3.5 stars

If a book has time travel or is time travel adjacent, I'm all in. This is a YA blend of contemporary, romance, and sci-fi. We're following Nell, a 16-year-old girl who lives in a small, dead-end town with her boyfriend, Cole, and their best friend, Stevie B. Nothing ever happens there, until a girl named Charlotte shows up, claiming to be from the future. Now Cole is keeping secrets from Nell, and the world is much bigger than any of them realized. That is, this world. And the next, and the next, etc.

I enjoyed the premise of this book, and haven't read anything quite like it. However, a large basis of the book was rooted in the emotional connections between the characters, particularly Cole and Nell, and I didn't feel like I spent enough time with them together for that to hit the way it should have. We join them several years into their relationship and are told repeatedly that Cole is acting out of character and that Nell knows they're made for each other etc, but we don't fully experience that for ourselves. I ended up rooting more for best friend Stevie B to get the girl, since he was the one who was supporting Nell throughout the story on-page. Overall, though, I really liked Nell as a character and found the time travel methods and reasoning fascinating. I'd read more from this author, for sure! Thanks to Penguin Teen and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Book: Sixteen Minutes
Author: K.J. Reilly
Rating: 4/5 stars

Sixteen Minutes was a thrilling, intriguing, time-travelling adventure story. It follows the main character, Nell, who feels trapped in her hometown with her best friend Stevie B., as well as her long-time boyfriend Cole. When a new girl, Charlotte, arrives in their town, and reveals that she is from the future, their lives are turned upside down. Charlotte wants Cole to travel to the future with her, meaning that the characters are faced with a difficult decision - even though it may mean saving Cole's sister, who is unfortunately sick.

This was an emotional story that encapsulated both love and loss in a very immersive way. I enjoyed the author's writing style, and I thought that the storyline was unique. I found myself rooting for all of the main characters at different points in the story, and I enjoyed reading about how they all faced the difficult decision they had to make together.
A big element that the story touches on is how far we are willing to go and do things for the ones we love, and I think that this story was an interesting take on that theme - with how unique the storyline is.

Lastly, I thought that the multiverse aspect of the story was well-written and was easy to follow. I found myself interested in both the emotional aspect of the story as well as learning more about Charlotte, who was from the future, and how it all tied together.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA stories with futuristic elements, but also with heart and family at the core of the story.

Thank you to Penguin Group - Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of Sixteen Minutes.

Nell, her boyfriend Cole, and best friend Stevie B are stuck in the dead-end town of Clawson, NY, until Charlotte, a mysterious new girl from the future, arrives and shakes things up. The plot has some interesting twists, but the pacing felt off, and some parts of the time travel logic were confusing and under-explained, which made it hard to stay fully engaged. The love triangle and relationships had their moments, yet sometimes felt overly dramatic. Overall, it’s an intriguing idea, but the execution left a few too many questions unanswered.

Nell, her boyfriend Cole, and their best friend Stevie B live a mundane existence in their rural hometown of Clawson, NY. Their lives revolve around jumping/swimming in the quarry, going to school, and talking about fantasy futures. As a pastime, Nell collects expired passports and imagines all the places she would like to visit. They also watch out for Cole’s younger sister Finn who has a respiratory disease that has no known cure. Their lives get a shake-up when one day a new girl, Charlotte, arrives at school, and Cole suddenly starts acting mysterious. Fearing that they will lose Cole, Nell and Stevie B begin investigating Charlotte. Between Cole’s practicing holding his breath underwater, and Charlotte’s strange technology, they have more questions than answers.

Nell and Stevie B corner Cole and demand he answer their questions. Cole cracks and explains to them that Charlotte is from the future. He tells them about an underwater portal in the quarry that will take him to the future with Charlotte where he plans to steal a medication that would save Finn’s life. She is going to die in two days if he fails. It is dangerous as it requires a person to hold their breath for sixteen seconds underwater to go through and out the portal. As they continue to learn that the universe is so much more than they thought, possibilities about what life took a turn. The question now is do they trust Charlotte or Cole?

4/5 ⭐️ I love time traveling but also love it when it’s done in middle grade and young adults! This was a fun ride and of course the best parts is when discussing what happens when you time traveling! The conversations are the best!

Seventeen-year-old Nell feels trapped in her hometown of Clawson, NY. She is also trapped in a sort-of love triangle between her longtime boyfriend, Cole, and their longtime best friend, Stevie B. When their school admits a new girl, beautiful Charlotte, Nell is faced with potentially losing Cole for the first time in their entire relationship. They learn that Charlotte is actually from the future, and one if them is needed to travel with her back to the future to save their entire future.

This was definitely more hard hitting than I anticipated it to be! For a YA Speculative Fiction, I was expecting to lean more in to the Sci-Fi of it all (and don't get me wrong that is definitely well explored), but I wasn't expecting the relationships to be so raw and relatable. I felt myself yearning for the love that Nell & Cole have for each other, but also for the love that Stevie B has for Nell. It was very refreshing to see these relationships portrayed so healthily for high schoolers - so full of love for each other and the need to protect each other. I'm tearing up as I write this - just like I teared up as I read this. These characters and their story are definitely going to stick with me for a while, and I could honestly see myself re-reading this again in the future (I really don't like re-reading things if that is any indication as to how much I liked this story).

I also think the Sci-Fi elements were explained in a way that made you understand the science behind the time travel, but not too technical to the point where you needed prior knowledge of Quantum Physics to understand what was happening. My only qualm is that I'm kind of confused as to why they only have a short time for Cole to go back to the future, if they're time travelers then why can't they just go back farther before Finn passes? Same for Levi, if he got trapped in the future for a year and his brother died, why couldn't they just go back to before his brother died? I don't think this was explained very well, and it felt like whenever you traveled back or forward that it was the same day and time and the only thing that would change are the years; but everything is happening concurrently? I wish this was explained a little better, like maybe since the time changes so quickly they've only gotten it down to changing the years, and not exact enough to go by date/time? I get that this added a sense of urgency, but being able to time travel and "running out of time" feels paradoxical.

Thank you to K. J. Reilly, Nancy Paulsen Books, & NetGalley for the eARC!

Upstate NY rural is a different world, and this book captured it perfectly. I literally looked up whether the author grew up in Attica because it feels exactly like Clawson (research was inconclusive). This flavor of dead-end town is ripe for sci-fi, so it just fit. I actually loved the love triangle, and although I think the pairings ended up right, sort-of-unrequited love was done so right. This book is just so full of love of every type.

This was an incredible story, I really appreciated the beautiful storytelling, very visual and immersive. Nell felt like such a real person, fleshed out and well-rounded, and with dynamic and complex relationships with her mother, Finn, Stevie B, and of course, Cole. The way Nell's personality is presenting throughout this book is the feature I enjoyed the most, but the plot throughout was totally unique and unexpected! I love the author's note at the end, explaining the use of real world science and a touch of magic combined that went into creating this incredible world.

This was perfection. Absolute perfection. It had me from the very beginning and did not let go until the end. I couldn't put it down. I'm talking middle of the night, nightstand lamp on, my husband trying to sleep with the comforter over his eyes. Amazing

This was a cute story. It was a little bit of a slower pace, but once the time traveling aspect kicked in it started to speed up a bit which was nice. This did come off very young adult, but more for the younger YA ages. I did enjoy this story, it was super unique, with a bit of romance & a lot of multi-verse, science & time traveling aspects. It felt almost educational at times and felt like I was reading a textbook, which was a bit boring for me but also interesting at the same time.

Overall, I would recommend this book if you like time-traveling in the YA genre. I wanted to give it a higher rating but the slower pace & educational parts is what made it a 3 for me or maybe even a 3.5. Definitely give this one a shot because it was cute & unique.

What would you do……….if you found out someone you love would die within days? What would you do if you found out there was a way to save them? And what would you do if you discovered the world you lived in wasn’t what it appeared? Sixteen Minutes explores all those questions, more than those and much more to consider. It is a work of fiction, however, who knows if elements exist in our world today. Four stars for this unusual YA novel that makes you truly question how you would react and what would you do….

What would you do if someone you loved was going to die and you had the possibility of saving them but it meant risking your life and believing in the unbelievable. What if it meant the possibility of missing out on their final days on earth if you failed, or if you were wrong?

Sixteen Minutes follows Nell as she navigates her relationships with her boyfriend Cole, her best friend Stevie B. and the introduction of a new girl at school into their lives. Cole's sister is sick, she has been her whole life, and when the new girl claims to be from the future and to know how to save Finn, who she pronounces will die in days without her, Nell, Cole, and Stevie B must decide whether or not to believe the unbelievable, or risk losing Finn and possibly each other in the process.

This is a very character driven novel. Their world, and the one that Charlotte claims to come from in the future, aren't very strongly built but that's okay, because this book is about Nell. Its about friendship and the lengths that we as humans are willing to go to for the ones we love.

Sixteen Minutes reminded me a lot of reading Vampires, Hearts and Other Dead Things by Margie Fuston. I absolutely adored both books and how they explored the the complete dismissal of self preservation when we are faced with the possibility of losing someone we love. How in more cases than we probably know, we are willing to believe in impossibility if it gives us a little hope.

I loved Sixteen Minutes. I love books that make you feel and this one did not disappoint. I highly recommend Sixteen Minutes for those who enjoyed Vampires, Hearts and Other Dead Things, or enjoy really well crafted YA novels of love and hope and a little science fiction.

I was super excited about this book because I love YA and I am obsessed with time travel, but it definitely let me down.

The best thing about this one was the prose. Nell’s stream of consciousness was very well written and I enjoyed her character. This is the main reason this book is getting 2 stars instead of 1 star.

There was quite a bit that really bothered me about this book:

- The dialogue felt very forced and unnatural. The characters were repeating the same worries and questions over and over to each other throughout the book and they used each other’s names way too much. Like almost every line of dialogue had the character’s name in it.

- The pacing of the story was really off. The inciting incident happened immediately, but then it took until almost 40% of the book for anything else to happen. Then it was another 40% with the two main characters sitting around worrying and finally the last 10% all the actual action and plot happened.

- The author threw in things about multiple dimensions and the multiverse for absolutely no reason. It felt like filler and didn’t move the story forward whatsoever.

- The book is about time travel and yet the main conflict has to do with something happening at a certain time and them trying to prevent it. But since they were able to time travel and there was nothing stopping them from traveling through time there really was no reason at all for the time crunch. Ergo, no actual conflict.

I was actually rolling my eyes as I was reading a lot of this because every single problem was completely fixable with their time travel.

There were a bunch of other things that really bothered me, but without giving away spoilers I can’t really explain them.

I definitely would’ve DNF’d this book if it wasn’t such a quick read and I didn’t need to leave a review for it.

I received a a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

4.5 (but dare i say this could be a 5 star)?? - I LOVED this. The concept was so cool and made me want to go learn everything I can about the multiverse and quantum physics. It felt like such a warm hug and comforted me about my role in the universe and how each person affects the events of the world and everyone surrounding us. Just such a wonderful wonderful book, such a cool scifi concept and I loved the story and characters so much 😭 THIS is the type of YA books I love, that really explore broader themes and make you think about life and your existence and purpose, even at an older age.

Sixteen Minutes is about Nell, Stevie B and Cole. Nell and Cole are in a long time relationship and all three of them have been best friends forever. When a new girl shows up in town, Cole starts acting weird. They discover that he is planning to travel to another dimension through a time warp in their world, to try and save his little sister before she dies from an incurable disease. Nell has to grapple with whether the universe is larger than she ever imagines and her role in saving those she loves.

The book explores so many fascinating concepts. The ability to travel to the future and see how things play out, and how each action we take in one timeline has a direct effect on everyone in other universes. The concept of the multiverse and quantum physics is SO interesting to me and the author did a really fantastic job pulling in that information and making me want to learn more!! The romance was super cute, but above all I loved the focus on family, friends, and loving those in your life. The sacrifices and selfishness of these teens was so wonderful to witness. This book was fast paced and just beautiful, and I loved every second of it!!

Thank you to Penguin Teen for my free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!!

I was not expecting to get so sucked into a book. All the characters were so well developed I was surprised by what the actual plot was about. Once I learned about the mysterious connection between two characters I could not put the book down. I’ll be honest and say that I thought it would a more simple premise. i thought it was just a good old fashioned love story and nothing more. But this had fates and science all twisted in that I was thoroughly intrigued to figure out how the story ended. It was a wild ride and I would definitely suggest everyone check it out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Sixteen Minutes by K.J. Reilly is a phenomenal YA time-travel romance.
Wow! I was sucked completely into this story
I loved this book. It was well written and had great characters.

Penguin Young Readers Group | Nancy Paulsen Books

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Nancy Paulsen Books and NetGalley for an electronic advanced readers copy of this book, An honest review follows.

Nell, a high schooler, is certain she will stay in her hometown of Clawson for her whole life because that's what everyone does. She is dating her high school sweetheart Cole and they hang out with their best friend Stevie B. But then a mysterious girl shows up, and Cole seems to know her. Nell and Stevie B are instantly suspicious and find out that she's not what she seems - she says she's from the future.

Sixteen Minutes by K.J. Reilly is a fun and entertaining fast read about destiny, love and family. I enjoyed it, it was a quick read. I don't want to go into more details due to spoilers but I thought it was worth the read.

Title: A Rollercoaster of Emotions and Flavors

Review:

“Sixteen Minutes” by K.J. Reilly is a book that tastes like marshmallow, spun sugar, and bitter melon. It’s a rollercoaster of tastes and feelings, capturing all the flavors and emotions in one compelling narrative. Reilly stitches together sentences with the magic of an orb weaver, creating a tapestry of words that is both intricate and enchanting.

Trying to convince someone to read a book without actually telling them what the story is about is a feat, so I’m going with the feelings as to why you should read this book. When I finished “Sixteen Minutes,” it was like waking up from a dream and trying to capture the softness before it evaporates. It’s soft, precious, and filled with anguish all in one.

Reilly’s ability to evoke such a wide range of emotions is truly remarkable. The story leaves you with a sense of wonder and introspection, making you ponder the infinite possibilities of life and the choices we make. This book is a must-read for anyone who loves a blend of mystery, romance, and speculative fiction, all wrapped up in a beautifully written package.

This was a quick read for me..The way the author articulated the characters with a great spin. I love the chemistry. Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this arc.

Wow. What a raw and emotional read. Nell is 17 years old and feels trapped (as most teenagers do which I did relate to) havving never been out of her small town. Her and Cole, her best friend in the whole universe and boyfriend. They have a pack to give Cole's younger sister each a lung, but when Charlotte shows up things take a turn and now they must tackle things headon and hope for the best to protect the person they love the most.