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in_and_out_of_the_stash's review
4.0
So many books just lately where 4* is too much but 3* doesn't seem quite enough.
jwinchell's review
3.0
Love Leila Sales and liked this tween novel that mashes up historical and speculative fiction. Grounded in WWII England, Lottie time travels to 2013 Wisconsin. Sort of like The Time Traveler's Wife, after Lottie hops into a portal and adjusts to 6th grade life, her bestie Kitty continues living and is elderly when they meet again in 2015. Framed by libraries and reading, science and history-lite... there is great suspense built easily and quickly here, and the small size of the book and 760 Lexile means it is a speedy read.
bmg20's review
2.0
“What do you do when you learn, without a doubt, that you’ve lost everyone you love and you’re trapped by time forever?”
Charlotte “Lottie” Bromley has been raised to believe in time travel. Her father is an illustrious scientist who has been tasked with learning the secrets of time travel in hopes of gaining a leg up in the war. The year is 1940 and ten-year-old Lottie and her best friend Kitty are kidnapped by Nazis in an effort to coerce the secret of time travel from her father. When a shimmering portal appears in front of Lottie, she takes advantage of an opportunity that might never present itself again, even though that means leaving Kitty behind. Lottie finds herself in a place called Wisconsin in the year 2013 clad only in her pajamas. Her only desire is to find some way to return to Kitty and hope that her and her father survived after she escaped.
Once Was a Time intrigued me from the very beginning with the portrayal of a war ravaged England through the perspective of a ten year-old girl. Add in a scientist researching the existence of time travel and I was more than ready for an adventurous and entertaining story. Unfortunately, that feeling was tragically short lived. I am ready and willing to read anything to do with time travel, however, in looking at the time travel books I have read and loved, there was one similarity between them all: the characters were time traveling to a fascinating time and place. Alas, Wisconsin circa 2013 does not scream fascinating to me.
The numerous genres also made this a difficult one for me. We’re introduced to this as historical fiction upon which it’s given a dash of science fiction and mystery. As soon as you’ve got comfortable with this interesting blend, the reader is then thrust into a contemporary, coming-of-age setting where Lottie is adapting to a modern age where everything is unknown. It was an interesting switch from what you typically find in time travel books, where a modern person is forced to adapt to the past but her dealing with mean girl cliques was too much. She makes friends with these girls even though she never seems to actually care for them because of she believes she doesn’t deserve to have good friends because she left her best friend behind with the Nazis. I could understand her mindset, it just ended up being far too long and drawn out for a meager 272 pages. The pacing picked up speed and seemed to be making a comeback at the end but seemed to lose control making the ending feel avoidably rushed.
I fell in love with Leila Sales’ writing after her novel This Song Will Save Your Life. Yes, that story touched on personal experiences so of course it would be special to me but it was so passionately written, personal experiences or no, it was an incredible story. Unfortunately, I think it set the bar astronomically high for any future read I picked up from her. That spark that made that such an incredible story seemed to be absent here and while I loved the concept of it all, it could have been so much more than it was.
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Charlotte “Lottie” Bromley has been raised to believe in time travel. Her father is an illustrious scientist who has been tasked with learning the secrets of time travel in hopes of gaining a leg up in the war. The year is 1940 and ten-year-old Lottie and her best friend Kitty are kidnapped by Nazis in an effort to coerce the secret of time travel from her father. When a shimmering portal appears in front of Lottie, she takes advantage of an opportunity that might never present itself again, even though that means leaving Kitty behind. Lottie finds herself in a place called Wisconsin in the year 2013 clad only in her pajamas. Her only desire is to find some way to return to Kitty and hope that her and her father survived after she escaped.
Once Was a Time intrigued me from the very beginning with the portrayal of a war ravaged England through the perspective of a ten year-old girl. Add in a scientist researching the existence of time travel and I was more than ready for an adventurous and entertaining story. Unfortunately, that feeling was tragically short lived. I am ready and willing to read anything to do with time travel, however, in looking at the time travel books I have read and loved, there was one similarity between them all: the characters were time traveling to a fascinating time and place. Alas, Wisconsin circa 2013 does not scream fascinating to me.
The numerous genres also made this a difficult one for me. We’re introduced to this as historical fiction upon which it’s given a dash of science fiction and mystery. As soon as you’ve got comfortable with this interesting blend, the reader is then thrust into a contemporary, coming-of-age setting where Lottie is adapting to a modern age where everything is unknown. It was an interesting switch from what you typically find in time travel books, where a modern person is forced to adapt to the past but her dealing with mean girl cliques was too much. She makes friends with these girls even though she never seems to actually care for them because of she believes she doesn’t deserve to have good friends because she left her best friend behind with the Nazis. I could understand her mindset, it just ended up being far too long and drawn out for a meager 272 pages. The pacing picked up speed and seemed to be making a comeback at the end but seemed to lose control making the ending feel avoidably rushed.
I fell in love with Leila Sales’ writing after her novel This Song Will Save Your Life. Yes, that story touched on personal experiences so of course it would be special to me but it was so passionately written, personal experiences or no, it was an incredible story. Unfortunately, I think it set the bar astronomically high for any future read I picked up from her. That spark that made that such an incredible story seemed to be absent here and while I loved the concept of it all, it could have been so much more than it was.
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
rachelwrites007's review
4.0
Oh, this book was so, so lovely. And while I'd hoped it was truly about time travel (not as much as I'd hoped, unfortunately), the real strength of the story is that it was about friendship and endurance and love. *sniffs*
violetwillow's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Minor: Abandonment, War, Bullying, Vomit, Grief, Cancer, and Toxic friendship
scorpiobookfairy's review
2.0
(Changing my rating, the more I think about this, the more it annoys me)
I had a lot of issues with this book, I was kind disappointed.
I'll be posting a review on my blog closer to the release date of April 5th.
Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for giving me this advanced copy to review.
I had a lot of issues with this book, I was kind disappointed.
I'll be posting a review on my blog closer to the release date of April 5th.
Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for giving me this advanced copy to review.
emjrasmussen's review
I adored this one! Such a cute, fun, smart middle grade with a delightful protagonist--and no romance! I was a little bit put-off by how easy it was for Charlotte to create a new life in 2013 after she time-travels (no one seemed to really care where she came from? Not the social services workers? Not even her foster parents, who, on all other accounts, are very caring and involved?) and I wished we got more information about how this book's take on time travel actually works (although I understand why we didn't). But overall, this was a joy to read, and it will give you plenty to think about. I love Leila Sales.