Fantasy Book Reviews

Seeing Double

Author: beverleftie
Title: Seeing Double
Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/57728444-seeing-double

When I was asked to do a review of Seeing Double, I initially turned it down because it was Sci-Fi. The author promised there were elements of Fantasy in it, so I decided to give it a shot. The blurb was so well-written that I couldn't wait to read the story.

The premise goes something like this: the people of Earth-1 have advanced too far and have destroyed their planet. Luckily, they've figured out a way to travel to Earth-2, the same planet, but in a different dimension. Their goal is to "take over" the bodies of the people of Earth-2 and steal their lives and planet. The catch? Earth-1 folks have to inject Earth-2 folks with some drug to "numb their minds" during the takeover, and this somehow triggers special abilities in their victims. Alright, not a bad premise for a story. Unfortunately, the author chooses to remain vague in the science department. We are introduced to things like dimensions, Takeover, head implants that give their hosts elemental powers, etc., but everything is explained in cursory fashion. We never learn the science behind how things work in the story world. To me this is lazy writing and a slap in the face to Sci-Fi readers.

The first major problem rears its head in the Prologue and Chapter 1: the story is told from two perspectives: third-person and first-person. I've never read anything written like this, but thought I would give it a chance. But immediately, I felt extremely uncomfortable with the unnatural structure and inconsistencies in the voice and tone of each perspective. I believe the author chose first-person for one of the main characters because that POV is normally a great choice for creating a more intimate experience with the character. This is a complete cop out!  It felt like the author is afraid to write in third-person and relies on first person as a crutch. The story would have been just as effective told in only third person, through the eyes of the two protagonists.

So, the protagonists...We first meet Ben, a boy from Earth-1 who's decided to join the "rebels", a group against the takeover of Earth-2. We learn that he's about to betray his people and help the Earth-2ers (I just made that up), for what reason? Because stealing the minds and bodies of other human beings is vile. Get a grip, kid! Your planet is dying and instead of helping your people survive, you choose to go against them and help complete strangers? This is not believable whatsoever. Ben needed to have a better reason to warrant his moral dilemma, something I'm not sure the author will ever reveal.

And then there's Tara, a girl from Earth-2 who survives her takeover and gains the power of invisibility. She attempts to escape her burning house, but the Earth-1ers find her, and she faints. While she's still unconscious, Ben saves her, and the two end up in a park. The story actually started off pretty good, but took a deep nosedive from here onwards. Tara wakes up and sees Ben (a complete stranger who probably has on weird clothes), dosing. Instead of sneaking away like a sane person would, she decides to wake him up and ask what happened to her. The next few paragraphs involve her fan-girling over hot-boy Ben, all the while dreading what he might think of her puffy cried up face, because you know, first impressions matter! My parents and brother are probably dead, who cares. Oh no, he's sitting so close to me! What if he's dangerous? No problem, I could deal with him! Cause I know hard words like deluge, and imbibe, and espied. I'll just play the part of the unassuming, ignorant girl who tagged along with the know-it-all-boy..............please kill me now! Am I reading Sci-Fi, or ChickLit/Teen Fiction??? The guy just told you he's from a different dimension and his people are here to take over your world. Run, stupid girl!!! Nope, he reminds me of bad-boy Brendon from school who I've been crushing on for years, so I'll just rest my head on his shoulder now.

In summary, Seeing Double has a decent premise and good use of descriptions to show imagery, but the inconsistent voice, alternate POVs, and bizarre character development completely obliterated any chances this book had of making it to my reading list.