Marking Time

by April White

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

4.75 stars
This series is such a hidden gem. I can't understand why this series isn't talked about at all. If I hadn't stumbled upon it on Audible, I would have seriously missed out. Even though I've only read the first book (thus far), I already like this series better than 98% of the YA Fantasy/Scifi books I've read based purely on recommendations or social media hype (The Mortal Instruments, Delirium, Outlander, etc). For starters, this book actually had a female protagonist that I could stand. I love Saira Elian. She's the most kick ass heroine I've read in a long, long time. One that doesn't make you pull your hair out with her stupid decisions. Do you even understand how rare that is in YA?! The *only* complaint I have is with her vampire love interest, just because it's been done (and redone) so effing much. Their romance was a tiny bit "insta-love" for my tastes, but was made palatable by the time traveling element of the story. Honestly, I'm so in love with everything else that's going on in Saira's world that her love life barely registered as an annoyance with me. I am much more interested in Saira's familial relationships than romantic ones. This author obviously knows wear her story's strengths lie and doesn't spend an unnecessary amount of time with the mushy gushy. Believe me, it's appreciated. For a world that is so complex, White does an outstanding job of slowly building it while distinguishing the families from one another in a way so that the reader can easily catch on. I love the writing style and fast pace. This story hit the ground running (figuratively and literally) from page one. I especially appreciate that, although marketed as part of the YA genre, it is not (or doesn't seem to be) exclusively written for teenage readers. I think the maturity level of the main character has a lot to do with that. Saira maybe 17, but she acts a lot older.