Time Travel Paranormal YA Review: Marking Time by April White

Marking Time by April White (The Immortal Descendants #1)


review copy from the author

Synopsis from Goodreads
Seventeen-year-old tagger Saira Elian can handle anything... a mother who mysteriously disappears, a stranger who stalks her around London, and even the noble English Grandmother who kicked Saira and her mother out of the family. But when an old graffiti tag in a tube station transports Saira to the 19th Century and she comes face-to-face with Jack the Ripper, she realizes she needs help after all.

Saira meets Archer, a charming student who helps her blend in as much as a tall, modern American teen can in Victorian England. He reveals the existence of the Immortals: Time, Nature, Fate, War and Death, and explains to Saira that it is possible to move between
centuries – if you are a Descendant of Time.

Saira finds unexpected friendships at a boarding school for Immortal Descendants and a complicated love with a young man from the past. But time is running out for her mother, and Saira must embrace her new identity as she hides from Archer a devastating secret about his future that may cost him his life.

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8.5/10

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 Marking Time caught me completely by surprise. Not only this is an excellent time travel story, it's a wonderful paranormal YA, and I'm not reading many of them these days because frankly I keep getting disappointed in young adult genre in general.

But never fear, my deals. Marking Time will deliver a spunky, serious and very sensible young heroine, a lot of adventures and a pretty believable story of attraction.



Saira is a tough 17-year old, practicing free-running and tagging when she gets into trouble while her mom does her usual disappearing act, and to avoid social services Saira gets shipped to her grandmother to England.

She is pursued by mysterious villains, saved by a slick young man and accidentally tumbles back in time of Victorian London right into a path of Jack The Ripper where she meets the same young man, Archer.

So this is how this complex and convoluted story starts. Like with all time travel stories, every step back in past will change your present and augment everyone's feelings and memories. Add to it that Saira finds out that she is a descendant of Time and is stuck in a school for all Descendants, she meets seers, warmongers, shifters and vampires... friends and enemies in past and present, she also needs to unravel old secrets and find her mother who is stuck in Victorian London and for some reason can't return... and your head will start to go dizzy.

Marking Time is a pretty non-stop action story with a formidable heroine and a fab host of secondary characters. The attraction between Saira and Archer is believable, and what really made me enjoy this book is that nothing is over the top dramatic, and that Saira is a very sensible rational heroine who keeps saving everyone not because she is super talented and super special but because of her very quick thinking and an ability to work as a part of a team of loyal friends.

I greatly enjoyed this book and very much recommend it!

* * *
Что мне безумно понравилось в этой неожиданно прелестной книге паранормального подросткового фикшн о путешествиях во времени - это дерзкая, храбрая и очень смекалистая главная героиня с совершенно нормальной на всё реакцией и очень разумными решениями, стоящих перед нею проблем.

Мне так надоели умирающие от любви принцессы, ждущие рыцарей в сверкающих доспехах, которые решат все их проблемы, что эта книга читалась как на духу.

Как и во всех книгах о путешествии во времени, сюжет здесь довольно запутан. Сира - 17-летний таггер, практикующая паркур, которая попадает в неприятности в Штатах, и когда полиция не может найти её мать, её отправляют в Англию к бабушке.

Здесь она пытается удрать от странных злодеев, на бегу её подбирает молодой человек в крутой тачке, который непонятно как её знает, и она случайно оказывается в викторианском Лондоне, пересекая дорогу Джеку Потрошителю и встречая того же самого молодого человека, Арчера, в первый раз.

Вернувшись в настоящее время в состоянии шока Сира узнаёт, что она как и её мама - потомок Времени, одного из Бессмертных, только её мать родилась в викторианском Лондоне и прыгнула в будущее где родила её, но вынуждена постоянно возвращаться в прошлое, где она может стареть нормальным образом.

Бабушка Сиры отправляет её в закрытую школу для потомков Бессмертных, но Сира вынуждена постоянно прыгать в прошлое, чтобы узнать что случилось с её мамой и распутать целый клубок интриг потомков бессмертных с помощью верных друзей и поклонника в лице викторианского джентельмена, Арчера.

Готовьтесь к постоянному экшну, интригуюцему сюжету, вампирам (без блеска!), оборотням и прочим существам, а также надирающей всем задницу главной героине. Классная история, которую я вам рекомендую с большим удовольствием.



Comments

  1. I do always enjoy time travel :)

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  2. This sounds very good, thanks for the review Kara.

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  3. Wonderful review I am extra picky with the YA genre of late but this looks like one I need to pick up!

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  4. I loved this review. Thank you :)
    Its been added to my TBR list.

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  5. Sounds lovely, K. And while our reading tastes tend to differ, I think I can be persuaded to read this one.

    Have a great week, love.

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  6. This is a new one to me. And glad to hear it was a pleasant surprise. That's cool. I think the YA genre is getting saturated with to many similar themes, and need to move on. This sounds awesome. :) Thank you!

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