I’ve heard such great things about Timebound that I was surprised to feel kind of… ambivalent, I guess, toward the whole storyline. This book has been on my radar for years, and almost every review I’ve seen has been practically glowing. Even the negative reviews aren’t so negative. So when I picked it up, I was expecting to be wowed. And I just wasn’t. This is a thing that happens with hyped books. I get so excited, build them up in my mind, and when they’re good, but not amazing, it hits me so much harder than if it had happened with a book of never heard of before.
Anyway, let’s get to the review.
Prudence Katherine Pierce-Keller (PKPK, or, more commonly, Kate) possesses a very strong time travel gene, and is therefore asked by her grandmother, a former time traveler from the future, to correct the past that Kate’s grandfather has taken off course. Confused yet? It’ll make more sense soon.
Kate has always known that something was different about her, even if she didn’t know what it was. Sometimes she’d just get this awful feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn’t explain more than that. The doctors tools her it was anxiety, panic attacks, but she didn’t think so. Turns out she was sensing anomalies in the timeline – every time her grandfather changed something major, Kate could feel it. Without training, it affected her more than it would the average time traveler. Now, with her grandmother’s training, she not only feels better, but she can do something to put the world back to normal… But what is normal?
Let’s start with the good.
Kate is a strong, teenage, female protagonist. She’s smart. She’s a quick learner. She can take care of herself. She has the drive and the ability to do what needs to be done. Kate fits right into her role as a time traveler, improvising and thinking on her feet as she travels to the past to hopefully set history on its correct course. Even as things go wrong and the unexpected happens, Kate is able to save herself and those she cares about.
But…
The love triangle? It was unnecessary, and more than a little creepy. Kate’s implicit trust of just about everybody got on my nerves, and I was surprised that it didn’t come back to bite her. I can’t imagine that everybody would be so accepting of time travel! I wonder if, in the later books, someone Kate trusted will betray her.
The story also dragged a bit. Nothing too awful, but based on what I’d heard, I expected better. I’ll read the second book since I already have it, and I’m intrigued about Saul’s plan and how Kate will counteract it. I’ve heard the second book is better anyway, but we’ll have to see.
Final rating: ★★★☆☆
The Bibliophagist 