Review: The Corridor by A.N. Willis

Title: The Corridor
Author: A.N. Willis
Publisher: Alloy Entertainment
Release Date: June 23, 2015

Stel Alaster has never known life without the Corridor. It appeared suddenly seventeen years ago, the only portal to a parallel version of our world—Second Earth. Everyone on First Earth fears Mods, the genetically modified Second Earthers who built the Corridor. They are too smart, too strong, and have powers that can’t be controlled. Any Mod found on First Earth is branded, then detained in the Corridor’s research labs.

Only Stel has a dangerous secret. She has a power, too: She can open a portal to Second Earth . . . and several other parallel universes she’s discovered. If anyone ever finds out, she’ll be imprisoned, no better than a Mod or common lab rat.

But when the Corridor starts to fail, emitting erratic bursts of energy that could destroy First Earth, Stel must risk everything to save the people and world she loves. With the help of an escaped Mod and an infuriatingly arrogant boy from a third universe, Stel sets out to unravel the mysteries of the Corridor and stabilize it before it’s too late. The fate of every world lies in the balance. . . .

The concept of this book was pretty awesome.  Multiple universes?  Check.  Trans-dimensional travel?  Check.  

This book hooked me in from the very beginning and kept me reading until the last page.  The first book in a new series, it left me wanting more.  Where's the next book, please?

Stel is a normal girl on First Earth, until a horrible energy surge gives her powers to open portals to any other dimension of Earth.  Throughout the book she struggles with her new gift and the implications it could have on her and her world.  But she grows.  She learns to use it and control it.  Stel is a slightly complex character.  She wants what's best for her world and for her father.  She doesn't necessarily know what that is, but she's always willing to put him first.  

Meeting Cohl changes things slightly for her.  Their relationship is slightly awkward, but that is what makes it so great.  From the first time we met Cohl I instantly liked him and knew he would play a major role in the story.  And their awkward romance is so realistic that I found myself laughing while reading it.  Because romance is never perfect.  It's messy and weird.  And it's conveyed very well here, even if that's not the main premise of the story.

The setting of The Corridor was brilliant.  Even though the worlds were all so similar, just little differences made each one its own separate place.  And these differences were conveyed so well: through the difference in technological advancements, the lack of people, whatever.  Each Earth was the same Earth, yet it was so vastly different from the next.  The Corridor asks the question: do we have an infinite number of universes?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  I am now anxiously awaiting the sequel.  It's much recommended to fans of science fiction, fantasy, and dystopian novels.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.