They exist in two different centuries, but their love defies time
Cassandra craves drama and adventure, so the last thing she wants is to spend her summer marooned with her mother and stepfather in a snooty Massachusetts shore town. But when a dreamy stranger shows up on their private beach claiming it's his own—and that the year is 1925—she is swept into a mystery a hundred years in the making.
As she searches for answers in the present, Cassandra discovers a truth that puts their growing love—and Lawrence's life—into jeopardy. Desperate to save him, Cassandra must find a way to change history…or risk losing Lawrence forever.
I've had this book on my TBR for quite a few years and I almost forgot it existed, but once I reread that synopsis, I knew that I had to read this one soon.
Cassandra is not looking forward to spending the summer at a beach house with her mom and stepdad. She had plans of spending the summer with her friends, but now she is spending the summer either holed up in her room or dragged to snooty parties. It is when she is escaping one of these parties, and laying out alone on the beach, she runs into Lawrence. Lawrence is also escaping a party, except it turns out it's not the same one. He is escaping a party taking place in 1925. For some reason, their two times meet on this beach. Neither can go to the other time, but they are able to see and talk to one another. Cassandra's feelings for Lawrence grow and she starts to enjoy the summer, that is until her interactions with Lawrence start affecting her time, and a newspaper article from 1925 claims that Lawrence will be murder--soon.
I love reading books featuring time travel and, lately, contemporary books. This book read like a light time travel book. It didn't delve into the science of why these times were connected, they just were. In this case, I liked how it wasn't really explained. It gave the book a magical feel and it made the setting that much more atmospheric. I admit I was a little worried going into this book. I loved the concept, but I DNFed a book by this author in the past and I have a tricky time with romance in books. I really shouldn't have worried. Yes, there is a lot of focus on romance in this book and it was a bit cheesy at times, but I found myself wrapped up in this intriguing concept.
I went through this book extraordinarily fast. The time travel intrigued me, and the mystery made me fly through the pages. What really made me amazed by this book, I think, was just how easily it sucked me into this world. We have half the book taking place in modern times, a small portion taking place in 1925, and light time travel bridging the two. Within all of this was the beach, because the characters rarely leave this area, this beach felt so real. This is coming from someone who lives far far away from a beach.
Like I said, I usually have a tricky time with romance. Yeah, this book was a little more romance heavy than I prefer in books. It did make me roll my eyes a couple of times. But the romance did not ruin my experience in reading the book. Since sometimes that can break a book for me, I was glad that this one did not cause those problems. I actually liked a few of the scenes with Cassandra and Lawrence. I was also pretty surprised by the ending. [highlight to view spoiler] I've read time travel romance books in the past where at the end the girl MC falls in love with an ancestor or a reincarnation, or in some way they get together at the end. From the title, I expected a similar ending, but this book did not do that. Instead, we learn that Lawrence lived a long life and became a celebrated poet. He died before 2017 (Cassandra's time), but did find love. I really liked how this book showed them as separate individuals by the end. So many YA books show couples that believe they will be together forever, but this one shows an unusual summer romance that impacted both individuals, but they will find their forever with someone else. [end of spoiler]
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this was a very entertaining read. After I finished the last page, I was surprised to find myself in a living room, instead of in a beachside town, traveling through time. Sure, this book got pretty cheesy at times (which is the main reason why it didn't get a full four stars), but this was a great escapist read and I'm pretty glad that I picked it up.
I hereby give this book
3.5 Stars
Meaning: I liked it, but it wasn't quite amazing.
No comments :
Post a Comment