Fourteen-year-old Jake MacRae lives with his mother and younger brother, Drew. Jake is a troubled teenager, involved with the local 5 Kings gang. One evening, while on his way to meet friends, he boards the subway, only to discover that each time he exits the train, he enters a parallel reality. If that weren’t bad enough, it becomes apparent that Jake’s connection to 5 Kings could endanger his brother’s life. Jake needs to find a way to get back to his reality in order to save his brother – and himself.

Marina Cohen’s fourth novel for young adults has all the makings of an edgy, fast-paced thriller. However, the momentum generated by plot twists and personal revelations is hindered by one-dimensional characters and a story that slips into cliché.

The novel’s premise is a clever one, and Cohen paints an effective picture of the realities the characters inhabit. However, many of the players are little more than tired YA genre archetypes, and the book’s brevity allows little room to explore the story’s more complicated themes, such as Jake’s relationship with his father, who abandoned his family a decade earlier. When the two meet unexpectedly, Jake’s lifelong resentment is dispensed with by a quick apology, with no real explanation as to why the older man left. And while Cohen does a good job building tension just before the story’s climax, the climax itself resembles the kind of action-film sequence that has been parodied many times over.

Mind Gap reads more like an after-school special than a gripping young adult story. Cohen is clearly a talented writer: she can craft a compelling plot and knows how to keep her audience engaged. The novel begins with a great idea and ends with an appropriate payoff; it’s the journey in between that may leave some readers feeling underwhelmed.