Review:
I was browsing Freading when this book caught my eye. I'm a sucker for “stuck in a video/computer game” stories, so I decided to download it. I'm honestly not sure whether this is a middle grade or young adult book. Most of the characters are 17 or 18 years old, so I'm guessing it's a young adult book, but it reads like it was written for a middle grade audience. Plus, it's illustrated, which is more common for middle grade books than for YA.
The story: Tammy, a South African teen, is hurt when her boyfriend Wayne loudly and publicly laughs at her pimple. While looking up some information on the Internet for him, she finds herself thinking that she'd like to be more like his gorgeous ex-girlfriend. Suddenly, a pop-up appears on her computer that won't go away. “Do you want to play Snap?” it asks. Answering “no” doesn't accomplish anything, so, given no other choice, Tammy answers “yes” and is sucked into the Alter Ego Dimension.
The Alter Ego Dimension is a gray place with visibility of five meters in any direction. Each person transported there brings with them anything they have on them and whatever was reflected in their monitor when they were transported. Poor Tammy is transported while wearing only her bikini, and suddenly finds herself in a fight for her life against her evil alter ego, whose goal is to overpower her, enter her world, and take over her life.
Tammy is saved by two Japanese teenagers, Etsu and Hiroshi. Later, the three of them are joined by Ulrich, a German teen, and Nick, an Australian. Somehow, they have to find a way to survive in the Alter Ego Dimension, which has no food or water beyond what others might have been transported with, and defeat their alter egos.
I'll start by saying that this was not what I expected to read. Snap isn't really a game, and no one ever plays it – the pop-up sucks people into the Alter Ego Dimension, they have to fight their alter ego, and that's it. I wouldn't call this a “sucked into a video/computer game” story.
