Through to You [Hardcover]

Emily Hainsworth (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 2, 2012

Camden Pike has been grief-stricken since his girlfriend, Viv, died. He'd give anything to have just one more glimpse of her. But when Cam visits the site of Viv's deadly car accident, he sees an apparition. Her name is Nina, and she's a girl from a parallel world.  When Cam follows here there and makes an unbelievable discovery, it's as if all his wildest dreams have come true. But things are very different in this other world. Nina is hiding a secret, and the window between the worlds is shrinking every day. As Cam comes to terms with the truth, he's forced to make a choice that will change his life forever.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Camden Pike is tortured by the recent death of his girlfriend, Viv, who died in the car accident that should have killed him instead. When he takes medication for depression, an enigmatic ghost girl appears before him on Viv's memorial street corner. Nina journeyed to Cam's world through a gateway in the exact location of the accident. Her realm is just like his, but in hers, Cam is dead and Viv breathes on. This is Cam's chance to defy the universe and reunite with the love of his life-or so he believes. The plot is comprised of a predictable Cam-Viv-Nina love triangle, with the mystical gateway being the only paranormal element. Cam is a stereotypical American teen: his emotional tumult is deftly handled and his grief-ridden obsession permeates his daily life, with plenty of unnecessary profanity peppering his narrative. Hainsworth's romantic fantasy thriller is sustaining, though lacking in literary merit. Readers would be more satisfied with Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy (Knopf).-Jamie-Lee Schombs, Loyola School, New York Cityα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

“Hainsworth’s debut novel is fresh, exciting, and haunting … The well-developed characters help readers make an immediate emotional connection that results in a personal investment in the outcome of the story …. a must-have for any classroom or library shelf.” (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (Starred Review) )

“Smart, singular, and utterly compelling—I loved it!” (Brenna Yovanoff, New York Times bestselling author of THE REPLACEMENT )

“Intriguing.” (ALA Booklist )

“THROUGH TO YOU is a page-turning read. I lost hours of sleep because I just had to finish it!” (Christopher Pike, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the THIRST series and REMEMBER ME )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Balzer + Bray; 1 edition (October 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006209419X
• ISBN-13: 978-0062094193
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #630,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Emily Hainsworth was raised in upstate New York and currently resides in Denver with her husband and daughter. THROUGH TO YOU is her first novel. You can visit her online at www.emilyhainsworth.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-Boggling Brilliant! October 4, 2012

By Andrea Thompson

Format:Hardcover

Through to You is a story of grief turning to despair. A despair that leaps at the chance of a parallel life offering second chances, alternatives that aren't as perfect as they seem.

I gotta say, Through to You was a complete mindjack. That's a compliment, by the way. The story begins two months after Cam loses his girlfriend, Viv, in an accident he feels responsible for. His life has virtually ended with hers. He barely manages to make it day-to-day. Author Emily Hainsworth did such a beautiful job with Cam. His grief is written so stunningly well, that I wanted to cry and despair along with him. He's so enveloped by his pain, there seems to be no end in sight.

But there is an end in sight, when Cam sees a girl at the accident scene, and here's where my review goes down the chute. I swear, anything I say here on out will spoil the story! I can say that parallel dimensions confuse me, so I was left scratching my head a bit during Through to You. But my confusion actually worked because I felt as if I were uncovering the strange truth right along with Cam. And the ending was completely and mind-boggling brilliant! Everything that I didn't understand ended up making perfect sense. There were so many little breadcrumbs throughout the story, moments that I didn't consider significant at all, that were revealed to be amazing clues. I feel like Through to You is one of the most ingenious stories I've read in quite some time, or like I'm a huge idiot for not seeing this coming.

Through to You is a story that surprised me, captured me, entertained me, and totally jacked with my brain. I had an amazing time reading it, can't stop thinking about it, and can't wait to read it again.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful yet staggering thing to experience October 2, 2012

By A Book Obsession.. TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

It's been two months since Viv died and Camden Pike is no closer to dealing with the wreck he became when he lost her. She was everything to him, his rock in the world when he lost everything else that mattered. Then one night while visiting the memorial he sees an apparition of a girl in a green haze. At first he thinks he's losing it and the image is Viv's ghost conjured by his grief. But he's wrong, the apparition is actually Nina, a girl from a parallel world, one where Viv is still alive. Yet when he travels through the haze he finds things to be very different on the other side as the counterparts have made very different choices, leaving him with countless questions. Just who exactly is Nina and why is she so secretive. Why is Viv so different, and can his love for her overlook all of the startling differences? With the window of haze growing smaller each day, Cam only has a limited time to decide what he really wants before his second chance slips away forever.

I absolutely adored Cam. Everything about him felt so real, with all his emotions becoming my own as I was reading. The sheer amount of grief he is suffering in the beginning of the book is quite staggering and my heart bled for him. Not only does he feel the pain of losing the person who meant the absolute most in the world to him, but he also is dealing with a world of guilt as he blames himself for the accident. In all honesty it is almost a miracle that he was able to function as well as he did. Sure he shut everyone out, but he still was able to at least go through the motions of his life. Yet when he see's Nina's apparition he "wakes" up with a vengeance as he questions his own sanity even as his animosity towards someone else comes to the forefront. It was so heart breaking to see him struggle so hard as even though I knew he wasn't crazy, he didn't and that made it all the harder to bear.

In the opposite spectrum of emotions, his joy and relief upon meeting the parallel world's Liv is breath taking, yet again changing the emotional flavor of the novel. But even more impressive than the direct emotions experienced was the slow but steady personal growth as Cam slowly started to heal and find himself again. As he went from the extreme loss to hope, he still manages to keep his head rather level considering the rather extraordinary circumstances. I just wanted to shout out my encouragement when he didn't just accept things at face value, but made rather rational decisions. I'm not sure many of us would actually have the strength to do that in the face of getting such a profound second chance with a lost love.

I really enjoyed the simplistic style of the writing for this book. Everything was bare bones, with no real lengthy descriptions. I just felt like the raw and open nature of the writing really fit the story, especially as Cam was reeling in his grief as he wasn't going to be poetic in that state. That open nature did leave things a little obvious as the book progressed, making some of the plot twists predictable to me as a result. However, that didn't lessen the impact of them one bit as it was the emotion, not the actual events that made this book what it was. Several times throughout reading Through to You my heart felt like it had been ripped out of my chest as it bled for Cam and his suffering. This is such an emotionally impactive book that it is a beautiful yet staggering thing to experience. Anyone who has ever experienced love or loss should absolutely read this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Smart, Engagjng Read February 11, 2013

By KVB99

Format:Hardcover

Cam has lost his girlfriend Viv, but in another alternative world things turn out differently for Cam and Viv. Cam is given the chance to explore this alternative world and see what might have been. This is an intriguing book on love lost and grief, but also we have redemption of sorts. Cam is a nicely developed character and it is interesting to see him evolve throughout the book. The book is about love and second chances, about do-overs. While the characters Nina and Viv are okay, a little more time and depth with them could have made this book much stronger. Viv, in particular, needed a little more development so we could fully appreciate her choices, but still an excellent read.