By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: CT Malachite’s Altered Parallel is a powerful Romance Fantasy with some questionable attributes and flaws to keep from being perfect. However, it does tell an interesting story of two souls with magical powers whose love is passionate, emotional, empathetic, all consuming, troubling, and ultimately tragic.
Skyler Aymon is a teacher who is concerned about the frequent absences, failing grades, and sudden bad attitude of her once promising student, Tate Morrow. After a confrontation, she sees a strange aura and feels a powerful surge of energy around him. Curious, Skylar follows Tate to a group whose members have the same presence. They are able to practice The Magic and live in a parallel universe similar to our own but whose residents can use those abilities. In fact, Skyler is revealed to also come from this universe and can access The Magic but needs to learn how to use it. Since she already has a connection with Tate, he decides to train her so the student becomes the teacher. She learns fast and proves to be quite adept and powerful as they become closer.
The book has an extremely slow and at times awkward start. The initial meeting between Skyler and Tate and the introduction of The Magic works well but it falters a bit. At least three times, the book follows the same scenario: Tate introduces Skyler to The Magic and the parallel universe. She is enchanted and practices some aspects like teleportation, mental telepathy, or clairvoyance. Then after a fun time, she returns to her apartment and wakes up with no memories of her adventures. Amnesia is given to her so she doesn't unintentionally blab The Magic’s secret. Finally, she and Tate get through that hurdle and she retains her memories as she embraces and excels in learning to use The Magic.
It's understandable that they wouldn't want everyone to know about The Magic and the introductions are secret tests of character to evaluate Skyler’s honesty and trust but it gets old. We only needed one trip and amnesia before returning to get the point. Three just stretches the concept too far before the narration really begins.
There is also the discomfort in the age difference between Skyler and Tate and that they were initially a teacher and her student. It's obviously very uncomfortable when this shared experience creates a bond that veers towards romance. Thoughts of statutory rape and pedophilia might uncomfortably pound into Reader's heads.
Thankfully, Malachite creates a time portal in which one can enter and emerge years older as Tate does and returns seven years older to Skyler after only one year passes in her world. That however creates another problem in the text. This incident happens so early that it's easy to forget that they started out as different ages.
In fact their backstory becomes superfluous and unnecessary not to mention creepy which is made less so by a plot device. They not only didn't need the plot device, they didn't need that awkward introduction. They could have started at the same age, perhaps as work colleagues or neighbors and it would have had the same effect. It would also have made the rest of the book more comfortable when it comes to discussing how well written the rest of the Romance is and it is an excellent romance.
Once that hurdle is crossed and the plot fully takes hold, Altered Parallel excels at both Fantasy and Romance. Malachite captures The Magic and all of the strengths, weaknesses, and rules that those who have it would follow.
An intriguing concept is how different locations around the world are connected to sources of power. One place could carry an aura of positive Magic that helps practitioners feel welcome and rejuvenated. Another feels cold, negative, and drains Magic users.
The locations retain the residual energy, actions, and motives left by the users. There are those who use The Magic to help others and those who use it for darker purposes. Magic itself is neither good nor bad. It just exists as a neutral force. The good and evil lie in the user.
In fact, this tug between the various motives becomes a barrier between Skyler and Tate. At first, they are magically in sync with each other. Their powers increase the closer they become. They can fly to different locations, create objects, and share a telepathic link. Their romance strengthens their magical connections and vice versa.
In The Magic universe, emotions are heightened so what they felt in the previous world increases, particularly the darker negative ones. This is especially true for Skyler. The Magic opens her mind but also opens stronger emotions like rage, insecurity, longing, envy, fear, pride, and terror. She tries to resist and bury them but they only become stronger. In some of the strongest chapters, Skyler and Tate give their separate alternate versions of various key moments that show increased uncontrollable power but a decreased personal relationship. This relationship becomes darker, confrontational, and more tragic as they come to terms with different views.
In some ways Altered Parallel is very similar to another book that I recently reviewed, The Fallen Dreamer The Seers: Storyteller Edition by Kevin G. Broas. They both are novels about people discovering inner powers and some characters explore the darker aspects of what having those powers can bring. The difference is in tone.
The Fallen Dreamer is more introspective and philosophical. It shows the larger picture of how those abilities impact society around us. It makes Readers think about the process, the results, and consequences and how they affect reality, imagination, free will, and human connection.
Altered Parallel is more evocative and poignant. While there is an awareness of the larger picture, it's more interested in the details of how these powers affect the characters. It makes Readers feel the loss within trusting someone with a deep secret and then using that secret to betray all they once believed in and how that betrayal affected their personal connection. Both books tell the same story and do it well. They just use different words and meanings to describe it.
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