About
Torn between two families and two lives, a troubled teen must come to terms with losing half their world.
Two Worlds. Two Minds. One Life.
There are two Earths. Perfectly ordinary and existing in parallel. There are no doorways between them, no way to cross from one world to another. Unless you're a shifter.
Canna and Lily are the same person but they refuse to admit it. Their split psyche has forced them to shift randomly between worlds—between lives and between families—for far longer than they should. But one mind can't bear this much life. It'll break under the weight of it all. Soon they'll experience their final shift and settle at last in one world, but how can they prepare both families for the eventuality of them disappearing forever?
“Twice Lived” is a novel about family and friendships, and about loss and acceptance, and about the ways we learn to deal with the sheer randomness of life.
Two Worlds. Two Minds. One Life.
There are two Earths. Perfectly ordinary and existing in parallel. There are no doorways between them, no way to cross from one world to another. Unless you're a shifter.
Canna and Lily are the same person but they refuse to admit it. Their split psyche has forced them to shift randomly between worlds—between lives and between families—for far longer than they should. But one mind can't bear this much life. It'll break under the weight of it all. Soon they'll experience their final shift and settle at last in one world, but how can they prepare both families for the eventuality of them disappearing forever?
“Twice Lived” is a novel about family and friendships, and about loss and acceptance, and about the ways we learn to deal with the sheer randomness of life.
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Reviews
"[A]n elegant metaphor for what we all face as our choices collapse into our settled identity."
New Scientist
"West does an admirable job portraying the tug-of-war between individuals as they grapple with issues of family, identity, and friendship... Complete with a shocking yet satisfying ending that showcases West's cleverness, this is an impressive feat."
Publishers Weekly, starred review
"This novel magnifies the pressures families experience as teens decide who they'll become....Readers will find themselves torn by both families' predicament"
Library Journal