Monday 17 March 2014

Review: Time After Time (Time Between Us #2) by Tamara Ireland Stone




Time After Time ( Time Between Us #2) 
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Pages: 368
Publication Date: October 8 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Calling Anna and Bennett’s romance long distance is an understatement: she’s from 1995 Chicago and he’s a time traveler from 2012 San Francisco. The two of them never should have met, but they did. They fell in love, even though they knew they shouldn't. And they found a way to stay together, against all odds. 

It’s not a perfect arrangement, though, with Bennett unable to stay in the past for more than brief visits, skipping out on big chunks of his present in order to be with Anna in hers. They each are confident that they’ll find a way to make things work...until Bennett witnesses a single event he never should have seen (and certainly never expected to). Will the decisions he makes from that point on cement a future he doesn't want?

Told from Bennett’s point of view, Time After Time will satisfy readers looking for a fresh, exciting, and beautifully-written love story, both those who are eager to find out what’s next for Time Between Us's Anna and Bennett and those discovering their story for the first time.





Last year, when I finished Time Between Us, I immediately stalked the author's website, hoping that she had another book coming out the following year. Surprisingly, I found out that Time Between Us was going to have a sequel.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to purchase my own copy since I had wanted it in paperback, so I waited until my own library had it available. When I had seen that it was finally in transit, I was overjoyed.













Instead of the sequel being told in Anna's narration, Stone wrote the entire sequel in Bennett's POV. I wasn't expecting it to be entirely written in his POV. I thought that Stone was simply alternating between both, Anna's and Bennett's. Though it was nice seeing Bennett in a whole new light, there were times I missed Anna. I missed reading about her family, her friends and all the struggles she went through when Bennett couldn't be there for her. I connected to Anna so well in the previous book that I missed being in her head. But don't let this disappoint you, Bennett's narration is just as excellent as Anna's. We are finally introduced to Brooke, his sister, his parents and most certainly, his friends. His life without Anna is quite realistic to any teenage boy out there. I figured it would've been different due to the power he possesses.

Bennett struggles throughout the whole book. Due to the complication that Anna is from 1995, the both of them  struggle to maintain a close relationship.I can't even comprehend how amazingly strong this relationship was. Anna and Bennett have to create a schedule to meet each other, but they have to be equally apart, meaning that Bennett can't see her repeatedly within the same week. More like a few times in a few months. If he visited too frequently, there would be times where he wouldn't able to travel back in time. Since Bennet is from 2012, he's been getting terrible migraines as he keeps staying in 1995. The side effects gets even worse as he discovers that he's able to save people from tragedies once again. The first time he had done it, he was so against it, knowing that whatever has happened should not be changed. But after a successful attempt from saving two kids from a fire, he wanted to try again.

Stone had me guessing for the ending. When I had about a quarter left to read, I had no idea how it was going to end. Were they going to be with each other? Was Bennett going to be with a different girl? Was Anna going to be with Justin? My feelings were all over the place. But thankfully, I was overall happy with the way things had ended. I seriously couldn't ask for more. There is definitely no room left for a sequel, but if there was I would pick it up in a heartbeat because I just love Bennett & Anna. 

A love that's worth going back for. A love that's worth reading. Time After Time is a wonderful conclusion to this marvelous duology. 



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