This is the second book in a trilogy of what is shaping up to be a very, very good YA fantasy. Or is it sci fi? (timetravel) or is it steampunk (mystical machines.) Any way you categorize it, it’s delightful.
Gwen is an ordinary teenage English girl, except for her time travel gene, which makes her have to travel back in time for several hours each day. Her family take this for granted, in that many women of the Montrose line have been time travellers, but they didn’t expect Gwen to be the time traveller, but rather her cousin Charlotte, who has been trained for it her whole life. This is a great setup because it creates a story in which Gwen is both not prepared for and completely prepared for her adventures. She’s used like a puppet or catspaw by the secret society who hopes she will fulfill a long-held prophecy and close the circle, at which point something mysterious and wonderful is supposed to happen, only no one will explain to Gwen exactly what that is.
In the first book, we are told that Gwen can see and speak to and hear the dead, and she has a ghost she sees on a regular basis. In this book, she makes the acquaintance of a gargoyle ghost, who adds a note of levity to the seriousness of the cloak-and-dagger missions, as well as giving her a slight advantage because of his ability to spy. Talking animal sidekicks can be done poorly, but I rather liked this addition.
Mostly, this book is just like the first one. It continues the plot of “what is really going on with the Guardians” and “Does Gideon really love Gwen.” Ah yes, the romance. Absolutely adorable. Lots of drama, kissing, and horrible misunderstandings.
Read the first book in the series, and if you like it, you’ll certainly like this one too. This is what YA is supposed to be.
