Karen’s Library's Reviews > The Other Valley

The Other Valley is a debut speculative fiction that felt along the lines of The Giver or Never Let Me Go.

The premise was so compelling because on each side of the valley, another valley exists that is either 20 years in the past or 20 years in the future.

16 year old Odile sees an older couple with masks on, an indicator that they are visiting from one of the neighboring valleys, and recognizes them to be the elder parents of one of her classmates. Whenever there are visitors from other valleys, it usually means that they are there to see a family member one last time from a distance, as that person is about to die. Although the older couple can watch their loved one, they cannot interfere in any way because this could be disastrous for the timeline.

What will young Odile do with this information? Should she stay silent, or should she try to prevent her friend’s death?

I couldn’t get enough of this concept of the people living in all these different timelines so close to each other but yet so far away. So intriguing!

For me, I found it fascinating that the MC’s name is ODILE. That name is a fourth generation name in my family and I’ve never seen it used anywhere else before.

*Thanks so much to Atria Books and to NetGalley for the gifted eGalley!*