Into the Dim by Janet B Taylor

Into the Dim

by Janet B Taylor

"Instantly engaging, constantly suspenseful, ultimately poignant and satisfying. Loved it!"--Diana Gabaldon, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Outlander series

When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. And she's alive, though currently trapped in the twelfth century, during the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Passing through the Dim, Hope enters a brutal medieval world of political intrigue, danger, and violence. A place where any serious interference could alter the very course of history. And when she meets a boy whose face is impossibly familiar, she must decide between her mission and her heart--both of which could leave Hope trapped in the past forever.

Reviewed by jeannamichel on

5 of 5 stars

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Why is it always "to be continued"? I need the second one now please.

When Hope’s mother is presumed dead by an earthquake that rocked the lecture hall she was to be teaching that day, her father simply believes the worst. After the funeral, Hope is invited to her aunt’s manor in the highlands of Scotland and finally, receives the answers she’s been wishing for. Her mother is, in fact, still alive but lost in time. It is up to Hope to travel through time and find her mother before it is too late and her own mother becomes part of history itself.

Into the Dim is filled with nonstop action, comprehensible time travel and not to mention, the rolling landscape of the Scottish highlands. The setting itself should persuade any reader to delve into the adventure Janet B. Taylor unravels in the book. Scotland is described so elaborately that readers can almost smell the crisp air while Hope, the protagonist, horse rides through the fields of the highlands. Taylor gives readers an authentic look at Scotland, using dialect which whisks them right in the same room as all the characters.

The easy-to-understand time travel is another plus in the ever growing list of why Into the Dim should be your next read. Any book that quotes Doctor Who in the first hundred pages is going to be a fine book, indeed. Taylor weaves a magnificent time travel tale that actually makes sense. Readers will get lost in the adventure, rather than questioning over the science of time travel and how it all works.

Into the Dim would not have been complete without its nonstop action, where readers will be having trouble finding a place for their bookmark. One scene will engulf the next in a flowing circle until the book’s end with “to be continued.”

I do warn those who wish to read only complete series before beginning. There will be a second. And as I have just finished naught a moment ago, I am already having trouble waiting for Into the Dim’s sequel. This debut was a fantastic start to a time travel adventure series.

All the characters were simply unforgettable. Each one—including Phoebe, Bran and Collum—will have readers hearts bursting by the end.

It is a story that tugs at your heartstrings. Into the Dim is both a mystery and adventure with a marvelous protagonist to guide the way. Hope is brave, yet flawed, which makes her incredibly relatable and a role model. Janet B. Taylor created a lovely debut that both Outlander and Doctor Who fans will absolutely adore.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 29 February, 2016: Finished reading
  • 29 February, 2016: Reviewed