This novel is a young adult fantasy about a teenage girl who has inherited the ability to time travel from her grandmother. I thought it was well-written, interesting and intriguing. It was a creative, fun adventure and was a welcome break from my usual historical fiction genre, while containing enough history of the 1893 Columbian Exposition to satisfy my desire to learn something. I was pleasantly surprised by this Amazon Prime low cost offer, as in the past, these have often not been particularly satisfying. The plot was complex enough without being too difficult to keep the timelines straight. I recommend it to anyone interested in time travel fantasies or who want a light-hearted escape. While this book has sequels, this one can be read as a stand-alone, as the ending is not a cliffhanger for the next one. ( )

Very pleasantly surprised by this book. Half expected it to be a fluffy little uncomplicated YA book heavy on romance, but it was actually quite a bit deeper and slightly darker than that. Thankfully, the romance angle was not quite as severe as in, say, Hunger Games, and actually forms an interesting part of the plot (as opposed to just being there in order to add appeal to the teen crowd). Also, Trey did not turn out the way I thought he would. I thought he was working for Saul Looking forward to the rest of the series. ( )

Timebound is part of The Chronos Files series of books about a group of people from the future whose job it is to time travel and observe history first hand. The problem comes when Kate's grandfather, Saul, decides that human history needs to be changed in order to save the human race. When Kate's mother disappears and her father no longer knows her, she works with her grandmother to foil the changes that Saul seems to be making in the past. Some parts of this story are confusing, but whenever a story deals with time travel, creating overlapping timelines, there is bound to be some confusion for the reader. I liked the basis for the story, even though there was a slow period in the middle of the book when Kate's grandmother had to explain this whole thing to her and us as readers, but overall I enjoyed this story and am glad I gave it enough of a chance to finish the book. ( )

A well throughout storyline

A great read! I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Having to keep the time travel twists and turns made it even better. Add in the historical aspect, and a phenomenal story for any writer, especially a debut writer. ( )

Timebound, by Rysa Walker

A new author with a new book, praised by Amazon. What could go wrong? Not much!

Meet Kate, a typical teenage girl with a BFF, a smartphone and a mom who dislikes her grandmother. Kate keeps getting these “episodes” where the world seems to shift and twist, like she had epilepsy. It’s not an epileptic fit, it’s a Time Fit (my words). Yikes!

I’ve read plenty of science fiction and love time travel, so the story is a familiar one – a reluctant heroine who realizes it’s up to her to make things right. A medallion that only a few with a special gene can see. And Kate, the most powerful time mage ever, learning the ropes of the family business. And quickly too, since her mentor (a grandmother who actually is a historian from the 23rd century, working for CHRONOS) has just disappeared!

Obviously a lot of research went into this, as 1893 Chicago’s Exposition and its resident serial killer, a Dr. Holmes, makes rather clear.

The author attempts at suspense work well for this reader, though frankly I could have done without the 16 year old squealing about how cute some boy was. But I’m not the target audience, alas.

Characterization:

Kate grows up fast in learning the ropes of time travel and she’s developed well. What’s with this Simon guy and his attempts at murdering the time line? We never meet Saul, apparently her grandfather, with delusions of grandeur and power, creating the Cyrists, a cult as big as the Roman Catholic Church, predicting the demise of Man.

The story rolls along but I’m not that much educated at the end about the Cyrists, other than a tour through their temple (great scene where Kate gets kidnapped and uses some martial arts against Eve, a girl who could also use some character development).

That’s my only beef: not meeting Saul, not really getting into the meat of CHRONOS as an organization, and their naivety in thinking one of their historians would think nothing of breaking the rules to change things to their liking.

The Love Triangle:

YA novels often have love triangles but this one with a twist. Girl meets boy, falls in love, boy forgets who she is on the next time line. Alternatively another boy meets girl, falls in love, and girl forgets boy for the same reason! Yikes! I oddly like that weird kind of twist.

Bottom Line: Really curious how Rysa Walker will turn this all around. Timebound is an intro book, a general introductory chapter of something more. Let’s see where she takes us.

Recommended.


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