Actual Rating: 3.75

This was not my favorite Ann Aguirre book. The characters didn’t feel fleshed out. The romance was...eh. The plot was pretty interesting - I didn’t understand how Oliver was going to tie into everything until it happened and I thought it was well done. It wasn’t a bad read, but I went into it with higher expectations based on her other works and it just didn’t hit the mark for me. ( )

Really enjoyed this mix of genres. Magical realism with futuristic technology and a dash of time travel. And of course, a hint of teenage romance. Bonus point for letter writing! ( )

Araceli Flores Harper (father from Mexico, mother from Kentucky), is turning 18 in a few weeks when the story starts. She has just moved in for her senior year with a great aunt in upstate New York since her parents are off on another dangerous investigative journalism mission. In the town, she notices an abnormally high number of “missing” posters and comes to learn that there is much strange not only about the town, but about her Tia Ottilie’s house. And in fact, Tia’s husband is one of the missing.

Tia Ottilie tells Araceli to help herself to whatever she wants in her living area upstairs, but Araceli is only drawn to a heartwood box. Inside, she finds a letter from someone named Oliver with a faded postmark from 1917. To complete a writing assignment for school, Araceli decides to write a letter to this Oliver, and puts it in the box for safekeeping. When she goes to retrieve it however, it is gone, and in its place she finds a letter from Oliver as if in response to hers. They begin “corresponding,” even though Araceli is convinced - at first - someone is playing a joke on her. But soon enough, Araceli and Oliver are in InstaLove, albeit over time and space, and moreover they begin to communicate in other ways.

Meanwhile, there are nefarious goings-on at the nearby secretive Fairhaven Lab, and it’s all related. Araceli and some of her new friends who want to get to the bottom of the missing persons problem decide to investigate. It becomes clear the Fairhaven goons will kill to keep their secrets.

Araceli’s danger is mirrored with Oliver’s situation, as he is now in France in one of the deadliest battles of World War I. Can she save herself? Or Oliver? How can she choose?

Evaluation: There are all sorts of holes and inconsistencies in this sci/fi-historical fiction-young adult novel mash-up - some downright laughable - and yet it’s strangely readable in spite of that. I didn’t hate it, but I wish she had gotten more advice from sci/fi and/or science experts. ( )