Madison's Library

PASSIONATE ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES

Tag: Time travel

Book Review: Only A Monster

January 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments

only a monster book cover black with red swirls

 

Only A Monster

– Vanessa Len –

Monsters #1

Harper Teen

Published 22 February 2022

♥♥♥♥♥

Only A Monster is AMAZING!!! Seriously. So good. By the first quarter of the book all but two of the characters we have met have been gloriously, brutally murdered. (Not lying!). It’s dark but funny, placed so well within the world that has been created and yet we get to journey across time. It’s unique and delicious.

Here’s what I loved:

Australia author. Debut (holy wow!!). Paranormal. Monsters (not like strange creature monsters, more like scary people monsters who do bad things). Monster slayers. Time travel. Humour. Star-crossed love. History. An almost love triangle that just doesn’t go there. And did I mention monsters?

Joan spends every summer with her mother’s family in London. She knows they’re a little strange but they’re family. She also loves the time she spends volunteering at the historic Holland House. Doesn’t hurt that her co-worker Nick is gorgeous, charming and, maybe, as into her as she is him. But when she accidentally travels herself a day into the future, Joan realises that her family isn’t just a little strange, they are gifted with the ability to steal time from others and use it to time travel. And that makes them, and her, monsters. And, it turns out that Nick, a legendary monster slayer, will do everything in his power to wipe out monsters for good.

Continue reading

Book Review: Invictus

March 17, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Invictus – Ryan Graudin – Little, Brown Books for Young Books – Published 26 September 2017

♥♥♥♥

 

Synopsis

Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, Far’s birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history himself is all he’s ever wanted, and after failing his final time-traveling exam, Far takes a position commanding a ship with a crew of his friends as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past.

But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. Armed with knowledge that will bring Far’s very existence into question, she will lead Far and his team on a race through time to discover a frightening truth: History is not as steady as it seems.

My thoughts

Space Pirates!!! Time travelling, priceless artefacts, gelato, and a mad rush through history to save the future. What more could you want?

Faraway Gaius McCarthy has no birthday. He was born on a time-travelling machine, midway between Rome 95 AD and Central time, 2354 AD. His future has always been to become a time-traveller. But when his last exam is hacked and he is thrown out of the academy, Far knows his future has changed. Dramatically. Given one last chance, Far is presented with a secret time ship and asked to captain a crew. He and his friends will secret themselves through history, collecting priceless treasures for rich collectors. But history is unravelling and Far and his friends get caught up in a quest to save the future.

Continue reading

Book Review: Cold Summer

April 9, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Cold Summer – Gwen Cole – Sky Pony Press – Published 2 May 2017

♥♥

 

Synopsis

Today, he’s a high school dropout with no future.
Tomorrow, he’s a soldier in World War II.

Kale Jackson has spent years trying to control his time-traveling ability but hasn’t had much luck. One day he lives in 1945, fighting in the war as a sharpshooter and helplessly watching soldiers—friends—die. Then the next day, he’s back in the present, where WWII has bled into his modern life in the form of PTSD, straining his relationship with his father and the few friends he has left. Every day it becomes harder to hide his battle wounds, both physical and mental, from the past.

When the ex-girl-next-door, Harper, moves back to town, thoughts of what could be if only he had a normal life begin to haunt him. Harper reminds him of the person he was before the PTSD, which helps anchor him to the present. With practice, maybe Kale could remain in the present permanently and never step foot on a battlefield again. Maybe he can have the normal life he craves.

But then Harper finds Kale’s name in a historical article—and he’s listed as a casualty of the war. Kale knows now that he must learn to control his time-traveling ability to save himself and his chance at a life with Harper. Otherwise, he’ll be killed in a time where he doesn’t belong by a bullet that was never meant for him.

My thoughts

The premise for Cold Summer sounded amazing. A time traveller unable to control his travelling who experiences PTSD from his time spent fighting in World War II, coupled with a girl-next-door romance. Unfortunately the execution left a lot to be desired.

I’m sad to be giving this book such a low rating – surely it deserves an extra star just for the cover – but unfortunately it was the writing style, among other things, that I didn’t like about this book.

It’s a long book but it felt like nothing actually happened. There is a bit of action when Kale travels back to World War II, but otherwise it is mainly characters discussing Kale’s situation or Kale bemoaning his lot in life. In the summary, Harper discovers a record of Kale’s life in the past but this doesn’t happen right until the very end of the book. I also felt the story was anticlimactic. It had so much promise, was such a great idea, but I felt it was never developed into something amazing. So much of this book felt convenient or contrived. There are no explanations for why Kale can time travel, no exploration for deeper meaning about it all. Everything that might raise questions or challenges is simply brushed away or too easily resolved.

Continue reading

Book Review: The Girl From Everywhere

January 30, 2016 / / 0 Comments

The Girl From Everywhere

The Girl From Everywhere – Heidi Heilig – Greenwillow Books – Published 16 February 2016

♥♥♥♥

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times – although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix’s father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix’s existence rather dangerously in question…

Nix has grown used to her father’s obsession, but only because she’s convinced it can’t work. But then a map falls into her father’s lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it’s that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.

My thoughts

This is a unique fantasy novel, twisting legends with history, all mixed up with a bit of time travel aboard a pirate ship. The characters are just as diverse, from the charming and roguish (and handsome) Persian thief Kash, to our main character Nix, daughter of the captain, navigator and sixteen years of age (even though she was born in 1868).

The Girl From Everywhere is vibrant, full of the colours, languages and cultures of the lands the crew of the Temptation travel to, both historical and fantastical. Hawaii plays a particularly large role, and Heidi Heilig’s knowledge of the area shines through the rich tapestry of the world she has created in this story.     Continue reading

Book Review: The Love That Split the World

December 17, 2015 / / 0 Comments

The Love that Split the World

The Love That Split the World – Emily Henry – Razorbill – Published 26 January 2016

♥♥♥♥

Synopsis

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start… until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

My thoughts

Ahhhh. That ending. Perfect, yet… Arhhhh. Read it. It is so worth reading. Clever, frustrating, sad and charming, The Love That Split the World is an epic story.

It is Natalie Cleary’s last summer in her home town of Union, Kentucky, before she leaves for college. She can’t help but reflect on her friendships, her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and the way she has withdrawn from her life-as-it-used-to-be over the last three years. Natalie is accustomed to being different, both because she is the only Native American in the town and because throughout her childhood she saw and spoke to people no one else could see. It was the sudden absence of these people, particularly the loveable ‘Grandmother’, that changed her life. But when Nat once again starts to see things that ‘aren’t there’ and Grandmother returns to issue a warning “You have three months to save him”, things get complicated, fast, especially when she meets the gorgeous and mysterious Beau who seems to exist as if in another world.  Continue reading

Book Review: Until We Meet Again

October 4, 2015 / / 0 Comments

until We Meet Again

Until We Meet Again – Renee Collins – Sourcebooks Fire – Published 3 November 2015

♥♥♥

Synopsis

Cassandra craves drama and adventure, so the last thing she wants is to spend her summer marooned with her mother and stepfather in a snooty Massachusetts shore town. But when a dreamy stranger shows up on their private beach claiming it’s his own—and that the year is 1925—she is swept into a mystery a hundred years in the making.

As she searches for answers in the present, Cassandra discovers a truth that puts their growing love—and Lawrence’s life—into jeopardy. Desperate to save him, Cassandra must find a way to change history…or risk losing Lawrence forever.

My thoughts

This book is about a girl from 2015 and a boy from 1925. When they first meet on their (shared via the centuries) private beach neither at first realises they hail from different centuries. As they continue to meet, and quickly fall in love, they soon discover that there may be more than just time that wishes to keep them apart.

I didn’t love this book. It was readable, just not totally believable. The time thing is never explained, just put down to the magic of destiny, and that would have been fine if I could get on board with the romance. Cass and Lawrence’s connection fell flat and happened too quickly for me. The only thing they seemed to have in common was a general broodyness and poetry. Again, this could have been fine, but for some reason I just didn’t care.

Continue reading

Madison's Library

© 2024 Madison's Library

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑