Time Between Us (Time Between Us #1)
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Publisher: Hyperion
Age Group: Teen
Source: Library
Good Reads | Amazon
Rating: 3 out of 5
Summary from Amazon:
Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility.
As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time.
Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.
Rating
3 out of 5
My Thoughts
Despite the fact that I’m a huge Doctor Who fan, I’ve never been a big fan of time travel stories. There’s something about the idea of time travel that my mind just can’t seem wrap around. So you understand why I might be a bit apprehensive to read Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone despite the fact that I’ve heard wonderful things about this book. I am trying to branch out a bit, and read outside my comfort zone, so I decided to give Time Between Us a try. I’m really glad that I decided to read this, even though it isn’t an all-time favorite.
I don’t want to turn away anyone by saying this, but the first part of Time Between Us actually gave me the same feeling I had the first time I read Twilight. Please don’t misunderstand me, the characters, the paranormal/supernatural stuff, the location, all that is different from Twilight. But it has such a similar tone. I was immediately sucked into this story, and I couldn’t wait to see if Anna was going to figure out what was going on. And that is exactly how I felt about Twilight when I first read it all those years ago.
I was so worried that the time travel element would make me very uncomfortable, but that wasn’t that case at all. Things never go too science fiction-y. All I had to do was except that Bennet could somewhat travel through time, and enjoy the ride.
About half-way through the story, I did actually start to get really frustrated with Anna. I felt like she started to really over-react and I couldn’t understand why she was so upset. Quite a few of her reactions had me rolling my eyes, and just wanting the story to end. This is really a reading preference instance, though, so please take this opinion with a grain of salt.
One other complaint about Time Between Us regards the ending. I certainly don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m going to keep the details to a minimum. I really wanted Stone gave some explanations on why things happened the way the did. Why did Anna’s decision affect everything else so much? There really wasn’t an explanation, and it kind of frustrated me a bit.
Time Between Us was an enjoyable book. I did prefer the first half to the second half, but overall, it was a great way to spend the afternoon. If you’re looking for an easy-going, teen romance with a little time travel thrown in, definitely take a look at Time Between Us. Also – pretty cover! 🙂
Quinn's Book Nook 
This was not my favorite either. The time travel part didn’t really bother me, but the romance and dialogue got a little too cheesy for my tastes. Not a terrible book, but it was definitely not for me.
Yes, I agree. I liked the romance towards the beginning, but then about half way – I got so annoyed with Anna begging Bennett to do that thing to help her best friend. I wanted to be like STOP putting him in that position.
And then, I didn’t get the ending. I mean WHY did her deciding to go away, makes things work out??
Yeah, I enjoyed this book (I listened to the audiobook) but it definitely wasn’t one of my favorites. It didn’t make the cut to entice me to keep up with the series though…
I don’t want to read the second one either. This was pleasant enough, but now I’m done.
Hmms I like time travel books but the twilight comparison makes me tentative!
Seriously, don’t let my Twilight comparison sway you. I meant that it gave me a similar feeling when I first read Twilight. Truly, the actually story is nothing like Twilight. Also, I don’t hate the first Twilight book. You know, it got at least one starred review. Maybe more.
I was also sucked into this book and liked the non-science fictiony explanation of time travel. It was a comfortable book to read–low key. 🙂