REVIEW: DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch

Title: Dark Matter
Author: Blake Crouch
Series: -
Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Crown
Release: 2016
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 342

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BLURB:
Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

It starts with a man in a mask kidnapping him at gunpoint, for reasons Jason can’t begin to fathom—what would anyone want with an ordinary physics professor?—and grows even more terrifying from there, as Jason’s abductor injects him with some unknown drug and watches while he loses consciousness.

When Jason awakes, he’s in a lab, strapped to a gurney—and a man he’s never seen before is cheerily telling him “welcome back!”

Jason soon learns that in this world he’s woken up to, his house is not his house. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born.

And someone is hunting him.

Is the life Jason remembers just some crazed dream? And can he survive long enough to discover the answers he needs?

I saw Jessie talking about this book on booktube as well as displayed at my local bookshop and somehow I got really interested in reading it.

Now I must say this in advance because my review is not going to be exactly true here. So I picked this book not really knowing what it is about. And it is about parallel dimensions and other yous. Basically every decision you make branches the new dimension. Sound familiar? I know right. So I just finished reading Firebird trilogy which is exactly about the same thing! So my review most definitely is going to be influenced by this fact because I cannot help but compare the two stories.

THE WORLD: Just like ours really. This whole dimensions and other yours things is a real theory that has been lately explored by book writers. Basically every time you make a decision the world branches because there are other decisions that you could have made and so there are other yous who made it and that is in parallel dimension. I love the idea of it of course but I love it ever since I read first book of Firebird which was two years ago so yeah...nothing new. Here you don't travel to different you conscious but instead one of you builds a machine which basically allows you to open the doors to other dimensions. Of course in this case there are two of you in one dimension so things get messy...yeah that is pretty much the only difference from Firebird.

CHARACTERS: So to my big disappointment characters in this book are pretty weak. Main one is a physics professor named Jason who basically once in his life made a choice to have a baby with his now wife Daniela and which then in turn ruined his career because even tho he is a physics genius he is just a regular undergraduate professor now. The evil Jason is another version of our main character who said no to Daniela when she got pregnant and instead went to become this big physics person and build a machine which allows entrance to different dimensions. Basically he did this just to go to different dimension and steal a life of this Jason that is our main character. I mean seriously? So having a family AND a career is not possible? I really disliked the idea this book was pushing. Also, later many Jasons start coming back the real Jason's world and they start shooting each other and all that just to be the one who gets Daniela. Basically, when Jason like main Jason was going back home he opened many wrong doors and so this created many other Jasons because of many different choices and yeah its complicated till you really think about it. But thanks to Firebird trilogy I am very familiar with the concept so for me it was nothing really big or new.

LOVE: Jason loved his wife and basically he does anything to back to her. Except he sleeps with other Daniela in other world. Do we call it cheating? I mean it was Daniela...confusing. Anyways, so being this big parallel dimentions physics blah blah book it is just really a book about a man trying to go back to his family. I get that family is important but this book just kept pushing family as the only essential thing in life. Like if Jason chose not to have a child with Daniela 15 years ago and had an amazing career instead there is no way he could ever be happy. He goes and steals Daniela from other himself. Or when all Jasons come to one dimention and start killing each other of just to be with Daniela. This is weird right? Am I the only one who felt like this book was screaming MAKE A FAMILY AND HAVE A CHILD NOTHING ELSE MATTERS?!

PLUS: I like this whole parallel dimensions thing. I mean I know this is science fiction but I think this theory is not exactly nonsense. I am not a physicist either but after reading Firebird trilogy and now this which basically explains exactly same theory...does this mean that Blake Crouch copied Firebird or is this theory a serious deal? One of another I think parallel dimensions is my favorite science fiction.

MINUS: Again this whole you only happy if you create a family propaganda. I was told a few times this is what Hunger Games also did but frankly this book in comparison just screams propaganda.

OVERALL: It was okay. If I never read Firebird I think I would be fascinated with this book but now that I have finished the Firebird trilogy this book really pales in its shadow. ALSO isn't dark matter usually a term related to cosmic and galactic science? I mean isn't this a misleading title???!!

What do you guys think about DARK MATTER?