On the night of Etta’s most important violin recital, she learns a secret about her family that promises to change everything. Her mother has been kidnapped and it’s up to Etta to find the one thing that can save her life. As it turns out, Etta has the ability to time travel and the thing she’s been sent to find could be hidden anywhere, anytime. As she races against the clock, she tries to ignore her growing attraction to her traveling companion, Nicholas, a freed slave turned (legal) pirate.
I’ve heard some really mixed reviews about this book. I’ll just start off by saying this concept is very confusing. I’ve started to realize (through reading Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray and The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry) that this whole time travel/alternate reality travel is very confusing to me. I don’t really get all of the repercussions that they talk about by changing things and meeting yourself and all of that…it all goes over my head. I tried so hard to understand things, but that last chapter or two was very, very hard for me to comprehend. Just…what? What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? Anyway…I don’t want to give any spoilers but just know that I’m very confused.
The characters themselves were fine. I didn’t feel any particular affinity towards either Etta or Nicholas. They weren’t particularly unlikable, but they weren’t particularly likable either. Maybe I just felt like they were both a little too self-sacrificing? Or maybe that I didn’t feel like they’d thought through their motivations all the way. I don’t know. Something like that.
That being said, I felt like the author did a fantastic job with each of the different settings and time periods. I mean, it’s hard enough for an author to do a good job describing one setting and one time, but I felt like Bracken did a great job putting the reader in each new time period and each new location.
Overall, the writing was good (nothing stellar, but good) and the characters and plot were fine. I liked it and plan to continue with the series but I could see myself souring on it depending on how the second book goes.
Overall Rating: 4
Language: Mild
Violence: Heavy
Smoking/Drinking: Mild
Sexual Content: Moderate. One scene in particular, not explicit.
What's She Reading? 
My main issue with this one was the characters. Like you I thought they were okay, but weren’t particularly compelling. There was just something missing. Time travel books always confuse me too because it’s so largely theoretical. I did really enjoy The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig, have you picked that one up yet? Great review!
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I’ll definitely have to look into that one! And yeah those characters…just something off about them I guess.
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I’ve heard mostly positive reviews about this book, and yours is the first to counter-act them. I do love time travel (being a huge fan of Doctor Who), but I’ve never seen it in literature, so even with the issues, I’d be curious to give it a shot. Good review!
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Thanks! Overall, I did enjoy it. I read it for a book club and interestingly most of them had a really hard time getting into it. At the same time, I’ve heard some really great reviews for it as well!
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Nothing I’ve read so far has made me feel particularly enthusiastic about reading this one. I have so little time right now, the last thing that I need is a mediocre book, you know? I want to get to the end of something and feel desperate to tell people about it, rather than just sort of… meh.
I get what you mean about the confusing time travel stuff. My technique is to accept and not ask too many questions, haha.
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Haha yeah, that’s basically what I’ve been doing too. I’m hoping for further explanation in subsequent books…
But yeah, if you’re not feeling especially enthusiastic about this one, I’d say skip it. I’m totally with you on not wanting to spend your time/not having enough time to spend on mediocre books.
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