(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read another book by this same author, I was happy to have won a copy of this book. I thought the concept was a really intriguing one and I also really liked the front cover.

I’ve read a lot of apocalyptic-themed books, but I thought this one was an original concept. I wasn’t especially keen on Adrien to begin with, but I did think that a lot of his actions and reactions made sense. He might not have been a conventional hero, but he was a realistic character.

I liked seeing how Hannah was affected by the trees to start with and how her views seemed to change and evolve through the course of the book. I thought it was good to see her affected by actions she’d taken and that she had to struggle with the consequences. However, there were more than a few characters who I found it difficult to understand their motivation, even when they explained it.

I wasn’t especially sold on much of the romance, but that was also because many of the interactions between the characters were glossed over, or summarised in the narration. However, I did find the emotions between Seb and Hiroko more believable than Hannah and Eoin. The progression between the former seemed more natural than the latter.

I thought it was good to see the different reactions people had to the devastation caused by the trees. It was interesting to see how some people came to believe they were above any kind of morals and that the lack of police meant they didn’t have to obey any ethical law.

I thought that the concept of the Whisperers was an intriguing one and it was interesting to see how different people were affected by seeing them and the tree. However, by the end of the book, I was a bit disappointed there weren’t many clear answers. I would have liked to know why.

There was a lot of tension in this book, but there were different types. Even though it dragged a little in places, I didn’t really find myself getting bored and I enjoyed being able to learn more about the history of the characters.

Particularly towards the end of the book, I noticed a lot of glossing over of important events. I would have liked to see those expanded upon a bit.

While I couldn’t say I had a favourite character, I did like Hiroko a lot more than the others, even if I did feel her priorities were a bit skewed. And if there’s a sequel to this book, I’d like to see more of her and Seb’s journey, as I thought Seb’s evolution as a character was particularly interesting.

Review

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I liked the idea of having an organisation devoted to viewing historical events to learn from them… though I would have liked a bit more detail about how Lincoln’s time differed so much from Hank’s.

I was somewhat confused about how the organisation realised there were problems with the timeline being changed. I felt like I’d missed quite a bit of the background to this world and even though there was a short prequel to this, I felt there could have been a bit more background provided, as well as some more details about the characters and their history together.

I did like learning about Tilly as a character and it was interesting to see her interactions with Hank. I especially liked the fact that Tilly was so obviously intelligent and even though I didn’t know much about her history, it was good that she was so strong and spirited… even if I did think she should have been more willing to work with Hank earlier on.

I would have liked the opportunity to see more of the secondary characters, as a lot of those I was able to meet were either good or bad. I would have liked to get to know Ida and Louis a bit more… but I did think it was interesting to see aspects of the lives Ida and Tilly lived. It was good to see something of what it was like for them to live as servants in that kind of historical time… and it was also intriguing to see how small changes in the timeline could have had far-reaching effects.

There was a good sense of urgency through this book and I did care about what Hank was trying to do. It was also good to see him have the opportunity to interact with his hero, even if he did get a bit starstruck. And I thought it was good to see that he made the right choice in the end.

I would probably read more books by this author at some point in the future. It would be good to see what will happen to the characters… and hopefully get more information on the time period Hank belonged to.

I’m a part-time writer who would love to quit her day job and become a full-time writer. Tea and chocolate fuel me so that I can write at night and on the weekends whenever I can find the time.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having been a fan of this author since reading Bitten, I was immediately interested in reading the start of this next series. Though having no connection with the other series’ by this same author, I still liked the blurb when I read it and I did find the book fairly easy to read… even though I didn’t really like the constant switching between first and third person. I found it rather distracting to keep coming out of Olivia’s head and then going back with knowledge she really shouldn’t have.

I was very intrigued by the idea of a woman finding out she was adopted and that her parents had been convicted of being serial killers. There were a lot of tense scenes in this book, even though I didn’t really have any answers or real explanation by the time I reached the end of this first one.

It was interesting to get a glimpse of Olivia’s volunteer work before the main plot of the story started. I did feel that the journalists in this book were painted in a very poor light as a whole… and I spent most of the book with a strong dislike of Gabriel. Even though I did find out bits and pieces of his past, it didn’t endear him to me… and the parts of the book written from his perspective made him come across as kind of psychotic. At the same time, I did find the conflicts between him and Olivia intriguing, especially when it came to her refusal to fall back on her parents’ money.

It was interesting to have glimpses of Olivia’s early history mixed in with the strange dreams she was having, but I was a bit on edge in regards to the fact most of the people in Cainsville seemed to know a whole lot more than they were telling.

I did like learning about the omens, but I felt that some of the things were repeated too many times. For instance, it wasn’t necessary to be told repeatedly that poppies were a death omen. I felt that a lot of subtlety was lost… and possibly that there was too much going on in one book. However, I did enjoy seeing Olivia adopt the cat.

I wasn’t really sold on Ricky as a character, but I didn’t like Gabriel or James, either. I’ve ordered book two… but ideally, I’d like to see less romance and more character development.

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I read the blurb of this book, I thought it sounded quite intriguing, even though it did make me think of the Outlander series.

While I don’t know a great deal about the historical figure of William Wallace, I did think he was a more unique person from history for Eva to meet. However, I didn’t feel that I got to know Eva very well.

I did think it was interesting that Eva was not only from Scotland in the modern-day, but that she had a major interest in history generally and, more specifically, in William Wallace. On the other hand… I did wonder why she was so willing to be away from her own time. Even though she was clearly interested, I had the feeling she had a good relationship with her parents… so it made very little sense that she didn’t even consider that she was going to be leaving them behind for so long.

I did like the opportunity to see other members of William’s rebel army and although there were a lot of secondary characters who weren’t developed, I thought it was good to see that the maturity of boys like Robbie was so completely different to the maturity of boys his age in the modern day.

I did think that William’s reactions to Eva’s belongings made a lot of sense, though I found it quite hard to really believe in their feelings for each other. Considering the time period, I felt that the relationship progressed far too quickly. Although Eva revealed bits and pieces of her past, there was very little in the way of foreshadowing and almost no culture shock.

I did find it very hard not to think of Outlander while reading this, as even though Eva was from a different time, she didn’t seem to have any problems or much questioning about what was going on. It was interesting to see that there were warnings given any time Eva came too close to changing the past… but I would have liked to get more background and if there were other time travelers.

I would have liked a more believable romance, but I did find this book entertaining to read. I don’t intend to read book two… but this one, despite some problems, was intriguing.