Author: Shay WestRelease Date: June 17th, 2014
Publisher: Booktrope
Genre(s): YA Science Fiction
Pages: 214
*Book one of a series*
Summary (Goodreads):
To make matters worse, Alex is haunted by images of strange girls reflected in her mirror. It’s bad enough juggling homework, a relentless bully, boys, and a deadbeat dad; now, she must save the world from an evil presence hell-bent on changing the past – and our futures. Who knew her A+ in history was going to be this important?
Review:
**Thank you so much to the author and publisher for sending me a copy of this book! **
The biggest problem I had with this book is with its main character, Alex. She's not a very likeable girl; she's shallow, whiny, and a little bit dumb. She also has "The Chosen One" complex (which is just briefly mentioned at the end... so I'm withholding judgment there). But oddly enough, if you take her out of the equation (and the insta-love... ARGH), the plot of the story is interesting.
But anyways.
I'll mention the good first. The plot is interesting. It's not particularly unique (time traveling, saving the world), but the details and the historical aspect gives the plot its own color. I absolutely love history, and so I could relate with Alex on that level (the one and only thing). (Btw, I was total fangirling over the Book of Kells- even if it was brief. ) Drifter and his master also intrigue me, and throughout the book, I was trying to figure how each historical event related to one another (only to find that the book ended before that was revealed. ARGGGH).
... And that's about it.
Now for the bad parts:
The book has waaay too much telling rather than showing. It makes the dialogue and the general flow of the book stilted/awkward, making the book a little bit "clunky" to read (not sure if this is the right word choice).
And finally... Alex.
The insta-love game is strong with this one. I honestly don't want to delve too much into it (it'll make me rage all over again... > . < ), but she literally falls in love with every "good looking" guy she sets her eyes upon. (!!!)
. 
And her relationship with Beau is absolutely RIDICULOUS. She KNOWS (SHE SAYS IT LIKE A GAZILLION TIMES) he's just using her for her brains, and she would get annoyed for like a split second before melting under his" handsome smile." (This would happen again, and again, and again...) She even states, in not so many words, that she wants a guy like him to validate her own worth.
Um no.
Alex also sounds like an elementary school kid even though she's suppose to be in high school. She's very materialistic and selfish, and she blames her mom for everything (then turns right around, promises to be better to her mom, and then blames her mom again). I understand that she's coming from a tough spot (her dad left her, etc), but that still doesn't excuse her behavior, and IT'S NOT HER MOM'S FAULT. I actually sympathized more with her mom than with Alex- until her mom tells her to ignore her bullies and to make light of it by laughing it off. DUUUUDE. She was being bullied with inappropriate photo-shopped pictures. This is not something to be laughed off and ignored.
Also, all her friends think she's the greatest thing ever. I thought it was weird how random people would just come up to her and become instant friends with her. That's not realistic- but then again, this book is about time-traveling soooo.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Her friends aren't so bad though; in fact, I sort of like them better than Alex (I say sort of, since they aren't that developed...). Both Catelyn and Beau are just bad characters. I disliked them not only because of their actions, but also because they were one-dimensional and complete cardboard. They were just there to be there.
Final Thoughts: I was really hoping Alex would change by the end of book (that would have been AWESOME character development), but alas, that wasn't so. In a nutshell: Enjoyed the plot, disliked the character (s).
Thanks for reading!:)
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
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