kalventure
Written on Feb 26, 2018
I first read this in 2015 and didn't delete it off of my Kindle, so I figured I would re-read it in between some more hefty books that I have on my docket. Love Beyond Time the second time served its purpose of giving me something light to read as a brain cleanser, but unfortunately this is a far cry from a well developed story (that transitions into a series, no less). The book sorely lacks character development for ALL of the characters
What this book isn't: Outlander. Do not read this because you love that series and want more, because you will be sorely disappointed. While Claire makes an effort to bring the Scottish dialect, but that really is the main thing that cements this story in Scotland... otherwise it could take place anywhere.
There are a number of logistical plot holes that do not make any sense, such as the grant and why Adelle brings only her -unqualified- daughter to an archaeological dig that is a follow up to finds she made twenty years prior, how she and everyone else missed a freaking room in the rubble, how no one else made that discovery in this time, the whole reasoning/justification for the massacre Kinnaid's reason is tenuous at best and I find it hard to believe that he wants to kill everyone in Clan Conall because a man who is dead passed over his daughter for marriage., and the several deus ex machina elements that loosely at best tied things up.
I found the rather high number of POVs jarring and disjointed, and they really didn't do anything to enhance the story other than I suppose build tension vis a vis seeing the characters' thoughts. I would have much rather had meaningful dialog and been shown how the relationship between the characters rather than glossed over with a "in the past two weeks we have been" kind of statement. I would have been more forgiving for the missteps in plot development had more time been dedicated to the characters, but all in all this isn't a great read and I won't be continuing the series.