It's a cool idea, but it was tough going for me. A few too many characters to get straight and keep organized. Interesting concept, perhaps lacking in a little humanity ( or maybe that was the point) however the plot was a bit convoluted and I found it confusing, which didn't let me enjoy this too much.

I went into this book very excited for something new. It was new and refreshing. Kids, DNA and time travel. As the book wore on though, it stretched believability even for sci fi! The surprise cannibalism about half way thru is what really turned me off though. Thanks to NetGallery and the publisher for the ARC but this just wasn’t for me.

Great idea that gets a bit bogged down with too many characters. It would be really interesting filmed as tv series. High school aged clones of Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Martin Luther King Jr. and bonus time-travel via particle accelerator.

Middlesex, England. 1727 Isaac Newton dies. As the body was being transferred for burial a jeweler offers two pounds for Isaac’s molar.
Moscow, USSR 1975. A man becomes aware of the DNA value of great minds like, Leonard da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein etc, when he is offered millions to collect as many as he can. When he hands them over they kill him.
Present Day. Gene-E-Corp has purchased the DNA samples owned by Russia. The goal is to create “twins” (clones) of great minds and re-express them into the world.
Now Cornerstone project comes along and builds a biosphere around a particle accelerator, which becomes a time machine by controlling the flow of time. Introduce the “twins” of the great minds into the biosphere and they can do 40years of research in 12 minutes! Between the control of the relative flow of time and the “twins” of great minds this project has become a global commodity.
I felt the storyline was strong but the important characters failed to pull Gene-E-Corp and the Cornerstone Project together causing some confusion.
Instead of “the book was better than the movie,” I feel The Twin Paradox will make a much better movie. The visuals alone should be amazing!

I'm literally scratching my head about this one as I try and write this review. I got this book from net galley for an honest review. I was also told by a friend this book was SO GOOD, I had to read it. Im not sure I loved it and I guess Im just a bit confused by it all.
I had no idea going into this book the teens in this book would be twin/clones of the most famous minds in history, so that was pretty cool to uncover. These "teens" are into some pretty major developments that will change the world in big ways, which is I guess the confusing part. I couldn't tell if I should read this as a YA book or adult sci-fi.
The Twin Paradox from Einstein alone is pretty confusing, I actually watched YouTube for a refresher on the matter when I started this book. Watching that helped me understand some of the science as to what they were getting into but what I felt was lacking were the characters. I assumed I would have liked the Einstein character more. I will have to say this would make an AMAZING MOVIE!!! I highly recommend Netflix or HBO get moving on this because I think this story would do better coming to life on the big screen.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I thought the premise of this book was intriguing. Unfortunately, it went downhill pretty quickly. I quickly got lost in the details and didn't enjoy the actual plot.

What a thrill! This was suspenseful enough to keep me up all night reading. Science fiction fans are going to gobble this up but it has a lot cross over appeal as well.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

When a tech company experiences problems arising from their secret large hadron collider, they clone scientists such as Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein to bail them out. The problem is that both the collider and cloning programs are not as secret as the company believes, and other nations develop their own versions of the technology and clone other historical figures.


This book has a very complex plot, and its science fiction elements require a lot of explanation. About two thirds of the way through, it turns into a survival story as well. Sometimes the actions taken by the characters don’t totally make sense. On the plus side the premise is interesting, and the plot is fast-paced and action packed.

I gave The Twin Paradox four stars on Goodreads. There is a sequel on the way, and I do plan on reading it.

I will not be posting a review online as it would be substantially negative.

I found the characters unlikeable and the science (particularly the understanding of twins, neural development, and even what IQ scores mean) absurd. Several sequences (such as loading the plane to get everyone going) substantially got on my nerves. I think having two protagonists (the diver and the Einstein clone) at the start worked against the storytelling, especially when one of them was subsumed into a nothing support exposition dumper.

The writing itself (the mechanical wordsmithing) was just fine. And I found one especially clever idea that I liked, specifically the GPS issue with time. However, why would any project be so callous not to specify a no-fly zone to avoid the repeated air disasters is beyond me.

All in all, the story annoyed me and I found myself skimming especially the last third.

I would not recommend.

This book started off really well. It felt somewhat like an Andy Weir approach, using science to make a seemingly fanciful idea feel realistic and achievable. The setup was intriguing and the initial characters felt strong.

However, for me, it fairly quickly became a real struggle.

There were too many characters, too many situations, too much science that you felt was there to not other end but to show the power of science and you couldn't easily skip over. It felt like the author was introducing entire scenes and situations just to roll out another display of the science and added very little or absolutely nothing to the story or the understanding of the characters. One in particular stands out where a baddie (I don't want to give anything away) faces off against one of the goodies (again, no names) in a kind of Russian Roulette involving poisonous substances. We already knew the guy was evil and why he had that reputation and we knew the woman was good and very, very clever so this added nothing to the narrative, instead it just delayed us getting to the denouement. There were several such scenarios. The book is very, very imaginative but could've been trimmed by at least a third without losing any of the dynamism of the story, instead I think it would've improved the pacing.

At the end it became clear that it was the first in a series. It didn't entice me to want to read future instalments. It did read a bit like a YA novel so maybe I'm the wrong audience.

The Twin Paradox by Charles Wachter is a science fiction book that reads more like a movie. Some of the characters in this story include clones of Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Martin Luther King Jr. They are high school students, and they are taken to an exclusive Gene-E Corp location in Texas where time is manipulated. This book had a lot going on; and ultimately, most of it didn't work for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars
Interesting story, grabbed me at the beginning, but then I got lost; either too much going g on, or not easy to follow. Good characters and idea. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Clever and imaginative! Great, multi-faceted characters. Very interesting plot. Vivid descriptions. Kept me intrigued from the first page to the last. Simply a GREAT read!

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

The twin paradox by Charles Watcher is a fantastic science fiction novel. All the things proposed by Watcher seem plausible which is horrifying. Thought provoking and fantastic!

Holy Moly, what did I just read?! This science fiction novel was way out of my usual comfort zone, but I was inspired to branch out. It has suspense, the manipulation of time and genetics, characters with god complexes and clones of the most intelligent people the earth has seen. What could go wrong?!

A. LOT. A lot could go wrong. For all its craziness, I was definitely drawn in and couldn't put this down. Weird and over the top at points but nonetheless entertaining.

Check this out...

Take a story where a bunch of high school students one day, out of the blue, are told they are clones of Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton; Martin Luther King Jr. & Catherine the Great. These kids graduate early (cuz apparently they are geniuses but not aware of this) & are then taken to a secret location. Here, within its ecosystem, 10 years passes inside for every 3 minutes on the outside, but some stuff is busted & they need to figure it out cuz the world could be in some trouble.

Uh... Ok... I’m in!!

This book was interesting from page one & FUN. Just sit back, let your mind open up & enjoy the ride. We are talking some serious smarty-pants kids here talking equations, physics, time travel, biology, chemistry, & tons of interesting tech. (Let’s just say I Googled & Wiki’d a lot). There are some really cool, deep, dark bad guys (imagine with the whole cloning thing happening!) & some other interesting characters I really got into. This is a sci-fi-meets-thriller-meets-suspense page turner.

Yeah, you might run into a giant chicken or two, but it’s totally worth it!

Special thanks to Trevaney Bay & NetGalley.
#TheTwinParadox #NetGalley

Unfortunately this book is a mess. It started off all over the place as it jumped around which was very confusing but eventually it seemed to settle on two completely different protagonists as it jumped between them. They were interesting and well written and the short chapters were action packed and held my attention as the story moved on two tracks. I am sorry to say that it completely fell apart after that. New characters were introduced that bored me and I found reading further to be more of a chore. There was a lot less of the two former main characters and one seemed to be bumped to cameo status which was annoying. I was hoping it would be worth the effort to keep going and that the story would start to pick up but I’m halfway through now and still bored. This book was an interesting concept but the execution is awful. Since the blurb recommends this for fans of The Martian and Ready Player One let me say I loved those books so I strongly disagree. Skip this and go read Andy Weir’s Artemis instead.

Five super smart high school students in a special honors program are graduated early. They are then taken to Texas to work on a project where 10 years can happen in 3 minutes. This book takes you places that would seem too extreme, however while reading it everything makes perfect sense. What a roller coaster of a ride, there is action, adventure, horror and science fiction. This has it all. A must read for sure! I loved every minute of this book and cannot wait to see what other books this author has in store for us.

A fast written, gripping and highly entertaining novel that plays with sci-fi tropes and kept me hooked.
Excellent world building and plot development, good storytelling and character development.
I can't wait to read other books by this author as I loved this one.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

In The Twin Paradox, Charles Wachter uses common sci-fi tropes (clones, conspiracies, secret government involvement, altering the flow of time) to weave together a romping good adventure, vividly alive in the reader's mind. 900+ pages flew by as the compelling story arc forced some extraordinarily interesting teenagers into a fight against nature, cannibals, and time itself.

Being clones of historical geniuses doesn't prevent Alastair, Milk, and Zach from also experiencing the usual gamut of adolescent problems: small stature, crushes, unfinished homework, school administrators. Learning to use time to their advantage only solves a portion of the challenges the trio faces in a hidden government testing ground where Isaac Newton's clone has learned to control time. (Sort of. There are a few glitches.) To make matters worse, the Russians have created their own batch of clones and a mirror time-control facility.
Two adults hired to map the changing landscape of the compound provide assistance to the kids in the form of Armageddon trucks, monster vehicles outfitted for any emergency, foreseen or not. Several scenes worthy of Indiana Jones add breathless adventure and physical challenges that pit technical and theoretical knowledge against the natural world gone wildly out of control.

Charles Wachter's The Twin Paradox is the best sci-fi I have read in a long time. His brilliantly clear writing stays out of the way of the story-telling, something many debut authors fail to achieve. Including an extraordinarily clear explanation of how time passes at different rates in different places (or would if this weren't fiction) eliminates a common frustration with the genre (understanding the made-up science). The brilliant structure of the tale only became obvious three-quarters of the way into the book, another hallmark of careful writing and editing. Both a movie version and a sequel are in the works, and I can't wait!