After the accident that takes his girlfriend Viv’s life, all that seventeen-year-old Camden Pike sees in life are the holes. He struggles so much with the emptiness of Viv’s absence that he doesn’t remember how to get out of bed, live his life, or breathe—all of this emotional angst is exacerbated by his workaholic attorney mother and his absent father. And appointments with his psychologist Dr. Summers aren’t making much progress since Cam is convinced that he has nothing left to live for. After all, Cam and Viv were living under the philosophy: Who needs football or cheerleading, who needs friends, and who needs popularity when we have each other? The pair adopted that stance after Cam injures his right leg, an injury which alienated him from his former teammates and eventually put an end to Cam’s football playing days. Given the results of that conviction, author Emily Hainsworth—in her debut book, Through to You—asks the questions: Should love become your whole world and What happens when your emotional support system is ONE person?
Set in the fictional town of Fayetteville, this romantic science fiction thriller is also based on the notion of parallel universes. Cam, who is consumed by grief, creates a memorial for Viv at the accident scene, a place he visits almost in a type of masochistic torture since he does accept partial responsibility for Viv’s death. When Cam first sees the electric green apparition at the utility pole, he thinks the location is acting as a trauma trigger, a place associated with bad events that makes him hallucinate. A second sighting makes him think of the Greek myths from humanities class, “where men fall prey to monsters in female form” (31). The apparition is actually a real girl named Nina Larson, and the utility pole serves as a portal from one world to another—one where Viv is still alive but Cam is dead. Using the portal, the couple reunites, but despite the happiness of a second chance, fairy tale endings are far from this book’s resolution. Although the paranormal reunion helps the couple cope with their grief, they also discover truths about themselves, their relationship, and the consequences of their choices. As Cam begins to understand the paradox of intense devotion, he comes to realize that love can be comforting, peaceful, and fulfilling as well as needy, possessive, and demanding. Nina’s role in this discovery is both disconcerting and powerfully important.
- Posted by Donna