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Fair Coin (Coin #1)

by E.C. Myers (Goodreads Author)

3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 · rating details · 617 ratings · 191 reviews

Epraim is horrified when he comes home from school one day to find his mother unconscious at the kitchen table, clutching a bottle of pills. Even more disturbing than her suicide attempt is the reason for it: the dead boy she identified at the hospital that afternoon-a boy who looks exactly like him. While examining his dead double's belongings, Ephraim discovers a strange...more

Hardcover, 1st Edition, 250 pages

Published March 27th 2012 by Pyr (first published March 1st 2012)

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Aug 23, 2012 Primula Brandybuck rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: faves, i-recommend, jan-to-jun-2012, 2012, fantasy, free, love-love-love, favorite-authors, r-e-a-d, science-fiction, series

[I received my copy of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads giveaway program.]

Definitely the kind of YA novel I like to read; too many of them lately seem to be about girls falling in love with mythical creatures or guys being half-gods (those books can be good, just so many of them out there! ugh!).

Going into this, I had no expectations whatsoever; I hadn't heard of this book before, and I received it for free, so I had nothing to lose. Cynical, but true. However, having finished i...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Soumi(in love with Puck) Roy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, arc-e-galley, books-i-reviewed, time-travel

Sixteen years old Ephraim was horrified when he found his mother tried to suicide. The reason behind her suicide attempt was she indentified Ephraim body on morgue that day, hit and run. With shock of this incident, Ephraim found a strange coin from belongings of his double; the coin was no ordinary one. Things Ephraim never imagined started to happen with one flip, Ephraim turned his alcoholic mother into a good parent and made the girl he liked from second grade fall for him. The coin could gi...more Sixteen years old Ephraim was horrified when he found his mother tried to suicide. The reason behind her suicide attempt was she indentified Ephraim body on morgue that day, hit and run. With shock of this incident, Ephraim found a strange coin from belongings of his double; the coin was no ordinary one. Things Ephraim never imagined started to happen with one flip, Ephraim turned his alcoholic mother into a good parent and made the girl he liked from second grade fall for him. The coin could give Ephraim everything he wished for but one wrong flip can put his life at stake as well as endangering life of peoples he cares for.

The book is mixture of science fiction and magic tricks. The book pretty much reminded me of The Butterfly Effect, where Ashton Kutcher tried to change the past in order to make good present and each of his attempts lead to different outcomes.
Here the concept was kind of same, Ephraim used the coin in attempt to set things right for himself, his family and friends but there were unintended consequences for a wrong flip, and he found himself trapped more and more in lies and time loop and it become impossible for him to go back where he started. I liked the concept of other dimensions and parallel universe where we each can have one identical of us.
As for the characters I like them all, more or less. Ephraim was cute and shy geeky guy, but situation made him daring. His friendship with Nathan was adorable, I mean how many book we have seen actual friendship? Jena, was a combination of beauty and brain. She was actually smart and I instantly started to like her.

When I stared the book, I was really enjoying this one, but after constant occurring of same time jumping into different events made bored. I was lost and confused into time loops, I forgot how many time circle I have crossed since the beginning.
I’m a lover of Science Fiction though the book couldn’t satisfy me that much I have expected. I really do hope some readers may it enjoying
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Jul 18, 2012 Amber rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: series, dropped-series

This book had a lot of promise. It started off strong and I was really interested in it. But it didn't take long for the mystic aspect of the novel to become boring, predictable and stale. It began jumping all over the place, which is a main part of the story but it became hard to follow because it was confusing and choppy without any rhyme, reason or flow. There was also a lot of side story stuff that I didn't relate to, and that's to be expected considering it is geared toward the young adult...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Melanie McCullough rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mar-2012

If you follow my blog there are two things you should know by now:

· I love a story told from a male point of view
· I'm hopelessly addicted to all things Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Put these two things together in a Young Adult novel and you get Fair Coin, a story about a teenage boy who finds a magic coin capable of granting his every wish. And, come on, who wouldn't want that?

When Ephraim makes his first wish—that his mother wasn't in the hospital from her suicide attempt—he gets more than he bargained f...more If you follow my blog there are two things you should know by now:

· I love a story told from a male point of view
· I'm hopelessly addicted to all things Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Put these two things together in a Young Adult novel and you get Fair Coin, a story about a teenage boy who finds a magic coin capable of granting his every wish. And, come on, who wouldn't want that?

When Ephraim makes his first wish—that his mother wasn't in the hospital from her suicide attempt—he gets more than he bargained for, returning home to find his mother not only healthy but darn-near perfect. Like a dream come true. Of course not all his wishes go as expected and as it turns out, they each have unintended consequences.

Fair Coin is one of those stories that begs to be read. You think you can stop after a few pages or chapters, but thoughts of it will always be there, tugging at your mind even as you try to sleep. There's a constant air of mystery. I spent a lot of time when I wasn't reading wondering what would happen the next time Ephraim made a wish, where the coin came from, and why it had this inexplicable power to transform his life.

I loved Ephraim, Nathan, and their relationship with one another, at least in the beginning. They're geeky, but in an adorable geeky sort of way. And they're hilarious. For me, there's something genuine and honest about a male/male friendship that I always seem to find lacking in a female/female friendship. Teenage girls can be catty, but teenage boys are usually just fun.

Jena, Ephraim's long-standing crush, is awesome. She's snarky, responsible, and intelligent. She's not the kind of girl who gets all googly-eyed over a boy and forgets she has a brain. Even Ephraim's mother is a very real and relatable character. And when each of Ephraim's wishes alters their personalities or their circumstances, I still had this sense that they were very much the same people, that they still possessed some ingrained characteristic that the new environment could not change.

Fair Coin is a stellar debut. It's witty, adventurous, and thought provoking. It takes the age-old tale of wishes gone wrong and turns it into something new and extraordinary. Bravo to E.C. Myers for not only making complex theories exciting and accessible to a young adult audience, but for refusing to dumb down the science aspect of science fiction. The characters aren't know-it-all brainiacs—they're regular teenagers—but they're intelligent enough to grasp and explain what's going on. And they're funny and interesting enough to keep the reader tearing through the pages.

Highly recommended. This one made it straight to my favorites shelf. The sequel, currently entitled Quantum Coin, should be released sometime in 2013. (less)

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Mar 25, 2013 Rachel Brown rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, science-fiction

Clever YA sf in the old-school vein of "work through all the implications of a premise."

Teenage Ephraim finds a "magic coin" which can alter reality, and uses it improve his life: make his mom not an alcoholic, make his crush like him, etc. However, each change creates snowballing changes, often of a monkey's paw nature.

Without getting into moderate spoilers for the nature of the premise (revealed about a third of the way in) about all I can say is that yes, it does deal with the moral implica...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Vanessa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ephraim is your typical high school socially awkward guy. He doesn't much like school. He's got a goofy best friend, but not many other friends. There's a pretty girl he likes who doesn't know he exists. There's the bully who picks on him. Unfortunately his dad left years ago and his mom is a drunk. He really can't imagine life worse than it is now.

But that all changes when a quarter shows up in his his locker with the note: "Make a wish and flip the coin to make it come true." Only nothing goes...more Ephraim is your typical high school socially awkward guy. He doesn't much like school. He's got a goofy best friend, but not many other friends. There's a pretty girl he likes who doesn't know he exists. There's the bully who picks on him. Unfortunately his dad left years ago and his mom is a drunk. He really can't imagine life worse than it is now.

But that all changes when a quarter shows up in his his locker with the note: "Make a wish and flip the coin to make it come true." Only nothing goes as Ephraim plans.

When my children were younger I read HALF MAGIC to them. It's a sweet, old-fashioned book about four children who find a magic coin. The problem is the coin only grants half of a wish. It made for some hijinks and in the end the kids realized that wishes don't necessarily make your life better. At first I thought that E.C. Myers was going for the same theme with FAIR COIN, only with an older audience. Boy was I wrong. But in a good way.

Myers doesn't take the story where you think it will go. I don't want to spoil it for you, so all I'll say is that Myers twists and turns and reveals everything in an orderly and understandable fashion. The plot has great forward movement and is engaging. The climax fell a tad short with a too easy solution, but overall was exciting and a logical conclusion, if too tidy for the tone of the book.

Ephraim, our PoV hero, is easy to like. Life's been rough and he only wants to help others out and get the girl if he can. When things start going wrong he tries his best to fix things, but ultimately understands that maybe the coin isn't all it's cracked up to be. The story does get dark, and the people you thought you knew, they all seem to change and it gets confusing and...well, eventually we realize things aren't as they seem.

If your teen is bored with vampires and wizards, FAIR COIN is a smart and fun change from the current YA scene.

Recommended Age: 15+ for sexual references (between teens)
Language: Less than a handful of the harsher stuff
Violence: Some shootings and blood; references to abuse
Sex: References and innuendo(less)

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Aug 05, 2012 Rhiannon Ryder rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fair Coin was an interesting read. It was largely about relationships as opposed to the sci-fi element of the dimension jumping, but it was also about how small changes can make a large impact on your life. To be honest I'm generally not a fan of sci-fi because it has a tendency to get a little complicated, and long winded technical or theoretical descriptions of why something is happening bore me. I know, I sound flaky, but alas, I never feel likes it adds to the story and if the description is...more Fair Coin was an interesting read. It was largely about relationships as opposed to the sci-fi element of the dimension jumping, but it was also about how small changes can make a large impact on your life. To be honest I'm generally not a fan of sci-fi because it has a tendency to get a little complicated, and long winded technical or theoretical descriptions of why something is happening bore me. I know, I sound flaky, but alas, I never feel likes it adds to the story and if the description is really involved I start to skim. Also, I loath philosophy, loath it, I'm much to practical to seriously consider if a chair doesn't exist because I'm not in the same room as it, and all sci-fi gets a little philosophical at some point. Fair Coin suffered only very minimally from technical blathering and philosophising, and Ephraim himself often talks about how it's over his head, which I appreciated.

What struck me as particularly interesting about Fair Coin was how Myers uses circumstance to dictate if his characters are good vs evil more than personality or inherent goodness or badness (evilness? you know what I mean). For instance, just because Ephraim is Ephraim in each world does not mean that all the Ephraim's are good. Some have become distinctly unpleasant, and the explanation seems to be that each Ephraim has been shaped by the circumstances in his life to be an independent and totally unique person, even though he's the same person in each dimension- really he's not.

But although that was one of the most interesting slants of the story it was also the downfall of the side characters. Since Ephraim is flipping in and out of all these dimensions you're not getting to know all the Jenna's, and twins very well, and since each one is really their own unique person you can't just assign what you know about them (or feel about them) from one of the other dimensions. In other words you don't really know any of the characters very well except the Ephraim you follow (lets call him Ephraim 1st) and Nathan who you follow (not the first one you meet! Confusing sounding I know). So although the unique person thing was an interesting story arc to follow and/or discover it really does kill off most of his supporting players in the long run.

Although I couldn't feel committed to the supporting cast, and thus not as emotionally committed to the story as I might otherwise have been I did enjoy the actual story arc of the dimension jumping, and Ephraim's (1st) decision making on how to right the the other Ephraim's wrongs. As usual it was also refreshing to have a male protagonist for a change.

An intriguing read which will likely have you debating good and evil with anyone else whose read it. If I was in a book club I'd want to be discussing it!

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Jun 02, 2012 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

“Fair Coin” by E.C. Myers tells the story of a teenage boy, Ephraim, who comes home from school one day to find his alcoholic mother clumped over the table with a pill bottle in her hand. Ephraim gets her to the hospital in time to save her life but is baffled when she says that he was dead. She had received news and proof (in the form of a library card) that Ephraim was struck by a bus and died. This is the first sign that Ephraim’s life is about to get crazy. The second is when he picks up the...more

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May 25, 2012 Whatchyareading added it

Shelves: caitlin, science-fiction, series, young-adult

This is one of those books that I don’t remember how I heard about it but I remember the summary sounded different than most of the books on my shelf.

I highly enjoyed the cast of characters peppering this. They felt realistic to me. Not too old for their age as I feel a lot of YA characters are but not too naive either. The boys felt like nerds, sure, but still boys. And the girls were portrayed nicely as feeling out of reach to the boys but never actually acting haughty or better than them. And...more This is one of those books that I don’t remember how I heard about it but I remember the summary sounded different than most of the books on my shelf.

I highly enjoyed the cast of characters peppering this. They felt realistic to me. Not too old for their age as I feel a lot of YA characters are but not too naive either. The boys felt like nerds, sure, but still boys. And the girls were portrayed nicely as feeling out of reach to the boys but never actually acting haughty or better than them. And I really liked all the set up with the kids and the various adults in their world. And then, on the flip side, I liked how we left all of the characters. They were changed and different but not perfect and still didn’t have all the answers. It was a good balance. And I especially liked how Ephraim and Jena were left. But I can’t say anything more about that.

Also, the plot starts of with a mysterious library card, which is just awesome.

The book than delves into something reminiscent of the Butterfly Effect with jumping around and the world around Ephraim changing and him trying and trying to make things better and not let everything get out of control! It got a little confusing to keep track of some of the changes and alterations made and such but I just sort of “went with it” until we got all the big reveals, as it were.

My favourite and least favourite thing about this book was that it had a classic feel to it. Reading felt similar to watching the movies I loved as a kid. You know, those ’90s movies where a group of friends discover something fantastic and use it to change their humdrum life and then realize that they actually liked their lives the way the were and now they have to deal with an evil villain? I liked that it reminded me of my childhood and a different type of story telling than is prevalent right now but at the same time, it felt almost as if I’d already read it….or watched it. Not necessarily a bad thing, I read books like that all the time, just this time I really noticed it.

I found the characters and the plot made it worthwhile though. I liked that Myers brought a bunch of different elements together into one fun, intriguing story and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

Reviewed at WhatchYAreading on April 5th, 2012.(less)

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Apr 26, 2012 Alex Templeton rated it 4 of 5 stars

OK, disclaimer. The author of this book, E.C. Myers, is a good friend of mine, so I cannot be completely objective in my review of this novel. That said, I was really engaged with and impressed with his novel, which is about a teenager named Ephraim Scott who discovers a magical coin that can seemingly grant his wishes. I think I was most impressed how the structure of the novel mirrored the rippling effect of a coin being dropped into water. It started out kind of slowly (in my opinion), but by...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Rebecca added it

Shelves: science-fiction, ya

Title: Fair Coin
Author: E. C. Myers
Genre: YA Speculative fiction
Thingummies: n/a - I'm too biased to be able to give an objective review

Synopsis: A teenager finds a magic coin that grants wishes when he flips it. Heads, the wishes come true. Tails, the wishes still come true--but with a price.

Thoughts: I'm going to admit right out that the author of this book is a dear friend, so I'm not going to try to give an objective review. But it's a lovely debut, and worthy of recognition, even if I'm bia...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Dawn Vanniman rated it 5 of 5 stars

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A 'fair coin' is a term from probability theory and statistics. Basically it means that you have the probability of getting 50% heads, 50% tails on any flip. Unless the coin has been tampered with, in which case you can tell by the non-randomness of the flips.

Ephraim Scott is 16 years old. His dad left and his mom's a drunk. It's up to Ephraim to make sure she gets to work on time or to call in for her when she's too drunk....more

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May 17, 2012 Lindsey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

I really hoped, with the half of my brain that also used to hope against all odds that it would rain on our running days in P. E., that this would be a good book. It didn't even have to be spectacular, just a well-done "Careful what you wish for" trope with a little dabbling in science fiction, as the synopsis seemed to hint.

Well for once, the dumb half was right. This was actually pretty good! It's not going to change my life, but there were "Awww" moments and some gasps and internal cheering...more I really hoped, with the half of my brain that also used to hope against all odds that it would rain on our running days in P. E., that this would be a good book. It didn't even have to be spectacular, just a well-done "Careful what you wish for" trope with a little dabbling in science fiction, as the synopsis seemed to hint.

Well for once, the dumb half was right. This was actually pretty good! It's not going to change my life, but there were "Awww" moments and some gasps and internal cheering and snickering, and some sickening dread and some indignation in the right places, and once or twice an "Aha! I can't believe I sort of understand what he's talking about!" All the little responses that let you know the writer has you where he wants you.

I like reading from a male viewpoint once in a while, but I'm usually put off by the swearing and the amount of time spent staring at cleavage. (Being a girl, cleavage holds very little interest for me.) There was a predictable amount of both in Fair Coin--if I had known exactly how much swearing was in the book I probably would have decided not to pick it up, but I'm fairly conservative on that point--but it's not over the top or distracting. I never had any qualms about finishing it or worried about corrupting my innocent mind.

Ephraim is a good guy (the familiar shy geek with a heart of gold) who wants to do the right thing, which keeps the story on the "uplifting and edifying" track. (Not in the same way, say, Anne of Green Gables is uplifting and edifying, but there are some books that you enjoy that have the same objectionable elements--gore, drugs, gratuitous crime, inebriation, cleavage--that made you feel dirty in another book, and the key is usually the MC/narrator's attitude toward those elements. Ephraim being a perv would have bugged me a lot more than just Nathan, because I don't have to be in Nathan's head--I have Ephraim's amused, polite disapproval to distance me from it.)

I can't speak for its adherence to science fiction rules, or its plot-holelessness, since about two-thirds of the way through I gave up trying to keep up and said, "All right, Mr. Meyers! Whatever you say, you must be right." (It seems to mostly make sense now going back over it now that I've finished, but I'm too lazy to pick it apart.)

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Mar 03, 2012 Justin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Actual Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

After finishing Fair Coin, I knew it was going to be a really difficult to review. I am going to try my best to explain my thoughts, and still try and cover everything I need to. First, let me just say that reading the summary doesn't even begin to explain this story. The idea of the coin, and the wishes is a very small part of a much bigger puzzle.

The story itself starts of in a fairly confusing way, but Myers does a good job of covering that up with random explanation...more Actual Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

After finishing Fair Coin, I knew it was going to be a really difficult to review. I am going to try my best to explain my thoughts, and still try and cover everything I need to. First, let me just say that reading the summary doesn't even begin to explain this story. The idea of the coin, and the wishes is a very small part of a much bigger puzzle.

The story itself starts of in a fairly confusing way, but Myers does a good job of covering that up with random explanations that are very persuasive. Once you get past that point, things start to feel a little more normal... if you can say that. Then once the coin and the earlier wishes come into play it starts getting weird again. It would be hard to imagine that this story could get any stranger, but trust me when I say that it can. Once you get to the last 100 or so pages of the book, things get extremely confusing. And I don't use confusing lightly in this case, I honestly couldn't even keep up with a lot of things that were going on toward the end of the book.

The characters were great, especially when things started really getting interesting. It's hard to talk about the characters, because I can easily give to much away... But I really enjoyed them, they were easily one of the best things about the book.

I like that one of the authors that quoted Fair Coin on the back of the book had mentioned Theoretical Physics, because it plays a big part in this book. Don't get me wrong, it's really interesting how things play out and it's a lot of fun if you enjoy things like that. But I just feel like it's a little to confusing, trying to keep up with everything going on and also trying to understand how it's happening. I personally love learning about Physics and reading about things involving physics. But when you're writing a book targeting younger readers, I really feel like things need to be toned down just a little.

Fair Coin is still worth checking out, just make sure you are ready for all of the very confusing portions of the book. Maybe it just wasn't what I was expecting, if I had known maybe I might have some different thoughts but it just didn't do it for me. I feel like I have repeated myself a lot in this review, it was just a really difficult book for me to gather my thoughts on. Everything was all over the place once I had finished. I will read the second book though, because I do want to find out what happens with the characters next and hopefully it might be a little more enjoyable now that I know what to expect from Myers writing.

This review is directly from my blog, here is the original post: http://www.justinsbookblog.com/2012/0...(less)

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Oct 20, 2012 Starlin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: male-protagonist, intruiging, science-fiction, sorry-theres-drool-on-the-cover, mysterious, i-actually-liked-this

Actual rating: 4.5

I was intrigued by this story from the synopsis to the cover. I mean, this is a pretty epic cover. But the story was just as good, if not better, then the cover.

The story follows Ephraim as he tries to change his not-so-good present into the life he always dreamed of, with the 'magic' coin. I expected magic, some cheesy moments and an okay story. I wasn't expecting the head ride this book was. Ephraim soon [minor spoilers] realizes that the coin isn't magic at all, in fact it h...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Savannah (Books With Bite) rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is definitely not what I expected. For me it starting off good then got slow. Though, it kept me intrigued till the end.

What I liked most about this book is the great plot line. I really loved the idea of paradoxes in the universe. For me this idea alone and the way it was written out is good. With each new chapter, the reader learns more of the paradox, rules and meets new characters.

I really loved the loved interest. Though it's not really pursued in the book due to to other events h...more

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Feb 22, 2013 David Lomax rated it 4 of 5 stars

This goes in the can't-put-down pile. E.C. Myers mixes familiar themes of wishes, coin-tosses and parallel universes into an energetic story of teenage self-discovery and the uses and abuses of power. From the moment protagonist Ephraim Scott picks up a "magical" coin and makes a wish, the story takes off like a bullet and doesn't stop until the nail-biting conclusion. You'd think that in such a fast-paced novel (and this really is fast-paced, almost ridiculously so) there wouldn't be time for m...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Phoebe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: intergalactic-academy-reviews, sci-fi

Full review at The Intergalactic Academy.

It sometimes feels as if genre occupies a universe wholly separate from other fiction. Whereas contemporary works mostly use trauma to explore the emotional situation of its characters, genre fiction instead uses trauma as inciting incidents or for archetypal window dressing. In genre fiction, for instance, the orphan child is orphaned both because it creates an opportunity for that child to be a changeling or long-lost lord, and because it’s what has alw...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite

From the start of Fair Coin I was enamored with Ephraim. He made this book for me. Here is a character who is so easy to relate to that I genuinely cared what happened to him. His friend Nathan was the same way. These two are the epitome of nerds, and I loved that! Their friendship is palpable and, even when it changes, that link is there. I happily followed Ephraim as he made wishes and changed his world. Of course I'll admit that I kept wondering when something bad would happen. I've read enou...more From the start of Fair Coin I was enamored with Ephraim. He made this book for me. Here is a character who is so easy to relate to that I genuinely cared what happened to him. His friend Nathan was the same way. These two are the epitome of nerds, and I loved that! Their friendship is palpable and, even when it changes, that link is there. I happily followed Ephraim as he made wishes and changed his world. Of course I'll admit that I kept wondering when something bad would happen. I've read enough to know that things like this come with a consequence or two. Still, when it did happen, I was taken completely by surprise.

That my friends, is exactly when the book gets really interesting! When Ephraim discovers what the coin is really about, what it really does, the book blossoms into something brand new. I refuse to spoil this for you, and so you won't hear from me what happens. What I will say is that I applaud E.C. Meyers for taking such an abstract concept and putting it so simply that I was able to stay immersed in the story. It's almost like two separate stories were merged seamlessly into one. At this point I was glued to the pages. I warn you, this isn't a book you can read only a chapter at a time.

Another thing I wholeheartedly loved about Fair Coin were the moral dilemmas that pop up in this book. It's going to be a bit hard to explain without spoiling, but I'll try my best. Imagine that you could have anything that you want. Would that make it okay to take it? What if what you wanted caused someone else to loose something that they already had? These are the type of issues that Ephraim comes upon in this story, and I can't say enough how much I loved the way that E.C. Meyers addressed them. His characters have a conscience, and it made all the difference in the world.

As you can tell from this long, rambling review, I really loved this book! Fair Coin is a refreshingly unique read. It's a story that takes you from fantasy into science fiction and back again, and it does it seamlessly. I loved the characters, I loved the concept, and most of all I loved how immersed I was in the story. Thank you to E.C. Meyers for changing up my YA reads! When the second in the series comes out, I'll be there to devour it. You can count on that.(less)

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Mar 05, 2012 TheBookSmugglers rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott comes home from school one day to find his mother passed out at the kitchen table – unfortunately a more than common occurrence given his mother’s alcoholism – except this time around she is holding a bottle of pills. Her suicide attempt is a reaction to having identified Ephraim’s body at the morgue that morning. Thankfully, she lives and everybody is convinced that it was all simply a horrible mistake. Then Ephraim finds amongst the other boy’s belongings – which...more Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott comes home from school one day to find his mother passed out at the kitchen table – unfortunately a more than common occurrence given his mother’s alcoholism – except this time around she is holding a bottle of pills. Her suicide attempt is a reaction to having identified Ephraim’s body at the morgue that morning. Thankfully, she lives and everybody is convinced that it was all simply a horrible mistake. Then Ephraim finds amongst the other boy’s belongings – which are very similar but not quite the same as his own – a coin. A coin that, he learns, grants wishes when he flips it. At first he is understandably doubtful: a magic coin? Surely nothing like that can exist. But once his first wish is – unexpectedly, surprisingly – granted, he is enthused by all the possibilities. Soon he starts wishing for other things: for a better job for his mother, for his best friend Nathan to get the girl of his dreams and for Jenna, the girl he likes, to like him back. But with every subsequent wish he starts to notice unexpected changes around him, some of them subtle, some of them more life-altering than he wished for. And then he learns the true nature of the coin and that there are consequences to his every wish…

Fair Coin is an immensely fun plot-driven novel and the summary/blurb doesn’t even begin to address what truly goes on in the story. To reveal the real nature of this story would inevitably and unforgivably spoil the book 1 – and the twist or revelation about the coin and the wishes is really where I became excited about the book. That revelation doesn’t happen till half way through the book though, and once it does, the story really gains momentum, not to mention that Extra Cool status. The plot moves fast, each wish taking Ephraim to unexpected places, affecting not only his life but also the lives of those around him.

On that front, the best aspect of Fair Coin for me, are the moral conundrums, the ethics of using the coin and the author manages to address them – to a certain extent – not only when it comes to wish-making but also when it comes to messing up with unknown forces of the physical universe.

“To a certain extent” because even though the story and the characters talk about the ethics and the moral consequences of wish-making, I felt those were only surface deep, never really getting to the nitty-gritty bottom of anything. And this brings me to the Fair Coin’s main flaw as I see it: the characters don’t go much beyond a certain script. The main character is a typical teenager, the main villain is a typical villain and so on and so forth which translates as: their emotional range don’t go much further than what is expected from them. Someone dies, main character cries for about half a page and that’s it. Someone else loses someone extremely important to them and one page later it is like nothing has happened and they are laughing as though it’s all forgotten – even if the text TELLS me they are grieving, I don’t see it. The characters’ emotional reactions are not developed enough to move the reader or to ensure any deeper connection with the story.

That isn’t to say the characterisations are completely bad – not at all. The portrayals of the teenager characters are believable and there is a plethora of cool female characters that have huge roles to play in the story. Even if, for the most part, Ephraim is making wishes that will affect the female characters in his life more than any others – these female characters still have agency and react to this once learning what’s happened. There is definitely a degree in which Ephraim and his friend Nathan objectify the girls they like but this element is addressed and is part of Ephraim’s learning curve as a character.

One last thing: the story is full of twists and turns and I loved this aspect of the novel. But thinking about it and trying to analyse all the elements, I am not entirely convinced – and I believe there is one fundamental problem with the premise of the novel. I will expand on this bit as a footnote for those who have read the book already so don’t read it if you don’t want to be spoiled. 2

That said, there could be an explanation for this – and that might be exactly what book 2 will be about. Despite its problems with the characterisation, I loved the premise of the novel and how it all played out and Fair Coin is ultimately, a super fun book. (less)

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Jun 30, 2012 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This YA book with a sci-fi twist has an intriguing premise: high school nerd and his best friend find a coin that apparently allows them to make 'wishes' that alter their realities: finally they can get the girls they've been pining after for years, improve their home lives, and pay back the school bully. But the wishes they make seem to have unintended consequences...

After a slow start, things kick into high gear as the true nature of the coin is revealed and our hero finds himself locked in a...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Natalie (Mindful Musings) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, alternate-universes, from-publisher-finished-copy, male-mc

Click HERE to read this review on my blog, Mindful Musings.

In a Sentence: Despite the fact that I would have liked to see a little more development of the secondary characters, I found Fair Coin to be an interesting story filled with loads of questions that will keep readers turning pages.

My Thoughts

The first chapter of Fair Coin pulled me in almost immediately. By the second page of the book, something dramatic was happening, so this book definitely didn't have any problems with a slow start....more Click HERE to read this review on my blog, Mindful Musings.

In a Sentence: Despite the fact that I would have liked to see a little more development of the secondary characters, I found Fair Coin to be an interesting story filled with loads of questions that will keep readers turning pages.

My Thoughts

The first chapter of Fair Coin pulled me in almost immediately. By the second page of the book, something dramatic was happening, so this book definitely didn't have any problems with a slow start. I also found that the writing style and layout of Fair Coin encouraged the overall quick pacing of the story. Fair Coin was one of those books where I would sit down to read for a few minutes, and all of the sudden realize that I'd read fifty pages! At only 250 pages in total length, Fair Coin makes for an extremely fast read.

Fair Coin is a book that I hadn't read tons about prior to picking it up, and I'm kind of glad it turned out that way. Though I have come across a handful of reviews of it, the story and plot of Fair Coin remained largely a mystery to me. This mystery was increased by a number of questions raised throughout the book that weren't always answered right away. For a reader like me, who (unfortunately) often guesses the outcome of a plot line, being unsure of what exactly was happening was a welcome treat. Another plus was that, unlike a lot of books these days, Fair Coin doesn't give away the majority of its story in the synopsis. Though I had my own vague ideas of how the story would turn out, Fair Coin's ability to keep me guessing was a big reason behind my enjoyment of the book.

While the overall story line was intriguing and well thought-out, I had a little bit of trouble with the development of some of the minor characters. To me, most of them seemed flat and static. Because of this, when Ephraim would feel any kind of emotions towards these characters, I wasn't able to connect in the way that I wanted to because I, personally, felt nothing for them. However, I did like the development of Ephraim's character. Like any good main character, Ephraim evolved slowly but surely over the course of the novel, lending a needed element of depth to the story that helped me to enjoy it more as a whole.

One of the themes that is addressed in Fair Coin is that of responsibility. Ephraim is for the most part your average, normal guy, but like most average, normal people, he has trouble resisting temptation, even if he knows that his actions might have consequences. Even though Ephraim realizes that his use of the magic coin is changing his world and the lives of the people around them, he still has trouble not giving in every time something bad happens in his life. As time passes, he wonders more and more if he should be using the coin's magic at all, but he still tends to instantly change his mind when he doesn't like the situation he's in. Ephraim struggles off and on with taking responsibility for his actions throughout the entire book, and he doesn't always make the right choices. To me, this was a solid representation of what a lot of adolescents have to go through as they transition into the adult world.

Of course, I can't finish my review of Fair Coin without giving it kudos for being a YA novel published in 2012 that features a male protagonist. I know this is a rant that you all hear frequently from me, but I can't help but feel that, in comparison to their female counterparts, teenage boys are sorely underrepresented in today's YA literature. However, even though Fair Coin has a male main character, another thing that the book does well is that it is written in a way that appeals to both male and female audiences.

Though Fair Coin seemed to me that it could have been a standalone book, it looks like a sequel, entitled Quantum Coin, is scheduled to be released sometime this fall. I haven't completely committed myself to reading the next installment yet, but I'll be interested when the synopsis is published because I think it will give me some sort of idea of where the story is headed. I'll be keeping an eye out for it though because, based on what I've seen of Myers' writing so far, it could definitely have potential!(less)

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Mar 05, 2012 LiteraryObsession rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Ephraim Scott, “Eph” to his friends, is a typical teenage boy living a typical (sadly, it -is- fairly common for children to deal with this situation) life. He isn’t entirely happy, but he does seem to be coping; he has friends, he’s performing at an at least average level in school, and has a job that the reader can assume he appreciates. Truthfully, though, he’s a boy who is hurting and he’s all too eager to step away from his not-so-idyllic life.

When he gets the opportunity to do so, he leaps...more Ephraim Scott, “Eph” to his friends, is a typical teenage boy living a typical (sadly, it -is- fairly common for children to deal with this situation) life. He isn’t entirely happy, but he does seem to be coping; he has friends, he’s performing at an at least average level in school, and has a job that the reader can assume he appreciates. Truthfully, though, he’s a boy who is hurting and he’s all too eager to step away from his not-so-idyllic life.

When he gets the opportunity to do so, he leaps at the chance. It’s through wishes and hopes and chance that Ephraim makes his way through the twists and turns of Mr. Myers fast-paced plot, and it’s really fun to try to figure out just what is going on and why.

What is not so typical about the story is the author’s portrayal of the teen mindset. Ephraim is a young man with strong morals and willpower, though these traits only become truly apparent as we get further into the story. There is character growth (though it’s gradual and not entirely deep) with all three of the “main” characters: Ephraim, Nathan, and Jena. Jena is written as a girl with a brain who knows how to use it, Nathan is a many-layered personality, and Ephraim really has to evaluate his life, his choices, his feelings – his entire self. It’s interesting to watch it all unfold. As the book ends, Ephraim comes to the realization that life is what we make of it and that it’s each person’s responsibility to either stay the course or make changes. It’s a really good lesson, albeit a subtle one.

I loved that despite having a male author, a male main character, and just an in general kind of “guy” feel to it, the female characters have strong, independent voices. They may be mainly supporting characters, but they are important and they are not pushed into the shadows willy-nilly.

There are a few bits of the book that make me scratch my head – portions I feel like were glossed over – such as the emotional reactions, or lack thereof, that two particular characters have to losing a friend. It’s a minor flaw, and not one I think takes anything away from the overall story. Also, I feel like there a few unanswered questions dangling there in the open, just waiting…and I’m hoping the sequel answers them for us.

E.C. Myers has written a novel that makes the reader think, which is something that is, sadly, often lacking in the Young Adult genre. He has not over simplified the SciFi aspects of the novel, showing that he has faith in the intelligence and comprehension levels of the young adults reading his novel, which is really rather great of him. Fair Coin is a young adult novel of substance. It is humorous, emotional, and complex in a refreshing way, and I think it’s a book that anyone who enjoys Science Fiction could really love.(less)

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Mar 13, 2012 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

(originally reviewed on starmetal oak book blog)

Let’s start by saying how much I enjoyed reading a smart young adult novel that wasn’t a dystopia and didn’t have the usual love triangle. The story follows Ephraim Scott, whose life changes when he finds a coin with Washington’s head facing the wrong way commemorating the state of Puerto Rico. He discovers that when he makes a wish a flips the coin, it comes true. Or close to true.

For the first half of the novel, Ephraim uses this newfound power...more (originally reviewed on starmetal oak book blog)

Let’s start by saying how much I enjoyed reading a smart young adult novel that wasn’t a dystopia and didn’t have the usual love triangle. The story follows Ephraim Scott, whose life changes when he finds a coin with Washington’s head facing the wrong way commemorating the state of Puerto Rico. He discovers that when he makes a wish a flips the coin, it comes true. Or close to true.

For the first half of the novel, Ephraim uses this newfound power to take care of all the things gone wrong in his life. His mom’s a drunk and he likes a girl named Jena. Of course, this magic coin ends up being used on girls. Things start to go wrong when other things in Ephraim’s world changes along with his wish. People become different, events rearrange themselves.

I felt like there was a lot of this “discovery” phase for Ephraim – nothing particular happening for quite a while except making wishes and seeing how they turn out. Not until he shares this power with his best friend Nathan does things really start to go downhill. Actually, the whole story changes in that it becomes a science fiction thriller with a very human bad guy with a gun.

There are a lot of things to like about Fair Coin. All the characters: Ephraim, Nathan, Jena feel like real teenagers. Their minds are preoccupied on their crushes and other shallow things – I wanted Ephraim to do something selfless with the coin but he never quite gets there. On top of that, I felt like Ephraim didn’t have any real feelings for Jena other than her being cute and smart, and still he bases almost all his choices on her.

Towards the end we get the big reveal – I thought it would be the end of the story, but it actually opens up a whole new plot with scary villain and some intriguing science. I felt the story had two sides and it didn’t always flow between each other. This also caused a lot of the end to be rushed since we had to resolve the conflict with the big bad and also tie up the loose ends with the coin.

Overall, I did enjoy Fair Coin and appreciated it for what it was: a different kind of young adult novel with a great science fiction story. There are some bumps along the way, the plotting, the pacing and some of the character’s lackluster choices when given power that is practically omnipotent. The end does wrap things up but I hear there’s a sequel coming out sometime next year. I’d be curious to see where Myers takes it. For one, I know I’d be interested in seeing more about the origins of the coin and the effect it has on the world.

Review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.(less)

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May 03, 2013 Angela ♥ Mrs. Hollywood ♥ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, sci-fi, parallel-universe-travel

Fun, adventurous read. It did keep me on the edge of my seat at times. Plenty of suspense.

The problem was that Ephraim seemed emotionless and indifferent throughout his entire experience. It lacked the emotional impact that an individual might have if he found himself in an alternate universe.

And the "analogs" seemed flat. They were easily interchangeable with one another. If Ephraim had spent more time in each of the universes rather than traveling impulsively we might have had a better unders...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Rajiv rated it 3 of 5 stars

I learned about the book from a glowing review from io9. They went on and on about how awesome the book is that I got hyped up. To be honest, the book wasn't disappointing, but it was nowhere near as good as io9 made it out to be.

The book has, what I believe, an excellent story that is brought down by the flat characters. None of the characters truly stand out. Ephraim, the protagonist, remains obsessed about Jena throughout the book. He doesn't progress beyond this fixation on the girl, and he...more

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Mar 01, 2012 the golden witch. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, magical-reality, teenage-shennanigans, scifi, reviewed

This book is most definitely not what it seems. And this is a great thing - I loved this book's ending, and even though it's not a standalone, it definitely reads like one. And what's more refreshing is that it's a male YA author - those seem to be in such short supply, especially when doing fantasy/sci-fi. "Fair Coin" might have a slow start, but quite the explosive ending that will definitely have me reading the sequel when it comes out.

Yes, the start is slow, and I was starting to wonder if E...more This book is most definitely not what it seems. And this is a great thing - I loved this book's ending, and even though it's not a standalone, it definitely reads like one. And what's more refreshing is that it's a male YA author - those seem to be in such short supply, especially when doing fantasy/sci-fi. "Fair Coin" might have a slow start, but quite the explosive ending that will definitely have me reading the sequel when it comes out.

Yes, the start is slow, and I was starting to wonder if Ephraim was just going to keep wishing his way into and out of trouble for the first quarter of the book.

And then it got interesting. REALLY interesting. Quantum physics interesting, to be precise. And I LOVE it when YA authors are able to break the "Many Worlds"/"M-Theory"/"Multiverse" theories down into very understandable, palatable content. Myers does this very well by using Jena to explain said theories (including my favorite thought experiment, Schrodinger's Cat!) to the audience to help them understand what's really going on. It may look like a magic coin, at first, but it certainly ain't magic. And quite frankly, I wasn't expecting that turn of events at all - I didn't even see it coming. And it was such a pleasant surprise I had to put the book down and do a dorky little jig because I was so happy to see some of my favorite science-y things make into the realm of YA fiction and survive intact.

The technical details of this book are well laid out, though it doesn't seem like it at first. It does take a little further in until you start to see how the main arc and sub-arcs are to be executed, and how Ephraim will change by the end of the book by taking this journey with this coin. The characters are well-crafted, sturdy, and survive everything that's thrown at them (though I do wish we'd had a bit more time with Zoe - I hope she returns in book 2!), and the world is awesome (I want to go back to all of them!).

What's also great here is that Myers was completely unafraid to run with the use of the "Many Worlds" theory with abandon and torture his characters. He puts them through hell, and it's wonderful to watch because the results are awesome. There are a lot of YA authors in particular, it seems, afraid to "kill their darlings" as the saying goes, but Myers isn't one of them. He isn't afraid to show us the "roads not taken" by all of the characters in this book with extremely interesting results.

Final verdict? If you love sci-fi/fantasy and you want to learn more about quantum physics mixed in with that sci-fi/fantasy, you DEFINITELY need to read "Fair Coin". It's out in North America on March 8, 2012 (other places, check) from Pyr/Prometheus Press. This is one YA debut you don't want to miss!

(posted to goodreads, shelfari, and birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com)

(less)

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Feb 25, 2013 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ephraim has a tough life, living alone with his mother who is an alcoholic barely able to hold down a job. When he comes home from school one day and finds his mother nearly dead of suicide, he finds evidence indicating that she thinks Ephraim was killed that day by a bus. When he looks at the belongings of the dead teen, he finds his own library card and, more importantly, a strange coin that helps him and his friend Nate move between parallel universes. At first he thinks the coin can just gra...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Althea Ann rated it 2 of 5 stars

Taking inspiration from the fairy-tale idea that while wishes may come true, they're bound to always go wrong; Myers creates a riff on the alternate-universes theory aimed at teen boys.

It may be because I'm not a teen boy that this didn't really capture my imagination. I just felt like I've seen parallel universes used to more impressive effect, in both teen and adult fiction. This might remind me most of Diana Wynne Jones' "Tale of Time City," but while that is primarily a quest story, this boo...more

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May 15, 2012 Malin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott is used to depressing home comings, with his alcoholic mother frequently too drunk for her own good. But when he finds her clutching a bottle of pills, having tried to kill herself, he is horrified. His mother seems deeply confused to see him, claiming the reason for her suicide attempt is that she identified his dead body earlier that day. Strange as this is, things take a turn for the stranger when Ephraim finds a strange coin among the belongings his mother was...more Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott is used to depressing home comings, with his alcoholic mother frequently too drunk for her own good. But when he finds her clutching a bottle of pills, having tried to kill herself, he is horrified. His mother seems deeply confused to see him, claiming the reason for her suicide attempt is that she identified his dead body earlier that day. Strange as this is, things take a turn for the stranger when Ephraim finds a strange coin among the belongings his mother was given from his mysterious double. When he flips the coin, and makes a wish, the coin goes hot, and grants the wish.

Ephraim can have a stable, supportive hard working mother, he can make the girl he's fancied since second grade like him - but as well as granting him wishes, the coin seems to change subtle things all around him as well. Is the coin actually magic? And is it wrong of Ephraim to use the coin to fulfil his dreams and desires, with no thought to the people who are also affected by the outcome of his wishes?

Fair Coin has a very cool concept, and Ephraim's a likable young protagonist. As interesting as the premise was, I didn't necessarily love the execution all the way through. I don't know if it's my general trouble of rooting more for male characters than female, it's happened before, it will likely happen again. I did think Ephraim should have thought his actions through a bit more, and that many of his early decisions were made without thinking things through - but having an unpredictable alcoholic parent can drive anyone to desperation, and to his credit, once he realises that the coin doesn't always change things for the better, and his coin flips can have serious repercussions, he tries to stop, and set things right.

There's quite a bit of suspense as the novel progresses, I guess I just didn't like the turn the plot took after a while. Some of it just made me a bit uncomfortable, and I'm not sure I entirely liked the resolution of the book. Still, it's nice to see young adult books doing something a bit different from the Harry Potter/Twilight/dystopian future thing, and I'm not ruling out that I'll check out Myers' future books.(less)

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About E.C. Myers

E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised in Yonkers, NY by his mother and the public library. He is a graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop and a member of the prolific NYC writing group Altered Fluid. In the rare moments when he isn't writing, he blogs about Star Trek at The Viewscreen, reads constantly, plays video games, watches films and television,...more

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Quotes from Fair Coin

“Ephraim, it's an incredibly intimate thing to share one of your favorite books with someone else. I think so, anyway."

"How do you mean?"

"Your father gave me a book on our second date, the first gift he ever gave me." She turned to the front page and studied it. "When you give someone a book, it's lie saying: 'I'm trusting you with something that means a lot to me.' It doesn't matter whether you like it or not, though it helps if you do. What matters is that you understand why she likes it. Why she gave it to you.” — 3 people liked it

“If you can't forgive yourself, how can you expect me to?” — 2 people liked it

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