Member Reviews
Although this book was very well written with unique characters I didn’t wind up liking the story and characters.
ARC Copy...Eventually did figure out what I was reading was a sequel of sorts but didn't feel lost cause it felt like a stand alone and important thing for reader to know is the "water crisis" project Athena caused and now protagonist has to prevent even if unsure if she can change the past. Yes time physics here is very fluid and twisty in nature as one would expect time to be.
I am not quite sure how to rate this book. In my opinion, the author did a very good job regarding the intricacies of time travel. This is something that can get confusing very easily, so a story that can keep time traveling coherent is worthy of praise.
On the other hand, there were some aspects of the plot that I believe could have been executed better.
I would have preferred a bit more world building and more details as to how exactly the world was influenced by the global disaster. Also, I think interpersonal relationships could have been a bit more nuanced, as I found it a bit difficult to relate to the characters.
I also found myself questioning the actions of the characters, for example, why would Marella trust Belinda early on when everything points that Belinda has to reason to be truthful? I blamed Marella's age on this and felt she was more naive than I would have expected after dealing with Aguageddon. I suppose because of reasons such as this one as well as the age of the protagonist, the story read more like a YA speculative fiction, and I think it could possibly be beneficial to market the book as such.
The book was fast-paced, which is normally exactly how I love them, however here I thought it partially lacked substance. For example, for most of the book there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to a) how the time travel happens b) why at these certain times c) why Marella travels to these specific, seemingly random moments in time. I guess I would have preferred more of a build up to the actual time traveling and made it occur a bit less frequently to focus on the importance of the present. It seemed that many puzzle pieces were presented, and they didn't begin to connect until very late in the game. I would have preferred a slower build up with more clues as to what's going on.
One of my favorite aspects was the presence of a mysterious fog, and I feel this should have been dramatized more and made more creepy. Or specifically shown on more examples how creepy it could be.
All in all, this is a decent book, but I didn't capture me as much as I had hoped it would.
A very imaginative science fiction story which packs a punch! I have not read the first book featuring Marella but had no difficulty reading this as a standalone story (I do intend to read ‘The Climate Machine’ shortly).
The story starts with a disaster in the US referred to as the Aguageddon, where water was removed from the Earth. HemisNorth, CEO Belinda Wavely, launched Project Athena which was to reduce CO2 from the atmosphere but ended up removing water and a billion people died. Marella with help from a few others shut down Project Athena at its primary site in Wisdom Island, and the water returned after 10 days of turmoil. HemisNorth denies this and the explanation provided is that of concurrent alignment, a rare cosmic event which led to this. Marella stays in a tree house with her mother and sister Brielle. She is in love with Noah and hopes a build a life with him. After her recent adventure, Marella finds herself time travelling for short periods, and it is completely out of her control. She finds herself going to a restaurant where her parents met, meets colleagues Len and Eshana at a crucial point of Project Athena’s development, at a park shortly before her dad died, at a college event, and during her journey to dismantle Project Athena, among others. This seems to be the result of her being zapped by a bolt from Project Athena.
Her mother, sister and Noah all disbelieve that she could be time travelling. They are stunned though when in one instance they see multiple versions of her together at their place. One Marella asks them “What is the shape of time?”. Another Marella is very ill and choking – they rush to save her, and yet another Marella watches with concern prodding them to help the other Marella. There is also a fog which appears on and off and Marella realizes can kill. This makes her believe either that there is some after-effect of Project Athena still lurking or another site somewhere. Belinda invites her to work at HemisNorth, though is dismissive of her accounts of being able to time travel, attributing that to hallucinations. Marella wonders if she can direct and use her time travel to prevent all the bad things which have happened from taking place. A man in his 30s, Hadrian Elkerman comes to meet her claiming to be a time philosopher who can help her.
This is not one of the usual simplistic time travel stories. Great level of attention has been paid to ensure that the major time travel episodes tie up well. The convergence which builds gradually to explain the multiple Marellas in one scene is among the best I have read. The story weaves in many time theories without getting too theoretical – Block Universe, Selective Attention/Spotlight Theory, Growing Block Universe and Time loops/Alternate Timelines. Up to a point, the book seems to lean a certain way but delivers a big twist towards the end. While the happenings are all tied up, the ‘How’ is not – and Marella and you as a reader both wonder how what happened at the end came about. It was a good way to finish though – our curious minds would become dull unless we have a few things to think and speculate about! I would have liked the relationships in the book to be better developed and that is about the only improvement I can think of.
If science fiction is a genre you like, this is an excellent story. I hope there are more books featuring Marella, though it is not easy from where the story ends.
Much recommended!
This was an interesting time travel modern day story. It was a nonlinear timeline, and time space is all different in this books universe. I think it was super entertaining and read like a thriller which was great!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
Thank you Susan Whiting Kemp, Netgalley and Treble House Publishing for this free ARC in exchange for a review.
This was a tight time travel thriller which held my attention, so I would read more by this author.
Even though this was book two in a series, and that's not made evident until after you start reading, this also works as a standalone.