About 90 pages in. His house is different, he’s not married anymore, son doesn’t exist. He somehow has a career life he’s completely unfamiliar with.
Also he’s a top of the line scientist.
He can’t just deduce that he’s obviously in an alternate dimension? Doesn’t cross his mind at all? He already went to the doctor to check for brain damage. Like yeah amnesia is a possibility. But he didn’t suffer any major head trauma.
Like I get that at this point he may doubt his sanity. But he can’t even entertain the idea he’s in an alternate reality? Also why is this a common trope in stories? They completely rule out the seemingly impossible even though it’s blatantly obvious that it’s now possible.
I mean shit, if I go home and my apartment isn’t mine, job isn’t mine, and my gf doesn’t even know me then obviously I’m gonna say I definitely fucked something up.
That annoyed me so much. Like, yes, realistically, if in that situation, you would assume, “uh-oh, my brain is malfunctioning,” rather than jumping directly to “alternate dimension??!” But you’re not in that situation, you’re reading a fiction book, one that you likely already know is about alternate universes. So…get to the fucking point already.
It would have been one thing if the buildup really was suspenseful and disorienting, and the reveal was a great mindfuck. But it’s not. You know what’s happening right away, so it makes the MC seem dumb when he can’t put the very obvious (to the reader) pieces together.