#FinallyFriday {3}: TWIST

Finally Friday is a meme started by me (Jessica, aka @coffeelvnmom) and J from @life_love_fandoms. This week's I-finally-read-this-waiting-on-Wednesday-book is: Twist.

The unbelievably thrilling sequel to the time-travel YA novel Loop.

Bree Bennis finally has it all—a non-comatose mother, an uber-hot (albeit anachronistic) boyfriend named Finn, and a new-found mission to protect the timeline from those who would skew it for their own gain. But when she leans over one day to smooch said boyfriend, her lips meet those of her arch-nemesis Wyck instead. The timeline has been altered, and Bree is caught in the crosshairs. But when she goes back to repair the damage, she is stopped by none other than her Future Self, who delivers an urgent message: Someone is kidnapping Shifters from the distant past. It’s up to Bree to stop them. But first, she has to figure out who... and why.

To follow the trail of chronocrumbs, Bree reluctantly accepts her new undercover gig as Wyck’s girlfriend. Everything goes spiffy until Finn shows up in the 23rd century on the eager arm of a gorgeous fellow Shifter, Blark. Even as Bree struggles with jealousy, she battles the nagging dread that Finn might be better off with someone less chronologically complicated. Her worst fear is confirmed when Finn becomes the kidnapper’s next victim. As Bree zeroes in on the culprit, they unravel her life one timeline-change at a time. She realizes that she alone has the power to save herself and everyone she loves. But to do that, she may lose Finn forever.

4.5 stars*

…if there was one thing I’d learned over the last six months, it’s that it takes a rare, rare person to willingly sacrifice the things he loves for the greater good. ~Bree Bennis


Diving back into the Loop world was fun with Ms. Akins’ great characters and amusing writing (I particularly love Bree’s derogatory words against people she isn’t fond of, like “crap-weasel”. Ha!). 

Everything is explained and set up well, and then… Bree finds herself in an awkward, inexplicable situation, and has to think fast. Not that she does the best job. But she *does* help herself figure it out (kind of), and that’s what carries you through the plot. (Confused? Good. Because I was.) New reality = not the same characters as before. It’s hard to imagine how disconcerting it would be to be coming and going in different time spans, how frustrating it would be for any sort of relationship at all. Bree says it well:

Our relationship is going through what you might call a challenging stage right now. And by “right now,” I mean “since the moment I met him”. 

Like LOOP, TWIST made me laugh out loud quite a few times. And the twists… yep. There’s lots. I really enjoyed seeing more of Bree, Finn (of course) and his family, and though we don't get as much of Finn as I'd liked, it *was* nice getting to see a different side of Wyck after what went down in LOOP. 

All in all, TWIST was a fun, mysterious second installment to LOOP, and I highly recommend checking it out.

*I received a book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | iBooks | Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday {65}: Twist

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine. This week's can't-wait-to-read pre-publication book is Twist. 

Twist
by Karen Akins

Publication date: March 31st, 2015


From Goodreads:

The unbelievably thrilling sequel to the time-travel YA novel Loop.

Bree Bennis finally has it all—a non-comatose mother, an uber-hot (albeit anachronistic) boyfriend named Finn, and a newfound mission to protect the timeline from those who would skew it for their own gain. But when she leans over one day to smooch said boyfriend, her lips meet those of her arch-nemesis Wyck instead. The timeline has been altered, and Bree is caught in the crosshairs. But when she goes back to repair the damage, she is stopped by none other than her Future Self, who delivers an urgent message: Someone is kidnapping Shifters from the distant past. It’s up to Bree to stop them. But first, she has to figure out who…and why.

To follow the trail of chronocrumbs, Bree reluctantly accepts her new undercover gig as Wyck’s girlfriend. Everything goes spiffy until Finn shows up in the 23rd century on the eager arm of a gorgeous fellow Shifter. Blark. Even as Bree struggles with jealousy, she battles the nagging dread that Finn might be better off with someone less chronologically complicated. Her worst fear is confirmed when Finn becomes the kidnapper’s next victim. As Bree zeroes in on the culprit, they unravel her life one timeline-change at a time. She realizes that she alone has the power to save herself and everyone she loves. But to do that, she may lose Finn forever.

LOOP review and #giveaway

At a school where Quantum Paradox 101 is a required course and history field trips are literal, sixteen year-old time traveler Bree Bennis excels…at screwing up.

After Bree botches a solo midterm to the 21st century by accidentally taking a boy hostage (a teensy snafu), she stands to lose her scholarship. But when Bree sneaks back to talk the kid into keeping his yap shut, she doesn’t go back far enough. The boy, Finn, now three years older and hot as a solar flare, is convinced he’s in love with Bree, or rather, a future version of her that doesn’t think he’s a complete pain in the arse. To make matters worse, she inadvertently transports him back to the 23rd century with her.

Once home, Bree discovers that a recent rash of accidents at her school are anything but accidental. Someone is attacking time travelers. As Bree and her temporal tagalong uncover seemingly unconnected clues—a broken bracelet, a missing data file, the art heist of the millennium—that lead to the person responsible, she alone has the knowledge to piece the puzzle together. Knowledge only one other person has. Her future self.

But when those closest to her become the next victims, Bree realizes the attacker is willing to do anything to stop her. In the past, present, or future.

"Umm, because you smell like a wad of yummy wrapped in a layer of delicious?" -Bree

Hi, guys! I am so excited to bring LOOP to ya'll today... it was such a great, fun book, with an amusing character and intriguing take on time travel! I was actually given an eARC of this, but didn't realize that it expired by a certain date (boo), so... I had to buy my own version so I could read it in time for this review/giveaway. Which is fine, and totally worth it! (I've actually now ordered a hard copy--that's how much I loved it!) UPDATE: They sent me a hardcover. LOL! My bad! So now that I have an extra... guess I'll have to use it for another giveaway soon! :D

LOOP starts out with Bree being given an assignment to go to a particular place in time. There's a whole other thing going on that you don't fully understand until quite a bit further into the book, but let's just say that she is also trying to sneak in an "off the record" assignment at the same time, to benefit her family. Problem is, pretty much everything goes wrong, which starts a long twist of things getting more funny and wonky and confusing as she learns nothing at all is really as it seems and this might not be the first time she's been at this particular point in time.

I don't want to say much because there are layers to the plot and I might give something away, but I will say that not reading the blurb actually benefitted me a lot, because I had no idea what to expect and that made the read more exciting. 

I also loved Karen's voice. She gave Bree, her best friend, Mimi, and the rest of the characters such great dialogue, and her descriptions were seamless. I'm one of those readers who doesn't always want long descriptive parts when I'm really enjoying a book (get me to the action!), and this fit the bill with perfect laughs, set-ups, and surprises. Another quote:

Finn stared at me like I'd sprouted a third eyeball. He waited until I was done before he sat up and clapped his hands together. Again. And again. "Bravo! Did they serve a helping of brainwashing with the twigs this morning or was it beamed directly into your brain via your microchip?"

See? Those two are hilarious. And now for the fun news...

I've been given one copy of LOOP to give away! YAY! Make sure you come back and enter often, okay? It's worth it! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Add LOOP to Goodreads | Connect with Karen on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Tumblr

P.S. Karen also has a fun bookplate giveaway going on at her place. You can check it out and enter it HERE. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Loop

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine.  

  This week's can't-wait-to-read pre-publication book is Loop. 

Loop

by Karen Akins
Publication date: October 21, 2014

From Goodreads:

At a school where Quantum Paradox 101 is a required course and history field trips are literal, sixteen year-old time traveler Bree Bennis excels…at screwing up.

After Bree botches a solo midterm to the 21st century by accidentally taking a boy hostage (a teensy snafu), she stands to lose her scholarship. But when Bree sneaks back to talk the kid into keeping his yap shut, she doesn’t go back far enough. The boy, Finn, now three years older and hot as a solar flare, is convinced he’s in love with Bree, or rather, a future version of her that doesn’t think he’s a complete pain in the arse. To make matters worse, she inadvertently transports him back to the 23rd century with her.

Once home, Bree discovers that a recent rash of accidents at her school are anything but accidental. Someone is attacking time travelers. As Bree and her temporal tagalong uncover seemingly unconnected clues—a broken bracelet, a missing data file, the art heist of the millennium—that lead to the person responsible, she alone has the knowledge to piece the puzzle together. Knowledge only one other person has. Her future self.

But when those closest to her become the next victims, Bree realizes the attacker is willing to do anything to stop her. In the past, present, or future.