bit undeveloped. They don't have much of a personality. However, I didn't notice that much until after I finished the book. I guess the story kept me distracted.

I was expecting great things from this book. After reading Ten and absolutely loving it, I was disappointed with this book. I enjoyed it well enough, but at the same time, I feel like it fell flat a little.Our MC Josie is physics book smart – to the point where I literally had no idea what the hell she was talking about. She wasn’t, however, very street smart. I mean, c’mon – which woman would try and earn a guy back after he cheated on her with her BEST FRIEND?!? I mean seriously, how stupid do you get. Plus, she decides to walk through a portal and switch lives with someone she barely knows based on a letter and a couple of glimpses into her life? I mean, really? Like I said, book smart, but not street smart.I liked the fact that, whilst the characters were mostly the same in both worlds, there were distinct differences which told them apart. Circumstance made the characters who they are and changed them depending on the events at the time.This book felt slow. I didn’t feel the need to carry on reading and I was ok with the fact that I couldn’t read it for hours at a time. It think, in this sense, the book was boring – which lets it down a bit. I didn’t feel invested in the characters and their well being – which is probably why I didn’t want to constantly read it. In short, I was bored. I liked the premise, I liked the idea with the Nox etc. I think the rest let it down.That ending. I mean really?? It did not go the way that I had planned and I feel like the book has not been ended properly. It feels like it needs another instalment so that we can see what really happened with the characters afterward and whether certain characters made it to places where they wanted to go. It has left the readers with questions that will never get answered.In short, I was disappointed with this book – which I find upsetting. I loved Ten by McNeil, but I feel like this book falls short of the bar she set with that one. I gave this book 3/5 stars.