A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet, #1)

by Madeleine L'Engle

[Berls]

3.5 stars

So the last time I read this I was in middle school... maybe high school. I don't remember too clearly. I do, however, remember LOVING the book. So, naturally, when I saw that they're making a new movie I was like, let's do a reread. I had forgotten so much and I wanted to really remember it before watching the movie.

I don't regret rereading it. But it's not the book I remembered either. I think that the important thing to remember about A Wrinkle in Time is that it really was written before YA books were written for both young adult AND adult audiences. This was so clearly for kids that I'm actually marking it as both a YA and a Middle Grade. It's not one that make the transference to Adult interest well. Not that it's poorly written or anything, it's just not a book for adults. It has some incredibly obvious themes and messages that are clearly written to impress upon young minds. So that makes it less thrilling as an adult reader.

HOWEVER, I love those themes and think that finding them in a book for young adults - especially in our day and age - is a great thing. The messages are not outdated, kids today can MOST DEFINITELY benefit from them (maybe more so than kids when it was written). I do wonder if kids today will keep up with some of the educational trivia bits - the kids in this book are SMART cookies and solve some difficult math/science problems off the top of their head.

And the story is a fun read. Nothing that's going to have you on the edge of your seat, but for one of the first books of it's kind, the Sci-Fi & Fantasy mix you have going on in this book is just fun. And that's why - despite feeling that the book is targeted to younger readers more than I remembered - I will still plan to watch the movie :)

As a side note, I read this as an audiobook and while the narration was good, it was SLOW. I listened to the entire thing at 3x speed because it was at such a slow pace. Of course, I listen to most audiobooks at a 2x speed, so it may not seem THAT slow to those who don't do that with their books. Otherwise the narration was good - I enjoyed the voices and really got lost in the story.

So if you, like me, want to take a walk down memory road, go for it! Just know, you're reading a kids book :)