Rating: 3/5 stars
Genre: young adult, science fiction
Pages: 256
Publisher: Matador
Pub Date: April 25, 2018
After their parents are taken by the Nephilites, Claire, Gerald and Wally, are brought forward into the present by Axolear to fight this invading alien force. Now, in order to save their parents and the human race, the three of them are going to have to work together. But do they dare trust Axolear? How can they know what the right thing to do is?
This book offered a really interesting take on time travel, I loved the addition of aliens and how the Nephilites aren’t your standard aliens (this almost makes them more terrifying). And I really liked the idea of a story where kids had to rescue their parents. But overall, it just fell a little flat.
The dialogue in this book could use some improvement. Given that these are teenagers, they really didn’t speak like they were, (even accounting for the time difference). Rather the speech was very formal and often awkward. The dialogue, in general was overly-expository and featured some lengthy as-you-know type conversations. It just made for awkward reading, especially as I watched these kids struggle to convince someone of something, or literally talk themselves through a problem.
Another pitfall, was that it wasn’t very clear why these particular kids were chosen. If there’s a group brought together, it’s usually because they all have some unique skill that brings something to the table, but not for these kids. For the most part, they lacked characterization, and though they sometimes made catastrophic mistakes, it felt like these mistakes were made only for the convenience of the plot. Otherwise, there weren’t clear personalities for the kids, and I would have really liked to see some more solid bonding between them, and even more solid bonding between them and their parents. I did enjoy the relationship between Claire and her dad, but the other parent-child relationships felt a little under-developed.
Definitely some interesting world-building here, and I liked the back ground on Axolear’s species. The powers that the kids get are also interesting, and it was great to see them become integral to the plot. I guess most of all, I would’ve enjoyed less explainy dialogue and more character development.
I’d recommend to someone who enjoys reading young adult and is looking for a fairly fast-paced time-travel story.
Note: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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