Time Between Us Review

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.

If you know anything about me at all, it should be that I am a massive fan of time travel stories and so naturally, I gravitated towards this book. Billed as a YA Time Traveller’s Wife, how could I possibly resist?! 

Time Between Us tells the story of Anna and Bennett, two teenagers whose lives are tangled up together although Anna was actually born sixteen years prior to Bennett.  Bennett is able to travel through time and is currently on a mission to find his sister who went missing during a previous trip they took together to attend a concert.  During one of his trips, he meets and falls for Anna but can a relationship across time last the distance?  How long will it be until Bennett is pulled back to his own time and what happens when he finds his sister and goes home?

Although the beginning of the book wasn’t particularly shocking or dramatic, I was immediately caught up in the story as if I too had traveled to Anna’s world.  I really enjoyed the story and I loved the ‘do over’s’ and the moral/ethical debate over changing events and what the implications of their actions would be. 

My favourite character has to be Anna and I really loved that she had interests and desires outside of Bennett, as the love interest (I guess they share their love of travel though.)   All the way through the book, Anna came across as a strong, independent girl who believes in making the right choices, even if they are sometimes the most difficult to bear.

Time Between Us was beautifully easy to read - the writing was excellent and I enjoyed the nicely flowing sentences.  I don’t quite know how or why but some writers are able to elicit a calm feeling when reading and Tamara is one of those writers, for me.  I thought this book was a very cosy read with a satisfying ending and it could easily be a standalone.  I’m happy to learn however that there will be a sequel and I can’t wait to dive back into Anna and Bennett’s world.  This is the kind of book you loan to your best friend or your sister and hope that she loves it as much as you do so you can talk all about it.  I really loved the book and all I want to do is travel back in time and read it all over again for the first time.

Time Between Us was published on 9th October, 2012 in the US and 25th October, 2012 in the UK.  To find out more about Tamara and her books, please click here to visit her website.