Clockwise by Elle Strauss

November 2012, Indie
290 pages, Paberback (or ebook)

e-book copy from Author
YA

A teenage time traveler accidentally takes her secret crush back in time. Awkward.
Boy watching with her best friend would be enough excitement for fifteen year old Casey Donovan. She doesn't even mind life at the bottom of the Cambridge High social ladder, if only she didn’t have this other much bigger problem. Unscheduled trips to the nineteenth century!

When Casey gets talked into going to the Fall Dance, the unthinkable happens--she accidentally takes Nate Mackenzie, the cutest boy in the school, back in time.
Protocol pressures her to tell their 1860 hosts that he is her brother and when Casey finds she has a handsome, wealthy (and unwanted) suitor, something changes in Nate. Are those romantic sparks or is it just ‘brotherly’ protectiveness?

When they return to the present things go back to the way they were before: Casey at the bottom of the social totem pole and Nate perched on the very the top. Except this time her heart is broken. Plus, her best friend is mad, her parents are split up, and her little brother gets escorted home by the police. The only thing that could make life worse is if, by some strange twist of fate, she took Nate back to the past again.
Which of course, she does.

 
Opinion:

If I had to summarize this for Twitter it would be: Time traveling teen takes crush along for the ride to pre-Civil War America.  It was a super quick enjoyable read. While it is romance, being a YA romance it is very light on the romance end. The two characters have very hesitant interactions which I didn’t find to be overwhelming.  Mostly, you’ll be reading about Casey’s affections for Nate.

Pros:

Fast pace keeps you wondering as to what is going to happen next.  When or where is she going to trip next into the past?  I liked Casey’s character and how strong she was.  Family relations built in the book were very realistic. The high school teenage girl crushing was very well done, I could totally imagine my kid sister behaving this way.  She also had a good explanation of what Casey thought to be the trigger for her trips to the past.  Though, I wonder about the trips themselves – Time doesn’t flow at in the past and in the present. I found Casey’s thoughts on time travel and effecting the future by being in the past to be interesting.

Cons: 

The way the time traveling is introduced was too rushed for me.  It was just a few pages in and then blammo - Casey explains it herself.  It was just too ‘in your face’ with the information.  There was no lead in or smooth transition there - which I find didn’t fit well with the rest of the book. Especially, since the start of a book usually sets a precedence for the rest of it.  That in and of itself was the major drawback of this book for me – because I think it really could have been better done.  I didn’t love the cover art because it looked really flat.  The graphic itself I feel could have been improved upon if it could have been given more depth.

Based on the authors writing style that I experienced from the rest of the book I think I can expect to enjoy her future work.  

Rating: 

3/5

Pabkins

Countess of Crazy, Insane babbler, Giver of the Evil Eye, Walking Hazard Zone, Maker of Monsters, but above all Lover of Zombies and those things that are creepy crawly. Step in to my library my pretties…

Categories: 3 Stars, First, Pabkins, Review, Series, Strauss, Young Adult