Romantic science fiction filled with mystery and traps; serious science fiction where the well-researched facts blend so seamlessly that you hardly notice you’ve been asked to believe them; complicated fiction with its premise so beautifully drawn you just have to read on; Dale Cozort’s Exchange has it all, smoothly written to offer a rich, complex read with great characters, involving mystery, and an endlessly fascinating strange new world. I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t guess how it would end.

Exchange is the first in a series of novels, and it leaves plenty of questions to be resolved when the final page is turned. But it also resolves its own central story, making for a nicely complete and satisfying read. It’s a smooth, convincing story, beautifully told, and I can hardly wait to read more.

Disclosure: I’d read one tiny part of this online before and eagerly awaited the chance to read more. ( )

Thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy!

A plus for a lot of people (however I can take it or leave it) is there is definitely a lot of excitement and action in this book. As a person who really enjoys character moved plots, it's a bit of a let down that there wasn't more character development, everyone is just a shell or a stereotype. Anthony, for example, plays a big role in this novel, but we're never shown anything but the stereotype of an abusive husband who's nothing but that. Does he care about his daughter? Is he doing it just piss Sharon off? It would have been interesting to delve into Anthony's motives more than "he did it just because he's a bad person!". They can be bad people, but they should have motivation for the things they do (even if its not a particularly good one) and more qualities besides being a bad person.

Sharon is okay. I like that she's not exactly helpless, yet she does come across a lot of situations needing of saving, a bit hard-headed. But she's definitely not a heroine I'd classify as "too-stupid-to-live" because I understand where she's coming from. The constant danger in which she puts herself is merely a consequence of the situation she's in (her daughter being kidnapped across a wild expanse of land occupied by religious nuts and convicts. Could get a bit dangerous even for the cautious).

Also I love Fred! I think that was a really neat addition to the story, and I wasn't expecting it even after she saved him from the river of debris. Really, it was cute! As for the animals, being a biology nut there was a few things that bothered me, like bats taking over for mice and other rodents in the Exchange, when bats are more closely related to humans, in fact, are the closest related to humans other than the primates. They aren't rodents. I find it unlikely they would just....take on rodent behavior. It seems unlikely.

But yes, I would go for the description that it's mostly a glorified romance (nothing wrong with that!) but it's definitely not what I expected. I was expecting something a little more hard scifi to go into my speculative fiction challenge, but this doesn't qualify. Oh well.

Overall it's a decent read, good way to pass the time, just don't be overly expecting of it. I thought it would have been more interesting had it ended the other way, as well. ( )

I wasn’t sure I was going to like this novel at first, as it isn’t normally a genre that I normally read. However I was pleasantly surprised about how much I really enjoyed this novel. In fact I read it in just under a day and was unable to put it down in order to do anything else.

The characters are full of life and bring a lot of depth to the novel. The plot had a interesting take on an alternate reality and was very well thought out. It was very fast paced and I felt it was easy to follow the plot throughout the novel.

This novel kept me engaged until the very end and overall was a really good read.

A copy of this novel was received for review and all opinions expressed are my own through reading this novel.

This review was first published on http://everybookhassoul.wordpress.com ( )

I really enjoyed this one. It was a really cool, interesting & imaginative take on an alternate reality. Wonderful job by the author--this one took some major imagination & work.The only thing that felt wrong to me was the romance. Instant attraction, then distrust, then happily ever after. I need more communication, or passion, or something. But that's just a teensy complaint, because this book was awesome--if you like sci-fi & alternate reality, definitely pick it up.I received this as a free ARC from NetGalley. ( )

When the Exchange occurs, seemingly at random, a small portion of our world switches places with that from an alternate reality. This other Earth, known as Bear Country, is a wild, dangerous land where humans either died out or (more probably) never evolved at all, inhabited instead by strange animals such as enormous bears, twittering wolves, and minuscule poisonous bats. When Sharon's hometown of Rockford, Illinois, is Exchanged, she is stuck in a strange world of religious cults, escaped convicts, and demanding Marines. If that weren't headache enough, her abusive ex-husband has kidnapped their special-needs daughter and escaped into Bear Country with her. I haven't read such an action-packed book in quite a while. There's never a dull moment. I am fascinated by the idea of the Exchange, and can imagine many more stories set in this universe. I wish there had been some mention of Exchanges happening in the middle of the ocean, but that's a petty quibble. I also enjoyed how I was never quite sure when people were telling the truth, without feeling like the drama emerged purely from people not telling each other things. In short, this was a fun SF adventure and a quick read. I look forward to Cozort's future works. ( )