3. Into the Fire (Westfallen #2)

3. Westfallen #2: Into the Fire. Ann and Ben Brashares. 2025. 384 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, series book, mg speculative fiction]

First sentence: IF at first you don't succeed, cry cry again.

Premise/plot: Into the Fire is the second book in the Westfallen series by brother-and-sister authors, Ben and Ann Brashares. The premise is AWESOME. Three friends from the present (2023) "meet" three friends from the past (1944) and history is changed FOREVER-forever. (Or is it?!?!?!) Henry, Lukas, and Frances were at one time best, best, best friends though in recent years they've grown apart--far apart. Alice, Lawrence, and Artie are friends as well. These six friends become connected by a radio.

In the first book, loose lips from the future changes the past. They make an attempt to fix it for sure, but, that attempt is unsuccessful. America [and the Allies] lost the Second World War. Bad news all around.

The six kids working together--though NOT by magic radio--try time and time and time again to change the future by changing the past. That is the kids from 2023 are searching for clues in a future where they are strangers--strangers in a strange land if you will--to see WHAT events in 1944 led to this terrible, horrible future. IT is a mystery. The kids in the past are trying their best to look for clues too. To be careful and observant. To look for anything off--signs of treason within their neighborhood. WHO is it among them that would communicate with the BAD bad guys.

Will the future be changed? Almost four hundred pages of MORE attempts...is there any progress?!?!?!

My thoughts: I read the first book TWICE. It was awesome. It was thrilling and chilling. Did not disappoint. This second book is equally intense. Same premise BUT with an added layer of dystopia. The world-building IS intriguing--and terrifying. I do think some readers--perhaps older readers???--will piece together clues before the kids in the story. I did want to shout at the characters a few times. Did I expect a cliff hanger ending? I didn't. And that's probably all my own fault. I read this book in two or three sittings BECAUSE I thought at last, at last, at last RESOLUTION. There is no resolution. WAS it a great read? YES for the most part. At least as good as the first book. Perhaps I'm more invested for the second book. I want the third book NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

120. A Time Traveler's Masquerade

120. A Time Traveler's Masquerade. (McQuivey's Costume Shop Romance). Sian Ann Bessey. 2025. 296 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, historical romance, time travel]

First sentence: Isla Crawford stared at the email on her screen and frowned.

Premise/plot: Isla was supposed to dress up as Wendy (from Peter Pan) for the costume party. However, the owner of the costume shop, Miss McQuivey, insists she tries on another costume first. She is quite insistent not taking no for an answer. As soon as the costume is on and she steps out of the dressing room, Isla finds herself in 1605 just in time to "save" England from Guy Fawkes' deadly plan. She also obviously has to fall in love. Part of saving England is pretending to be engaged to Simon Hartworth (Lord Bancroft). So obviously they have to fall in love for real.

My thoughts: I was disappointed. I will try to explain why. Time travel is one of my favorite sub-genres. Whether it is intentional or unintentional, I tend to enjoy the genre. SO my expectations were high. This is not like any time travel novel I've read. She is ALL about telling anyone/everyone that she is a time traveler from the future. She not only tells about the future in great detail, she tells about the present time (1605) in detail as well. She not only tells about the present she interferes with the present. Almost every 'rule' that accompanies time travel is broken intentionally in this one. The time travel didn't feel fleshed out as such, it seemed like a flimsy plot device. I also didn't care for how the point of view would switch to Guy Fawkes and co-conspirators randomly. I thought those were unnecessary. I did appreciate that it was clean romance. And the romance was enjoyable enough. But I didn't "need" it to be about Guy Fawkes for it to work as a romance.


© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

106. Echoes of the Sea

106. Echoes of the Sea. Sarah M. Eden. 2025. 320 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, adult romance, adult historical, proper romance, clean romance, time travel]

First sentence: Tennyson Lamont's death was proving increasingly inconvenient. That Kipling had lost his job as a result of that ill-timed demise was particularly annoying.

Premise/plot: Echoes of the Sea is the second novel in the Storm Tide series. Both novels are stand alone novels. They share a premise--stormy seas, green lightning, travel through time--but not characters or time periods.

Kipling Summerfield, the time-traveling hero, is an actor--an out-of-work actor, perhaps, but an actor all the same. His friend, Malcolm, points him in the direction of a new job: working as an actor at an estate as a historical re-enactor. But before he can arrive as his new job, he experiences being lost at sea--quite literally--and lost in time. Though he is SLOW, SLOW, SUPER SLOW in realizing that he's traveled from the 2020s to 1803!

Amelia Archibald, our nineteenth century heroine, is a "dependent," "poor" relation that has been "raised" by her uncle. Now that her grandfather has died, there are conditions for her inheritance, and these conditions are quite disagreeable. She'll have to stay at the family's estate on Guilford Island--an island that is surrounded by stormy seas and known for its peculiar nature. She will have to 'prove' that she can manage the estate and make considerable improvements on it. The problem? Well, she can't physically leave the island. And the island residents may number four or five--and some of those are children. So how is she to find anyone to make repairs and improvements?

When Kipling arrives in 1803, he may just be an answer to Amelia's prayers. Though both have their reservations about the future....

My thoughts: I LOVED this one. Did I love it more than the first book? NO. Did I love it less than the first book? No. Just differently. The stories are definitely unique. This one is focused more on ONE time and only one time. The drama is coming from Amelia's uncle and his chosen suitor for Amelia. This one is lighter on drama and perhaps sweeter on romance. There's also less fighting between the two main characters.

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

87. Lost in Time

87. Lost in Time. A.G. Riddle. 2022. 455 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, adult science fiction, adult speculative fiction, alternate universes, time travel]

First sentence: On the anniversary of his wife’s death, Sam Anderson visited her grave. It was a crisp spring morning in Nevada, with dew on the grass and fog rolling through the cemetery. In one hand, Sam carried a bouquet of flowers. In the other, he gripped his son’s hand. Ryan was eleven years old and strong-willed and introverted, like his mother. After her death, he had withdrawn, spending even more time alone, playing with LEGOs, reading, and generally avoiding life.

Premise/plot: Sam and Adeline Anderson find themselves in quite the mess. This father and daughter are suspects in a murder investigation. There is video evidence that they were the last [last to be seen, at least] to enter the victim's home. Nora and Sam were in a relationship together. Now Sam may just be exiled...forever...to save his daughter from being implicated as well.

Exiled means EXILED in Lost in Time. Criminals/prisoners are sent to the FAR, FAR, FAR, DISTANT past in an alternate universe. Convicts won't get the chance to appeal, they'll be alive as long as they can survive the elements: dinosaurs, earthquakes, volcanoes, meteors, etc. 

What makes it worse for this father of two, is that he is one of SIX scientists who invented the Absolom time machine. It was meant to be a quick new way to "ship" stuff. They didn't know it was a time machine, but not a time machine to their own past, but a multi-verse time machine. 

Adeline will do just about anything to save her father [after the fact] even if it means working/living with the enemy.

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved, loved, crazy-loved this one. I wish I could find more science fiction like this one. For #lawnerds who also love sci-fi, especially time travel, this one is a dream read. 

I enjoyed the complexity of this one. I loved the world-building and puzzle-building. All the pieces, all the clues, are there to be found. But it takes a while for everything to come together. (I was not expecting it to play out quite like it did.)

I really loved the characterization in this one. In particular, Adeline's character. She is our main narrator....

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

85. Time Travelling with a Tortoise

85. Time Travelling with a Tortoise. Ross Welford. 2024. 220 pages. [Source: Library] [MG speculative fiction, time travel, dinosaurs, 4 stars]

First sentence: You may remember that my dad died twice. As for me, I ended up having two twelfth birthdays, which sounds like a whole lot more fun. Trust me: it isn't.

Premise/plot: Al Chaudhury is back for another time travelling adventure. In the first book, he received a mysterious letter from his late father telling him of a time machine and giving him instructions of how to ultimately save his life. [The dad had had a head injury back in 1984.] His father's life was saved, though it took multiple attempts. Meanwhile, his old life--his original life--is GONE. His father is life, but, he's a stranger to his own life. His mother never remarried, and he doesn't have a stepsister. His dad is no longer *his* dad: gone is his love of computers, technology, science, physics, etc. His father is now obsessed with HAMSTERS. No one believes his time travel story, and, he has no memories of his 'new' life. Now in the second book, he has another choice to make: his grandfather recently had an accident one that has robbed him of his health and his memory. His grandfather now is asking him to rebuild his father's time machine and use it to prevent his accident. But life doesn't go as planned and soon Al and his friends find themselves running from DINOSAURS. Can he [and his friends] escape the dinosaurs and return to the present? And when they do, which present will it be? How many trips to the past will it take for things to get back to a 'normal' he can live with?

My thoughts: I definitely enjoyed this one. In some ways it was even more compelling than the first one perhaps. Though that might just be that the end of this one provides resolution for both books. Both books are essentially one continuing story.

Definitely recommended to readers who love adventurous time travel stories.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

75. Time Traveling with a Hamster

75. Time Travelling with a Hamster. Ross Welford. 2015. 400 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, mg fiction, mg speculative fiction, time trave, mg science fiction]

First sentence: My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty-nine, and again four years later when he was twelve. (He's going to die a third time as well, which seems a bit rough on him, but I can't help that.) The first time had nothing to do with me. The second time definitely did, but I would never even have been there if it hadn't been for his "time machine." 

Premise/plot: Al Chaudhury is given a unique opportunity on his twelfth birthday when he receives a letter from his dead father. Al receives detailed instructions on how to use his father's time machine. He'll have to break all the rules and then some, but, there's a chance he may just be able to travel back in time and prevent his father's death. His grandfather is subtly-not-so-subtly warning Al NOT to use the time machine and to let things be, to accept what is. Yet Al (and his hamster) seem destined to time travel. His destination? 1984 his father's childhood to prevent an accident. 

My thoughts: I found Time Travelling with a Hamster to be a compelling, intriguing read. I am always open to reading time travel books. I thought the premise was interesting AND it wasn't all premise-focused. I thought the characterization--particularly of Al and his grandfather--was strong.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

46. The Tides of Time

46. The Tides of Time. Sarah M. Eden. 2025. 368 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, time travel, adult romance, historical fiction]

First sentence: Lili Minet had a price on her head. She stood in the shadows inside Saint Catherine's Church alongside a family she'd known for only a few days, hopeful that the reward for her capture would increase before the day's end. As far as she knew, no one had facilitated the escape of more people from the clutches of the Tribunal revolutionnaire than she. Four more individuals would, that evening, be added to the seventy-two already rightly credited to her.

Premise/plot: The Tides of Time is a TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE. Those three words may be enough of a hook for some readers. (It was for me). Lili Minet, our heroine, is on the run for her life in 1793 during the French Revolution. She's been helping people escape, but, her luck may have just run out. One of those searching desperately for her--for her harm--is her brother who is in full support of the revolution and the guillotine. When stormy seas lead to her being tossed overboard, she finds herself rescued by a lightkeeper, Armitage Pierce, off the coast of Loftstone Island....in 1873. As the weeks go by she adjusts to the strangeness of her situation. She loves Armitage and his grandfather. She loves the community on the island. She loves her new found-family. She can't quite forget her own brother--for good reason--nor the France she left behind. The Tides of Time can be cruel or kind--or both. 

My thoughts: I LOVE this one. I do. Time travel is going to always have great potential for me. This publisher is known for clean romance, another win for me.

There are TWO things that might be off-putting to potential readers. (They weren't at all for me.) One, Lili speaks a mixture of English and French. There is a strong sprinkling of French phrases and sentences. It makes sense for the story. She is a French woman--obviously French is going to be her primary language, her first language, the language that she would speak especially when stressed or out of sorts. Two, the DIALECT of the island could be offputting. "She/her" "He/Him" "We/Us" essentially all the pronouns have vastly different usage.  For example, "Her isn't hostile to me." "A calculated decision, that. I watched she make it." 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

26. To Say Nothing of the Dog

  

26. To Say Nothing of the Dog. (Oxford Time Travel #2) Connie Willis. 1998. 512 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: There were five of us--Carruthers and the new recruit and myself, and Mr. Spivens and the verger. It was late afternoon on November the fifteenth, and we were in what was left of Coventry Cathedral, looking for the bishop's bird stump. Or at any rate I was. 

Premise/plot: Ned Henry narrates the novel. And he does a great job. When we first meet him, he's suffering from time-lag. He's spent too much time--of late--jumping through time. He's not alone. There is someone doing her very, very best to drive EVERYONE in his department crazy. Lady Schrapnell is a woman on a mission--a RICH woman on a mission. And she won't take no for an answer. If Lady Schrapnell volunteers you for a job, well, you stay volunteered until the job is done to her satisfaction. And what does Lady Schrapnell want most of all? The bishop's bird stump. Her project is the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral--a cathedral destroyed/damaged during World War II. And she HAS to know if the bishop's bird stump was still in the church during the raid. She needs to know if it should be replicated as part of the 'restoration.' So Ned Henry is just one of dozens looking IN THE PAST for the answers as to what happened to the bishop's bird stump.

But that 'mission' becomes almost secondary....when it is 'discovered' that there's been an incongruity. At first they think it's simple, it's easily fixed. One of the time travelers interfered when she shouldn't. But. They'll just send another time traveler to fix that interference, and things should go smoothly. But since the time traveler they send is Ned Henry, since he's suffering from exhaustion and time-lag, since he barely heard his instructions, since he jumped into the Net to avoid being discovered by an angry Lady Schrapnell, nothing is simple. What Ned Henry soon realizes is that his arrival in June 1888 has changed things. His arrival has kept two people from meeting (and subsequently falling in love and marrying), and that's just the start.

But he isn't the only one in the past. He isn't the only time-traveler working to restore things. Verity Kindle. The beautiful Verity Kindle has a role to play as well....

Verity Kindle is the heroine of To Say Nothing of the Dog. She is on a mission of her own. While Ned Henry was given the assignment of finding out the whereabouts of the bishop's bird stump, Verity's assignment is to read Tocelyn's diary. The diary is available to read in the future. But the most relevant pages to the Coventry Cathedral project were damaged. So she's been sent to the oh-so-important summer of 1888 to read the newly written diary entries. She's having about as much success as Ned Henry. In other words, not much luck at all! These two work together as best they can. Verity manages to travel back and forth a few times to the future. Their mission--as they see it has changed a bit. They worry that they've damaged the future and that something horrible may happen as a result. Like Tocelyn, they know, was supposed to marry a "Mr. C". They know this for a fact from future diary entries. Yet here they are and she's engaged to someone else! Their "new mission" is to find the identity of "Mr. C." and make sure they meet when they're supposed to meet....

My thoughts: Read this book. That's all I have to say about that. No, not really. I have plenty to say about this one. But I don't think my review will be able to do this one justice. What is To Say Nothing of the Dog? It's a funny sci-fi mystery with a smidgen of romance.

I have a weakness for time travel. I do. And this one is a great example of a time-traveling sci-fi novel that just works really well. It's smart. It's funny. 

I loved this one. I have always loved this one. It is a delightful time travel novel. I love the humor! I do! It's so very, very funny! And I love the details and the dialogue. This one is just a joy cover to cover!

Quotes:

2 Quotes About the bishop's bird stump:

"Perhaps it was removed for safekeeping," he said, looking at the windows. "Like the east windows."
"The bishop's bird stump?" I said incredulously. "Are you joking?"
"You're right," he said. "It isn't the sort of thing you'd want to keep from being blown up. Victorian art!" He shuddered. (7)

I must be getting light-headed from lack of sleep. No one, even badly shell-shocked, would steal it. Or buy it at a jumble sale. This was the bishop's bird stump. Even the munitions scrap iron drive would turn it down. Unless of course someone recognized its potential as a psychological weapon against the Nazis. (12)

About time-lag:

One of the first symptoms of time-lag is a tendency to maudlin sentimentality, like an Irishman in his cups or a Victorian poet cold-sober. (9)

And isn't this the truth:

There is nothing more helpful than shouted instructions, particularly incomprehensible ones. (153)

Verity Kindle on mystery novels:

"Of course they're usually about murder, not robbery, but they always take place in a country house like this, and the butler did it, at least for the first hundred mystery novels or so. Everyone's a suspect, and it's always the least likely person, and after the first hundred or so, the butler wasn't anymore--the least likely person, I mean--so they had to switch to unlikely criminals. You know, the harmless old lady or the vicar's devoted wife, that sort of thing, but it didn't take the reader long to catch on to that, and they had to resort to having the detective be the murderer, and the narrator, even though that had already been done in The Moonstone. The hero did it, only he didn't know it. He was sleepwalking, in his nightshirt, which was rather racy stuff for Victorian times, and the crime was always unbelievably complicated. In mystery novels. I mean, nobody ever ever just grabs the vase and runs, or shoots somebody in a fit of temper, and at the very end, when you think you've got it all figured out, there's one last plot-twist, and the crime's always very carefully thought out, with disguises and alibis and railway timetables and they have to include a diagram of the house in the frontispiece, showing everyone's bedroom and the library, which is where the body always is, and all the connecting doors, and even then you don't have a prayer of figuring it out, which is why they have to bring in a world-famous detective--"
"Who solves it with little gray cells?" I said.
"Yes. Hercule Poirot, that's Agatha Christie's detective, and he says it isn't at all necessary to go running about measuring footprints and picking up cigarette ends to solve mysteries like Sherlock Holmes. That's Arthur Conan Doyle's detective--"
"I know who Sherlock Holmes is." (205)

Well, it wasn't exactly the ending of an Agatha Christie mystery, with Hercule Poirot gathering everyone together in the drawing room to reveal the murderer and impress everyone with his astonishing deductive powers. And it definitely wasn't a Dorothy Sayers, with the detective hero saying to his heroine sidekick, "I say, we make a jolly good detectin' team. How about makin' the partnership permanent, eh, what?" and then proposing in Latin. (431)

Verity and Ned:

She peered at me. "It isn't fair, you know."
"What isn't?" I said warily.
"Your boater. It makes you look just like Lord Peter Wimsey, especially when you tilt it forward like that." (254)

"The first time I ever saw you, I thought, he looks just like Lord Peter Wimsey. You were wearing the boater and--no, that wasn't the first time," she said accusingly. "The first time was in Mr. Dunworthy's office, and you were all covered in soot. You were still adorable, though, even if your mouth was hanging open." (254)

"Lord Peter took a nap," she said. "Harriet watched him sleep, and that's when she knew she was in love with him."
She sat up again. "Of course, I knew it from the second page of Strong Poison, but it took two more books for Harriet to figure it out. She kept telling herself it was all just detecting and deciphering codes and solving mysteries together, but I knew she was in love with him. He proposed in Latin. Under a bridge. After they solved the mystery. You can't propose till after you've solved the mystery. That's a law in detective novels."
She sighed. "It's too bad. 'Placetne, magistra?' he said when he proposed, and then she said, 'Placet.' That's a fancy Oxford don way of saying yes. I had to look it up. I hate it when people use Latin and don't tell you what they mean..." (259)

 

 

 

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

14. First State of Being

   

14. First State of Being. Erin Entrada Kelly. 2024. 272 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, Newbery Medal, MG Speculative Fiction, MG Fiction, Time Travel]

First sentence: Peaches, Michael Rosario thought. That's what we need. His mother loved peaches. If the world came to a standstill at midnight on January 1, 2000, at least she would have two things she cherished: peaches and Michael.

Premise/plot: The year is 1999. Michael Rosario, the narrator, struggles with worry and anxiety. His biggest anxiety at the moment is the end of the world, aka Y2K. He is secretly hoarding food and supplies. Since he doesn't have money to pay--he's a kid, after all, just twelve--he's picked up the habit of shoplifting. His second biggest anxiety is that his mom will lose another job--just like before. Right now they are living paycheck to paycheck, he fears what would happen....if. There are so many 'ifs' of the future. He does have friends in the apartment complex, and, I believe he's friends with some--at least one--of the adults as well. But it is his new friend, Ridge, a friend who claims to be from the FUTURE and even has a book in hand that details historical events, who may just change his perspective and help him come into 'the first state of being' (aka living IN the moment, IN now).

 My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I am so glad I finally read it. It had been on my want to read list for months. It recently won the Newbery Medal. I thought the premise of a time traveler was interesting. It is more usual, more typical, to read books from the point of view of the time traveler, that is not the case here. Michael is tempted--incredibly tempted--by trying to find out anything, everything, something--about the future. Here is his opportunity to KNOW what the future holds...but would knowing change things for the better or the worse? And what if the theories of how damaging knowing could be if it leads to changes.

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

102. Christmas Eve Love Story

Christmas Eve love Story. Ginny Baird. 2024. 416 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars] [adult romance, mostly clean romance, holiday, Christmas, time loops, fantasy]

First sentence: Annie Jones hurried out of the snow and in through the employee entrance at Lawson's Finest in her red knitted pom-pom hat and peacoat, clocking in on her department store app, and---ahh!--almost mowing down Santa.

Premise/plot: Annie Jones is entering the twilight zone. Mostly. This holiday romance features a time loop [on Christmas Eve] where the heroine has twelve chances to make a good 'first impression' on security guard, Braden Tate. Of course, that isn't the only thing she must get right to make it to Christmas morning. There are twelve cycles of Christmas Eves. Some things change. Some things are inevitable. 

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I did. Did it *need* to be 416 pages? Probably not. Honestly I think it would have been better at about 350-ish pages. However, the repetitiveness helped me at times get caught back up of the story. The truth is, I started this one in mid-November, it got moved in the library stack, I forgot about it completely, then picked it up yesterday and read the rest of the book. So I read the first half of the book in one sitting and the last half of the book in one sitting--but three weeks in between. Again, I enjoyed this one. If this was a movie, no doubt, I'd watch it--probably again and again depending on how well it's done.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

73. Westfallen

Westfallen. Ann Brashares and Ben Brashares. 2024. 384 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars] [MG speculative fiction, MG science fiction, MG dystopia, TIME TRAVEL, alternate history]

First sentence: Let me ask you this: What's the worst thing you've ever done? Really think about it. Well, multiply your thing by a billion and you don't even get close. Sorry to brag. It's just...your thing? It's the Cheeto-dust thumbprint you left on the basement sofa. It's an ant's toe you stepped on. And then you said, "Sorry!" and the ant went, "No worries, mate!" Because the ant's British, I don't know. 

My thoughts (preview): Ever been HOOKED on a premise????? It doesn't happen all that often, though it does happen. This is the case with Westfallen. The premise had me at HELLO. Reading the synopsis raised my expectations immeasurably, and it did NOT, I repeat did NOT disappoint. 

Premise/plot: Six kids working together (with the best intentions)--separated by time--manage to destroy life as we know it. Shocked I was able to sum up an entire book in one sentence? Me too. 

Henry, Lukas, and Frances were at one time best, best, best friends though in recent years they've grown apart--far apart. Alice, Lawrence, and Artie are friends as well. These six friends become connected by a radio.

Alice "saves" her brother's radio from the trash. It's broken and her brother, Robbie, is gone--presumably for the war. Her two friends, Lawrence and Artie, are near by and interested in seeing if they can fix the radio.

Henry is burying his gerbil, Zeus, when he discovers a long-buried radio. His (former) friends are there for the funeral. All are interested in this buried "treasure" of sorts. 

All six kids are SHOCKED when the radio works. The two sets of friends refer to themselves as "Mars" and "Jupiter." It takes time for them to realize that the new friends they've made aren't living in the same year. Henry, Lukas and Frances are in 2023....and Alice, Lawrence, and Artie are in 1944. Both are in the same house, same street, same city. 

Will innocent casual conversation lead to the unwinding of the universe?????

My thoughts: I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THIS ONE. Mostly. I will say that the CLIFF HANGER ending was while not a huge surprise a bit disappointing. If the cliff hanger leads to a book two, then YES PLEASE. If it does NOT lead to a book two then readers everywhere have been robbed. 

I loved the premise. I loved the characters. I loved the plot. This is one I could easily see myself reading again and again and again. 

 

 

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

166. Before Your Memory Fades

Before Your Memory Fades. Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot. 2018/2022. 220 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: "Why are you in Hokkaido?" Kei Tokita's voice sounded tinny coming from the handset.

Premise/plot: Before Your Memory Fades is a book of connected novellas. It is the THIRD book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. The premise of the series is that there is a cafe with special, 'magical,' powers. There is one chair that will allow the occupant to travel forward or backward in time. But there are rules, of course there are rules. They have to stay seated, of course. They have to return to the present before the coffee turns cold. They can only meet people who have visited the cafe. Nothing they do in the past (or the future) will effect the present. Each story focuses on a journey (to the past or to the future). The 'main' characters are the staff of the cafe AND cafe regulars. (Think the sitcom Cheers). One of the running elements of this one is that one of the characters is ALWAYS reading a book--it is a book of questions (100, I believe) that pose various questions each with the premise of if the world was ending tomorrow...would you choose answer 1 or 2. 

My thoughts: I picked this one up thinking it was book two. It wasn't. When did I realize this? Not until I was halfway through. Do I think it would have made more sense if I hadn't skipped book two (by accident)? Probably. Maybe. Do I think it would have been less confusing if I jotted down a list of characters? Definitely. Also I think if I had read the books--all three--in order and close together. I just had a hard time keeping track of the characters.

I liked the premise well enough. Though apparently there are two cafes with this magical ability? I had a hard time following some of the plot because the characters kept getting tangled up in my mind. 

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

158. Rewind

Rewind. Lisa Graff. 2023. [August] 256 pages. [Source: Library] [MG Speculative Fiction; Time Travel]

First sentences: In most ways, Gap Bend, Pennsylvania, was just like any other small town. 

Premise/plot: Gap Bend, Pennsylvania, has a tradition of hosting a 'Time Hop' community event. McKinley O'Dair is super excited. This year the Time Hop will be celebrating all things 1993. She realizes--foreshadowing--that 1993 was the year her father was her age. 

After an explosive argument with her father--in which she runs away at the Time Hop--she finds herself traveling back in time. She's IN the "real" 1993. Her father is her own age. And she is clueless as to how to return to 2018. 

My thoughts: I wanted to love, love, love this one. I didn't love it. I will try to share why I personally didn't love this one so that you can make up your own mind as to if this is one you'd be interested in picking up and reading for yourself.

What I liked: I liked the premise of time travel. I LOVE the premise of time travel. I seek out time travel books like they're candy. I was super excited about the premise of this one. The fact that she'd be able to "get to know" her father when he was her own age was intriguing. It had potential.

The chapter titles are song titles. I wasn't familiar with most of these songs, but, it could make a good side project for those that love music OR that love quests in general. Not having listened to these songs, I'm not sure if the song lyrics themselves have anything at all to do--themes? tones?--with the plot of the book. Perhaps they do. Maybe they don't. I will say that the characters themselves don't really talk music--artists, songs--all that often (if at all). (And when they do bring up a song title, I *think* it was a song actually released in 1997. Granted, perhaps the Backstreet Boys only covered "Hey Mr DJ Keep Playing That Song". But any internet search showed that the Backstreet Boys as the artist and the 1997 as the year it released.) 

What I didn't like: I found almost all the characters (except McKinley's grandma) insufferable. I truly found them so incredibly annoying and obnoxious. The characters in 2018 and the characters in 1993--both were so unlikable that even the premise of time travel didn't really keep me loving the book. McKinley, our main character, was SO full of it. I just couldn't stand her smugness. And I don't think she was purposefully written to be smug. She wasn't the only annoying character, but, she was the one readers never got away from.

One thing that definitely bothered me was that every single character was disrespectful, rude, unkind, bully-ish. All the conversations McKinley and Jackie had in the past were SO rude and obnoxious. The way they treated others. The way they treated each other. 

I also didn't like the fact that the fashion descriptions felt a LOT more like mid-to-late 1990s--than 1993. Again, every adult who lived through the nineties might have a different recollection of the details. So perhaps it's just me that thinks it's a tiny bit off. You can decide for yourself. Maybe 1993 was all about Doc Martens, silver spaghetti strap dresses, white baby doll tees, lace choker necklaces, butterfly clips, and denim vests. I wouldn't let the fashion descriptions keep you from picking up the book. If that was the only thing that annoyed me--slightly--I would still have enjoyed the book. It was mainly the characters being annoying. Again--totally subjective.

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

101. And Then She Vanished

And Then She Vanished. Nick Jones. 2021. 246 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The smell of roasting chestnuts and sweet candy, the piercing screams of kids being thrown around at impossible speed. 

Premise/plot: Joseph Bridgeman is haunted by the disappearance of his younger sister, Amy, even decades after the event. They were together at the fair. It was one second--maybe two--where his eyes were on a cute girl instead of his younger sister. A friend encourages him to see a hypnotherapist, I believe. He learns a few mindfulness techniques to help him relax, to help him sleep...and suddenly...he becomes an insta-time-traveler. (Not that I'm complaining). Now that he's figured out that he can travel to the past--be it ten minutes, two weeks, or ten years--he's convinced that he HAS to save his sister, Amy. His whole reason for being is to save Amy. And by saving Amy, perhaps, he can save his family....

But traveling from 2020 to 1997 isn't easy. And time travel has its own risks....

My thoughts: I enjoy time travel stories. I do. When time traveling is part of the premise, I'm going to be curious and want to read it. I enjoyed this one. There is a lot of set-up--which is to be expected--and the pacing may be slightly uneven. But I found it a compelling read. Definitely this one is more premise-driven and plot driven. But I don't mind that. It is the first in a series. I'm curious to read more in the series...

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

60. Wrong Place Wrong Time

Wrong Place Wrong Time. Gillian McAllister. 2022. 402 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Jen is glad of the clocks going back tonight. A gained hour, extra time, to be spent pretending she isn't waiting up for her son.

Premise/plot: What's a mother to do when she witnesses her teenage son murder a stranger (or stranger to you)????? This mother, Jen Goodbrother, somehow, someway, manages to live life BACKWARDS after this traumatic event as she scrambles to prevent the crime that will utterly ruin their lives. This isn't a proper time-loop premise. Jen isn't living the same twelve to twenty-four hours over and over again--a loop. But it does feature Jen experiencing time backwards--falling through time, slipping through time. She'll have unique opportunities to experience her life again--make change after change after change. Her perspective changes day by day as she wrestles with the meaning of it all. These close encounters with her immediate family--her husband, Kelly; her son, Todd; are different seen 'from both sides now.' She's actually getting to live her life with hindsight. But how many days, weeks, months, years, decades must she slip--relive--in order to "fix" or "course correct" the tragic event of that October night???? 

My thoughts: Obviously premise-driven. But it didn't fall short on characterization or action. There's some contemplation and reflection. There's plenty of suspense and action. It perhaps isn't a thriller in the traditional sense or any sense. So don't expect direct danger and gore. (You won't find it). Do expect some mental anguish as a woman wrestles with big questions of how, where, when, why, and what. 

There are alternating chapters. But I won't be spoiling who's doing the narration on those alternate bits. The less you know the better.

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

42. Lost in Time

Lost in Time. A.G. Riddle. 2022. 455 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: On the anniversary of his wife’s death, Sam Anderson visited her grave. It was a crisp spring morning in Nevada, with dew on the grass and fog rolling through the cemetery. In one hand, Sam carried a bouquet of flowers. In the other, he gripped his son’s hand. Ryan was eleven years old and strong-willed and introverted, like his mother. After her death, he had withdrawn, spending even more time alone, playing with LEGOs, reading, and generally avoiding life.

Premise/plot: Sam and Adeline Anderson find themselves in quite the mess. This father and daughter are suspects in a murder investigation. There is video evidence that they were the last [last to be seen, at least] to enter the victim's home. Nora and Sam were in a relationship together. Now Sam may just be exiled...forever...to save his daughter from being implicated as well.

Exiled means EXILED in Lost in Time. Criminals/prisoners are sent to the FAR, FAR, FAR, DISTANT past in an alternate universe. Convicts won't get the chance to appeal, they'll be alive as long as they can survive the elements: dinosaurs, earthquakes, volcanoes, meteors, etc. 

What makes it worse for this father of two, is that he is one of SIX scientists who invented the Absolom time machine. It was meant to be a quick new way to "ship" stuff. They didn't know it was a time machine, but not a time machine to their own past, but a multi-verse time machine. 

Adeline will do just about anything to save her father [after the fact] even if it means working/living with the enemy.

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved, loved, crazy-loved this one. I wish I could find more science fiction like this one. For #lawnerds who also love sci-fi, especially time travel, this one is a dream read. 

I enjoyed the complexity of this one. I loved the world-building and puzzle-building. All the pieces, all the clues, are there to be found. But it takes a while for everything to come together. (I was not expecting it to play out quite like it did.)

I really loved the characterization in this one. In particular, Adeline's character. She is our main narrator....

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

5. Doomsday Book

Doomsday Book. Connie Willis. 1992. Random House. 592 pages.  [Source: Book I Bought]

First sentence: Mr. Dunworthy opened the door to the laboratory and his spectacles promptly steamed up.
"Am I too late?" he said, yanking them off and squinting at Mary.
"Shut the door," she said. "I can't hear you over the sound of those ghastly carols."
Dunworthy closed the door, but it didn't completely shut out the sound of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" wafting in from the quad. "Am I too late?" he said again.  

 Premise/plot: In a world where historians learn their subject firsthand by time travel, Kivrin, our heroine--one of them--is sent to the middle ages to learn just "how exaggerated" (according to her professor/advisor Gilchrist) the accounts of the Black Death were. That's spinning it a bit. Kivrin is there to LEARN and OBSERVE and ABSORB. Technically, she's to be sent to 1320--the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany season in OXFORD. But that's if all goes according to plan and there are no mix-ups or mistakes. Mr. Dunworthy, our hero, has a bad feeling that those in charge of the project are incapable and incompetent and imbeciles. The book opens moments before she is sent back in time....it isn't long before Dunworthy has reason to panic...

But this book isn't about one man's panic--his helicopter teaching, if you will. It is about TWO pandemics. One is set in the present of 2054. This pandemic requires a quarantine, contact tracing, mask-wearing, and safety protocols. With it comes toilet paper shortages--along with soap! The present story line is full of mystery and action. The other is set in the past--the Black Death. There is a theme of helplessness in both.

My thoughts: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite books. This is my SIXTH time to read and review it. I last reviewed it in 2020. I love and adore this book so much. It is set during Christmas/Epiphany. It's just a book that calls out to me every year to reread. I started it in December of 2022, but didn't finish up until this past weekend!

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

4. Twice in a Lifetime

Twice in a Lifetime. Melissa Baron. 2022. 325 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The text came through at 8:33 PM.

Premise/plot: Personally I was reminded of The Lake House (a romantic comedy). Isla, our heroine, is out of sorts. She's grieving the loss of her mother (to cancer). She's in a tense non-relationship with her father. She's quit one job and is getting settled into another. She's moved from a big city to the country. Also, she suffers from general anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Every day is a battle, a struggle. The novel opens with Isla getting a text from the future. Yes, the future. Ewan Park--a man who has either lost grip with reality OR really is who he says he is, her future husband--is contacting her via text message. She's skeptical (has she not seen the Lake House???) but hesitant. She doesn't want to block this number. He makes her feel less lonely and miserable. He makes her feel good about herself. But yet can she truly believe his outrageous claims??? But at one point, his texts become warnings. And then they stop--abruptly. 

Will Ewan and Isla ever get their happily ever after?

My thoughts: Is it premise-driven???? Yes. At least mostly. This one is definitely all about the magic of being able to reach out and seeking to connect with your one-true-love. Love is not bound by time--if you have a magic cottage. Is it character-driven???? Again, yes, mostly. It is more feelings-and-emotions driven than traditional character-driven. Isla's headspace--her mental health, her extra-special-mental-health needs--takes up so much of this one. Ewan is mainly portrayed as her savior--literally and figuratively. [Cue a Celine Dion song, perhaps???] If readers do not enjoy Isla, Ewan, or Isla-and-Ewan together as a couple, then the premise alone may not be enough to "save" this one and make it worth your time. This one is DEFINITELY not plot-driven, not really. It's a romance first and foremost. 

Is it clean???? NO. I am probably in the small majority of readers who prefer their romance without graphic love songs. I realize I'm the minority. Plenty of readers will not have a problem with the content of this one. For those few who like me prefer clean-and-sweet romance [Christian or not] this one definitely needs a warning before you become too attached to the characters. 

This book might be triggering for some. Isla is struggling almost every waking moment of every day with severe mental problems. She is truly in trouble--this is no joke--her life depends on her getting help. The book has its dark-and-bleak moments. Isla's headspace turns to despair, and, since the author wants us right there alongside the main character feeling what she feels, well, it could be triggering for some readers.

Did it work for me? It wasn't a perfect read for me. I was definitely hooked and had to keep reading--I read this one over two or three days.

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

95. Glitch

Glitch. Laura Martin. 2020. 384 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: April 14, 1865. Gosh, I was sick of that date, and it wasn't just because that is when our sixteenth president was assassinated. Nope. I was sick of April 14, 1865, because I kept getting sent back to it for training purposes.

Premise/plot: Glitch is a middle grade time travel novel. For some readers, that alone might make you seek this one out. (It would me.) There are two protagonists: Regan Fitz and Elliot Mason. These two are glitchers--or at the very least glitchers in training. They've been raised by the Academy since birth--their genes having revealed the 'glitch.' They will be able to travel through time. Glitchers carry out missions to preserve history. PRESERVE being the key word. They seek out "butterflies" those from a rival time-traveling group who are out to change history. 

When the novel opens, Regan and Elliot are both STUDENTS in training. All of their missions are simulations. But everything changes when they--well, Regan, really--receive a COCOON, a message from the future. This cocoon means that at some point in the future one of them--or both of them--will become BUTTERFLIES. 

Thus begins an exciting, action-packed time traveling adventure.

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved, loved this one. I have a BIG weakness for time travel books. I do. This one most reminded me of the oh-so-sadly short-lived TIMELESS tv show. I crazy-loved that show. If it had been up to me, it would have had at least three to five seasons. The premise was AWESOME and I loved (most) of the cast. So much potential---ultimately wasted. 

I hope this becomes a book series. I would read every single one. I promise. 

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

76. See You Yesterday

See You Yesterday. Rachel Lynn Solomon. 2022. 432 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: "This has to be a mistake." I pull the extra-long twin sheets up over my ears and mash my face into the pillow. It's too early for voices. Much too early for an accusation.

Premise/plot: How would you like to live your first day of college over again? How would you like to be stuck in a time loop of living your first day of college over and over and over and over and over again. Barrett Bloom, our heroine, finds herself doing just that. And she's not alone. Miles Kasher-Okamoto, a fellow student, is also trapped in this time loop only he's been trapped for months. The first day brings its hardships--for both of them. Barrett, a would be journalist major, finds herself goofing up an interview to work for the school paper. Again and again and again. And that's just the start of it. Turns out, some timelines she actually accidentally sets fire to a fraternity! Not to mention how her day begins: she learns that her frenemy from high school has been assigned to be her roommate! Yikes! Miles, well, Miles receives a phone call from his brother, Max, to come pick him up from rehab. (We do know more about Barrett's challenges because this is her pov.)

Though some loops find them doing their own thing, most loops these two are together either brainstorming for a way out or living like there is no tomorrow. Will these two ever find a way to stop looping through time? 

My thoughts: I love, love, love the premise of this one. Stargate SG-1's Window of Opportunity is one of my most favorite episodes of all time. And I'm sure there's other time loop fiction--in books and on the screen--that I could mention. It's a sub-sub-sub-sub-genre perhaps. But it's good fun. (At least if you're not the one caught up in it.) See You Yesterday has a very rom-com feel. I do like them as individuals and as a couple. It isn't rushed. Though the calendar may always, always, always say September 21, these two have had a LOT of time to get to know each other. It is also a very human relationship. They are able to be vulnerable with each other and come to trust one another. This isn't built in a day--well, technically maybe, but still. The development is there which is nice. This isn't truly insta-love. 

I also like that it isn't just a romance novel. For sure, the romance story plays a big role in it. But it is also about all sorts or relationships. (Including her relationship with her frenemy--a close friend turned enemy.) It is also about self-care in a way. Barrett has to learn to make peace with her past and move forward in a healthy way. She has to work through her complicated/complex feelings. (And so does Miles about his own issues.)

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews