Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

Title: All Our Yesterdays

Author: Cristin Terrill

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Publication Date: 9.3.2013

Pages: 368

Genre: Time travel

Series: All Our Yesterdays #1

Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: A+

Summary (from Goodreads):

"You have to kill him." Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside. 

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was. 

Review:

Hello, Cristin Terrill, meet the World. World, meet Cristin Terrill. The author you're going to be hearing about for the next decade.

There was a lot of hype surrounding this book going in BEA this past year. I felt like everyone was buzzing about this book and this author, to the point where I was almost over it before it began. Usually books that are mega-hyped fall short for me. I did manage to snag a copy, but it wasn't something I had to read until a good friend (Andye) not so-subtly ordered me via twitter to read this book when I went on vacation.

I should just let her order me around in all my reading because holy crapballs was this book amazing!

Honestly, I got about a third of the way into this book and realized, "Oh, God, I figured out the big surprise." When you get there, you'll see what I mean. I was kinda bummed, thinking the book would be all downhill from there but that was just where the story picked up.

Terrill is a freaking genius. The way she seamlessly blended world and intertwined the lives of Em, Marina, Finn and James still boggles my mind. I'm not a big Sci-Fi fan (admittedly, Sci-Fi is frequently too smart for me and I'm reminded of the numerous 'Fs' I got throughout school), but Terrill effortlessly explains her world in a way that is breathtakingly magical. I loved every single word on every single page.

I have no clue where the series will go from here, but I will happily and joyfully take this ride, and any other, that Terrill wants to throw at me. Everyone needs to read this book now.

Now.

No, seriously. Go get it.

Buy: Amazon

Review: Erasing Time by CJ Hill

Title: Erasing Time

Author: CJ Hill

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: 8.28.2012

Pages: 368

Genre: SciFi

Series: Yes (Erasing Time #1)

Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: B

Summary:

When twins Sheridan and Taylor wake up 400 years in the future, they find a changed world: domed cities, no animals, and a language that's so different, it barely sounds like English. And the worst news: They can't go back home.

The twenty-fifth-century government transported the girls to their city hoping to find a famous scientist to help perfect a devastating new weapon. The same government has implanted tracking devices in the citizens, limiting and examining everything they do. Taylor and Sheridan have to find a way out of the city before the government discovers their secrets. To complicate matters, the moblike Dakine has interest in getting hold of them too. The only way for the girls to elude their pursuers is to put their trust in Echo, a guy with secrets of his own. The trio must put their faith in the unknown to make a harrowing escape into the wilds beyond the city.

Review:

If I had to sum up my reaction at the end of this novel in one word it would be: “Huh?”

Now granted, I am not that big a fan of science fiction novels. And I don’t think I’ve read a time travel novel before this one, but the premise sounded cool and the twin spin kinda sucked me in a bit. But having finished this, I’m not entirely sure what I think about Erasing Time.

I think what first struck me as I didn’t expect Sheridan and Taylor to be so un-twin like. I figured these two would be the normal twins (bonded, partially psychic, etc.), but CJ Hill threw me for a curb when I learned very quickly these two were actually quite antagonistic towards one another. The other thing I wasn’t sure about was our lead guy—Echo. There’s something about wildly different colored hair that I just can’t accept in a story. I think it’s because I like to “cast” a book as I read it, and I can’t think of any blue-haired guys off the top of my head.

There were also a lot of unexplained things in the first half. Now, I understand leaving some things unexplained to entice the reader, but so much else was happening, I just felt frustrated by it all. Frequently. Yes, most of these things were eventually explained, but it felt like it took forever to get there,

All that being said, though, I can appreciate what Hill was going for. As a whole, the book is quite fascinating. I would love to see what society looks like 400 years in the future, but I don’t think I would like staying there forever. Everything Hill proposes in Erasing Time is something I could see happening in time. It was only when I got bogged down in the details of the story that I felt confused and uneasy.

I’ll be curious to see what happens in the next installment in the series. Yes, there were flaws in this (to me, at least), but this was very much book one in a series. There was a ton of world-building and character establishment to be done in a small timeframe. I think I’ll be better able to gauge the story and series once I can read book 2.

Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest

Author: Julie Cross

Publisher:  St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication Date: 1.17.2012

Pages: 352

Genre: Paranormal, Time-Travel, Romance

Series: Yes (Tempest #1)

Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: A-

Summary (from Goodreads):

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

Review:

I had a feeling I would love this book as soon as I read the synopsis. My only initial hesitation about it was because it was a male POV telling the tale. Let’s face it: Most girls want to read books about, well, girls. It can be difficult to get into the mind of a guy, and most of us would rather avoid thinking like a guy (you know it’s true!).

I can thankfully say that I was completely wrong about this book, and I adored Jackson by the end of chapter one.

I’m a romance junkie—I live for that magical connection between two characters that just sends sparks flying off the pages, and that is exactly what I got with Jackson and Holly. Julie Cross made me fall in love with these two almost right away. The way she writes them, and their love story, was nothing short of delicious. I loved every second of it.

I was a bit off-put by the fact that nothing Jackson did in the past would change the future. While that was later explained, I still felt somewhat disgruntled by it. Maybe I’ve watched The Butterfly Effect too many times, but I thought that somehow cheapened the story. I wanted Jackson to be able to fix the past so everything would turn out pretty in the present/future.

Cross couldn’t have asked for a better debut; she gave me action, romance, drama, and mystery in one fantastic package. Her writing is breathtaking and I’m sure she’ll be around for a long time to come. I highly recommend you get your own copy ASAP!

Buy: Amazon

Review: Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Title: Waterfall

Author: Lisa Tawn Bergren

Publisher:  David C. Cook

Publication Date: 2.1.2011

Pages: 352

Genre: Historical, Time Travel, Contemporary

Series: Yes (River of Time #1)

Source: Purchased from Amazon.com

Rating: A+

Summary (from Goodreads):

In Waterfall, American teenager Gabi Betarrini accidently finds herself in Fourteenth-Century Italy . . . Knights. Swords. Horses. Armor. And Italian hotties. Most American teens want an Italian vacation, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archaeologist parents. Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds... until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves catapulted into the Fourteenth Century and in the middle of a fierce battle between knights bent on killing one another.

Review:

Time to divulge a little known, deep dark secret: It has always been my secret fantasy to time-travel back to medieval times. Seriously, I kid you not. Without even realizing it, Lisa Tawn Bergren tapped into one of my deepest desires, so is it any wonder I am head-over-heels in love with this series?

I was skeptical about reading a time travel book. I love time travel in movies, but in movies I don’t have to imagine the world twisting and melting into something new—the visual is provided for me. I wasn;t certain Bergren could pull it off without the story becoming hokey and laughable. But she did it in spades. I felt like I was taken back with Gabi and Lia.

Take away my geekish fantasies of being whisked to another time and place, this story is rife (See that? Using ‘old’ words) with fantastic characters and gripping action. The novel is told from Gabi’s point of view, and I cannot remember a heroine I have loved more. She is strong, but not so strong that she doesn’t have her moments of genuine breakdown over her situation. I also adored when Gabi used her knowledge of modern medicine to try and help some people. Again, another secret fantasy is to not only go back in time, but to wow them with my awesome “abilities” that we take for granted here (like cleaning a room to help someone with allergies or asthma).

Even though the story is told entirely from Gabi’s first person point-of-view, Lia is just as amazing. I only wish she could have been in more of the book. As for the male lead(s) Marcello and Luca are the reasons I need to build my own time machine or start excavating some tombs ASAP. I miss that age of chivalry and knights, of long dresses and honor.

I honestly cannot figure out why I waited so long to start this series. Thank goodness I bought the second book in the series, Cascade, at the same time. I already started it and am at chapter four. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go finish that book.

Buy: Amazon

Review: Steel by Carrie Vaughn

Title: Steel

Author: Carrie Vaughn

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: 3.1.2011

Pages: 304

Genre: Historical, Action, Time-travel

Series: No

Rating: B-

Summary (from Goodreads):

Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure.

The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home—one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain.

Time travel, swordplay, and romance combine in an original high-seas adventure from New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn.

Review:

I wasn’t sure what exactly I was expecting when I started Steel, but I don’t think it was this. Let me start by saying the cover is stunning breathtaking and while everyone knows not the judge a book by its cover, we all do it. Including me.

Steel is a very appropriate summer read. It has the Bahamas, pirates, adventure at sea, and a decent female lead. I was fascinated by how much I learned about piracy and sword fighting/fencing while reading. Carrie Vaughn doesn’t glamorize pirate life: it’s smelly, sweaty, and a lot of hard work for a few days of action. I have to commend her for not trying to make this tale a sweeping romance with a lot of flowery scenery, which it could have easily been. She has clearly done her homework on fencing, using the terminology frequently, but not so much as to confuse the reader. I appreciate that.

Unfortunately, the book had its drawbacks. Several times Vaughn used a single sentence to sum up what she should have described over several pages. Instead of explaining the ways the sails were hoisted or how the dynamics of the ship worked when the crew was setting sail, she would sum it up with one sentence. This happened several times. It was almost like being told a story from an actual person: When telling a story, a person won’t go into the heavy details, but I want these details when I’m reading a book. Another 50 pages of fleshing out these scenes would have gone a long way, in my opinion.

I also felt like Jill was a weak heroine. She tried to be strong, but I just could not connect with her. I couldn’t find that spark that would make me adore her. She was pretty, but bland.

Please don’t get me wrong: Steel is a fun book that I did enjoy. I just feel like it is more appropriate for the younger YA readers. The romance hinted about in the tagline is really more of a middle school crush that barely lasts past two pages. Blink and you miss it. If you’re reading this book hoping for a romance on the high seas, you’ll be disappointed. If you’re looking for a carefree adventure you can read on the beach on sunny afternoon, this is your book.