Fair Coin
E.C. Myers

Pyr Books | Mar 2012

Description:

Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott is horrified when he comes home from school and finds his mother unconscious at the kitchen table, clutching a bottle of pills. The reason for her suicide attempt is even more disturbing: she thought she’d identified Ephraim’s body at the hospital that day.

Among his dead double’s belongings, Ephraim finds a strange coin—a coin that grants wishes when he flips it. With a flick of his thumb, he can turn his alcoholic mother into a model parent and catch the eye of the girl he’s liked since second grade. But the coin doesn’t always change things for the better. And a bad flip can destroy other people’s lives as easily as it rebuilds his own. (via Goodreads)

I intended to write a double review for Fair Coin (purchased at Dragon*Con Pyr Booth) and its sequel Quantum Coin (received ARC from Pyr) but I couldn’t wait. When I have a sequel to a book already in hand I tend to give myself a day or two to digest the first book. But again,  I couldn’t wait. I dove into the first 50 pages of Quantum Coin last night. Then I took a glance at the reviews for Fair Coin on Goodreads.

The average rating is 3.54 stars?? Wow…

Well. I gave it 5 Stars. So there! I wasn’t alone, but I was surprised to see so many 3 and 2 star reviews. Maybe they just didn’t get the book. Fair Coin is a far cry from the stereotypical YA novel. I think this quote from Young Adult Book Central sums it up well:

“Fans of Inception, this is the book for you! . . . Smart kids and science lovers will thoroughly enjoy this book!”

You may start off thinking Fair Coin is fantasy and if that’s what you want you’ll be disappointed. Fair Coin is Science Fiction. Parallel universes. Suspense. Thought-provoking characters. Fair Coin will stretch your mind!

Like I said. 5 Stars.