3:59 by Gretchen McNeil Review

   

Title : 3:59
Author : Gretchen McNeil
Pages : 368
Source : Bought
Published : September 17th 2013 by Balzer & Bray

Josie Byrne's life is spiraling out of control. Her parents are divorcing, her boyfriend Nick has grown distant, and her physics teacher has it in for her. When she's betrayed by the two people she trusts most, Josie thinks things can't get worse.

Until she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time—3:59 a.m.

Jo's life is everything Josie wants: she's popular, her parents are happily married, and Nick adores her. It all seems real, but they're just dreams, right? Josie thinks so, until she wakes one night to a shadowy image of herself in the bedroom mirror – Jo. 

Josie and Jo realize that they are doppelgängers living in parallel universes that overlap every twelve hours at exactly 3:59. Fascinated by Jo's perfect world, Josie jumps at the chance to jump through the portal and switch places for a day.

But Jo’s world is far from perfect. Not only is Nick not Jo's boyfriend, he hates her. Jo's mom is missing, possibly insane. And at night, shadowy creatures feed on human flesh.

By the end of the day, Josie is desperate to return to her own life. But there’s a problem: Jo has sealed the portal, trapping Josie in this dangerous world. Can she figure out a way home before it’s too late?

From master of suspense Gretchen McNeil comes a riveting and deliciously eerie story about the lives we wish we had – and how they just might kill you

My Thoughts : 

Josie life in the last 6 months has gone from bad to worse. Her parents are getting divorced, she lost her job, her boyfriend off a year cheated on her with her best friend and she has become the source of all the whispers in the school. Her mother is acting strange and seems fixated on her work and a mirror. She sends Josie to go get the mirror from her father. On the way home Josie stops at the railroad to leave a train pass. Suddenly a bright flash happens and Josie blacks out for a few minutes.

From then on Josie is having weird dreams at the same time every day. She dreams about her life, but not her life. In the dreams Jo is her exact same but different. Her life seems perfect. She is and has everything Josie wants. But its all a dream, or is it!!!!

OK, 3:59 was not what I expected at all. I knew basically what the book was about but I hadn't read any reviews or dug too deep into the book. Well I'm so glad to say I loved this!!!

I was hesitant to start this because parallel universe books can be confusing and hard to understand if done wrong. In no way did I feel 3:59 was like this. Gretchen McNeil explained everything in a way that you understand without being condescending. 

You would think with 2 sets of each character it would be confusing but it wasn't. I loved Josie. She is nice, smart and a good person. I loved the fact she was a science whizz. We need more super smart heroines!!! She just wants to try and right things with Nick, so when she sees Jo she hopes things will be better. Jo is like the polar opposite of Josie and is everything Josie wants to be but is she what she seems??

Nick in the parallel universe was my favourite. He was strong, smart, kind and loyal. The author did an amazing job differentiating between both sets of universes. It could of gotten confusing but while the characters are so similar, they are somehow completely different. 

3:59 is everything you want in a good suspenseful read. The plot was unique and different. Its fast paced and grabs the attention of the reader. I loved all the characters and there were tons of twists and turns thrown in throughout the book. As for that ending, its heartbreaking but in a way I'm glad it ended like that.