Thank you net gallery for the advanced copy of this book. It took a minute to get moving on the action but the scenes where she did not know how to do simple things like make a phone call were humorous. I was a freshman in 1980 so i appreciated that. I would recommend this book.

Honestly, I really struggled with this one. The premise really sucked me in. I love a good heist and the time travel aspect was a good bonus. However I had a hard time getting into this book and staying engaged. I never fully understood how Tori travelled back in time to begin with and this bothered me a lot. I did enjoy the 80’s references since I grew up in that era. Tori and Bobby were great characters I just felt like something was missing.

Tilia Jacobs and Norman Birnbach deliver a delightful debut with Stealing Time, a smart, funny caper that will captivate fans of Back to the Future and The Time Traveler’s Wife. This time-traveling jewelry heist blends humor, heart, and high-stakes adventure into an irresistible story that keeps you entertained from start to finish.

The premise is refreshingly original: a heist with a twist of time travel, executed with wit and just the right amount of chaos. The intricate plotting and sharp dialogue create a fast-paced story full of clever twists, suspense, and laugh-out-loud moments. While the action takes center stage, the heart of the story lies in the evolving relationship between the main character and her dad. Their dynamic adds a tender and emotional layer that grounds the time-hopping escapades in something deeply human and relatable.

The authors strike a perfect balance between humor and poignancy, with plenty of memorable characters and scenarios that will keep you thinking long after the final page. If you’re looking for a novel that combines the heart-pounding thrills of a heist, the mind-bending fun of time travel, and the emotional depth of family bonds, Stealing Time is the book for you.

Time traveling is an interesting topic for me and because of that I pick this one to read. I enjoyed it from start to finish. I enjoyed how the story flowed and was written. The multiple POVs made the book more interesting and easy to follow. It also allowed me to get to know every character deeper and better.

Stealing Time by Tilia Klebenov Jacobs and Norman Birnbach was so GOOD!! If you like jewelry heists, 80’s, time travel, action, suspense, mystical gemstones, and capers then you will love this book.

It’s 2020, Tori lives in New York with her parents during the pandemic and is dealing with their divorce. One day she wakes up in 1980, in her apartment but not her apartment. She learns the apartment belongs to Bobby, who is her father 40 years younger. They learn about a heist that is going to take place; a diamond from The American Museum of Natural History is what they want. Her grandfather will be the one to take the fall and go to prison. Tori and Bobby decide they will work together, they set out to learn who is involved and stop the heist.

Jacob’s and Birnbach did an amazing job with the storyline and plot. They had me hooked from page one. Could you imagine going back in time and not having the technology we have today? Not having everything at the touch of our fingertips. It was fun going back to the 80’s experiencing the fashion, music, and the technology of that time. She wasn’t close to her father in 2020, but going back in time gave her the chance to get to know her younger father and grow that bond they didn’t have. There were so many twists and turns, we got to go on an adventure with Tori and Bobby that kept me hooked not wanting to put the book down. Thank you to Tilia Klebenov Jacobs, Norman Birnbach, Linden Tree Press, and NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.

This is an interesting take on a "Back to the Future" type premise. The action is engaging and the story keeps readers interested.

3.5 rounded to 4

I really enjoyed Tori's and Bobby's portion of the book, but I kept snagging on the bad guys' segments and putting the book down. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if we'd stayed with Tori the entire time. That said, the two kids were a lot of fun, especially when comparing their respectives times, and I loved the ending. Which is why I've rouonded it to four.

In Stealing Time Tori Gold is growing up in New York during the outbreak of Covid-19 and her parents' impending divorce. When she time travels from 2020 to 1980, she wonders why she is there. Then she realizes she has landed in her father Bobby’s bedroom and meets him as a teenager. She discovers that a jewelry heist forty years ago sent her grandfather to jail and destroyed her family. Bobby, after some convincing, believes that she is from the future and is here to prevent the heist of the Desert Sun diamond from the museum where her grandfather curates the gems displays. A gang of thugs is planning to steal the diamond, but Bobby and Tori band together to stop the heist and clear her grandfather of the crime. The trope of traveling back in time to meet family members is handled with humor and fun, although the adventure is packed with danger.

a great ya-mystery with time travel! I really enjoyed the story and loved the characters! it has some good plots and twists in the story that keep you on the edge of your seat! I would recommend it to everyone who likes a good fast-paced ya-mystery without any romance!

An excellent plot line with some very likable characters, from both timelines. The story moves so quickly, it seemed as if time flew as I was reading. The interactions of the teens and the realistic community background made me feel like I was right there with them. Great change of pace from the serial killer books I've been reading.

Thank you AuthorBuzz and Netgalley for this ARC. I enjoyed it and read it in one day.. I would definitely recommend this book.

the idea was there but i just couldn’t comprehend why they would choose the year 2020 it just made me go back to the whole tiktok era and then we had this other pov i fidnt care about im sorry i just didn’t like it

Tori’s parents’ marriage is falling apart and with the pandemic flaring up, Tori is unhappy and miserable, when she overhears a conversation her father is having on the phone with someone from The Times asking her father odd questions and mentions something called the Desert Sun.

Tori goes down a rabbit hole online and learns that the Desert Sun is a diamond that her grandfather had stolen in the 80’s. When she learns this, she gets upset that she was never told and stares at the diamond and passes out.

When she wakes up, she wakes up in her room in New York, but not in her year. She’s woken up in the year 1980 and her father as a young kid is there. And now she realizes she has the opportunity to stop the diamond heist form occurring with the help of her dad.

Soooo I have mixed feelings about this book. It kept my attention enough that I wanted to read it and see what happens, but I also wanted to rush through it because I wasn’t a fan of the writing nor the dialogue.

I love books involving time travel. I’m a huge sucker for them. I love to read any book with time travel to see what happens in that particular book. I also enjoy reading about heists. They’re generally exciting books to read. This had both, which is good since this is what truly kept my attention.

It also had a lot of focus on a relationship between a father and his daughter that needed repairing. Tori got to learn more about her dad and maybe what he truly was like before the original heist occurred. I’m sure it was trippy, but it was a good moment for them to learn about each other and do better with their relationship in the future. I think that part of the story was rather endearing.

There are twists in here and exciting parts and exciting events.

That’s what I enjoyed, however, the rest of the book was hard to get into. There was a lot of unnecessary dialogue, at least I think so, and I just wanted to skim read all of it and just get to what I thought was important.

I wish there was more of a buildup before Tori gets transported back in time because it just happens suddenly and I think there’s a brief mention about how that MIGHT have happened, but it’s not really explained. And it’s not really explained as to why her parents were splitting, at least I didn’t really understand why. I mean if they were splitting because of how her dad has been since the original heist, then why were they together all this time and why now suddenly are they splitting? It was just little details like this I would have enjoyed knowing.

I think the book just mainly focused on the time travel and the father/daughter relationship and forgiveness rather than anything else. Which is fine if that’s what you enjoy, a very fast, quick and easy read. I will say it was perfect to read this in between heavier books that I usually read. Something to build me up before my next book shatters my heart all over again 🤣

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I can’t lie when I say I found this book incredibly underwhelming. Too much time was spent on plot development and the climax took 80% of the book to get to. It felt like all the pertinent information was left to the end and the ending itself was pretty confusing. I didn’t enjoy this.

Thank you @getredprbooks & @tiliakjacobs for my complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

In this engaging time travel novel, the blend of action and suspense promises to keep readers on the edge of their seats. As Tori navigates the challenges of being in a different era, she not only faces the ticking clock of an impending jewelry heist but also the complexities of family dynamics and personal growth.

The setting of 1980 is vividly portrayed, offering a nostalgic glimpse into the culture, fashion, and technology of the time, contrasted with Tori's modern sensibilities. This juxtaposition creates humorous and enlightening moments as Tori adapts to a world without smartphones and the internet, and tries to explain these things to Bobby, who turns out to be her father, 40 years earlier!

But Tori knows that something terrible is about to happen. A valuable diamond is going to be stolen from The American Museum of Natural History and her grandfather will go to prison because of it. As Tori and Bobby work together to thwart the heist, their relationship deepens, revealing layers of understanding and connection between father and daughter. Tori's journey is not just about saving the diamond; it’s also about discovering her family's history and the bond they share, despite the generational gap.

The novel explores themes of courage, loyalty, and the importance of understanding one’s roots. With unexpected twists and turns, the story will keep the reader engaged until the very last page, making it an exhilarating read for anyone who loves a good adventure mixed with a bit of nostalgia.

This was such a fun time-travel novel. I loved that it was a teenager going back in time and getting to experience the time that her parents grew up in. While I am an early 90’s baby I was still able to get the nostalgic feeling of life before some of the technological advances we have now. The dialogue was written well. I loved the back and forth between Tori and Bobby as they tried to grasp the other’s life. I loved the suspense that came from the heist and getting to see a pov from the thieves throughout. It was fast paced and explored the problems that can come from messing with time. The ending was heartwarming and a great way to wrap it up.

Thank you @getredprbooks @tiliakjacobs @normanbirnbach for the gifted copy

Not going to lie, when I read the description and saw time travel I was skeptical if I would enjoy Stealing Time. Time travel has always made my head hurt but thankfully Stealing Time has so much more to offer. The time travel speak gave me minimal head spinning and I absolutely loved Tori teaming up with her 80s version of her dad to stop a heist.

As a child of the 90s I was able to appreciate most of the references from traveling back in time and obviously some of the ridiculous things in 2020 (looking at you toilet paper hoarders!).

This was such a great read and I would like to give a huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of Stealing Time to read and review!

This is a fun time caper. In March 2020, as the world is shutting down, Tori’s parents have decided to separate, and Tori is packing up to move to Boston with her mom, while her father will stay in New York City. In the midst of this a news reporter calls to speak to her father about an event from 40 years ago. While looking up what he was talking about, she somehow ends up going back in time to 1980. I really enjoyed this fresh take on time travel.

Life isn’t looking too rosy for Tori. It’s the early days of the pandemic and she and her mom are about to move from New York City to Boston, to shelter with her aunt. Her parents are separating and Tori is saying goodbye to her dad. Not that she’s probably going to miss him a bunch: he’s always been grumpy.

Just as she and her mom are about to leave the apartment Tori has always known as home, she finds out that her dad’s late father was jailed years before for being involved in a jewelry heist.

As she’s ruminating on her discovery, Tori suddenly finds herself somewhere different — actually somewhen different. She’s still in her apartment; some things are the same and some things are different. And there’s a boy about her age living in HER room!

It just takes a short time to figure out that Bobby, the 15-year-old stranger, is actually her dad back in 1980. And the jewelry heist hasn’t happened yet.

They both figure out that they need to stop Bobby’s dad from getting involved in the theft. Of course, that’s easier said than done for two teenagers. But they’ve got to try.

Stealing Time is a time-travel book, sure, but that’s just a part of the plot. The heist (or the two kids’ attempts to stop it, or at least stop their dad/granddad from being blamed for it) is a bigger part. But the biggest part of the story is the relationship Tori gets to develop with her dad before he was her dad and he was just a nerdy kid. I love time travel and I love heists, and this scratched those itches OK, but I did like the sweetness of the family story the most.

This is definitely a book aimed at young adults, and the style and tone feels a bit more like it skews toward the younger part of that bracket. So the profanity seemed jarring to me; it didn’t fit with the overall feel of the book and the likely audience. It would have made much more sense for there to be no strong language and a lot less of the moderate profanity too.

Stealing Time doesn’t focus on an elaborate and gripping heist; neither is it a complicated, scientific time-travel tale. But it’s a cute story about family. Just don’t expect to hand it to younger readers because of its content.

Tori, a teenager living in New York during the pandemic of 2020, is transported back in time. She finds herself in her own bedroom, but now it belongs to Bobby, a teenaged boy in 1980. As the story progresses, we find out that Bobby is Tori’s dad, and that Tori seems to have been sent back to prevent Bobby’s dad Victor (her grandpa) for taking the blame for stealing an extremely valuable gem called the Desert Sun from the museum that he works at as Chief Gemologist.

The best part about this book was how well the authors captured the aura of 1980. It makes me realize all the things that have changed over 40 years. Having been born in the 1980s, nearly everything mentioned in the book was familiar to me, although there were a couple references that skimmed just over my head. No biggie, although this may affect a younger audience a bit more.

Overall, this book made for a sweet and light-hearted read. A little bit of swearing, but the story mostly centers around the strengthening of a father-daughter relationship, as they get to know each other outside of their traditional roles. I’d actually really like to see more books in the same vein, only with different time periods, since the authors wrote that so well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Linden Tree Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.