Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor

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Into the Dim 

by Janet B. Taylor

Meet Hope Walton:  not your typical teenager - adopted, home-schooled, afraid of everything, suffers from migraines, has a photographic memory, just buried her mother, and oh, yea, from a family of time-travelers!

Hope is not happy when after her mother's memorial service, her father ships her off to Scotland for a visit with her estranged aunt, Lucinda.  But Lucinda is not there to meet her when she arrives, and living in the family estate is a cast of characters who although seem lovely on the surface, she can tell they are hiding something.

While investigating her new surroundings, Hope discovers an ancient apparatus buried deep below the house, a time traveling machine, which travelers call, The Dim.  Soon she learns what really happened to her mother:  while traveling in The Dim, she got left behind......in the year 1154!

Hope not only has to come to grips with who her mother is, but the realization that she just might be the only one that can save her.  But time is running out, can Hope and her new family travel back in time to save her mother.  Does she want to be saved?  And what if they run into their archenemy, Celia Alvarez and her cadre?

Now Hope must fight her fears and use that photographic memory to recover her mother and bring her back to the present.  But 1154 is full of dangers that Hope can't even imagine.  She'll have to learn to trust strangers, queens, alchemists and even her own family if she's going to survive.

Taylor has done her research in describing England in 1154.  You can almost smell the dirty streets and feel the burn of infection from every little wound.  Yet the story hinges on Hope's photographic memory to hold it together.  And although I enjoyed the premise, this story swung a little too far toward the romance for me to really enjoy the action.  I think that most High School girls, and maybe some Middle School girls, will relate to the love story.  However, I think it's too syrupy to appeal to most boys.

FIRSTLIFE by Gena Showalter

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FIRSTLIFE 

by Gena Showalter

"Will I always be a commodity to win rather than a person to love?"

There is the first life, and then there is the second life.  There are two realms, Myriad and Troika.  All humans are expected to pledge allegiance to one of the two realms by their 18th birthday.  Failure to do so will mean spending your second life in Many Ends (trust me, you don't want to go there).  

Tenley Lockwood has been raised by Myriad royalty.  Her father is an important official, and her mother is a well-renowned artist.  Her choice should be clear.  But Tenley, or Ten as her friends call her, wants the decision to be her own, no pressure.  Unfortunately, the realms have other plans for her.

Tenley is special, although she doesn't know it.  Both realms consider her to be 'fused'; attached spiritually to one who has passed to the ever life.  Although spoiled her entire firstlife, her father decides it's best to send her to Prynne, a 'camp' for the unsigned, to help make her decision 'easier'.

While at Prynne, Tenley is tortured, abused and mistreated.  The methods that were meant to convince her to pledge loyalty to Myriad have instead made her more determined to stay unsigned.  Then one day she gets a new roommate, and soon after a new, handsome young inmate arrives; suddenly her world is turned upside down.  She has always only trusted herself, could she possibly now have allies?

Although I loved this story, it was very hard to follow.  It begins with communications to and from the guardians that were sent to persuade Tenley to sign with their realm, but not having any knowledge yet of these realms, or the characters, it was just confusing.  

Another issue I had with the story was that it was too fast.  I wish Showalter had slowed down and given us some time to get to know more than just the main characters.  I needed more details to wrap my head around this complex, new world that she's created.  There is an explosion, fight, escape, car crash, plane crash, betrayal, rescue in every chapter.  

I am willing to attribute some of these issues to the fact that I was reading an ARC copy on my device, and hope that when the book comes out in print, it will be a whole lot clearer!