Title: Harmonic (Dissonance #1.5)
by Erica O'RourkePublishing Info: March 17, 2015 by Simon & Schuster
Source: Amazon
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: March 20, 2015
Related Posts: Dissonance (Dissonance #1), Resonance (Dissonance #2)
Del’s older sister can also walk between worlds, but her loyalties are uniquely tested in this original enovella set in the inventive world of Dissonance.
Addison Sullivan, Del’s older sister, has always been considered a model Walker—but her reputation within the Consort has been tainted by her grandfather’s betrayal and her sister’s recklessness. She is desperate to regain her position within the Consort and equally desperate to keep Del from spiraling out of control after losing the boy she loves.
The Consort offers Addie a chance to redeem herself: if she can track down the Free Walkers her grandfather knew twenty years ago, they’ll fast-track her apprenticeship and put her in charge of her own team. Addie asks a former classmate and crush, Laurel, a Consort historian, for help. As they work together, Addie’s feelings for Laurel resurface, but she’s too afraid to act. Same-sex relationships aren’t expressly forbidden by the Consort, but she fears that a relationship with Laurel would be viewed as yet another mark against her.
While she is fighting her feelings for Laurel, troubling details start emerging during their investigation…details that paint Addie’s family in a sinister light. Will she reveal what she’s learned to the Consort, or try to protect her family?
This enovella is set in the time between Dissonance and Resonance.
I was SO, SO pleased when I read DISSONANCE last summer and totally fell in love with it. I was even more excited when I heard that there was a DISSONANCE novella coming out in March of 2015 and I quickly added HARMONIC to my TBR without hesitation.
HARMONIC is actually a fairly long novella — well, it’s actually a NOVELLA and not just a short. Lots of young adult books have had in-between stories and extras from other characters in the series but some are simply excerpts, some are very short stories, and some — like HARMONIC — are actually novellas, coming in at 100+ pages. Usually, the longer novellas are ones I shy away from (I like to read the extras as a quick, read-it-in-one-sitting filler or refresher) but I was all in and dying to read any more of the world of DISSONANCE that I could!
I loved that HARMONIC was from Addison’s point of view (Del’s sister). I really loved her character in DISSONANCE and it was wonderful to really get to know her better in HARMONIC. She’s a dedicated worker and HARMONIC really brings the reader into why she’s so focused on the job, what it’s cost her, and what she has to gain. It really allowed me to get to know Addie so much more and I love the opportunity to do this!
I also really enjoyed that HARMONIC wasn’t just filler or a little FYI of what’s happening in between DISSONANCE and its sequel, RESONANCE. This was a full and detailed story with action, suspense, romance, clues, answers, and shocking reveals. It was so much fun to read and it reminded me of all of those same things that I felt when I first read DISSONANCE and got me even more excited for RESONANCE.
“The View from Goodreads” is a featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!
Addison // Character Obsessions: The job, her family, her reputation, her love life.
Was I that woefully ignorant to be surprised by a F/F romance in this book? Either it wasn’t brought up in DISSONANCE or I was way to focused on Del to realize that Addie was a lesbian? Either way, I really liked the romance in HARMONIC, even if I was somehow surprised by it. The two girls really had a nice balance and I really appreciated how Laurel started to bring out a different side of Addie and really bring that balance into her life and how Addie also did the same for Laurel. It was so great to learn more about Addie all-around and I was so glad she was the focus of this novella!
Kept Me Hooked On: F/F romance. Oh how do I say this… I hope that this isn’t taken the wrong way, but I don’t usually read same-sex romances. It’s a personal preference and not because I don’t support them — I do. I appreciate reading romances in books because I swoon for that guy and fall in love with that character so I read romances to swoon along with the MC. It’s hard to put myself in that same situation with a same-sex romance because I can’t find myself falling for the love interest since that’s not my preference. I can’t say that I swooned in HARMONIC but I really did appreciate Addie & Laurel’s relationship a lot!
Left Me Wanting More: Del! Okay, I know this isn’t Del’s story but I did miss her in this book! (She’s there, just not the main focus.) I’m so excited to jump back into the main story line in RESONANCE though! I need to start that ASAP…
Addiction Rating
BUY IT!
This is was a great novella! I really loved it from start to finish and it was SO exciting and rich with plot!
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(Click the cover to see my review!)
1 thought on “Harmonic (Dissonance #1.5) – Erica O’Rourke”
I actually have the book Dissonance but just haven’t started to read it myself for some reason. So I should really go that, especially as I have the second book in the series as well for review! I better get busy, especially as it sounds so wonderful!