This is a very unique story. It took a little bit to get into the authors writing style but once I was, I couldn't put it down.

I really enjoyed this first installment. At first was getting concerned because the author seemed way to preoccupied with describing how stuff looked in minute detail and overly poetic language. But, a few chapters in they really hit their stride and the story took off. While it is part of a series, it did not end on a major cliffhanger (so thank you for that). I will definitely read the second one to see how it progresses.

I am obsessed with this book! When I first started reading it, I kept trying to compare it to other young adult stories like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, but it didn't take me long to realize this is one very unique tale!

The characters blend so well together. I absolutely love the team that was crafted. Finn may have been chosen instead of having the freewill to be there but it all works out for the better for everyone involved.

The historic aspect of this is amazing!

The author was very clear about making responsible and honorable decisions. They delivered lessons on learning about another person verses following the iconic theme of sport star, popular leader, misfit and autistic ‘weirdo’. It is a great book for middle school students and students of all ages to question what it means to be loyal, kind, and forgiving. The book is an exciting adventure into history and time travel. The technology of the Time Keepers is a question left to learn so the follow up book(s) will have students continuing to read.

Interesting concept well written and exciting to read. So says my teenage Grandaughter. We both read this book and although it was squarely marketed to a teenage YA market , there was still much of interest for the older reader.

I’m a huge sci fi fan and The time trials was an intriguing, well paced story focusing on time. We follow Finn getting settled
in his new school and we get an intriguing plot woven around
finding your place even if you feel like you don't
belong. The
story was well paced, it is detailed in all the right
places, and was just super enjoyable to read.
I was very invested.
The characters are relatable and easy to like and the plot
around the time trials feels very well planned through and keeps you curious. I can not wait to read more.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
book after receiving a free copy.

This book is about a group of teenagers who are very different but are thrown together in a school team the 'Young Historians'. The club receives an invitation to the 'Time trials' which isn't as it seems.
Working as a team, Finn, Everly, Edison and Valerie are sent to various points in history and given tasks to complete in the hope of winning the trials against 3 other teams from other schools.
This book was really enjoyable, I loved the premise, I love the 'trials' trope and putting a time travelling spin on it made it into something new and unpredictable!
The characters were all well written and you do get invested in their story, friendships and relationships.
Actual rating 3.5 stars

Husband and wife writing team, Jon and Dayna McConnell, begin The Time Trials with orphaned 16-year-old Finn Mallory who has inexplicably received a full scholarship at elite Wharton Academy, a boarding school. Poor, scruffy, music-centered Finn knows immediately he’s a fish out of water among the polished, rich students – and especially after it is drummed into him how lucky he is to receive the “Good Fortunes” Scholarship and is uncomfortably labeled an “Unfortunate.” Vaguely explained to him, Finn must join Young Historians Club. Not exactly studying Herodotus, the members learn the facets, expectations, and dangers of being in the Young Historians Club. Time travel is intrinsic with the unique and brilliant concept of traveling back in time without the onus of the butterfly effect, yet still retaining the ability to change the events for then, not the future. Teams of students from four schools compete in their time-traveling Time Benders to complete Challenges with high-risk Olympic urgency. Death is possible during the challenges. Four challenges and one final winner each year. The enigmatic, rather creepy Timekeepers in their steampunk attire and milieu, run the show and provide a chilling, on-screen entertainment for their Society.

Finn’s team includes three other students, perhaps appearing stereotypical – Everly (rich, orphaned, beautiful, considered a rather ice queen of the school), Valerie (confident, assertive, wildly capable, athletic), and Edison (brilliant, high functioning autistic, loyal). Their team forms by melding strengths and weaknesses, bonds of friendship and even attraction, and devising flashes of incredible strategies.

Over the four imaginative, Gordian challenges, the actions to survive are electric and nearly heart-stopping, page by page. Characters realize much about themselves and each other, the merciless and brutal Time Trials environment, and the chilling Society’s priorities. They learn quickly the dangers of being targeted by cagey and ambitious Timekeepers. Attachments form, not just between the characters – but between the reader and these young pawns in the show, their lonely struggles and painful losses, and their futures.

This is a YA story. At times the romantic relationship between Finn and Everly seems disproportionate in the story. Yet, what if…the coldly conniving Timekeepers have orchestrated a full reality-show for the Society audience (and for their own ambitions), replete with ruthless reporters and big screen venues? What if team members are selected and thrown together for the show, and fully covered romantic relationships are all part and parcel of the draw? And what if we as readers are just part of that audience, rating it? Mysteries remain.

The two writers have intricately and deftly threaded history, literature, mythology, musical worlds as essential cogs of the story. These writers take us on a fantastic journey that seems to end abruptly, Again, is it that this year's show is over and lights dim for now since the last challenge is done and a winner has been named?

I knew nothing of this book (or series) until I read about it on NetGalley and was instantly intrigued. I am very glad I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was thrilled to see book #2 was available and started it immediately. I am grateful to NetGalley, Tiny Fox Press, and Jon and Dayna McConnell for the opportunity to read The Time Trials. My opinion is all my own.

I ended up DNFing this book about 25% through. I could not keep going. From the very start I felt like it was very slow. And the beginning did not grab my attention. I wish the first few pages were more interesting to get me sucked into the story. But in reality I forced myself to keep reading until I could t anymore

Simply not my cup of tea. I was drawn into the premise, but they writing style...

It made me travel back to being in fourth grade and trying to read The Lord of the Rings, it just left me exhausted.

My two main takeaways were that Edison looks like the know-it-all boy from polar express, and Finn (Had to look up his name, that's how dense the novel feels to me) reminds me of the no maidens meme.

Like I said, not for me but a really interesting premise and view on TIme Travel.

This was a fun, quick read. The plot was unique and interesting. Of course, I like anything with time travel.

The main character, Finn, was a pretty stereotypical emo and his love interest was the stereotypical perfect princess. Most of the other characters were stereotypical as well, but one of the other members of the team was actually a much more interesting character. I loved how the authors included a high-functioning autistic boy. I don't know a lot about autism, so I can't really comment on how authentic the character was. And I loved his "best friend," SCRAP. I actually wish there had been more interactions with SCRAP.

As for the time travel itself, I thought the authors took a unique approach in that whatever the kids did in the past had absolutely no effect on the future. Of course, it solved a lot of the problems this book would have had otherwise; it would have been very complicated. The trips into the past weren't that interesting to me because we didn't spend a lot of time there and as Mordecai says, the games had become more about made-up trials than about history. Also, the fact that nothing changed because of what they did made it feel like it was just a "game" but with deadly consequences. It really made me question why anyone would sign up to compete in them.

This is a hard book in some ways to critique because some of the things I didn't like were things that were necessary for the storyline. I did feel like the book focused way too much on the relationship between Finn and Everly.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes books about time travel or ruthless competitions. It kept me invested in the story and I kept wanting to go back to find out what was going to happen next. I feel like there's more going on here than we are seeing in this first book, so I look forward to reading the next one.

***Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the authors for the ARC. All opinions expressed herein are my own.***

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an interesting read. Tome travel is so complex with do many what ifs that I rarely find any books dressing with it.

This book should be significantly more popular than it is - I was shocked to see it didn't even have 50 ratings on Goodreads. I stumbled upon this hidden gem on Netgalley - thank you for providing me with a e-copy of this novel to read in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is like the idea of Hunger Games but set against the backdrop of modern day private rich-kid highschool. The concept of time traveling in this book, and how it is explained, along with the trials that arise from time traveling is so good. Admittedly, I was able to guess all the 'twists' and turns, but I think that may partially also be because I love guessing and being right about that. The way the team has such a diverse ray of individuals is so interesting, and the characters all feel fleshed out. My only complaint is that it somewhat bothered me that Everly was constantly called the Queen and the metaphors around that, and how everyone just followed her like worker bees. I feel like there's much more backstabbing in real life highschool and not just "one" leader per-say. Also, while the writing was engaging and had some beautiful lines, I found I was personally not the biggest fan of it. I think if the writing could have made the dramatic or intense scenes to another level. It didn't "fall short" but being a reader, you know how certain authors have a knack for really writing up the pressure and tension and delivering on it. I think this would've been a five star read if that intensity in the writing and building that climax was more prominent.

Unrelated side note: As a recently graduated Occupational Therapist, I was so incredibly happy to read about the mention of it in the book. I feel like my profession is often unrecognized and unacknowledged, so this truly made me so happy.

Finn feels responsible for the deaths of his parents in a car accident - they wouldn't have been on the road if it hadn't been for him. & he can't forgive himself. After receiving a scholarship to a private boarding school (where he becomes known as an 'Unfortunate' by the rich kids due to the scholarship), Finn doesn't expect to make friends. He especially doesn't expect 'Queen Bee' Everly to try to make friends & he rebuffs her, certain that it is all a giant prank. He is surprised, therefore, to see her at the first meeting for the Young Historians' Club, a select group of four members & one of their teachers as their mentor. This is no ordinary club as the four soon find out that they would get to take part in the Time Trials, travelling through time, battling it out with three other schools, over four rounds in a contest to decide the winning team.

Finn (misfit), Everly (Queen Bee), Valerie (athlete), & Edison (a loner with autism) have to find a way to work together & during the Trials find themselves becoming friends despite their differences with Finn & Everly perhaps more than friends. The teams are sent to different historical events with a specific goal, such as retrieving an artifact or momentarily altering history for example. As time travel is possible by bending time, the rules state that nothing they do affects future events which takes off the pressure slightly, but some aspects of the Trials can be deadly - if you die in a Trial you stay dead!

I requested this one pretty swiftly after reading the synopsis. It's a great concept & I just wish that the authors had spent more time on the actual Trials rather than Finn & Everly's on/off relationship. The trials were over so swiftly I felt a bit shortchanged, there's such a lot of scope with this storyline yet the romance aspect seemed to overshadow the far more interesting Trials plot & sidelined Valerie & Edison (who were also much more interesting than Finn & Everly). Other readers more in the targeted demographic for YA may feel differently about this aspect so don't be put off by my review, in fact, I enjoyed it enough that I plan on reading the sequel, I just hope the romance element has been toned down a little. 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 for sites which don't allow half star ratings).

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Tiny Fox Press, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

A promising start. Time travel for four teens. Great character development. Lots of action. Ready to read the next one! Thanks #netgalley and #TinyFoxPress for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

I really enjoyed this book, I liked the characters and I loved the historical settings as well as the game elements which left me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen to the characters. I do wish we got more scenes regarding Finn's backstory with his parents however I do love what there was written and I liked that the ending gave him some sort of closure regarding it.

The plot of the book was very promising; four teenagers from an elite academy travelling through time to complete a series of trials in competition with another three teams. Sadly the reality was a disappointment. Two main characters were high school stereotypes, stunning green-eyed blonde and guitar-playing, guilt-ridden, poverty-stricken scholarship boy. The other two members of the team were much more interesting although they featured far less.

The trials themselves were covered quite briefly and the opportunity of adding interest through historical detail was not explored. Also, although these trials could be life-threatening there was no apparent reason for them. The book failed to hold my interest, it seemed to lack cohesion and it all seemed rather pointless.

My thanks to NetGalley and Tiny Fox Press for an advance copy in return for an honest review

Special thanks to NetGalley and Tiny Fox Press for a ready to read ARC for my honest opinion!

This is a great starter if sci-fi isn’t your typical genre. Reminiscent of HP and the Goblet of Fire meets time travel! A group of 4 high school students are hand selected by a professor to compete against 3 other schools in time traveling trials put on by the Historical Society. Trials are inspired by childhood games, such as Marbles and Hide and Seek, but they’re anything but harmless.

Time travel is always a subject that draws me in but is hard to execute. This series has a different take on traveling back in time than I’ve seen before; whatever you do when you travel backwards doesn’t affect the present/future. Typically the crux of the plot is the consequence of said time travel, but it’s interesting that it’s more of what happens in the present that is the main struggle. Can’t wait to see what happens next based on the ending!

Thank you to Tiny Fox Press and NetGalley for the free book in return for my honest review.

I was excited about the concept of this book; a history club joining a tournament where they travel to the past??? SIGN ME UP. That sounds like such a unique and promising idea. Unfortunately, it did not quite live to that excitement for me.

For starters, I did like how the book started. Finn seemed like he was going to be a very fun and likeable character. However, I did not feel the same for the rest of the main cast.
The way all three of the other character's entire personalities were poured at the reader throughout around five pages was very offputting. This made the book incredibly boring. How am I supposed to know or learn about these characters if everything is narrated to me? Seeing the characters interact with each other, being placed in multiple situations and learning about them through the story until the reader decides what they think of these characters based on their actions instead of some professor narrating it all would be way more enjoyable and would make the reader be able to connect with them.

For the time trials themselves, there were no stakes?? They could decide not to do this incredibly dangerous competition. It's not mentioned what they gain other than the "experience" the professor keeps referencing.
There was also no training for this trial, and the competition itself begins in the first 30% of the book. The only training they get is the professor info dumping about the competition and every single game and all the gadgets they can use.

Overall, this is a fantastic idea, but the way the story is written makes it underwhelming.

I liked this title more than I thought I would. Think Hunger Games for history lovers. I also enjoyed the conflict between the gamemakers and the participants. I am eager to read the next book.