Emily M. (dangerouskitchen) reviewed Nick of Time (Nick McIver Adventures Through Time, Bk 1) on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
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This story was almost impossible to put down from the very beginning. The first chapter deals almost exclusively with A Sailing Mishap, and I was so engrossed in what happened I barely remembered to blink. The imagery was very vivid and it was easy to imagine the places and items being described in the opening chapters.
Pre-war England in 1939 was a gloomy place. This book does an excellent job of inspiring interest in the period and also in setting a mood that's appropriate for the story being told. Nick and his family are spying for England against the Germans; the reader can feel their devotion to their cause and their investment in what they're doing.
But this isn't just a WWII novel, not by a long stretch! There are pirates! Nazis! Naval fleets! Leonardo da Vinci has a cameo! Evil Parrots! This book reminded me a lot of old Hardy Boys stories, with the nonstop action and evil lurking around every corner.
That brings me to another thing that I truly enjoyed about this book. Maybe it has something to do with it being marketed towards a younger audience, but I find that in many books, the reader gets bogged down, either in lengthy treatises about why technology works the way it does, or in endless descriptions or conversations about what makes the bad guy so bad. I'm not saying that those elements don't have their places or their purposes, but when I'm reading for entertainment, I can trust that the bad guy is bad, or that technology works in a certain way, without pages and pages of explanation on either subject. With both subjects, Nick of Time has just enough description to be acceptably fantastic. It is fiction, after all!
One final thought- I've found, especially with books marketed towards young adults, that there seems to be a lack of books that present as appealing to boys. While Twilight is definitely a worldwide phenomenon in every sense of the world, it's definitely one that's marketed towards young women. Where's the corresponding appeal for young men? I'm not saying that books have to be for one gender or another, or that being a certain gender means you have to read certain books, but I can honestly say that when my brothers (for example) ask me to recommend a book, Twilight usually isn't the first thing that pops into my head.
With that said, Nick of Time is a book that would appeal to readers of any gender, and of any age. Swashbuckling, adventure, sailing, time travel, history, there are so many elements here that there's something for everyone, and that's a rare feat, indeed.
Overall Grade: A
This story was almost impossible to put down from the very beginning. The first chapter deals almost exclusively with A Sailing Mishap, and I was so engrossed in what happened I barely remembered to blink. The imagery was very vivid and it was easy to imagine the places and items being described in the opening chapters.
Pre-war England in 1939 was a gloomy place. This book does an excellent job of inspiring interest in the period and also in setting a mood that's appropriate for the story being told. Nick and his family are spying for England against the Germans; the reader can feel their devotion to their cause and their investment in what they're doing.
But this isn't just a WWII novel, not by a long stretch! There are pirates! Nazis! Naval fleets! Leonardo da Vinci has a cameo! Evil Parrots! This book reminded me a lot of old Hardy Boys stories, with the nonstop action and evil lurking around every corner.
That brings me to another thing that I truly enjoyed about this book. Maybe it has something to do with it being marketed towards a younger audience, but I find that in many books, the reader gets bogged down, either in lengthy treatises about why technology works the way it does, or in endless descriptions or conversations about what makes the bad guy so bad. I'm not saying that those elements don't have their places or their purposes, but when I'm reading for entertainment, I can trust that the bad guy is bad, or that technology works in a certain way, without pages and pages of explanation on either subject. With both subjects, Nick of Time has just enough description to be acceptably fantastic. It is fiction, after all!
One final thought- I've found, especially with books marketed towards young adults, that there seems to be a lack of books that present as appealing to boys. While Twilight is definitely a worldwide phenomenon in every sense of the world, it's definitely one that's marketed towards young women. Where's the corresponding appeal for young men? I'm not saying that books have to be for one gender or another, or that being a certain gender means you have to read certain books, but I can honestly say that when my brothers (for example) ask me to recommend a book, Twilight usually isn't the first thing that pops into my head.
With that said, Nick of Time is a book that would appeal to readers of any gender, and of any age. Swashbuckling, adventure, sailing, time travel, history, there are so many elements here that there's something for everyone, and that's a rare feat, indeed.
Overall Grade: A
