desertcart.com: Timebound: 9781477848159: Walker, Rysa: Books Review: Great YA Time Story - Timebound(The Chronos Files)By Rysa Walker I like this novel because for me it was a sit down and start running kind of novel. It has an interesting protagonist thrust into an interesting situation. (One that requires the suspension of some reality.) Of course it's a time travel novel, which are becoming a dime a dozen, so it's greatest strengths are the characters in the story. Time travel plots tend to all end up the same with a lot of potential for paradoxes and parallel or alternate worlds spawned from careless actions when traveling in time.(This is why we should never go back in time.) There seems to be a bit of controversy involved in this story and part of the premise and I will try to stay away from that because I did not see what some people seem to see. What I loved about this novel is it did something that few recent novels-new novelists-have been able to do. I was so interested in the story itself and the direction the plot was going and my investment in the character that I wanted to read faster than my usual pace, because I wanted to get answers to all the questions my mind was asking. This could in a way be a detriment because it could lead to scanning, which is just plain evil. I reigned it in and read slow enough to keep things in focus. What I loved next was anomalous for me in that it was the love story because it's sort of split and almost fractured. The main character ends up with two interesting love interest; one that is here and now and real the other not quite so much. I don't usually gravitate to romances. But I was really interested in the details of the building of the crisis which was the series of time-quake like events that were leading to paradoxes and the explanation for how they protect themselves from the effect. Another interesting thing that doesn't usually happen in my reading is that I got to chapter 17 and thought-I could almost be happy even had it ended then-yet there are 24 chapters and we really haven't done much in time travel by then. It wasn't that I wanted it to end it was just that it could have worked as an end if the author had wanted to leave things hanging.(A number of recent stories I've read have ended worse than this would have if it had ended at chapter 17 and I would have been interested in purchasing the next novel.) So big bonus for me because we got the whole 7 chapters of time travel. What I liked about the time travel part was that the bulk of it was a single time episode as far as the protagonist is concerned. (There was one character that did describe the sort of time bounce effect where he'd done several recurring trips before success.) For the most part this did not involve a lot of time bouncing which is nice for a change. One thing that I did find a little odd is that someone is selling a 2.99 review of this novel, which may have fueled some of the rougher reviews. I am not sure if this book requires an in-depth analysis that the reader should pay for. The author did do a lot of research for the time travel part so perhaps that's what that review book is about.(I have not yet decided if I really need to go there so I don't know what value that review has.) If you love romances and time travel novels you should love this one. If you want to get involved with the controversy that's up to you. I found it to be a thoroughly engrossing read that I couldn't put down. I definitely want to read more that comes from Rysa Walker. Review: YET ANOTHER RIDICULOUSLY POSITIVE REVIEW - Summary: Prudence Katherine Pierce-Keller (she likes to be called Kate) is a relatable 16 year old girl dealing with her parent's divorce and what has been wrongly diagnosed as panic attacks, living a fairly normal life until her grandmother drops into the scene from out of nowhere with what seems to be a magical amulet and a crazy story that both raise more questions in Kate's mind than answers. As the book progresses, all of those questions lead to more questions but along the way she learns about her grandother's mysterious past, and a threat to her own existance is posed-- which Kate herself must thwart with her natural talent, quick intellect, and martial arts skills (She has a brown belt in Karate. In the timeline that she actually exists in, anyways). During her adventure she makes the acquiantance of two young gentleman-- one from our present day and one from the past. The potential for romance is there for both of these guys-- basically they Can Get It. Their relationships with Kate unfold very differently. However, both have a pretty significant impact on the story and get their action moments with her. READER, IF YOU DO NOT LIKE LOVE TRIANGLES, PLEASE STILL GIVE THIS BOOK A CHANCE. I don't even like love triangles (I am very exhausted of the whole trend and ready for something else as a main emotional plot) and I kind of like this one. If you want to know why, keep on reading. TLDR Summary: In this YA novel about a teenage girl from a time-traveling family, a relatable, funny, and deep main character is tasked with going back in time to save her grandmother so she and her mother can actually exist and there are also two really cute guys and a crazy cult and the threat of an apocalypse and..... wow there is no way to TLDR this. Just read the book okay. Review: I literally just finished reading this book a couple of minutes ago and I immediately jumped on desertcart to post a review. I'm still processing how I feel about this book so if it seems a little haphazardly put together I apologize. First of all, let's talk about Kate. I really, really love Kate, for mainly one reason-- she's very relatable. A lot of times the line between a relatable main character and one that you kind of just slide yourself into can be blurred (example: Bella Swan. I used to be like YEAH BELLA SWAN SHE IS AWESOME because I guess I inserted myself into her place. This is not what I'm talking about when I say relatable.) She's relatable because she has normal problems. Her parents are divorced (it seems to be kind of recent? I don't remember the details exactly) and she is shuttled back and forth between them. I know from experience that having that kind of uprooted sense of home is not fun. She has a history of what was diagnosed as panic attacks-- even though we find out something special about those, and they are not actually panic attacks-- and I think it's really really cool to see a main character with a problem like that instead of just the "I don't fit in but I'm perfect" kind of thing. Another thing I love about this book is the world building. Yes, Kate is a normal girl living in our time, but the future that is described in this book is really really awesome. I don't want to give too much away but the world building is spot on! Now, let's get down to business and talk about this love triangle. Dude, I really hate love triangles. I initially was going to say something along the lines of "this is my only real criticism of this novel" but then I thought about it more and... this love triangle is just DIFFERENT than all of the other YA love triangles you see floating around. It's because two seperate Kates from two seperate timelines have been in love two seperate times. But, our Kate is the one that has to deal with this fall-out. The more I think about it, the more it seems like this is the only kind of love triangle that really makes sense. Other YA love triangles are like this: Dude likes girl and girl likes dude back, but there is another dude that likes the girl too and she could totally see herself with him and one of them is a more healthy choice but the other one is soooooo passionate oOoOoOoOo~~ DUMB. This love triangle is way less dumb and, for once, actually justifiable by the story instead of just there to add unnecessary drama. I was about to explain it in detail, but I think you should find out for yourself how it's different and kind of awesome (: You know what? Don't even think about it like a love triangle. It's a love river that diverges into two different love streams and they are both awesome and fun to kayak in. Or something. Bottom Line: Well thought out characters, relationships, and universe make this page-turner of a YA time-travel novel enjoyable and satisfying on all levels. Recommended for people that like YA adventure, time-travel tropes, and everything else that is good and right in the world!
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,183,625 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #11 in Teen & Young Adult 19th Century United States Historical Fiction #52 in Teen & Young Adult Time Travel Fiction #3,560 in Teen & Young Adult Literature & Fiction |
| Book 1 of 3 | The Chronos Files |
| Customer Reviews | 4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars (14,618) |
| Dimensions | 5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches |
| Grade level | 7 - 12 |
| ISBN-10 | 1477848150 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1477848159 |
| Item Weight | 2.31 pounds |
| Language | English |
| Print length | 374 pages |
| Publication date | January 1, 2014 |
| Publisher | Skyscape |
| Reading age | 13 - 18 years |
J**D
Great YA Time Story
Timebound(The Chronos Files)By Rysa Walker I like this novel because for me it was a sit down and start running kind of novel. It has an interesting protagonist thrust into an interesting situation. (One that requires the suspension of some reality.) Of course it's a time travel novel, which are becoming a dime a dozen, so it's greatest strengths are the characters in the story. Time travel plots tend to all end up the same with a lot of potential for paradoxes and parallel or alternate worlds spawned from careless actions when traveling in time.(This is why we should never go back in time.) There seems to be a bit of controversy involved in this story and part of the premise and I will try to stay away from that because I did not see what some people seem to see. What I loved about this novel is it did something that few recent novels-new novelists-have been able to do. I was so interested in the story itself and the direction the plot was going and my investment in the character that I wanted to read faster than my usual pace, because I wanted to get answers to all the questions my mind was asking. This could in a way be a detriment because it could lead to scanning, which is just plain evil. I reigned it in and read slow enough to keep things in focus. What I loved next was anomalous for me in that it was the love story because it's sort of split and almost fractured. The main character ends up with two interesting love interest; one that is here and now and real the other not quite so much. I don't usually gravitate to romances. But I was really interested in the details of the building of the crisis which was the series of time-quake like events that were leading to paradoxes and the explanation for how they protect themselves from the effect. Another interesting thing that doesn't usually happen in my reading is that I got to chapter 17 and thought-I could almost be happy even had it ended then-yet there are 24 chapters and we really haven't done much in time travel by then. It wasn't that I wanted it to end it was just that it could have worked as an end if the author had wanted to leave things hanging.(A number of recent stories I've read have ended worse than this would have if it had ended at chapter 17 and I would have been interested in purchasing the next novel.) So big bonus for me because we got the whole 7 chapters of time travel. What I liked about the time travel part was that the bulk of it was a single time episode as far as the protagonist is concerned. (There was one character that did describe the sort of time bounce effect where he'd done several recurring trips before success.) For the most part this did not involve a lot of time bouncing which is nice for a change. One thing that I did find a little odd is that someone is selling a 2.99 review of this novel, which may have fueled some of the rougher reviews. I am not sure if this book requires an in-depth analysis that the reader should pay for. The author did do a lot of research for the time travel part so perhaps that's what that review book is about.(I have not yet decided if I really need to go there so I don't know what value that review has.) If you love romances and time travel novels you should love this one. If you want to get involved with the controversy that's up to you. I found it to be a thoroughly engrossing read that I couldn't put down. I definitely want to read more that comes from Rysa Walker.
T**Y
YET ANOTHER RIDICULOUSLY POSITIVE REVIEW
Summary: Prudence Katherine Pierce-Keller (she likes to be called Kate) is a relatable 16 year old girl dealing with her parent's divorce and what has been wrongly diagnosed as panic attacks, living a fairly normal life until her grandmother drops into the scene from out of nowhere with what seems to be a magical amulet and a crazy story that both raise more questions in Kate's mind than answers. As the book progresses, all of those questions lead to more questions but along the way she learns about her grandother's mysterious past, and a threat to her own existance is posed-- which Kate herself must thwart with her natural talent, quick intellect, and martial arts skills (She has a brown belt in Karate. In the timeline that she actually exists in, anyways). During her adventure she makes the acquiantance of two young gentleman-- one from our present day and one from the past. The potential for romance is there for both of these guys-- basically they Can Get It. Their relationships with Kate unfold very differently. However, both have a pretty significant impact on the story and get their action moments with her. READER, IF YOU DO NOT LIKE LOVE TRIANGLES, PLEASE STILL GIVE THIS BOOK A CHANCE. I don't even like love triangles (I am very exhausted of the whole trend and ready for something else as a main emotional plot) and I kind of like this one. If you want to know why, keep on reading. TLDR Summary: In this YA novel about a teenage girl from a time-traveling family, a relatable, funny, and deep main character is tasked with going back in time to save her grandmother so she and her mother can actually exist and there are also two really cute guys and a crazy cult and the threat of an apocalypse and..... wow there is no way to TLDR this. Just read the book okay. Review: I literally just finished reading this book a couple of minutes ago and I immediately jumped on Amazon to post a review. I'm still processing how I feel about this book so if it seems a little haphazardly put together I apologize. First of all, let's talk about Kate. I really, really love Kate, for mainly one reason-- she's very relatable. A lot of times the line between a relatable main character and one that you kind of just slide yourself into can be blurred (example: Bella Swan. I used to be like YEAH BELLA SWAN SHE IS AWESOME because I guess I inserted myself into her place. This is not what I'm talking about when I say relatable.) She's relatable because she has normal problems. Her parents are divorced (it seems to be kind of recent? I don't remember the details exactly) and she is shuttled back and forth between them. I know from experience that having that kind of uprooted sense of home is not fun. She has a history of what was diagnosed as panic attacks-- even though we find out something special about those, and they are not actually panic attacks-- and I think it's really really cool to see a main character with a problem like that instead of just the "I don't fit in but I'm perfect" kind of thing. Another thing I love about this book is the world building. Yes, Kate is a normal girl living in our time, but the future that is described in this book is really really awesome. I don't want to give too much away but the world building is spot on! Now, let's get down to business and talk about this love triangle. Dude, I really hate love triangles. I initially was going to say something along the lines of "this is my only real criticism of this novel" but then I thought about it more and... this love triangle is just DIFFERENT than all of the other YA love triangles you see floating around. It's because two seperate Kates from two seperate timelines have been in love two seperate times. But, our Kate is the one that has to deal with this fall-out. The more I think about it, the more it seems like this is the only kind of love triangle that really makes sense. Other YA love triangles are like this: Dude likes girl and girl likes dude back, but there is another dude that likes the girl too and she could totally see herself with him and one of them is a more healthy choice but the other one is soooooo passionate oOoOoOoOo~~ DUMB. This love triangle is way less dumb and, for once, actually justifiable by the story instead of just there to add unnecessary drama. I was about to explain it in detail, but I think you should find out for yourself how it's different and kind of awesome (: You know what? Don't even think about it like a love triangle. It's a love river that diverges into two different love streams and they are both awesome and fun to kayak in. Or something. Bottom Line: Well thought out characters, relationships, and universe make this page-turner of a YA time-travel novel enjoyable and satisfying on all levels. Recommended for people that like YA adventure, time-travel tropes, and everything else that is good and right in the world!
A**F
This book does time travel as it should be done. That does mean that it gets confusing and complicated at times. History is altered, timelines are reset, people can disappear and appear and a grandma can be born after her grandchild. It's not easy to constantly keep up, but it's worth it to just let things happen, to just accept that things work a certain way. Because the story is really exciting and how the time traveling is used is so well done. The romance also got very very complicated and yet I was really invested. I can't wait to dive into the next two books!
F**A
This is a time travel novel. While I couldn't get my head around some of the rules and probabilities that did not detract from this incredible story at all. Waiting for another book to follow this.
J**R
This was a great read. The plot was interesting and held your attention to the last page. I love any story featuring time travel and this didn't disappoint.
R**W
I thought this was a terrific book and I can't wait to read the next one. The premise was great fun. The characters are all fully developed (even some of the secondary characters.) I cared about them all quite quickly. And the plot is wonderfully complicated (as time travel inevitably is) and moves right along. One reviewer said that he/she didn't like that the main character made a lot of bad decisions. Hey, she's 16 years old! Decision-making is not the strong suit of the breed. (Remember?) I actually thought some of her rashness was part of her charm. I should also say that this is classed as 'young adult' fiction and it's been a very long time since I was one of those, but I still enjoyed it tremendously.
M**H
Wie schon die anderen Rezensenten schreiben ist dieser Roman hervorragend recherchiert und die Orte werden bildlich beschrieben. Das Thema Zeitreise mit all seinen Komplikationen ist auch sehr schön umgesetzt und plausibel. Ab etwa der Hälfte konnte ich den Kindle auch nicht mehr aus der Hand legen. Für 1€ kann man hier absolut nichts falsch machen. Kaufen und Lesen!
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