(Disclaimer: I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway)

*sigh*

This book was not what I was hoping it would be. Started it with high hopes and finished it with high irritation. Not sure where to start. The whole thing was just so disappointing.

Ok, well let's start with the bits I liked:

Er...some of it was amusing? Although the fact that I kept being told how amusing everything was kind of detracted from that. If your writing is witty it should speak for itself without having to be told 'isn't this funny?' And 'aren't these characters cool?'. A lot of this book is the reader being told they are reading witty banter. The number of times the characters found each other hilarious was kind of grating.

It started off ok? The first few chapters I was kind of intrigued. They raise enough interesting questions to keep you reading. HOWEVER, the questions I found interesting were never answered. Questions such as:

- Who or what is monitoring these people?
- How are they monitoring these people?
- Why these people?
- Is the objective to save the world or just have a baby? Because many times when they are putting themselves in danger the 'monitors' are concerned about them meeting their objective. Even if they are performing actions that will help save the day.
- How exactly would the monitors intervene if they could ever be bothered? We see one botched transfer which is then ruled out for obvious reasons but no further intervention.
- Are the monitors viewing the action from inside the timeline or out of it? Because if it's from outside then surely they should know what is about to happen? And if it's inside then how were they able to reach into another timeline and transfer a Matthew back to the past. What are the rules of this time travel?

And so on. None of this is explained. I understand there is to be a sequel but so few of my questions were answered that I'm not sure if I care.

Also, I hate being wilfully deceived as a reader. This happened on two occasions. Once to manufacture a contrived mistrust between Katherine and Matthew when he blatantly says some statements to make him seem like a Jacobite sympathiser and then when she outright asks him if he supports the rebels he panics and doesn't answer. What is the purpose of this when it is later made clear that he supports the English. Why was he being deliberately cryptic. And then he has the gall to be annoyed that Katherine doesn't trust him. This feels like a contrivance to deliberately and understandably make Katherine and the reader suspect him of being a rebel.

The second time is when Matthew dies and is replaced by a future Matthew. Future Matthew clearly states that future Katherine was killed in an attack by a rocket presumably to make us concerned over the future of Katherine in that timeline. He later says she was shot in an event that for the reader has already happened and which she has already survived so her life was never really in danger.

This. Is. Annoying.

I don't mind books being a little cryptic and trying to trick you by clever wording but outright lying is not on.

Similarly, what is the meaning of 'I've just remembered Clove'? That better be explained in a later book because you cannot tell me he is 'remembering' his future daughter because that would make me angry.

Also, 'Clove' as a name in general.

Also where are all the secondary characters? This is very much the Katherine and Matthew show. There are a few barely important secondary characters but the vast majority of the book is about how much Matthew and Katherine love each other. It gets old. There is not one single fully fleshed out secondary character. In fact Matt and Katherine are barely fleshed out as it is. Katherine is the 'funny' one and Matthew is the...actually I don't know what Matthew is. The shy one? Because he blushes a lot? Or maybe he's just 'the one that loves Katherine' because that seems to be his only defining characteristic.

Also, I can tolerate a certain amount of anachronism but I did not buy into any of the past timelines. The characters didn't speak or act like they were from that era. I know it seems silly in today's society, but I really think societal conventions of the time should definitely have given Katherine pause for thought before embarking on any sort of friendship with a servant. Which nobody else seems to notice or care about btw. There should DEFINITELY have been some gossip or scandal surrounding their relationship but this is never remotely problematic in the book. I also really don't buy the dressing as a boy thing. Apparently all it takes is wearing boys clothes and putting your hair up. She can even wear 'revealing' trousers without anyone noticing. People in olden times were completely unobservant apparently.

And don't get me started on the massively underdeveloped future timeline, which is indistinguishable from modern times except for there being some kind of English/Europe conflict.

Then there's the fact that their instalove relationship is way too cloying. It's all they ever talk about. And we're never really shown them falling in love. They love each other because they are supposed to. There is no real relationship development except for contrived and swiftly overcome obstacles. They are just in love and always have been.

This book made me want to re-read Cloud Atlas. Which is an incredibly well written book about reincarnations in different timelines. This reminds me of that but, sadly, infinitely more disappointing.

The only reason this isn't a one star review is because it might work as a story if my questions are answered in the next book. Although I'm still undecided if I'll bother reading it.