Title: 15 Minutes (Rewind Series #1)
Author: Jill Cooper
Release Date: June 15th 2013
Publisher: Self-published
Age Group: Young Adult
I have 15 minutes to save my mother’s life…
15 minutes is all the Rewind Agency gives you in the past, but for Lara Crane it’s enough time to race through the city, find her mother, and stop her from being killed in a mugging that happened over ten years ago.
But that’s not how it happened. The story she’s been told all her life is a lie and when Lara takes a bullet meant for her mother, her future changes forever.
The love of her life acts like a stranger. Her simple life is replaced with a giant house, glamorous clothes and a new boyfriend.
Except someone knows her secret. And he will try to stop her at every turn as she races against the clock to unravel a dangerous conspiracy.
15 Minutes is an edgy high octane YA thriller that can be described as Back to the Future meets Inception where the people Lara trusts change in an instant. She is in a timeline she doesn't understand, and is about to make one fatal mistake as she faces an enemy so familiar, he’s family.15 Minutes combined two time travel tropes: the "oh I have special DNA" trope, and the "some modern Einstein created a time machine" trope—that mix made this book different from the other time travel stories I've read.
What brought this book down a notch for me was Lara, our heroine. She irritated me by acting like a spoiled brat when she realized that she had changed the future drastically with her alteration of the past, expecting others to understand her outbursts and inconsistencies. I also rolled my eyes when she couldn't keep her raging hormones in check even while she was dying from brain hemorrhage.
"Lar? You okay?" He strokes my hair back. Is he finally going to kiss me? Maybe he realizes we're meant to be together. "Your eyes are going bloodshot. Lara? Can you hear me?"Uh, yep.
Maybe it was just from my lack of sleep, but I didn't fully grasp the science behind time travel here in 15 Minutes. There were too many Lara's running around and too many pasts, presents, and futures interlacing with one another, and it just befuddled me. I also didn't like the mere "I'm special" reasoning as to why Lara could change the past. (I take it there were others like her, but we don't encounter them in this first book.)
Like I mentioned before in a review for another time travel book, I like this sci-fi sub-genre because I'm curious of the what-ifs, and the answer to that question here in 15 Minutes is one of the harshest I've read. The synopsis promised a high-octane thriller, and it totally delivered. Just when I thought I had this story all figured out, it proved me wrong, and it was made even more unpredictable by the most sci-fi love triangle I've ever encountered in fiction.
"It makes me uncomfortable. You know all these things some other version of me told you, and you're looking at me like you expect something of me. Like what? Should I fall back in love with you? Because you told me that's how things are supposed to be?"The ending was a cliffhanger, but not the type that made me want to throw my phone against a wall. Give me the sequel now, please!
MY FAVORITE PART was when Lara used her ability to save Molly. Talk about getting back at the enemy more than once! :))
RATING:
About the author:
Jill loves to blend horror, comedy, the supernatural, and love, through her novels. A fan of genre blending, her work strives to cross boundaries, but most of all strives to entertain. She loves soft cuddly cats, warm blankets, and paranormal romances. Jill resides in Massachusetts, is constantly renovating her home that she shares with her husband, young daughter, and two skittish cats.
Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)
ReplyDeleteJill Cooper