Review: Clockwise by Elle Strauss

Clockwise by Elle Strauss

review

Title: Clockwise

Author: Elle Strauss

Source: ebook from author (Smashwords)

goodreads...

Boy watching with her best friend would be enough excitement for fifteen year old Casey Donavan. She doesn't even mind life at the bottom of the Cambridge High social ladder, if only she didn’t have this other much bigger problem. Unscheduled trips to the nineteenth century!
When Casey gets talked into going to the Fall Dance, the unthinkable happens--she accidentally takes Nate Mackenzie, the cutest boy in the school, back in time. Protocol pressures her to tell their 1860 hosts that he is her brother and when Casey finds she has a handsome, wealthy (and unwanted) suitor, something changes in Nate. Are those romantic sparks or is it just ‘brotherly’ protectiveness?
When they return to the present things go back to the way they were before: Casey at the bottom of the social totem pole and Nate practically the flag flying from the top. Except this time her heart is broken. Plus, her best friend is mad, her parents are split up, and her little brother gets escorted home by the police. The only thing that could make life worse is if, by some strange twist of fate, she took Nate back to the past again.
Which, of course, she does.

My Take...

Casey loves hanging out with her best friend watching the jocks during their practices and taking the occasional trip. Time tripping actually. Starting when she was nine years old Casey is transported back in time to the 1800’s . Having to learn how to survive while back in time is what has kept Casey alive. And while she may be gone for days or weeks at a time, only mere seconds pass in the present once she returns.

But one night, as a dare hottie Nate asks Casey to dance at the school fall dance. And that’s when she accidently takes Nate back to 1860 with her. Having to pose as brother and sister in front of the family she has befriended along the way, Nate starts seeing Casey as someone different. But once again, when they return to the present, Nate ignores Casey and she has to tend to a broken heart.

I loved how this story is like the teenage version of The Time Traveler’s Wife...easier to understand and without the motion sickness. Each time Casey went back in time I feared for her safety and the revealing of her secret. The characters Strauss wrote were genuine and have real everyday problems. And with all that Casey has to deal with, she doesn’t spend the whole book crying “woe is me”. She sucks it up and goes on. Even though this seems to be a standalone book, I could see where the author could go further with it.

If you are looking for a fast, enjoyable, page-turner…Clockwise is your book.