Publisher: Dutton Adult
Pages: 464pgs
The Story
In Bee Ridgway’s wonderfully imaginative debut novel, a man and a woman travel through time in a quest to bring down a secret society that controls the past and, thus, the future.
“You are now a member of the Guild. There is no return.” Two hundred years after he was about to die on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott, soldier and aristocrat, wakes up in a hospital bed in modern London. The Guild, an entity that controls time travel, showers him with life's advantages. But Nick yearns for home and for one brown-eyed girl, lost now down the centuries. Then the Guild asks him to break its own rule. It needs Nick to go back to 1815 to fight the Guild’s enemies and to find something called the Talisman.
In 1815, Julia Percy mourns the death of her beloved grandfather, an earl who could play with time. On his deathbed he whispers in her ear: “Pretend!” Pretend what? When Nick returns home as if from the dead, older than he should be and battle scarred, Julia begins to suspect that her very life depends upon the secrets Grandfather never told her. Soon enough Julia and Nick are caught up in an adventure that stretches up and down the river of time. As their knowledge of the Guild and their feelings for each other grow, the fate of the future itself is hanging in the balance.
“You are now a member of the Guild. There is no return.” Two hundred years after he was about to die on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott, soldier and aristocrat, wakes up in a hospital bed in modern London. The Guild, an entity that controls time travel, showers him with life's advantages. But Nick yearns for home and for one brown-eyed girl, lost now down the centuries. Then the Guild asks him to break its own rule. It needs Nick to go back to 1815 to fight the Guild’s enemies and to find something called the Talisman.
In 1815, Julia Percy mourns the death of her beloved grandfather, an earl who could play with time. On his deathbed he whispers in her ear: “Pretend!” Pretend what? When Nick returns home as if from the dead, older than he should be and battle scarred, Julia begins to suspect that her very life depends upon the secrets Grandfather never told her. Soon enough Julia and Nick are caught up in an adventure that stretches up and down the river of time. As their knowledge of the Guild and their feelings for each other grow, the fate of the future itself is hanging in the balance.
The Review
A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!
A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!
This book is quite a spectacular read and is one of the most fascinating books that I've read this year! It had this wonderful mixture of time travel, history and romance but combined all into one and I ate it all up without even knowing it myself.
THE RIVER OF NO RETURN has a very awesome - but a very complicated - premise: Nicholas Falcott, a marquess and solider in 1812, accidentally time travels to the year of 2003 in the middle of a battle and is soon intercepted by an organisation called 'The Guild', people who claim to help these jumpers - ultimately people who jump time unintentionally to flee a life-threatening situation which Nicholas has done. As The Guild teaches him how to adjust to modern society, as it's nearly impossible to return to his time, Nicholas is soon called upon to travel back in time (so it wasn't impossible after all) to 1815 for a mission and during the mission he ends up meeting Julia, the grand-daughter of his newly decreased neighbour, who can also travel in time, which - for Nicholas - ultimately changes everything for him.
So let's talk about the writing and the storyline. First off, the writing was beautiful and I loved the way the author used 19th century language alongside the modern language. I thought she balanced the two out really well and I believed in it which doesn't happen very often for historical-like novels as the languages can sometimes have this unauthentic feel to them, which this book clearly doesn't have at all obviously. Secondly, the storyline was perfect. Complicated for the most part but perfect. It was so thought-provoking and you'll always be left asking more and more questions about the characters and what secrets they are hiding or what is going on in their mind. And honestly, what can be better than that? Being so curious all the damn time? It's awesome.
Thirdly, what I loved most about the book out of everything else was the characters. Every character, no matter the purpose they had, had their own unique elements to them, especially when it comes to the characters of Nicholas and Julia. Now while I would've liked more romance to occur between Nicholas and Julia, as they are the main focus of the story I find, but regardless of that, I still enjoyed getting to know them and finding out what parts they would play in the storyline. Trust me, it's worth reading this book to meet these two characters! I really loved them!
Overall, THE RIVER OF NO RETURN may not be for everyone's taste, but if you're looking for a very unique story with time travel and historical aspects that keep you questioning everything you read, then this book is definitely worth checking out!
Thirdly, what I loved most about the book out of everything else was the characters. Every character, no matter the purpose they had, had their own unique elements to them, especially when it comes to the characters of Nicholas and Julia. Now while I would've liked more romance to occur between Nicholas and Julia, as they are the main focus of the story I find, but regardless of that, I still enjoyed getting to know them and finding out what parts they would play in the storyline. Trust me, it's worth reading this book to meet these two characters! I really loved them!
Overall, THE RIVER OF NO RETURN may not be for everyone's taste, but if you're looking for a very unique story with time travel and historical aspects that keep you questioning everything you read, then this book is definitely worth checking out!
The Rating
4 1/2 / 5 stars
Oh I have this for review....wasn't sure about it. But I may read soon after reading your review.
ReplyDeleteSiobhan @ Totally Bookalicious