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A review by kirstieellen
Wishing Cross Station by February Grace
4.0
Wishing Cross Station
**I received a free eBook copy of this book via NetGalley for an honest review. Thanks also to February Grace for writing such a fun book!**
Wishing Cross Station is a cheerfully short story about a man who gets caught up in some time travelling shenanigans. I really enjoyed reading it and whilst it was a quick read (coming in at just over 150 pages) I found the atmosphere of the book to be a lot of fun. The characters are quite interesting and it’s a great little period setting that probably makes the book. It is also a tad sad but don’t worry, it’s manageable. I absolutely adore the cover and I really want to the buy the book (I read it as an eBook) so that I can stare at it’s pretty face all day long. *Sigh*. And, of course, this book gets brownie points for being a book about books (sort of) – well, a book is a key element to the time travelling aspect of this novel.
A Story of Time Travelling Accidents and a Few Other Things
The basic plot of this book is that a 19-year old man, Keigan Wainwright, works for the library and is helping clear out an old man’s attic to take some of those old books to the library when he is given a very odd book. There’s a bit of a story behind it and after visiting someone in a retirement village he ends up travelling back in time and getting stuck in England, 100 years in the past, in a quaint little village for a whole month. Yikes. Pressed with the reality of a cold English winter he has to figure out how to survive his month in the past until he can travel back home again. As suggested by the title, this book does involve trains – but I really liked not knowing much about the book before I went into it so I won’t say anything more on that matter. Overall, I really enjoyed the time travel aspects of the book but I was constantly stressed that Keigan was going to blow up the world with all his antics – like geez, man, you’ve got to be careful with these things.
Whilst this general storyline is enjoyable, it is a very short book and the ending is really quite abrupt. It did feel a little like a slap in the face – if there was one thing I could change about this book, it would be that. Another 50 pages maybe could have really tied this together nicely – it did feel a little like Grace wasn’t any more able than us to figure out a solution.
Characters
Keigan
I both liked and hated him, he was a cool nerdy guy who worried about his pet goldfish when he got stuck in the past, but he had no problems with other matters that had far more serious consequences. Like, having sex with a young, innocent girl and then LEAVING. What if she got pregnant?!!? *Angry snorts*
He did provide a cool look at what happens when someone with contemporary values and ethics is put into a period where those are completely out of place. There were quite a lot of times where both Keigan and I struggled to keep our mouths shut with some treatment of characters.
Marigold
I really liked Marigold, and it was pretty obvious from the get-go what was going to happen, or at least, what her role in the book would be. I thought she was a little hot-headed sometimes and made some questionable decisions but all-in-all I thought she was a pretty great character.I was a little upset with her ‘death’ so to speak and the abruptness with which the story ends for her. There are so many promises of return and for finding a way to for her and Keigan to be together, and he just sort of arrives back, sees she’s dead, and doesn’t seem to try and fix that? Like, duh. Of course she’s going to be dead – it’s 100 years on!
The Watchmaker
The Watchmaker (as I call him, although technically he’s a jeweller) was one of the highlights of the book for me. I loved how kind he was to Keigan and I thought he really helped tie-in the events of the novel nicely. For me, he really helped paint the atmosphere of the town and drew the reader into the experience just that bit more. It was like you could really feel as though you were in his house with him facing the challenges of 20th century Britain.
Summary
I have to say, I would not mind reading more of Grace’s work as whilst this wasn’t perfect it was definitely enjoyable. If you’re looking for something new and fresh with a dash of excitement that won’t take you long to get through then I would recommend this book for you. Whilst the ending was somewhat frustrating it was a definite and complete ending – which was a nice change to read a book like this that is a stand-alone; we’re not subjected to the torture of waiting a year to find out what happens next. And as I said before, this is definitely a book I will be buying in physical copy later on at some point because I really like it’s cover!
Happy reading!
**I received a free eBook copy of this book via NetGalley for an honest review. Thanks also to February Grace for writing such a fun book!**
"Retracing a powerful man’s footsteps through the past, Keigan finds himself caught in the same dangerous trap: falling in love with a woman he was never meant to know, and uncertain he will ever find his way home."Overview
Wishing Cross Station is a cheerfully short story about a man who gets caught up in some time travelling shenanigans. I really enjoyed reading it and whilst it was a quick read (coming in at just over 150 pages) I found the atmosphere of the book to be a lot of fun. The characters are quite interesting and it’s a great little period setting that probably makes the book. It is also a tad sad but don’t worry, it’s manageable. I absolutely adore the cover and I really want to the buy the book (I read it as an eBook) so that I can stare at it’s pretty face all day long. *Sigh*. And, of course, this book gets brownie points for being a book about books (sort of) – well, a book is a key element to the time travelling aspect of this novel.
A Story of Time Travelling Accidents and a Few Other Things
The basic plot of this book is that a 19-year old man, Keigan Wainwright, works for the library and is helping clear out an old man’s attic to take some of those old books to the library when he is given a very odd book. There’s a bit of a story behind it and after visiting someone in a retirement village he ends up travelling back in time and getting stuck in England, 100 years in the past, in a quaint little village for a whole month. Yikes. Pressed with the reality of a cold English winter he has to figure out how to survive his month in the past until he can travel back home again. As suggested by the title, this book does involve trains – but I really liked not knowing much about the book before I went into it so I won’t say anything more on that matter. Overall, I really enjoyed the time travel aspects of the book but I was constantly stressed that Keigan was going to blow up the world with all his antics – like geez, man, you’ve got to be careful with these things.
Whilst this general storyline is enjoyable, it is a very short book and the ending is really quite abrupt. It did feel a little like a slap in the face – if there was one thing I could change about this book, it would be that. Another 50 pages maybe could have really tied this together nicely – it did feel a little like Grace wasn’t any more able than us to figure out a solution.
Characters
Keigan
I both liked and hated him, he was a cool nerdy guy who worried about his pet goldfish when he got stuck in the past, but he had no problems with other matters that had far more serious consequences.
He did provide a cool look at what happens when someone with contemporary values and ethics is put into a period where those are completely out of place. There were quite a lot of times where both Keigan and I struggled to keep our mouths shut with some treatment of characters.
Marigold
I really liked Marigold, and it was pretty obvious from the get-go what was going to happen, or at least, what her role in the book would be. I thought she was a little hot-headed sometimes and made some questionable decisions but all-in-all I thought she was a pretty great character.
The Watchmaker
The Watchmaker (as I call him, although technically he’s a jeweller) was one of the highlights of the book for me. I loved how kind he was to Keigan and I thought he really helped tie-in the events of the novel nicely. For me, he really helped paint the atmosphere of the town and drew the reader into the experience just that bit more. It was like you could really feel as though you were in his house with him facing the challenges of 20th century Britain.
Summary
I have to say, I would not mind reading more of Grace’s work as whilst this wasn’t perfect it was definitely enjoyable. If you’re looking for something new and fresh with a dash of excitement that won’t take you long to get through then I would recommend this book for you. Whilst the ending was somewhat frustrating it was a definite and complete ending – which was a nice change to read a book like this that is a stand-alone; we’re not subjected to the torture of waiting a year to find out what happens next. And as I said before, this is definitely a book I will be buying in physical copy later on at some point because I really like it’s cover!
Happy reading!