Book Review: Timeless by Alexandra Monir

Title: Timeless (Timeless #1)

Author: Alexandra Monir

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Pages: 280 hardcover

My Rating: 4/5 stars

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.

This book is purely fabulous! Alexandra Monir mixed so many great elements to create this novel. Timeless follows a young girl named Michele. After the abrupt and tragic death of her mother, Michele is shipped across the United States to live with her estranged grandparents. Did I mention that her grandparents are one of the wealthiest people in New York? As she tries to adjust to life without her mom Michele is also forced to adjust to life in New York. She now goes to a private school full of rich, snobby girls, and she is thrown into the life of luxury, the near opposite of what life was like for her in California. Besides spending time with the only nice girl in school, Caissie, Michele likes to time travel. At first it is only by mistake as it usually is but once she meets the young, handsome Philip she just can’t help but going back in time to his world. Soon Michele finds herself wrapped up in not only Philip’s time but also the time of some late relatives. She must hurry to help changes the past for the one’s she loves before it’s too late. (Cue dramatic music)

Ok as I said earlier, loved this book! I will admit to being a tad bit apprehensive to read a novel about time travel. I mean it is something we ALL wish would happen in real life, but due to the cheesiness of some movies and books; the idea is thought to be impossible. Well Alexandra did a fabulous job making it seem realistic! It is all done with a skeleton key that Michele finds. It seems to practically come to life when it touches certain objects from the past. Michele is transported back to the time period of the certain item she is touching. I know that authors claim to have no control over the covers of their books but I feel that I should mention this: The key is on the cover! And it just happens to look exactly like its description; how awesome! (The whole cover in general is gorgeous by the way). Ok, now that I have gotten off topic WAY too much, back to the review. So time travel; it was done in a fabulous job. I love Alexandra’s take on it not to mention the research this girl did! You can find her sources in the back of the book.

To add to the awesomeness of the time travel, Timeless also has superb descriptions of the past. Michele first travels back to the time 1910. This sounded like such an extravagant, gorgeous time period. With all the ball gowns and fancy houses, I would have loved to have seen it. Michele also joins the world of gangsters and flappers for a few scenes. Since I just read not one but two books about the 1920’s I can assure you that the description that Alexandra gives is wonderful. Last but not least Michele joins a time period of heartbreak and fear, the 1940’s. This must have been a hard time to write about due to the loss our country was facing during World War 2. I loved how Alexandra included small details like the flags that people hung on their doors symbolizing the loved ones who are fighting and the ones that they have lost. So to make that history lesson shorter, all of the time periods Michele goes to in Timeless were full of accuracy and wonderful imagery.

We wouldn’t have a great book without great characters. For the brief amount of time we got to see the relationship between Michele and her mother, you could tell it was a strong one. The character of Michele alone is also a great character. She has to struggle through a lot and it is easy to see that NOTHING comes easy for her so I just couldn’t help but feeling sympathy for her. Throughout all of her struggles and her experiences in different times she really grows as a person. I loved the quirkiness of all of the relatives and friends she meets in the past; each one brings something unique to the table. And Philip, dear Philip; he is adorable! Not only does he sound cute but he is also quite the gentleman. I love the way he treats Michele with such respect! Even though I did love how sweet Philip was, there was a small something that made their relationship fall a little flat to me (just a little though!!) I am more than confident that the romance in the second Timeless novel will be amazing!

Timeless is yet another great 2011 debut novel!