New to Our Shelves: Now That You're Here by Amy K. Nichols

Now That You’re Here By Amy K. Nichols- ARC Review

Duplexity Series Part 1

Overview:

Eevee Solomon is your typical high school science nerd. Solomon and her best friend Warren practically live for the science fair each year and are best friends with the science teacher “Mac” who formerly worked for NASA. She’s the picture of practicality and logic (however not so much creativity) and makes sure to stay away from kids like Danny Ogden. Danny messes around with drugs, cuts class, and has a not-so-great history with Warren involving dark, cramped spaces with locks. But one day in class, Eevee notices a change in Danny. He’s jolted out of his normally trance-like state and starts looking around the classroom confusedly. The only person he remembers is Eevee, though he has very different memories of their history together than she does…

“The blinking crosswalk hand switches to the walking man and I pedal us out into the intersection. I watch the faces of the people waiting at the light. They’re miserable. The man in the Civic talking on his cellphone. The one in the work truck, too, with his elbow on the window and his fingers tapping the frame. The woman looking in her rearview. Every single one looks like they’d rather be somewhere else. They have no idea how it could be” (Nichols, 129).

Review:

Let me start off by saying that I loved this book! (Except the ending because I was sobbing, but I’m trying to rid that from my memory). I picked up the book not expecting it to be anything special, but I was quickly proven wrong. It’s not too hard of a read and incorporates elements of of science, mystery, adventure, and humor. I think the reason I was not expecting to love this book was because I was put off by the science aspect, but really all it does is add another layer to the suspense of the book and makes it even harder to put down. Right away the story starts off with an action-packed scene in one of the first Danny chapters. By page four I was already intrigued by Danny’s graffiti and was wondering who he was working for, which wasn’t resolved until much later in the book like many of the other mysteries that arise. In my opinion, that is part of why the book was such a page turner. I also like how the Chaos Theory is mentioned in the beginning and the end of the book. Once the author brought it up in the end it made me stop and think back on all the events that had happened and just blew my mind because it all made sense!

Another aspect of the novel I enjoyed was watching Eevee and Danny develop, as well as their relationship with each other. Eevee was so practical and predictable before, but then Danny showed up and taught her her how to be spontaneous and creative. On the flip side, she helped anchor Danny down. Nichols really plays up the idea that “opposites attract.” I think that reading about the characters from the others point-of-view (since the chapters switch between Danny and Eevee’s P.O.V.) is part of what makes the reader become so invested in them. It’s as if their affection for each other seeps into the reader as well. Without even realizing it, I grew to love these characters like I had known them my entire life was left wanting more at the end of the book. 

Lucky for me, there will be a second book released after this one later on in 2015 telling the story of the Danny and Eevee of the parallel universe. I’ll definitely be picking that up as soon as it comes out! If you have read the book Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone I would recommend checking out Now That You’re Here as they remind me a lot of each other. I don’t regret picking up this book in the slightest and I don’t think anyone else who reads this will be disappointed either.

By: Sydney S