Counterparts

One of the best novels I have read. I love science fiction and Herzig is the best at it. Yes the hero is gay but that isn't the whole story. Just an excellent and surprising twist that establishes the author's capable writing skills. This is the third novel that I have read from Marcus Herzig. And certainly one of his best. But all have been great! I highly reccommend this book.

I really enjoyed Cupid Painted Blind, and wanted to read more of the author's work. This seemed outside the usual storylines, and I'm a science guy, too. I had no problem following the physics although I felt like the author was flexing a bit by putting in details that simply weren't necessary. Ironically, I appreciated it, though, because I think our world needs more science mainstreamed. In any case, I was really hoping there would be a twist outside of the obvious twist at the end. I saw where this was going as soon as they started working on the transporter together and they discussed timespace. Several hints were dropped along the way throughout the book that revealed the ending for anyone paying attention. Unfortunately that only made me impatient to get to the end of the book just to see if there was more to it than I was seeing. Alas, there was not. Still a good ride, and the character development was decent. I'd say it was worth reading and would recommend it with the caveat of try not to anticipate the end, because you'll probably be right, and it will lessen the impact. I was also hoping that Brad would figure out in greater detail what went wrong and we might find out with more detail where the other 20 went...

I’ve been searching for a sci-fi book with believable gay characters for a long time. They are usually stereotypical dumbed down versions of gay people or the story was not engaging. This book, although supposedly a YA story, had flawed (in a good way) but believable characters that happened to be gay and a great premise and storyline that made their orientation integral to the plot. I wanted to read this story as fast as I could once I started it but did not want it to end. Please write more like this! This fan will certainly buy the next one you do. Thanks for the engaging story.

I enormously love this book! It is definitely the ultimate read and on my bucket list and I had finally so read this classic storyteller: it’s worth every penny and more of its price! This author is ready for his close-up in Hollywood because I want to see this book to be turned in the next best thing in the cinema universe! Fantastic and sensational! I couldn’t recommend it more strongly! Love, love this book and its characters!!!

Marcus Herzig’s Counterparts is a marvelous meditation on time and identity. It’s twists and turns are as surprising as they are satisfying, and character development and plot structure are divine. This is kind of queer science fiction we have been waiting for! Highly recommended!

What if the happy ending comes first?I loved this. Sophisticated YA with proud gay teens as the main characters – supported by parents and friends. This is a story in which the fact of being gay is secondary to the startling plot arc, complete with a gut-wrenching twist.Taylor Young is out, proud, and a handful. He is way too smart for his school, and his parents know the difference between misbehavior and intellectual arrogance. He is a kid who is as kind-hearted as he is impatient with fools. When, leaving the principal’s office, Taylor spots a tall, slender redhead with his mother waiting outside the door, he is instantly stricken. When he learns about Bradley Carson’s mysterious past, he is further intrigued.What follows is not at all what I expected. While Counterparts is in some ways a quietly epic love story, it is also, and more significantly, a sci-fi thriller, in which the thrill is so low-key as to go almost unnoticed until the critical moment when it hits you in the gut. Yeah, I know that’s confusing. Herzig builds his narrative carefully, developing on separate-but-intertwined paths Taylor and Brad’s relationship and the scientific project that comes to obsess them.I did not give it a fifth star because, in my opinion, there is a single flaw in the logic of the story that diminishes the impact of the twist. I could be wrong, and I adored everything else about the book. The author clearly made this “mistake” on purpose – and maybe what I felt to be a misstep was intentional and calculated to pull me into the author’s scheme. After all, I was in tears at the end, and can’t imagine what more the author could have wanted.I think I need to read more of Herzig’s work.

Twilight Zone never had a story like this... but perhaps if it resumed today and did long form stories, this would fit the bill. It was a fun read and a worthwhile journey. If you like your sci-fi with gay romance at the center, this is well worth picking up.

I'll need to re-read the last three chapters a few more times to fully understand what has happened or what I think had happened. To connect the end of the book with the beginning of the book. There are numerous scientific theories in the book which can be hard to follow. This was unlike any gay love story that I have ever read.

I just love these kind of reads! Where you don't know what to expect and it just blows your mind :)

Absolutely fabulous. A gay love story which is quite different from the usual. I must admit that l found some of the science stuff a bit intense but it does not take away from the plot. It did not end as l thought it might. Read it and find out how it did end. I am not doing spoilers.

I enjoyed this book, you work out relatively quickly where it is going, but that isnt an issue as the dread of it is quite gripping. My only gripe with it is I didn't like the casual domestic violence. I get that passions were running high, but at one point Taylor beats the hell out of Brad and I just felt that took me out of it. But, overall, good book. Would have finished it in one sitting if life hadn't got in the way.