Audio: Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington

Author: Jessica Shirvington
Narrators:  Matilda Reed
Title: Between the Lives
Format: Unabridged Audio 
Length: 8 hrs, 5 mins
Publication: 2013
Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Source: Library
~Website

Above all else, though I try not to think about it, I know which life I prefer. And every night when I Cinderella myself from one life to the next a very small, but definite, piece of me dies. The hardest part is that nothing about my situation has ever changed. There is no loophole.

Until now, that is... 

For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she Shifts to her ′other′ life - a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she has a sister, in the other she does not. In one life she′s a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend, in the other she′s considered a reckless delinquent. Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is perfectly fine in the other.

With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments which bring her dangerously close to the life she′s always wanted... But just what - and who - is she really risking?

Some would think Sabine is lucky to have two lives but to her it's not all perfect. She has to be careful what happens to her in one life because it could carry over into the other. So, she's been very meticulous to not get hurt or change her appearance in any way. Then one day she falls and breaks her arm and as midnight approaches she begins to panic about how she will explain the damage. However, to her surprise this time the physical damage didn't carry over and for once in her lives, maybe she has a choice. All Sabine wants is to live one life and she takes it upon herself to test her theory. What transpires will change both her lives forever. 

Sabine comes off as little crazy but she's smart and calculating. Everything she does to find out if there is a glitch in her situation and she knows all the risks, however stupid they may be. Her biggest problem seems to be convincing everyone else that she isn't loony but seriously her story is unbelievable. The people she trusts the most betray her and she finds herself in a precarious situation with no freedom whatsoever in one of her lives. She meets Ethan, who seems angry with her and she doesn't understand why he doesn't like her. As time progresses they come build an intriguing friendship and though he not entirely convinced she has an alternate life, he gives her questions to answer in her other life and when she returns she will have to give him the correct answers. But what does this prove nothing really....eventually Sabine tires of it and she just wants someone to see her for who she is and believe she is telling the truth. There is a little romance in this story. Sabine has a boyfriend named Dex in one life and he appears nice and loves her but she doesn't seem too keen on him but she sticks with him. I personally don't like him for reasons I can't tell but as events begin to escalate and Sabine's friendship with Ethan in her other life blossoms, she realizes her choice isn't going to be that easy....someone will be hurt no matter what. 

As I began listening to this story, it made me think of books such as Lucid, Every Other Day and maybe Fair Coin. They all have to deal with living different lives and alternate realities. Reed does an awesome job of breathing life into this audio, it's so easy to identify with Sabine and feel her urgency and emotion. One thing I can say about this book is that it will push you and make you question things. Shirvington has crafted this world in a way that you will believe in Sabine. The pace of the audio is steady and fluid. Overall, this made me cry and I would recommend it to readers you like stories about parallel worlds or alternate realities.