Game Changer by Neal Schusterman

All it takes is one hit on the football field, and suddenly Ash’s life doesn’t look quite the way he remembers it.

Impossible though it seems, he’s been hit into another dimension—and keeps on bouncing through worlds that are almost-but-not-really his own.

The changes start small, but they quickly spiral out of control as Ash slides into universes where he has everything he’s ever wanted, universes where society is stuck in the past…universes where he finds himself looking at life through entirely different eyes.

And if he isn’t careful, the world he’s learning to see more clearly could blink out of existence…

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Another mixed review.

The writing is great in this. Conversational, fun, easy to follow and understand even when discussing some fairly esoteric concepts. That's a gift, presenting scientific concepts like this in such a simple way, and it's one not many authors have. It's a really interesting concept, too, and I loved the cleverly thought out reason why Ash can't visit too many universes; most works that tackle this idea never bother to explain why there's a limit, but this one makes wonderful sense.

However, I did feel like there was too much shoved in together. Ash learns about racism, sexism, homophobia, women in abusive relationships, drug dealers, segregation - it's a lot to try and cover, and it means that everything is only touched on quite lightly. Plus, no one seemed at all concerned that Ash was tackling so hard every single week he was basically giving himself concussions; there was no medical check, no suggestion he should sit out, apart from one week when it wasn't medically related at all.

Overall I really enjoyed this. Want-of-a-nail stories are always fascinating, and I loved seeing the different directions this one took. A great read.

Game Changer publishes on the 9th February, 2021 in the US and on the 11th February, 2021 in the UK.