Reviewer: Andrea
Andy Gavin is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Untimed
Summary:
Charlie’s the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, his own mother can’t remember his name. So when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don’t take him seriously. Still, this isn’t all bad. Who needs school when you can learn about history first hand, like from Ben Franklin himself. And there’s this girl… Yvaine… another time traveler. All good. Except for the rules: boys only travel into the past and girls only into the future. And the baggage: Yvaine’s got a baby boy and more than her share of ex-boyfriends. Still, even if they screw up history — like accidentally let the founding father be killed — they can just time travel and fix it, right? But the future they return to is nothing like Charlie remembers. To set things right, he and his scrappy new girlfriend will have to race across the centuries, battling murderous machines from the future, jealous lovers, reluctant parents, and time itself.
Review:
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Describing this book is difficult. If a sci-fi novel met and married a historical one, their child would be a steampunk-romantic-dystopian young adult with mature content, and as crazy as that sounds, it absolutely works! Sci-fi and historical are my two favorite genres, so when I read the summary, I was immediately intrigued, but I was a little apprehensive about the time travel part because that stuff can become confusing quickly! In fact, I don’t even like to watch movies like Back to the Future (which is referenced in this novel by the way) because I get so frustrated. However, Gavin does a fantastic job of helping the reader learn the traveler rules right along with Charlie, and it doesn’t matter anyway because not even Charlie’s dad, Fink, who is the “expert” knows everything—which brings up another point. This is SCIENCE FICTION; everything doesn’t have to be explained, and Gavin doesn’t try to cram a lot of metaphysics and real science mumbo jumbo down your throat. He focuses on history and the relationship between Charlie and Yvaine, and that’s where the mature content comes into play. I was a bit surprised by the level of intimacy and the number of times you see it, but Gavin doesn’t go into a great deal of description, and Charlie’s feelings for Yvaine are so strong that these scenes come across as quite tender.
The descriptions and figurative language are fantastic. The drawings are a unique idea not often seen in YA literature. I found myself hoping for a drawing with each page turn. My only issue was with some of the “timely” (pun intended) references, meaning Gavin’s allusions to current events or pop culture. When an author chooses to make references, he/she runs the risk of becoming outdated. I noted several times when Charlie references things many teen readers wouldn’t understand. Charlie is very intelligent, and there is nothing wrong with challenging a YA reader’s mind, make them actually look something up, but some of Charlie’s would probably be too obscure for teens. He makes references to Hanna-Barbera and Technicolor. Some of my ninth graders can’t even tell you their street address; I seriously doubt they would understand these terms, and while, like Charlie, I love The Princess Bride, I can tell you from first-hand experience most have never seen it.
4.5 stars
Author Bio:
