Waking in Time by Angie Stanton
| Waking in Time by Angie Stanton | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Jill Murphy
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| Summary: Enjoyable time-travel romance with a root in the author's real family history. Nicely told with a mystery to fathom. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 368 | Date: March 2017 |
| Publisher: Curious Fox | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 1782025936 | |
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Abbi has had a hard year. Her beloved grandmother died and, before the grief really had a chance to settle, Abbi has left the safety and security of home to start college in Wisconsin. And it really does feel as though she has left the two most important people in her life - mother and grandmother - behind. But it's hard to forget and somehow the past keeps hold of Abbi's mind. And then, one morning, she wakes in her dorm room to find herself transported back in time to 1983. And it won't be the first time-shift she experiences. As Abbi jumps further and further back in time, she meets Will. Time is pushing Will forwards, not backwards and his journey began in 1927.
Can Abbi and Will ever find their way to the time they belong in? They'll need the help of Professor Smith, for starters, and they'll also need to solve a very important mystery...
Waking in Time is an enjoyable time slip romance with a plot full of family secrets. It's an absorbing and fun read. It's a romantic mystery and not a science fiction story, so the science of time travel is sketchy and, frankly, a little bit daft. But we don't mind that because the romance is very sweet and the book is full of lovely and accurate historical detail - about clothes and music and social mores. Stanton also includes some political background - the Vietnam War, for example - so the time periods Abbi visits feel vivid and real.
I liked Abbi. She's a nice girl and a little sheltered, as her life has been dominated by the two very close relationships with her mother and grandmother. But she's open and friendly and also determined and courageous. She tackles the crisis of time travel head on and is not afraid to ask questions and investigate. The supporting cast of characters is also pretty well-rounded, although I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Will. I particularly loved Professor Smith, whose full involvement in the story isn't revealed until the very end
An author's note at the end of the novel - don't read it until you have finished the book if you don't want any spoilers! - reveals that the kernel of the mystery was inspired by some genealogical research in Stanton's family. Without giving anything away, I'll just say that it made me smile and look at the book with added affection. You can see that Stanton put a lot of herself into this story.
Waking in Time will find an appreciative audience in fans of romantic stories with mysteries attached. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The obvious comparison is with The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger but other time slip novels intended for YA readers include Dark Thread by Pauline Chandler and The Glittering Eye by LJ Adlington.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Waking in Time by Angie Stanton at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Waking in Time by Angie Stanton at Amazon.com.
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