This is a book about normal teens in a glitzy but almost normal version of Palo Alto. It felt like a privileged high school world, a little exceptional (very skilled scientists teach at high school, because), but without telepathy or magic.
It’s actually about teens in two parallel universes; one as I mentioned above (a slightly glitzier near future cutting edge Arizona of our reality off 10 degrees) and a second, totalitarian America, also Arizona, much further askew. The book alternates chapters between Danny and Eevee; Danny from totalitarian America, and Eevee from almost our universe. Very early, something happens that switches Danny’s consciousness; so now totalitarian world Danny’s mind is in almost normal world.
From there, it’s a very interesting mashup. Part of it is a little sigh inducing–it’s a romance between our main characters. Very surprising to the characters, unfortunately not surprising as a reader.
The investigation into the “jump” between worlds is interesting; since it’s carried on by teens, it’s stripped down and long on hypotheses, but they can’t investigate a lot of lines of research, even on a Palo Brea teen’s budget. Speaking of which; I really enjoyed Eevee and Warren’s background–it felt fraught and authentic, with the unspoken assumptions that come from complete familiarity.
All in all, I liked it and am interested in the flipside book, While You Were Gone. Now That You’re Here is very much a YA book, including the limited perception of the world of adults–so it might feel a bit “simple” if that’s a peeve of yours.