Review: What Happens When You're Trapped in Another Dimension?
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 4, 2014
Actual Rating: 3.5 starsI wasn't sure what I expected when I picked up Erasing: Shadows, but it definitely wasn't this. Even though this book is categorized as "New Adult Paranormal", it is not your typical "new adult" nor "paranormal" novel. This is a book that will bend you imagination and stretch your mind--personally, I would loosely categorize this book under "speculative fiction." Let me explain:The majority of this novel takes place in the "astral." The best way I can describe the astral world is that it is like another dimension; it's a whole other world on a separate dimension. The astral is a mysterious place; some things truly exist in the astral, others are simply illusions. People with a certain gift can travel to the astral, either physically or spiritually. Sometimes people travel to the astral by accident. Within the astral is even more worlds (ie. the world of Nothing, the world of Illusion, the world of Death.) Although the astral can be a beautiful place to be, it is also dangerous.The characters aren't your usual cast either. The majority of the characters are all adults in their late twenties or thirties, with the exception of Stu, who is 19. However, things start to get sticky when Mira, a thirty-something-year old character, encounters a terrible accident in the astral world. All of a sudden, she regresses in age until she is a child. Now Mira is stuck in the astral world with no knowledge of how to travel from the astral to the real world; in other words, she thinks the astral world is the "real" world. Events that occur in the astral causes Mira to switch ages several times throughout the nove; sometimes she's 4 years old, other times she's 15 years old. Needless to say, this makes the characters very different from your typical novel (let's be honest, how many times can you say that you've read a New Adult book in which one of the main characters is a 4 year old?)The plot resolves around the rescue mission of Mira. When Mira goes missing in the astral, Michael, her husband, must relocate members of the High Five gang, a group of friends that used to explore the astral in their teenage years, and find Mira and help her remember her "real" life.The book was narrated from 3rd person POV, as such, I found it a bit difficult to strongly connect to any of the characters (or perhaps it was the age difference that kept on throwing me off.) However, the plot/concept of astral was very intriguing and kept me flipping the pages. I think one of my favorite characters is Stu, partly because I could relate more to him (at least age wise) and also because his character changed a lot (in a good way) throughout the book.I would recommend Erasing: Shadows to anyone who likes stories dealing with alternate worlds/universe, sci-fi, fantasy and speculative fiction.