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Parallel by Elizabeth O'Roark - SPOILERS

 Star Rating: Zero ★'s

"My eyes open and fill with tears. Nick is not my husband. He's not anything. How can he possibly not exist when I remember him in such detail? When I feel so much for him?"

-Parallel 

My first DNF and one star review of 2024, and man did it come too soon. I was really excited for this book as I had heard many good things about it. However, I made it half-way before I decided to throw in the towel. 

Let me start off by saying it was extremely boring. I didn't care about Quinn, Nick, Jeff, or Meg... which all seemed to be important characters. Quinn was insufferable and extremely unlikable. Nick was fine, and I just felt bad for Jeff and Meg. 

The entire story-line is basically about Quinn, who is emotionally cheating on her fiance, Jeff, because she hasn't met her soulmate, Nick, yet. From a young age, Quinn has dreams about Nick, and she dreams about the day she dies multiple times. Why this doesn't raise alarms in her head when she finds out she actually has a growing tumor is beyond me. To top it off, she is engaged to Jeff, who she doesn't really love but seems to simply tolerate. 

Has Jeff done anything for us, the readers, to dislike him? Not really. He's a man who wants a house for children, wants to move to DC for Quinn, and has struggled with the move... those are not things to hate someone over, sorry! I get being frustrated with his character because of how he treats Quinn's inheritance from her late father, but she could speak up for herself and she just doesn't. If anything, my dislike is really toward Quinn. 

Then, Quinn finally meets Nick, and obviously immediately catches feelings... hard. If that wasn't her first clue that she shouldn't go on with the wedding to Jeff, I don't know what could be. From here, she goes on secret outings with Nick, shares phone calls with him, and he even comes in to superhero-rescue her after she passes out... AGAIN! And STILL Quinn doesn't call off her wedding. Nick also has a girlfriend,Meg, and even though he told her he didn't want anything serious, he did already tell her she could move in... What in the actual HECK?!?

On top of this, Quinn lied to her fiance about having a brain tumor because he "didn't ask". Girl... I would be telling my husband immediately before he even got the chance to inquire with me on anything. Maybe Jeff could have been a little more thoughtful, but come on, I am kind of with him--If it was serious, why wouldn't you say something? 

Meg and Jeff seem to be the main supporting characters in this story, but they don't have much personality to form an opinion on them. They are just two bland characters that you feel bad for because they are getting cheated on through the entire book. At least, the entire section I actually read. 

Then we get to the part where Quinn is apparently a time traveler, and I just couldn't do it anymore. I think the premise of dreaming of your future husband is cute, but unknowingly time-traveling just had me rolling my eyes, HARD! 

The "dreams" she was having, and the timelines she found herself in, did not make any sense to me. In one area she knew Nick as a young girl, in the other she met him in London while studying abroad. In the present, she met Nick because he was her doctor. I just didn't understand how any of that connected. In one part, when we meet younger Quinn and Nick, Nick's mom tells Quinn that Quinn would have to choose between Nick and his twin brother, but obviously she would pick Nick--right?!?! I just didn't quite understand the differing universes. 

This book definitely had potential to be something great, but it would have to start with Quinn either not being engaged OR calling off her wedding quicker than she did. Nick also should have ended his relationship. 

I am confused as to why the book is rated so high. Do people truly enjoy reading about people who cheat on their partners just because they are "destined to be together"? I understand this is the first in the duology of Quinn and Nick's story, but it just wasn't it for me. I don't want to finish this book, and I don't want to read the second one because I don't like Quinn and Nick. 





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