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Timebomb by Scott K. Andrews: Review

Title: Timebomb (Timebomb Trilogy #1)
Author: Scott K. Andrews
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository
New York City, 2141: Yojana Patel throws herself off a skyscraper, but never hits the ground.Cornwall, 1640: gentle young Dora Predennick, newly come to Sweetclover Hall to work, discovers a badly-burnt woman at the bottom of a flight of stairs. When she reaches out to comfort the dying woman, she's knocked unconscious, only to wake, centuries later, in empty laboratory room.On a rainy night in present-day Cornwall, seventeen-year-old Kaz Cecka sneaks into the long-abandoned Sweetclover Hall, determined to secure a dry place to sleep. Instead he finds a frightened housemaid who believes Charles I is king and an angry girl who claims to come from the future.Thrust into the centre of an adventure that spans millennia, Dora, Kaz and Jana must learn to harness powers they barely understand to escape not only villainous Lord Sweetclover but the forces of a fanatical army... all the while staying one step ahead of a mysterious woman known only as Quil. (Goodreads summary.)
I requested this because of the cover.
I must admit that the main reason I ended up requesting Timebomb was the cover. I couldn't help myself, despite my issues with it, I really like the cover. With the skyscraper skyline at the top and the country village at the bottom, I could tell a lot about the book by just looking at the cover. I'd never heard of the author before and I hadn't heard anything about the book, but I was excited nonetheless to receive my copy and read it.

Time travel books can be hit and miss because it's so hard to get them right. You have the problem of paradoxes and parts of the story not adding up or making sense. It can jump back and forth so much that you start to be confused about where and when you are. I quite enjoyed Timebomb but I felt the time travel aspect did cause a lot of those issues.

The story jumps straight into the action, we immediately find ourselves on a rooftop with Jana as she flings herself from the building. She's been chased by a group of men who are set on killing her and she has no idea why. Jana has died before and it wasn't so bad, she knows that even when she dies here her mother will find a way to bring her back. But Jana never hits the floor, instead she finds herself thrown back in time from 2141 to 2014. There she's joined by Kaz, a boy from 2014 and Dora, a scullery maid who found herself transported forward in time from 1640.


That all happens very quickly, within the first few pages and the action never lets up after that. We learn very early on that a woman named Quil is after them, determined to stop them now to prevent an event from happening in the future. The pace really never slows down, it feels like a lot to take in because you never get a minute to think over everything. I struggled with that aspect of it, too much happens too quickly and I was left feeling quite confused. It got hard to keep up with what the characters had actually done and in what time frame. I lost track of who'd travelled where and what each character remembered about everything. I was lost.

This is definitely more of a plot driven book than a character driven one. I never felt like I got to know Kaz, Jana or Dora and I really struggled to connect to them. I have a feeling Jana has the potential to become a character that I would really love in the next book. She did show at times that she has a great sense of humour, something I would have liked to see more of. Kaz was okay but had the habit of making really stupid decisions, like smashing up their only weapon when they could really use it. Dora was hard for me to get used to, she's from 1640 and spends most of the book just questioning everything around her. It's necessary because she jumps to 2014 and has no idea about anything she encounters. It's realistic but it gets a little old.


Quil is certifiably insane and I LOVE IT!
My favourite character turned out to be Quil, who's absolutely mental. She's mentally unstable and requires a large amount of help, but I came to love her. She was the most interesting character and the insane things she did actually made me laugh. They were totally sadistic but she just did not see it and I loved that. Sometimes it's quite refreshing to feel myself rooting for the bad guy at times. I don't want to win but I don't want them to destroy her because I want more of her character.

I did enjoy this book overall but I had my issues with it. It was hard for me to get lost in the story, the pace was very fast and it was all action. Sometimes all action is a good thing. here it felt like a bit too much and I ended up lost. If I am completely honest, half the time I didn't have a clue what was going on. Characters went back and forth in time so much that I started to lose track of what had happened and when.

3/5 Butterflies

Time travel books are so hard to get right and, although I had some issues with it, I think Scott K. Andrews did a good job with Timebomb. There is quite a lot going on in this book but you can tell that there is so much more to come. Trips to the future and interractions with the people they meet there and in the past hint at big events that are still to come. We still have no idea what event has made Quil so determined to track the three of them down in their respective presents and kill them. I have to admit that my fascination with the character of Quil, and the fact I see Jana becoming a character I really love in the next book, makes me want to continue this series and see where it goes. If you're a fan of action-packed books where the action never stops then this is the book for you.



*I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.

18 comments:

  1. I don't think I've ever read a proper time travel book, because mostly they just look confusing. >-< I feel like I'd want to read this one just for Quil though! I like the crazy characters....I don't even care what they're doing. I just like it when there's those characters that are a little bit different and a bit bonkers. What can I say? I connect. *tackle hugs crazy characters*

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    1. I know, she really did bring so much to the story. It was a really good book, it just took a little getting used to be because of the time travel element. I don't read many time travel books because I have a habit of getting confused.

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  2. I hadn't heard of this one before, but I'm sure I'll read it because I love time travel books! Too bad about not connecting with the characters, that probably means I won't love it, but the plot sounds fun. ~Pam

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    1. Time travel books are ones I don't read very often, mainly because they can get confusing. But I also don't know of very many. It was enjoyable and I recommend.

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  3. OH AWESOME, I've wanted to read a time travel novel for ages now. I read one a long time ago and it was pretty good. Can't remember what it was called though >=( I agree that they are tricky to get right. I must guiltily confess that I often buy books for their covers, but then I remember the point of the cover is to make you buy the book so I don't feel guilty anymore. =]

    "My favourite character turned out to be Quil, who's absolutely mental. She's mentally unstable and requires a large amount of help, but I came to love her. She was the most interesting character and the insane things she did actually made me laugh."
    This was so interesting because a lot in fiction or in movies, the characters with mental problems are often the comic release as well, which I find both a tiny bit disturbing as well as intriguing. In Fringe, Walter Bishop is hilarious but it's partly down to his obsession with food, always getting another character's name wrong, cooking naked on tuesdays (??!), and sometimes I'm like 'I'm not really sure if this should be funny at all but I can't help it, it's so bizarre.' There's so many 'insane' characters I can think of that are hilarious. Interesting. =O

    Lord Sweetclover is such a cool name for a villain! Oh LOL. By the way, are there any other time travel books you'd recommend?

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    1. I don't read many time travel books, mainly because I don't know of very many. I also struggle with them a little bit because they can get quite confusing.

      I loved Quil! She was insane and I just loved that about her. She was very unhinged and her reasoning was completely twisted but I loved that about her. She just went with it and didn't seem to care.

      Other time travel? Not really, I definitely haven't read more than a handful and none that I have really loved.

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  4. I don't think this would be the book for me. I hate feeling lost and confused, especially in a book that shouldn't be that way.

    I do love that cover though and totally would have been sucked in by it as well.

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    1. It's a good book, I just get easily confused with the time travel element and skipping back and forth in time.

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  5. I haven't read any time travel book so far but I have to admit, the synopsis sounds interesting and the cover is definitely beautiful! Great review... Looking forward to more by you! :)
    Book Maniac Reviews

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    1. Thank you! It was really enjoyable, the time travel element can just get a little bit confusing at times.

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  6. The cover is "explosive!" Interesting idea for a time travel story. Good luck.

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    1. Thanks, I really enjoyed the story and the cover works so well with it.

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  7. I LOVE action books but not so keen on time travel :/ I never really get it, and then I get confused and then my brain implodes -_- NOT FUN. I like having an intact brain, thanks!

    I LOVE insane characters though, so I think I'll shove this up my TBR! *runs off to Goodreads*

    Frabjous review as always, lovely! :)

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    1. Haha, you sound just like me then! I get confused with the time travel elements and trying to keep up with who went where and who remembers what. This was quite an entertaining read though and I love Quil as a character.

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  8. Very interesting. I can see why you requested the book because of that cover! I love action book and time travel books, but this book seems really confusing to me. The synopsis alone had me struggling. lol So I think this one is a maybe for me. Thanks for the review!

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    1. It's a really good book, I just got a little confused with all the time travel aspects of this book. I loved some of the characters though and that makes me very eager to read the next book.

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  9. Eh, it's a shame the time travel aspects of this bring the story down a bit! I have a thing with time travel, hence watching Doctor Who and loving the movie Looper. I do get a little frustrated when too many paradoxes are created, and it seems like this book is a very confusing one! I am more so a character driven person than a plot driven one, so not having characters that are easy to relate to is another off putter for me.

    But then again I will admit that cover is gorgeous! I can understand why you made that choice! <3

    http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2014/10/the-seven-deadly-sins-tag.html

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    1. I don't regret reading it, it was a good read but I just struggled with it a little bit. I don't read many time travel books and that's probably why.

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