Review: Timeless by Alexandra Monir

Hardcover, 304 pages

Released: January 11, 2011

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 9780385738385

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.

My Rating: 3.5 / 5

My Thoughts:

The author does a great job of ensuring the reader does not get lost in all of the past vs present experiences. We witness the horse drawn carriages from the early 1900's, the club scene in the roaring twenties, downtown NYC without all the shops and the mansions...oh how beautiful they must have been! The use of music throughout the story was the perfect additon, not only for the plot development but also in making the time period really come alive. It was the setting that really captivated me and kept me going.

Have you ever read a book that had you frustrated? Sadly, Timeless did this for me. It had all the elements of a great read: time travel, dreams, music and of course love but I found the writing a little weak, almost ackward/cheesey at times. Many conversations that take place were short and choppy, making it hard to really feel the connection with characters (and this is a love story). As I was reading, I kept wondering how the author was going explain the impact of going back in time and altering the past, something the main character finally questions herself with 25 pages left. I was most surprised at the abrupt ending and huge twist thrown at the reader. Had this book contained a little more (it is on the short side at under 300 pages), I would have been more left more satisfied, rather then bitter...did it really need to be cut off, "to be continued"? Having said all this, am I going to read book two? Probably, there is great potential in the story!