Flutter: Review

Review:

This book was another case of me expecting one thing and getting something else entirely.

Emery Land has spent several years living in a hospital because of the “loops”. To everyone else it appears that Emery is having a seizure, but Emery actually travels to other dimensions when she loops. Sometimes she travels to the past, other times to a fantasy world, and other times to a farm where the same little boy always appears. Sick of living in a hospital where her doctor father constantly runs tests on her, Emery escapes with the help of a friend and hides out in a place called Esperanza. It’s there that she meets the mysterious boy named Ash — a boy that seems strangely familiar. A boy that may be able to help her piece together the mysterious clues she’s picked up from the loops.

As I mentioned before, this book wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought it would be more about traditional time-travel and a little more sci-fi. What I got was more reminiscent of The Time Traveler’s Wife (which just so happens to be one of my most favorite books ever.)

Ms. Linko does a great job of turning the old time-travel theme on its side and making it her own. Every time Emery “looped” I was fascinated, and found myself searching for clues that may help her  during her journey. I really felt for Emery. I didn’t blame her at all when she escaped the hospital, and I thought her relationship with Ash was sweet. Emery is very sick, and Ash has no problem taking care of her. I found Ash to be likable, but there wasn’t much that really made him stand out amongst other male leads in other novels. Still, he’s not a bad character.

Ms. Linko writes well, and the story flows fairly well, though I felt like there were times the pacing could have been faster. Once the pieces begin to fall into place, the book really picked up for me, and though I guessed what was really happening with Emery about midway through the book, I still enjoyed the ride. The ending was definitely bittersweet. It didn’t floor me as was the obvious intent, but it was effective.

All in all Flutter is an enjoyable read, and more of a romance than an action packed time travel novel. Still, it’s worth checking out.