Review: Collide

Collide by Michelle Madow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Collide is a wonderfully addictive read, one I found impossible to put down. Honestly, it was so much more than I’d expected it to be, leaving me fearful I will be unable to do it any real justice in my review.
 
Collide takes a very interesting topic and creates an intricate story that will pull you in from start to end. For those who know of it, the book takes the topic of the multiverse and gives us a parallel universe story mixed with a time travelling story. It had the potential to become convoluted, yet it didn’t. There was enough in there to allow us to understand what was happening without making it inaccessible to the everyday reader. In short, it addresses it in the way any young adult novel should – it ensures the reader has fun without bogging them down with unnecessary excess information.
 
Our story stars in what I will refer to as universe one. We’re introduced to our main character, getting a glimpse into her world. Before we’re pulled in too deep, the action kicks in and events play out. At the Halloween dance a shooting occurs, leading us to believe our main character is dead. The story then shifts, moving us to the start of the week. Enter universe two, where there are a number of changes. Things we came to understand at the start of the book are different, people and events have changed – and it is very clear that our character is no longer in the world she knew. Is it a dream? Is she in a coma? You’re left with many questions, and slowly our characters work to solve the mystery. Whilst we’re never quite given answers, meaning we still have some questions as to what the truth of the matter is, our characters do enough research into the topic to leave us believing it is linked back to the multiverse theory.
 
As the characters work to solve out what has happened, they also work to stop the events that occurred in universe one. This leads to a number of entertaining scenes as our main character tries to convince people of what she knows, as the characters work together to decide what is the best course of action. Whilst their choice may not be the most sensible, it does work to make a very interesting story. Throughout we’re never completely sure of what the plan is, although we are given enough indications to have a pretty solid idea in our mind.
 
I will say, however, that I knew who the ‘bad guy’ was from the very start. Even before the change of universe occurred, I’d worked it out. The story does play out in such a way that we’re made to believe that a number of people could have been to blame for the event, yet it was a little too obvious who the real culprit was. I’d been expecting more of a twist when the answer came about – even though I was right about who it was, I had wanted the reasoning to be something bigger than I’d imagined it to be – alas such was not to be. It didn’t ruin the story, not at all, but it did leave me rather disappointed that there wasn’t some big twist at the end to shock me.
 
I will say that the read will not be for everyone, though. School shootings are a very scary reality, and I’m always tentative when such topics are touched in fiction novels. Truthfully, I was surprised by the care that was taken in this story. It was linked in with the multiverse aspect of the story with great care, although such a thing did lessen the shock factor to some degree. I would say this one is aimed more for the upper end of the young adult genre, if only because of the topic involved. My only real complaint in relation to using the shooting as the focal point of the story is that I’d expected more in terms of emotional responses from the main character. I feel as though her reaction was rather tame considering all that had happened, as I’d expected something a bit more extreme.
 
I think, in part, this links in with the romantic element of the story. In my opinion, the romance was given a bit too much attention. It overshadowed other elements, with our main character being obsessed with sorting out her love life alongside trying to stop a horrific event. Whilst it was great to watch the differences in the worlds slowly emerge, I stopped caring at some points as more and more romantic changes were brought into play. I think I would have enjoyed the romantic aspect of the story had it been a bit more subtle, if it hadn’t been quite so in your face with all the drama.
 
Nevertheless, it was a great read. I especially enjoyed how the ending left us with so many questions. There was one big intentional loose end, and I loved that. However, in regards to the other characters, I feel as though some things were tied together better than others. I’m not going to say any more about this rather vague statement, though, as it would lead to far too many spoilers – and nobody wants that.
 
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. Once I started reading it I found it was impossible to put down, the story pulling me in from the very start.
 
As a final note, I would like to thank the author for allowing me to advance read this in exchange for a review.

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