3 out of 4 stars
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J. Mercer’s Triplicity follows characters Navy, Jesse, and Isaiah as they embark on separate vacations that soon meld into one experience. The story jumps from one perspective to the next, keeping readers on their toes. Not only does the author capture the perspective and attitude one would expect from any teenager, but also melds it together with dilemmas and themes much more complex than the world of a teen.
Navy boards the cruise ship with a dilemma at the forefront of her mind: when will she get her first kiss? She’s getting older, and is embarrassed to find that she has yet to be kissed. Navy argues that perhaps the main reason for this, is the constant moving around that her and her mother seem to do, never settling in one place for long. This upcoming move, one that Navy will take with her mother and her mother’s new fiancė, should promise stability, but Navy has her doubts. Further down the line that waits to board the cruise ship, Isaiah waits with his grandmother and great aunt. He has something to prove during this trip and nothing would get in his way. Isaiah has a ranch to get back to. His grandmother had other plans for him. First, however, he would have to survive the trip. Jesse and his father are already on board, but neither of them seem too happy to be going on vacation. Jesse can’t help but wonder what exactly he’ll be coming home to after said vacation, but he doesn’t let that dampen his mood and remains his helpful, social self. All three characters, Navy, Isaiah, and Jesse, cross paths for better or for worse as their worlds all begin to spin out of control.
Being on a cruise ship offers its own challenges, with tight quarters and plenty of people. The trio face small issues that stem from a frustrating lack of communication, but those issues quickly pile into a much bigger problem. I was excited to follow Mercer’s characters through their journeys just to see what was around the next corner. I was on the edge of my seat as I began rooting for one character or another until all three were suddenly forced onto the same team, having to help each other if they wanted to solve their growing problems.
I must admit that the ever-changing point of view really threw me off balance at first and it took me awhile to get use to it. Even then, I really had to pay attention and found myself having to go back multiple times to check and see whose point of view I was reading from. It did, however, offer a uniqueness to the story that I had to appreciate. Also, the story did take awhile to pick up off of the ground and almost lost me about mid-way through. I would have been disappointed if the book hadn’t redeemed itself, but in the end, it did.
Despite the slow speed of the story, I would rate Triplicity at three out of four stars. The story was well edited and once it picked up, it really did suck me in with the twists and turns that I would not have expected in a million years; without the twists, I would have rated the story lower. If it had kept me engaged throughout its entirety, I would have given all four stars. This would be a great story for any teen because of the three characters that it revolves around. Even for adults, who want a taste of their teenage years and the drama they had once relished.
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Triplicity
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