Author: Andy Gavin
Date Published: December 17, 2012
Publisher: Mascherato (Indie)
Source: ARC
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★★
Links:
Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Book Information:
Charlie’s the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, even his own mother can’t remember his name. And girls? The invisible man gets more dates.
As if that weren’t enough, 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. In fact, there’s this girl, another time traveler, who not only remembers his name, but might even like him! Unfortunately, Yvaine carries more than her share of baggage: like a baby boy and at least two ex-boyfriends! One’s famous, the other’s murderous, and Charlie doesn’t know who is the bigger problem.
When one kills the other — and the other is nineteen year-old Ben Franklin — things get really crazy. Can their relationship survive? Can the future? Charlie and Yvaine are time travelers, they can fix this — theoretically — but the rules are complicated and the stakes are history as we know it.
And there's one more wrinkle: he can only travel into the past, and she can only travel into the future!
Review:
Are you looking for adventure? Pick this one up!
Whoever said that indie-published books aren't well-packaged, well-written and well-made probably hasn't read and seen the details inside the pages of Andy Gavin's Untimed.
First off, let's take a second to admire the beautiful cover. Hee. It was photoshopped by the Author himself, mind you. I read it on the very last page of the book, on the Author's Acknowledgements. And yes, just to set the record straight, I read about Authors, too. It helps in understanding how the book and story came to life.
Second, I love the illustrations that were painstakingly arranged inside the pages of the book! It's perfect for young readers, and it really shows just how much work was put into this book.
Third, awesome adventure for the storyline. I love time-traveling stories, especially ones which take the reader on a whirlwind of situations that test the character's courage and wit. With that said, I really liked Charlie as a protagonist. He's resourceful and a bit naive, but he's also smart and quick on his feet.
I also love how the Tocks were designed! And the plot-device where they cannot change the status of things such as moving a door or something was really creative. It was one of the things that gave Charlie an advantage.
The premise and the way the story was delivered was also fascinating. When I was reading, I felt like I was in the middle of a history lesson with a few twists that made everything a bit more interesting. It was fun reading about Benjamin Franklin, too!
The only thing that I didn't approve of in this book is the part about Yvaine. True, her personality and background was well-suited for a flawed but believable and interesting character, but I don't really approve her relationship with Charlie. At fifteen years old, I think Charlie is just deeply infatuated with her. And the parts where they were behaving intimately was a little uncomfortable for me. (Yes, I am a little conservative.)
All in all, this book is a solid adventure packed in 385 pages! Perfect for people looking for engrossing reads and very interesting characters!
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