I'd give Stealing Time ★★★★☆ (4/5). It’s a fun time-travel adventure with heart, humor, and a solid heist. Jumping from 2020 back to 1980, Tori teams up with her teenage dad to stop a jewel theft and change their future. Fast-paced and entertaining, though some parts felt a little rushed. Still, a great read!

This was a fun read, combining the heist construct with time travel made for an engaging and fast-paced story. It came together a little tidily, and I found the pacing a little uneven, but on the whole it was entertaining and quick read. My favorite part was probably reliving 1980, and seeing it from the perspective of a contemporary child. I have an 11 year old, and was myself a child of the '80s, and found the back and forth between parent and child to be particularly resonant!

Interesting book. Enjoyed the time travel aspect. Characters were interesting. Would read more by these authors. Thanks netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you are a fan of the movie Back To The Future, 80’s culture and books about heists, you will enjoy this book.

It’s March 2020 in New York and Tori is miserable. Her parents are divorcing, they are in the midst of the pandemic and life at home has been completely sucky.

But after overhearing her father on the phone with a Times reporter about a heist and the Desert Sun diamond, Tori does a deep dive on the internet and learns how this heist destroyed her family.

In the midst of packing her stuff and trying to learn more about this heist, Tori suddenly wakes up finding herself still in her room, but also not her room.
She has travelled to March 1980 and is currently in her father’s bedroom. Trying to explain that she is his daughter and from the future leads to all sorts of confusion as they try to figure out what comes next. Perhaps preventing the theft that destroyed her family will get her back to her own time?

But with her cell phone not working in the 1980’s and the internet not in existence yet, Tori is unprepared for how different New York is in the 80’s.

With short chapters, this was a total fun and quick read.

Thanks to NetGalley and AuthorBuzz for this advanced copy for review

Thank you AuthorBuzz and NetGalley for the DRC of Stealing Time! All opinions in this review are my own.

Stealing Time is a mix between a heist story and Back to the Future. Tori travels back to 1980 to stop a diamond theft that forever alters her family's history. While I know I am not the intended audience for this book, at times the writing is very simplistic, especially the dialogue. The book reads like an early young adult or middle grade novel, but then will also have a bunch of swearing in it at times. Overall, despite the writing and references to covid, this was a fun read.

Tori and her parents live in New York City, in the apartment where her father grew up. Unfortunately, her parents aren't getting along well, and Tori and her mother are about to move to Boston, with her mother's parents. Tori opens her bedroom door, and suddenly, she's in the same apartment, but 40 years and 2 days in the past, during a pivotal time in her father's life - when her father was 12. Together, Tori and Bobby, her father, seek to change the events of the past so that her grandfather won't be blamed for a crime he didn't commit, but they have two big problems: can they make the changes in time, and can they figure out how to return Tori to her own life?

This is a fun, light-hearted story that deals well with the contradictions inherent in time travel, as well as the relationships between family members. Readers of all ages will enjoy it, and particularly the middle school students it is aimed at.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Time travel plus an Ocean's Eleven style heist...all packaged in a love letter to the New York of old--a little grittier, a little hopeful.

This will appeal to teens who enjoy a good heist story, with plenty of complexities and twists to keep mystery lovers engaged.

Well this was super different! 4.5 stars. I love books with elements of time travel and that’s exactly what this was… with the addition of trying to stop a jewelry heist that would affect her family. So the main character goes from 2020 back into the 80s, which is funny because no one has cell phones or internet. Definitely entertaining! Thank you to the publishers, author, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you for the ARC. I just wasn't a big fan of this book. I did enjoy the time travel portion and getting to relive a little of the '80s. I liked the daughter/father interaction and them talking about the differences of their times. Some of the book felt rushed while other part drug on.

This was a fun time travel book that included a jewelry heist. Tori lives in March 2020 and travels back to March of 1980 when she learns of a jewelry heist, where the Desert Sun is stolen, that ruins her family as her grandfather is found guilty. When Tori meets her dad as his teenage self, she learns teenage Bobby is more fun than grown up Bobby. Learning that preventing this heist will send Tori back home, she wants to do it more so to save her family. I loved the family aspect of this book and the 1980s nostalgia. It started off slow, but once I got about halfway, I couldn't put it down and figure out how everything falls into place.

3.5 stars
Middle-grade/YA time travel heist novel. A present-day teen finds herself back in the 1980s with her father as a teenager. They have to work together to try and prevent a jewel heist that has a lot of repercussions, even in Tori's time. I liked the father/daughter teens and how they try to understand each other. And I always love the culture shock aspect of time travel novels. I didn't think the author did such a good job of making the time travel itself very plausible.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

A fun time travel heist with the added benefit of a peek into the cultural past. Being an 80s baby myself, I remember a lot of things Tori was aghast at - smoking in restaurants, pay phones & encyclopedias. It was interesting seeing the juxtaposition of New York then and now.
I did figure out the twist pretty early on, but still enjoyed the read.

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. First, all the good stuff, the time travel concept was really neat and I love the friendship/relationship between Tori and her teenage dad, where they get to have a friendship. How the scandal unfolded and their involvement was a wild ride! Really enjoyable on a lot of levels. I also love all the explanations and bits about Judaism, you don't see that much at all in novels and I appreciate it.

Now, I really HATE that this novel starts and Tori isn't calling her parents mom and dad, but by their first names. It was annoying. In addition, I could never figure out who this novel is for? YA? Because there is a lot of swearing and sort of adult content and then at times Tori's chapters sound way more like a middle school speaking then a young adult. The flow throughout the novel, when it comes to all that, is just a bit jarring and makes the novel a bit frustrating.

Thank you to Get Red PR and the authors for the free book. These opinions are my own.

This is such a fascinating time travel and heist novel. It focuses on a 15-year-old who travels back in time to when her father was 15. And she needs to stop his father from being implicated in a diamond heist.

There are a lot of moving pieces and plots. I was able to guess the twists and still found them quite enjoyable. My favorite parts were reflecting on the differences from 1980 to now. Watching Tori trying to literally navigate a world pre smart phones was fascinating (even if I lived through that world as well). I also really appreciated the Jewish representation.

I was invested in the family and the museum gems. And I wanted to read a great resolution. This is a fun adventure with some wonderful reflection of father/daughter relationships.

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.