Book Review: The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane

Everyone knows that fourteen-year-old Eri Lane is different. She is too intense, always tells the truth, and she somehow knows things she shouldn’t. Her confused teachers know she’s different. The means kids know. Her hardworking single mother knows. The cute, nerdy senior that she loves knows. There is just something about Eri Lane. But none of them know just how different, because absolutely none of them know that there are actually two worlds, the world of Dream and the world of Wake. Only Eri Lane and her best friend Malcolm Harris know that.

Eri and Malcolm never sleep, since they were twelve they have been among the special guardians of the boundary between the two worlds, known among themselves as the Awake. Now it’s November of their sophomore year, and Eri has been having a hard enough time trying to repair psychic leaks all night, and then navigate the ups and downs of being the black sheep of Marchland High School for the Gifted every day, (not to mention protecting Malcolm, who is openly gay, and their other best friend Ashley, who is too nice, from bullies), when a strange new creature shows up in the world of Dream, wreaking havoc and possibly even attempting to tear open the barrier between the two worlds. Now, Eri has to figure out how to stop it/him, how to save the world, and most importantly, whether or not the world is worth saving.

My Review:

Pros:   This is a fascinating book that keeps you reading. The change in tense between the Dream world and the Awake world is a bit unusual (though not unpleasant) at first, but you get used to it.



Cons: The ending felt kind of incomplete. There were no plot holes, and everything was wrapped up--but it all seemed a bit too quick. I expected more mystery concerning the mom, but it didn't happen.



Characters: I would ask for more backstory, but at this point it would be like asking for their biography. The main characters are well thought out and mostly everyone else is developed, if not in the Awake world then in their Dreams. The only person I felt that could have used a bit more spotlight was Eri's mother. In the book, there's a big mystery introduced that involves Eri's mother. It's not really talked about, though--Eri just says what it means and it's never, ever mentioned again.



Movie Potential: It would be a pretty cool movie, I admit. Not really a live action movie, though. I feel this would do better as an animated sort of film. Something along the lines of Popoyo and Spirited Away.


Format:  Kindle, a few typos here and there.



Overall Rating:  4/5