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Fair Coin

(Coin #1)

E.C. Myers (Goodreads Author)

3.48 · Rating details · 1,247 ratings · 264 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 strang ...more

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Hardcover, 1st Edition, 250 pages

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

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· 1,247 ratings · 264 reviews

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Oct 21, 2012 Felicia rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, science

So I usually resist young adult novels because, frankly, 15 year olds mooning over each other don't really interest me. I'm drawn to teens who have adult problems, probably because I never was a teenager myself (I skipped all of high school and went directly into college.) That's why, even though it's certainly a teen book, I really liked Fair Coin, and the smart universe the author created.

Basically the main character, Ephraim, has a challenging home life, and finds a coin that, when flipped, c ...more

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Jun 25, 2013 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it liked it

Shelves: beta-male, jericho-fucking-barrons, high-school, alternate-universe, asian-culture, ya, sci-fi, siblings, twins-triplets-clones, parallel-time

Actual rating: 2.5

A butterfly flapped its wings off the coast of Brazil and I ended up not enjoying this book, can't we just leave it at that so I don't have to get all analytical?

No? Fine.

Let's be honest here, who among us hasn't at one time or another, yearned for the ability to make wishes. From our childhood fantasies of the genie in the lamp à la Aladdin, the innocence of such wishes turned into a more nuanced version as we grow up and learn that there's no such thing as a free lunch. Or fr ...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Rachel Brown rated it liked it

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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Mar 09, 2012 Michelle (Crazy Cat Lady) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012-read

[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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Dec 09, 2011 Melanie McCullough rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-favorites

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 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. ...more

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Feb 29, 2012 TheBookSmugglers rated it liked it

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 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. ...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Natalie rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, alternate-universes

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. 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! ...more

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Oct 01, 2018 Jen | Jen Talks Audiobooks rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, sci-fi, audiobook, young-adult, fantasy

This is a pretty good alternate worlds story - with a whole lot of high school drama build-up. Once the main character catches up to the reader in terms of knowing what's happening, it gets fairly good. Still, these are high school aged people so adjust your expectations in terms of maturity accordingly.

MacLeod Andrews is perfect for the audio.

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Mar 04, 2012 Dawn Vanniman rated it it was amazing

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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Mar 01, 2012 Buka rated it it was ok

Shelves: reviewed

One and a half star.
I want to confess this right now - the main reason why I noticed this book, picked it and managed to stick to the end of it was Sam Weber's cover. I swear, something in his paintings (these colors, these postures, this sheer awesomness!..) just strips away my willpower and lures me in like a hopeless sailor. It was his cover for The Shadow Rising ebook that finally made me read Wheel of Time (and that's not simply a big as a brick book, that's 13 big as a brick books). His im One and a half star.
I want to confess this right now - the main reason why I noticed this book, picked it and managed to stick to the end of it was Sam Weber's cover. I swear, something in his paintings (these colors, these postures, this sheer awesomness!..) just strips away my willpower and lures me in like a hopeless sailor. It was his cover for The Shadow Rising ebook that finally made me read Wheel of Time (and that's not simply a big as a brick book, that's 13 big as a brick books). His images that persuaded me at the end to buy the priciest Spectrum in my collection. I knew I was going to read Fair Coin the second I saw the cover on his website.

Well, it was also a reason for "and a half star" in my rating.

The idea behind Fair Coin isn't exactly new. A teenage boy with an alcoholic mom and an unrequited crush finds a coin that can grant wishes. Yeah, we all know how that particular trope will play out. So it all depends on execution and this is where Fair Coin turned out, well... bland.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't unbearable from start to finish. The final 20% went by fast and when Fair Coin got interesting, it was really - no, Really - interesting. Too bad it was mostly scientifical moments and these were replaced rather quickly by the dreaded character interaction. I think, this was the first book where I wished author would concentrate more on awesome science and (view spoiler) and less on human relashionships. It just that the writing was so plain and the characters were so firmly led by an author's will that they didn't feel like real persons but more like paint-by-numbers. The typical underdog with family troubles, the nerdy best friend, the cool geeky love interest... None of them strayed far from vapid even when (view spoiler).

At the beginning I wanted to bang my head on the wall and shout at Ephraim "your mother nearly died and there is something fishy going on - feel something about it!" or "you left your best friend alone with a school bully just because said friend asked you to - can't you just worry about him a little, please?!".
On my third try I got used to it but then the thickly layed foreshadowing started and I wanted to bang my head on the wall again because Ephraim was so slow at figuring it out. Things got better when the real action started (and awesome science kicked in more), although nothing really suprised me till the end.

So if you like the 'butterfly effect' type of stories, you can try Fair Coin but don't expect mighty fine prose or memorable characters. But the "effect" parts here are aplenty.

Meanwhile, when I returned to write a review, it turned out that this perfectly wrapped up stand alone will have a sequel in less than a month now and from the description it seems it'll be chock-full of (non-)human interaction *cue in the dramatic movie cry* - no-o-o!
On the plus side, the sequel also has a gorgeous cover by Sam Weber but this time I think I'll just save the image and be content with it. ...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Jessica rated it it was amazing

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 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. ...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Soumi rated it it was ok

Shelves: arc-e-galley, young-adult, 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

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Oct 22, 2016 Aline rated it liked it

Fair Coin by E.C. Meyers * 3 Stars * 10/22/2016

When I read the synopsis of Fair Coin I got really anxious to read the book. The story concept totally called my attention, it was very interesting. When I started to read it has a hard time with the writing style. I couldn't put my finger on it but the read wasn't satisfactory. The main character, Ephraim, kept making bad choices over and over again, but what bothered me Tehran most was how he kept repeating the question he had regarding the myster ...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Amanda rated it really liked it

Read the full review here at www.appraisingpages.com!

This book did something awesome, something that doesn’t happen often: it surprised me. It’s not that I went into this book thinking it would disappoint me, it’s that after the first 100 pages I was pretty sure I had it figured out. I knew the message, I knew the plot, I knew where it was going. I. Was. Wrong!

Myers changed things on me and made the story so much more deep and complex than I expected, I love it when books do that.

The main chara ...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Kelly rated it did not like it

Shelves: hated, young-adult, series, sci-fi

The first part of this book made me very impatient to know what was going on. Not in the delightful suspense kind of way, but in the come ON what is UP HERE kind of way. And then the explanation was too... science wordsy. I don't know. I kind of hated this. I kind of hated this a lot. People getting all bumped around and people are people but not the same people but also they ARE the same people but different and then whoops, dead, but it doesn't matter because it was a different same person, so ...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Stefan rated it did not like it

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, far-beyond-reality-review, did-not-finish

1.5 stars. Uninspired YA fantasy. The premise is too recognizable, and the characters are too bland to maintain the reader's interest. I abandoned it after five chapters (56 pages) and wrote a "Fifty Page Fridays" post about it on Far Beyond Reality.

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Jan 25, 2013 Mike rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary-sf, good-ya, reviewed, action, good-books-have-bad-covers, third-person, thrillers

This is a very interesting book to review, for a number of reasons. It's premise is wildly unique - while it at first appears to be a simple story of the consequences of wishes, it turns out to be far more complex and intricate. This intricacy limits its audience a bit - I can easily imagine people getting confused and overwhelmed. But what it went for is ambitious, and it largely succeeds.

But what I find most interesting about this book is its intended audience. This is probably the first YA bo This is a very interesting book to review, for a number of reasons. It's premise is wildly unique - while it at first appears to be a simple story of the consequences of wishes, it turns out to be far more complex and intricate. This intricacy limits its audience a bit - I can easily imagine people getting confused and overwhelmed. But what it went for is ambitious, and it largely succeeds.

But what I find most interesting about this book is its intended audience. This is probably the first YA book I've ever read that feels molded exclusively for boys - at least, the first good one. Sure, I've talked about how Gone and Ashfall are boy books, but all I mean by that is that they're gender-neutral; they don't limit themselves to girls. This is the first book that seems to be limited to boys, mostly in the emphasis on the sex drive of its protagonists. Both Ephraim and Nathan frequently looked at porn, made comments about the bodies of girls, ect. I'm really not sure this is a good thing - I don't think it's good to cut off your audience, for one thing, but it's more than that. The male gaze felt over the top and unrealistic at times - sure, most boys have probably thought things like this, but I can't imagine most of them doing it as constantly as Ephriam and Nathan do, and being as calm about it. I can also imagine this making some female readers uncomfortable. The book doesn't completely cut off it's audience - I read this book at the recommendation of a woman, but it's certainly a problem.

Thankfully, though, that was probably my biggest problem with the book. Other than that, it was a strong character study with a very fast plot and good writing. In particular, I want to emphasize the characters. Despite his mildly unrealistic perversion, Ephraim is very well-drawn and realistic. He's a very realistic boy, and that alone makes characters like him underrepresented in YA. Nathan, Jena, and Zoe are realistic as well - in particular, I liked the subtle and realistic differences after each wish was made. Meyers definitely has a strong talent for subtle and nuanced characterization - it's a true gift, one that not nearly enough authors possess.

The plot can best be described as compact. There's a lot going on here, stuffed into less than 300 pages. This has its weaknesses and its strengths. First, the strengths: this was a relentlessly unpredictable book. There are some excellent twists here, and it's practically impossible to see them coming. Some of them may seem like shocking swerves at first, but it all comes together in a surprisingly coherent manner. The pacing also manages to be very fast, without ever feeling rushed. There were constantly new things happening, with twists that seem to come every other chapter, yet everything is fleshed out and fully explored. The way that the characterization was blended with the plotting is the very essence of 'less is more' - Meyers manages to write a quick plot that still explores its characters and their situation.

That said, it's not all pulled off this skillfully. For one thing, the entire story hinges on a giant plothole: (view spoiler) For another thing, the sheer number of twists can get a little overwhelming. Particularly during the middle section of the book, I wished that we could slow things down just a little, that I could get a handle on the ramifications of one twist before another arrived. Things got more and more complex, and while it never quite crossed over to confusion for me, I did have to stop several times to remind myself of exactly how we got to where we were. And if you don't like plot-oriented books as much as I do, you might as well just write this one off now, because without a desire for the thrill that comes from fast pace and constant twists, you'll most likely be completely lost and confused. The plot was largely well done, but it wasn't without its flaws.

The writing worked for me as well. It wasn't flashy or shiny at all, but it was very smooth and efficient - which is important for a book with a pace as fast as this one. The dialogue was also very good: Meyers did a good job of giving each character a subtle yet distinct voice. It's not going to blow you away or anything, but as far as carrying the story goes, it's great. That's all a book like this needs or should have.

Overall, this was a strong standout in the world of contemporary sci-fi and boy books. It had it's problems, and I can't recommend it unless you're prepared for something potentially overwhelming, but for me, the book was an exceptional debut. If you're looking for something unique and fast compared to most of the current YA scene, there are few books I can recommend above this one. ...more

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Mar 03, 2012 LiteraryObsession rated it really liked it

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 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. ...more

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Feb 20, 2012 usagi ☆ミ rated it really liked it

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

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 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)

...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Diayll rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: YA Fans of Action, Mystery, Science Fiction

Shelves: arc, pyr-publishing, debut-author-challenge-books, diayll-s-challenge

Originally Reviewed At:
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Publisher for Honest Review
Reviewer: Me

Fair Coin was a surprise hit for me, one I never saw coming, and one I can’t believe is over (thankfully I just received my ARC of Quantum Coin)! E.C. Myers crafted a hair-raising adventure centered around best friends and a simple “coin”. Fair Coin is reminiscent of The Butterfly Effect, except with a more Sci-Fi edge because of the sheer amount of technology presented and the in de Originally Reviewed At:
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Publisher for Honest Review
Reviewer: Me

Fair Coin was a surprise hit for me, one I never saw coming, and one I can’t believe is over (thankfully I just received my ARC of Quantum Coin)! E.C. Myers crafted a hair-raising adventure centered around best friends and a simple “coin”. Fair Coin is reminiscent of The Butterfly Effect, except with a more Sci-Fi edge because of the sheer amount of technology presented and the in depth explanations. And it also has a dark and twisted antagonist who I both adored and loathed. Everything is not always as it appears in Fair Coin and uncovering the mystery of it all is only the tip of the iceberg in this haunting adventure.

Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott comes home from school one day to find his mother in a devastating state, a suicide attempt based on the fact that Ephraim is presumed dead. To Ephraim this is weird because he is very much alive and in shock, but to a mother who just identified a body in the morgue as her son, this is reality. When Ephraim goes to examine the belongings of the boy his mother identified as him, he discovers not only things that resemble his own, but an odd coin. From here on out we are presented with subtle clues as to what really happened to “Ephraim”, the powers of a magical coin which can “grant” wishes, and the creation – and destruction – of relationships, friendships, and love.

Overall, Fair Coin is a well written, face-paced, EPIC adventure. There are plot twists you will NEVER see coming, and enough science fiction elements to satisfy even the hungriest nerd brain! In my opinion it accurately portrays – to a certain extent – what teenagers would do if they had the entire universe at their disposal. E.C. Myers does a wonderful job by touching lightly on the harsh realities of bullying, making friends, falling in love, making sacrifices, suicide, and alcoholism. I highly recommended it to anyone looking to invest in an entertaining quick read. The first chapter will HOOK you instantaneously, and the rest of this delightful story won’t let you go until you are screaming in agony for the next book! ...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Althea Ann rated it it was ok

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 04, 2012 Chayse Sundt rated it liked it

When I first read the synopsis of this book, all I could think of was the Two Face from The Dark Night and how he had the coin that would decide his decisions. Yeah, I know crazy but that's literally what I was thinking. Ookay now let me stop raving about the movie and get onto this book.

As I started reading, what propelled me through it was the plot line, with the various paradoxes. And with every chapter, the story unfold allowing the reader to learn more and also with new characters entering ...more

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Oct 13, 2013 Beth Cato rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ebook, 2013, young-adult, science

This book came to my attention when it won the Andre Norton Award. I have wanted to read it since then, but with so many other books to read, it kept getting pushed off. Well, I had to kill time in a book store the other day and found this on the shelf. I started reading. I didn't want to stop. I ended up reading 3/4 of it in one day.

Fair Coin is intense from page 1 and doesn't let up until the very end. The mystery grows more complicated by the page. Where did Ephraim's double come from? How do ...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Juliana Hanford rated it it was amazing

I started reading this book and at first I thought it was good. I kept reading this book and then I thought it was AWESOME. I don't want to say anything that will give away the most excellent surprises, but let me just say this: Now that I'm done, I wish I weren't. As I was reading it, I found myself having thoughts like, "Oh, I could hop the express train and get home faster . . . but no, I'll just stay on the local because then I'll have more time to read!" or "Shoot, I have to run that errand ...more

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Oct 30, 2011 Jenn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, sf-and-fantasy

Wholly unique YA adventure with an authentic male protagonist: two thumbs up!

The story unfolds layer after layer like a great mystery. Ephraim is incredibly likable (despite some questionable choices) and I was rooting for him the whole time. Myers handles his characters -- and the story's speculative elements -- deftly and with obvious passion. (Geeks like myself will love the many fantasy and science fiction references!)

I want to say much more, but there are so many great twists and turns in ...more

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Jul 22, 2016 Cindy rated it liked it

Shelves: blast-off-with-scifi-challenge, featherweight-challenge, summer-bingo, 2016-genre-challenge

I liked the premise - it was an interesting twist on the The Monkey's Paw trope. In this iteration, Ephraim has found a coin with a unique property: it's able to grant wishes. However, those wishes have some interesting side effects. I liked the way the author took this, but found that it got bogged down from time to time. I thought that it was difficult to get invested in the characters as well. Overall it was inventive and that was enough for me to overcome some of the flaws.

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May 25, 2013 Rick Silva rated it really liked it

This was a really original take on the traditional wish-granting tale, with a teenaged protagonist who comes across a reality-altering coin that is far more than what it appears to be.

There is a slow build, but the story really picks up momentum when it gets going, and there is a good level of complexity in the relationship between the hero and the villain.

I did think that the story tries a bit too hard to tie up every possible loose thread in its ending, but I found the concept and the executio ...more

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Jun 16, 2013 Susan rated it it was amazing

I REALLY enjoyed Fair Coin by E.C. Myers. It reminded me of my favorite childhood sci-fi by William Sleator, and that's a HUGE compliment. I adored books like Interstellar Pig or Green Futures of Tycho, so for Fair Coin to bring classics like that to mind, it's no wonder I zoomed through Myers' book as quickly as I did. And though Fair Coin is definitely YA, I think younger, more-MG readers can read this and enjoy.

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Jun 01, 2012 Lilli rated it did not like it

It was extremely boring; boring high school life! Just because you're going to write about a high-schooler, doesn't mean you have to make it clichid (another story about a nerdy guy agonizing over the popular girl). He had the chance to write an amazing story about a coin that gave you wishes and he did not deliver!

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Mar 26, 2012 Dianne Salerni rated it it was amazing

A fantastic read! The plot is twisty and addictive. I couldn't predict where it was going next (and I'm usually pretty good at that!), but in the end, it all made sense. I don't want to give too much away, but let's say if you enjoyed the short story The Monkey's Paw or *anything* by William Sleator, you will love Fair Coin.

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*DragonCon YA Lit:** Fair Coin by E.C. Myers	2	22	Jul 17, 2013 03:03PM
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About E.C. Myers

E.C. Myers

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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.” — 6 likes

“If you can't forgive yourself, how can you expect me to?” — 4 likes

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