Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the opportunity to read and review Time Bomb by Joelle Charbonneau. Six disgruntled, unhappy students are each planning something that will change their lives and help them to be free from their problems. Each of the teenagers are dealing with different types of problems, secrets, religion, being an orphan, bullying and pressure from peers and family, but they end up together inside the school after a bomb explodes. They help each other but with the air of distrust between them. Finally, they discover who’s responsible for the bombings and they struggle for their lives. Intense with an interesting array of characters and relevant subject matter-5 stars!

Time Bomb is certainly a very timely book. It is fast-paced and character driven. After the first few chapters, I started to understand who was who. There are multiple POVs. One of the six characters is responsible for the bombing, but we don't know who it is. This is a fun one with the added mystery to the plot. Recommended to readers of YA thrillers.

Unfortunately, I couldn't read the novel due to problems with the Acrobat software.

It is a week before school starts for the year. Freshman students are at the school to get identification cards. A few others are there for various reasons when the first bomb explodes. As the school starts to crumble survivors on the second and third floors are trapped and the school is on fire. Seven students manage to congregate in a classroom on the third floor awaiting rescue. We find the quarterback football star, Ms. Perfect, who is a Senator’s daughter, the tattooed bad boy who very seldom even comes to school, an overweight and bullied girl who is an outsider, another cool football player who has recently come out to his family as gay as well as being mixed race, and finallly a a Muslim boy who deals with the teasing and racial stereotypes from the students. As time progresses we meet each student and find out that they are all dealing with something. When it is made known that one of the students in the school is one of the bombers, it is hard to determine which one it is. They all have issues, they all seem to be on some kind of a mission, yet they all seem to want to get out of the school alive. The story takes place over a few hours with the point of view changing among the six characters by chapter. during a time a few students were in their school when bombs began to explode. It changes the point of view between six main characters that are each still alive and struggling with how to get out of the school. I read this book over a day as I wanted to find out which of these characters was involved in this sinister activity. With all the violence in schools today and people being urged to report behaviour that could become dangerous to others, this book shows us that is not always easy to do. A well written story that leaves you thinking. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

Time Bomb is a modern day telling of the Breakfast Club with a slight twist. Six students with their own agendas and issues visit their school a few days before opening. Although a frightening concept, the story of a school bombing rings true to our current news headlines. These students are trapped in the building and learn that one of them may be the bomber. Fear and courage brings the best and worst out of each of them revealing their true reasons for being at school that day as well as facing intense prejudices about themselves and the others.

This story captures teenage society while touching on our concerns for safety in our schools. The characters are real and bring meaning to the story. Hold onto your hats readers because this story take you on a suspenseful ride.

Thank you for allowing me to review this arc.

It is several days before the start of school. 6 different teens find themselves all at the school for different reasons. While they may have never really interacted before, after several bombs go off in the school, they must all work together if they want to survive. However, one of them is responsible for the bombing. Each has motive, and they will need to figure out who to trust.


I thought the narrative moved quickly, but the characters weren't as well developed as they could have been. I think it begins relevant conversations about violent acts in schools, but it may be extremely difficult for readers. This read like a sci-fi book, and it was jarring to realize that it was completely realistic fiction. I still love this author and found this book interesting.

Have you ever felt so distraught that you needed to take action? Have you ever wanted to blow something up? Hurt anyone? Well that is what this book is all about.

Time Bomb follows six teenagers, who are going about their daily lives when they get stuck in their school after a bombing. They try to help each other, but things go haywire when they get rocked by more bombs and learn that one of them is helping with the bombings.

This book is highly addictive, and a super easy and quick read (maybe too easy), especially since it covers an incident occurring within a school, which is happening more and more often these days. The book starts off by introducing the reader to each main character, and what their lives are like. Joelle Charbonneau wants the reader to understand how each character feels, and the problems they are going through. With this, you are always trying to guess who the bomber could be, and why, how, etc.

The characters, however, are very stereotypical, but it enhances the book itself because you are always questioning whose problems are so bad that they decided to blow up the school. This aspect really helped make the book amazing because it constantly made you think, which created a bigger connection between the book and the reader.

Another thing that really adds to the book is each character having their own problems and feelings they are going through, but each problem is something very serious that all teenagers face everyday. This was great to see because it brings awareness to the readers that those feelings and problems aren’t wrong, and others feel them too, so talk about it. The book has strong messages throughout its entirety; suicide, being an outsider, bullying, etc.

Time Bomb really does focus on everyday lives and even finds the time to explore relationships. This is kind of funny because who would be thinking about that when you are trapped in a blown-up school, but perhaps it shows the predictability of high school students.

That being said, the rest of the book isn’t predictable. Instead it is intense and fills your mind full of questions, which is a tell-tale sign of a good book. As you read you think it was one person, but then they say or do something and then you’re thinking it has to be someone else. Each chapter is full of surprises and it really gets your heart racing. When things just start to calm down, all of a sudden then just become crazy again, which makes the book very hard to put down.

Most of the chapters are short with an average of six pages per chapter, and while some books in this format can be hard and frustrating to read, it only strengthens the intensity of it. The reason for the short chapters is because they are told from different character’s points of view to really showcase what that character is feeling in the heat of the moment. The short chapters also contribute to the quick easy read it is, which may be a good thing or a bad thing for some, but it does give the book a beginners YA feel.

Despite this, the book was well written. The reader understands what’s going on and feels what the characters are feeling which hooks the reader until the very end. The author also uses quotes at the end of some chapters to help justify what just happened and if you’re like me, any books that have quotes in it receive extra points. But on the other hand, there were some scenes where it was hard to visualise what was going on. However, this may just be the type of situation although sometimes a sentence would be completely different from what you were thinking of and you would get slightly confused for a second.

Overall, this was a fantastic book. Time Bomb was very captivating, and will have readers filled with questions until the very end. It’s a great mix of genres as it’s a mystery, thriller and YA novel all rolled into one. If you’re after a book that will surprise you with every page, then this is the book for you!

Timing really can make or break a release. I had started reading this during finals week my final semester of grad school and then next thing I knew, and then I wanted to finish it in time for release. Given recent events like the Parkland shooting, this book ultimately fell flat in adding nuanced to a conversation around school tragedies and the kids who survive them.

While Time Bomb started solidly, the story devolved so much during the second act when the kids had begun interacting with each other. The opening tried to add a bit of backstory to each one. I had hoped the layers to each student would come out organically, instead of a series of chapters of info-dumping about why each one had been present at the school. Moreover, the red herring kept being flashed in the reader's face, while the culprit turned more and more villainous. I'm not sure the POVs were well-balanced in that regard either. If a handful of them were cut out to really create more mystery around the bombing's culprit, it would have made for a somewhat more compelling read. It wouldn't, however, erase the walking stereotypes, like the jock, the pretty girl, and damaged boy. Because we had followed these characters on a minute-by-minute basis, it was easy to keep track of who was where with little left to the imagination.

Yet the tension within the classrooms was high and I'll give the book a point for that. But it wasn't strong enough to save this book from poorly constructed characters released at a time when student survivors of such tragedies should really be given more depth.

Posted to Goodreads: For a more in-depth review watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TF7A...

Several bombs go off in a school the week before the semester starts and several students are trapped trying to survive.

I wanted to like this book because I liked other books by this author but it just didn't happen. The characters were all very stereotypical with their back stories obvious from page one. The action sequences were somehow boring and the final reveal of the culprit felt a little obvious.

This one was difficult to rate for me.

Given recent events, this book release was unfortunately timed poorly.

I had to go back and forth several times to try and figure out who characters were and how they were related to each other.

I felt the motivation for the events in this book were shaky, too.

I wanted to like it much more than I did.

Thank you, Netgalley and HMH Books for Young Readers, for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was action pack. There where tons of points of views going on and hard to keep track of. It was nice twist on who the real bomber is. I review the book on my blog here, https://abellafairytale.wordpress.com/2018/03/10/arc-review-time-bomb-by-joelle-charbonneau/?preview=true

School is preparing to start with students and teachers visiting the local high school for various reasons. Diana is a senator’s daughter and everyone expects her to be perfect. Frankie is the captain of the football team and he is keeping a secret. Cas loves her clarinet and is tired of trying to be accepted. There is also someone who doesn’t want to be ignored anymore, a boy who recently lost his mother who is looking to make a point and a young man who wants to be seen as a person and not as a Muslim. These teens may be different, but on this fateful morning they have one thing in common; they are trapped in their school after a series of bombs are detonated. Is the bomber still in the building? Is the bomber one of them?

Time Bomb is a stand-alone novel that keeps the reader turning pages throughout. Although there are several main characters, their stories are expertly pulled into one greater story and readers will easily be able to follow the connections. Charbonneau has left the genre of post-apocalyptic literature and has crafted a realistic fiction novel to delight most readers. Time Bomb is a great book that I recommend to all readers who enjoy a good young adult novel.

*I'm a teacher in FL. I hope the publisher will address the topic when the books comes out. It is a shame that the timing worked out the way it did.*

Time Bomb follows 6 (+1) survivors of a school bombing told from alternating view points. It was a bit hard to get into the story for the first couple of chapters as you learn who the characters are. Each person has a reason to be at the school (it takes place before the school year starts), but you aren't totally sure on some of their reasons.

Time Bomb is the latest from local author Joelle Charbonneau (The Testing trilogy). She will be returning to the Bookstall on Wednesday, March 14 to talk with students ages 12 to 16 about this new book, to offer writing tips and secrets, and to help the students work on some of their own writing. It is always an exciting opportunity to meet with a best-selling author! Unfortunately, though, this book is the story of several students trapped in a school after a bombing which one of them instigated. The YA novel is a mystery/thriller told from multiple perspectives, but its emphasis on school violence and religious stereotypes makes it a poor choice for purchase in my opinion.

Seven Teens stuck in a high school after a bomb goes off must work together to get out before the rest of the hidden bombs go off and entomb them, but one is responsible for the bombs, they don't know this yet, but what will happen when the do?

This breakfast club of teens stuck together and must help each other in order to get out alive. I found the book very interesting and a fast read but some of the premise behind the bombing I just couldn't find believable. The kids I am around if it doesn't benefit them directly they wouldn't go out of their way or be bothered by it. So I find that for a teen to bomb their school for their father a little unrealistic, especially without his knowledge. But the book is filled with lots of actions and suspense so it is a pretty good read, and if anything it shows diversity and helps with understanding of several groups you might not otherwise have access too, we always #needdiversebooks.
this will appear on pub date of Mar 13

After having read the testing series, I had high hopes for Time Bomb. Charbonneau did not disappoint! Bringing together a diverse group of characters, readers get to experience a school bombing through each of their six different perspectives. This book forces a reader to think about the assumptions that we as people and as society make about one another based on appearance, race, religion, and background.

A school bombing has happened. Although school wasn't in session, students are still in the building. Now they are trapped and trying to get out as more bombs continue to go off. The bomber is in there too and no one knows who it is for sure, but they are making assumptions about their fellow classmates. The book alternates between the characters perspectives with time stamps at the top of each chapter so the readers can follow the story line.

This book was both powerful and scary. It challenged me to consider the reasons or motivation behind a person's actions. How we treat people in at school or in society can shape can shape a person's future and their decisions. #choosekind

I had high hopes for this book, considering what's going on in our country these days. I was very disappointed to find stereotypical characters, semi confusing plot lines, and a unsatisfying ending. The culprit wasn't to hard to figure out, which ruined the mystery of the book for me. When we found out why that person did what they did, it was just kind of like "really?". It made little sense in this day and age. I think that this book could open up discussion on how we stereotype people and treat them, which is a plus at least. Other than that, I think this book is just going to get lost among all of the other better books dealing with a similar topic.

Time Bomb follows the story of various teens (told in each of their POVs) while they are experiencing a dangerous incident in their school. They are trapped in school after several bombs go off, causing the death of many…

When we begin the book, all we know (or heavily suspect) is that ONE OF THEM was the bomber. As the story progresses we learn about their lives, their experiences, and we see how prejudices and stereotypes can affect how we perceive others.

Due to the similarities in the topics touched through the story, this book is compared a lot to “This is Where it Ends“, and while I enjoyed that book, I have to admit that Time Bomb gives us more than it’s “predecessor”. While “This is Where it Ends” was a suspenseful read, it lacked character development. Additionally, due to the way the story is narrated, you will definitely get some “One of Us is Lying” kind of vibes. Comparing a book to TWO New York Times Bestsellers and still thinking that this book is superior… well.. trust me, it’s a story you DON’T want to miss!

This is a book that will draw you to it’s characters. You will learn about them and even care for them! Once you know who and why everything happens, your mind will be blown. Trust me, at some point you’ll probably suspect EVERYONE in the story. The author does an amazing job developing the characters and writing all their points of view. Lastly, I want to mention how impressed I was with the diversity in characters. Each one has different traits (skin color, religion, etc.) that make their point of view unique!

Overall rating: 4.5 stars

A fast-paced read with engaging characters. I found myself trying to steal a few more moments to read because I did not want to put it down. Unlike anything else that Joelle has written. I love that she constantly surprises me with her storytelling.

ARC-Netgalley

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Each in school for different reasons, characters take a turn as the lead suspect when the radio announces one of them is the bomber. Narrated by a diverse cast of characters, seemingly innocent and not connected to each other, Time Bomb will grab readers right from the beginning and hold them hostage as the seconds tick by.

THOUGHTS: Loving character-driven, multi-point of view narratives, I knew right from the description (and author) that Time Bomb was going to be a book for me. Reminiscent of Karen McManus's One of Us Is Lying's Breakfast Club style cast of characters, readers will be hooked from the beginning. Hand this one to fans of Hate List by Jennifer Brown, This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp, and Violent Ends by various authors. Though intense in topic, this book is still suitable for younger high school readers, especially given recent national events.