Summer is a great time to lose yourself in these amazing books.
My favorites so far:
In After Life, Gayle Forman creates such a beautiful, mysterious tale, I didn’t want it to end.
Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer
Instant Karma is an entertaining and superbly crafted enemies-to-love teen romance.
Meyer is pitch perfect in her depiction of teens, and how their passionate convictions and goals often afford no gray areas. Perfect example: Academic overachiever Pru is quick to disparage certain classmates, especially Quint, her seemingly lazy lab partner.
Pru can magically cause instant karma on others — except Quint. How frustrating the universe keeps blocking her! But when Pru’s desperate quest to improve a bad grade forces her to volunteer at Quint’s family’s sea animal rescue center, she realizes how badly she had misjudged him.
Meyer goes beyond stereotypes, giving each character emotional depth. She realistically depicts the push-pull of teenagers’ feelings. Teen concerns, including the environment, family economics, and animal welfare, are woven seamlessly into the love story.
Instant Karma takes readers on a layered, magical journey they won’t soon forget.
I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends, by Kylie Lee Baker
There can be no deviations from the original timeline. Rogue agents, when tracked down, will be “erased.” Which poses a problem when Mina falls for Yejun, a handsome, charming rogue who has infiltrated her high school and asks for Mina’s help.
Can Mina believe Yejun’s claims that the organization she and her parents work for is corrupt? Or that her sister was erased and Yejun will help Mina find her?
In less capable hands, the shifting timelines, paradoxes, butterfly principle, and “Echoes,” might be confusing. But Baker expertly guides readers, sometimes inserting jaw-dropping twists.
This is the first book I’ve read by Kylie Lee Baker, and I gather from her acknowledgements at the end of the book, it is her most lighthearted. Loaded with tension, humor, and heart, I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends is a beautifully crafted delight.
