Reviews

Οι γέφυρες του χρόνου by Marianne Curley

annashiv's review against another edition

2.0

This is an odd book. I enjoyed the first half for the most part, but once the change of scenery to place it just plunged downhill.

The writing is bad. Not the worst. It was mostly unobtrusive for the first half, but the second half really shows the weak writing and it just got worse and worse the closer we got to the end. I'd say particularly in dialog. They would say very melodramatic lines or ask strange questions normal people would not have thought to ask in response to information just to set up a line the author clearly wanted for the angst. For example:
Female MC: "Actually, Jarrod, his magic intrigues me. "
Male MC: "What! How much?"
Female MC: "So much that I've decided to stay with him."
Idk, if I were Jarrod, that would be the last thing I'd think of asking in the situation.

Another thing is that there just didn't seem to be a good motive for the main villain. It turned into a parody of an evil villain.

I think maybe I would have overlooked a lot more if I had read this as a teenager, but I can't now.

I want to give it more stars, but with how bad it got with so many things just not making sense, I can't.

jesstangerine's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-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? Yes

4.0

mars_aria's review against another edition

3.0

Old magic was a blast back to the medieval times. Mysteries get solved, love is discovered, and magical duels are done. I loved how the characters had to make tough decisions about what mattered most to them and then fought battles to keep those things. Well done, Marianne Curley.

kalee_'s review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

mroser16's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

3.0

jodi_ice's review against another edition

4.0

Some really interesting ideas in this plot, was really a good read. The only reason it got 4 stars was the ending was wrapped up all too quickly, it felt a little rushed

jeslyncat's review against another edition

5.0

I read this book almost ten years ago, but I still count it at the very, very top of my list of favorite books. There are a number of authors and books that have helped build my reading preferences, but "Old Magic" is the book that created my preference of Young Adult fiction. This book sets a bar that I judge almost every book I read by. Marianne Curley has written a novel that to this day I can describe in vivid detail, partially because this boos, the Harry Potter series, and The Hunger Games trilogy are the only books I crave to read over and over. This is a book about magic--original, imagination commanding magic--that stays on track, that goes just far enough, but not too far into the land of the fantastical. This is a book about love--heart-wrenching, knee-shaking love--that holds back the absolutely perfect amount, that is so realistic and astonishing when set against the back drop of the world and powers Curley creates. This is a book full of characters, stories, and lives that come to life with every turn of the page. Unlike other Young Adult authors (who shall not be named in this review), the author creates characters so intensely fitting, so true to the story--but without being perfect. The characters has real flaws, the characters have real lives, the characters have real and raw emotions; all of which ooze within the book's pages. This is not a novel that involves intervention and magical means for no reason, the characters aren't just thrown together--Jarrod seeks Kate and her grandmother out with purpose. Kate genuinely cares and falls for him in a true to life fashion--she doesn't become obsessed with no cause. And Jarrod seeks popularity and acceptance the way any teen who has moved to a new town will relate to. The curse is a tale passed down generations, the same as stories in everyone's family. And Kate and her grandmother agree to help--not because Kate has a crush, but because it is their job, their passion and purpose to help people with their talents. Even the aspects that take place in the past keep true to the story, true to the vulnerability and raw feelings that the characters (and most people) have at all times. When I first read "Old Magic" I would feel build-ups to many moments and climaxes of the plot, thinking at first that it would be a predictable, one-size-fits-ass story line. It wasn't. Curley maintains the base of the people she has invented, in another book it would be certain that the young couple, ripe with new feelings and freedom in the past, would be met with amazing things, and would fall deeply in love within moments of landing. But Jarrod and Kate spend their first moments in the mud, their first night on a hay bed filled with lice and bugs. Their closeness that takes place is the proper style for them.

This review may sound a little laudable--but I assure you, this book is moving, it pulls you in and stays in your mind for years.

booklover160's review against another edition

Lol I read this when I spent a summer in Germany so I literally don’t remember any of it.

meryep's review against another edition

4.0

La primera parte me pareció un poco aburrida, pero en la segunda parte, a partir del momento en el que viajan en el tiempo ya todo mejora y coge buen ritmo.

carosi's review against another edition

5.0

I can not put in words how much I love this book.
I have first read it when I was 14 years old and I don't know how many times since than. Jarrod was my first book crush and still is <3