Synopsis:Sienna Crenshaw knows the rules: 1) no time traveling beyond your natural lifetime, 2) no screwing with death, and 3) no changing the past. Ever. Sienna doesn’t love being stuck in the present, but she’s not the type to break the rules. That is, she wasn’t the type until her best friend broke every one of those rules to keep Henry, her twin brother and Sienna’s ex-boyfriend, alive.
Suddenly, Sienna is caught in an unfamiliar reality. The upside? Henry is still alive. The downside? Sienna’s old life, including the people in it, has been erased. Now, Sienna and Henry must untangle the giant knot in time, or her parents and all the rest of the Travelers, will be lost forever. One problem: the only way to be successful is for Henry to die.
Review:
Traveling through time has always fascinated me. But changing time? Now that's a little more on the scary side for one main reason: the butterfly effect. A simple theory that comes down to the smallest detail. Change that and the world changes with it. Meradith Houston explores that theory in her novel, Travelers, where one girl merely wishes to save her brother's life, but in doing so, creates an entire new reality.
Sienna Crenshaw is the main character in this mind bending, time altering ride. She has the time traveling gene but isn't the greatest at it. She tends to end up in the wrong places. That's one of the reasons her parents restrict her traveling. Her imperfect nature definitely makes Sienna more down to earth and relatable, which I think is always important in a science fiction novel. She's also a loving and understanding person. The love Sienna has for her family and boyfriend show how big her heart is and her reaction when everything is taken away from her will empathetically connect her to readers.
The plot of Travelers gets a bit confusing because of the drastic time shift and altering of reality, but Houston does a good job at staying focused. Thankfully, she narrows the massive change down to a specific event. After Joan changes history so that her brother lives, Sienna knows she has to change it back. Especially when she learns that her parents aren't alive in the parallel dimension. She'll do anything to save her family, but the hard part lies in letting Henry, her boyfriend and Joan's twin, die all over again. The struggle between realities is difficult and readers will understand that. The right decision isn't always the easiest and Sienna has to be ready to make some sacrifices to set things back on track. The foundation of a character connection will begin with Sienna's personality but it will further develop, and solidify, with the decisions she makes, as the whole world hangs in the balance.
Rating: 3.5/5 Cups
Meet the Author:
I’ve never been a big fan of talking about myself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about me:
I'm a California girl. This generally means I talk too fast and use "like" a lot. Since I now live in Montana, sometimes this is a problem.
I have my doctorate in molecular anthropology. Translation: I sequence dead people's DNA and spend a whole lot of time in a lab, which I love.
I've been writing since I was 11 years old. It's my hobby, my passion, and I'm so happy to get to share my work!
My other passion is teaching. There's nothing more fun than getting a classroom of college kids fired up about anthropology! This is probably a good thing, since my day job requires me to teach at the local university.
If I could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a little strange, because I'm terrified of heights.
Connect with Meradith
Connect with BookFishBooks
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!!!
ReplyDelete