Helen Douglas

Let me start out by saying that the beginning of this review may not be complete fair since the review copy I received missed the ending. Seriously, the ending – a book without ending is like, well, like a book without ending! It was only a couple of pages (I think) so I got the jest of it, but still – I was pissed! So I may rant a bit about this (as you may be able to tell) but it hasn’t affected my rating, I promise!

I actually liked both Ryan and Eden. They aren’t perfect (at all! – Eden is so annoying when she keeps asking Ryan questions even though he already told her that he can’t tell her anything and Ryan is a bit of an idiot when he asks about the food, like, if you’re going back in time, at least make sure you know about that time periode!) but they are kind of smart and their relationship is cute and well developed. I had hoped that the relationship between Eden and Connor was just at interesting, but their relationship was a stupid catastrophe. How Eden couldn’t figure out that Connor liked her is beyond me and I’ll never understand why she tolerated his annoying ass!

The story is intriguing at first, but as it unravels it becomes more and more boring and convenient. And yet, I don’t really understand some parts of it, like, if they stopped the thing Ryan went back in time to stop, wouldn’t they stop time travel from being invented at all? Then they wouldn’t be able to go back in time to stop the event and then time travel would be invented, making sure that Ryan could travel back in time to prevent it…. That’s some loop! I just don’t get it. And the end (at least the part I got to read *ranting*) was too convenient and obvious and easy, way too easy.

Thankfully, it was a quick read and even though I wasn’t really a fan of the story, it’s all right if you just need a light read. It has its fun moments and some cute moments, but don’t expect something mind blowing.… (mehr)

Note: Spoilers for the first book in this series.

Chasing Stars continues the story that began with After Eden. Eden is now with her boyfriend Ryan over one hundred years in the future, in the year 2123. But Ryan immediately gets arrested for violating time travel laws, and faces a life in prison on the moon. Eden works with Ryan’s friends to try to release him from an overly caricatured bad guy by a series of very improbable schemes.

Evaluation: The book isn’t too bad, but I think I wouldn’t recommend it except for tweens and younger teens.… (mehr)

After Eden is a young adult time travel romance, and fairly predictable. A new boy, Ryan Westland, comes to Eden Anfield’s school, and he is the hottest boy anyone has seen. He befriends Eden and her best friend Connor, who is secretly in love with Eden. Eden quickly discovers that Ryan must be from the future (he doesn’t know what pizza is!) and that his appearance on 2012 Earth has something to do with both her and Connor.

But a lot is at stake, and Eden is (a) kind of dumb and (b) not as reliable as she claims. This puts her in a great deal of danger.

Evaluation: The book isn’t too bad, but I think I wouldn’t recommend it except for tweens and younger teens.… (mehr)