Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby.

Quick synopsis: A teenage girl, herself, and a teenage boy all three go on adventures in space and on an alien planet.

Brief opinion: This book was weird in a good way. The first half was great, the second half a little slower for some reason.

Plot: Set in the distant future, teleportation is a normal mode of transportation. You climb into a scanner on one end, then nine days later a printer prints up your new body on the other end (your original body destroyed in the scanning process). The distance you need to travel no longer matters, it only takes nine days for your body to be reprinted. (Consciousness is tied to quantum blah blah blah and can be reproduced same as the physical body.)

Jessica's parents are scientists and have been studying a new planet for the last six years, having left her with her grandparents. She's a typical resentful teenager. But after those six years, her parents have set up travel so she can be with them.

But then of course she's upset about leaving her friends and Earth behind.

The book split into two timelines, Before and After, which came together at the end of the book. Through the two plotlines, Jessica ends up stranded on the alien planet with a copy of herself and a boy named Duncan. (Happily there was no love triangle, though having the same person be two corners of a love triangle would be new.)

Writing/editing: Kirby is a great writer, I've read and loved other things by him. Editing was perfect, too.

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: I loved (LOVED) the idea that your body doesn't matter, that it could just be reprinted with your consciousness in it as needed.

Unfortunately for some reason the latter half of the book slowed down for me. I don't know where my drive to read it went, but I read the first half in a day and the second half in a few days.

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / four stars, liked.