Review: Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
Publisher: Doubleday Children's
Publication date: October 25th 2012.
My rating: 4 stars 

  

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet. Why would they? Anna is sixteen in 1995, fiercely determined to leave her quiet town and finally travel the world. Bennett's seventeen in 2012, living in San Francisco and trying to control his ability to travel through time - an incredible gift, but also an unpredictable curse, which constantly threatens to separate him from the people he loves. When Bennett suddenly finds himself in Anna's world, they are inescapably drawn to one another - it's almost as if they have met before. But they both know, deep down, that it can never last. For no matter how desperate Bennett is to stay with Anna, his condition will inevitably knock him right back to where he belongs - and Anna will be left to pick up the pieces.

Time Between Us was a gorgeously written story that deals with falling in love, making choices and if we decide to choose things differently how would this end up affecting our lives in a major way? I’m probably not making much sense right now as I’ve just finished reading the last page of this gem of a book, but in Time Between Us Tamara Ireland Stone develops a sweet relationship between two characters and sprinkles it with a special time travel twist. 

Time Between Us went way beyond what I was expecting it to be. I had recently devoured another time travel book and was in the mood for another time travel book and a bit of romance. I’m pleased to say Time Between Us delivered in these aspects and provided so much more. It had a nice mystery aspect to it with us not really knowing what was going on with the new boy Bennett. I didn’t like Bennett at all at the beginning, he constantly blew hot and cold which frustrated me to no end, and it was clear that there was something strong between him and Anna but for whatever reason he continued to be closed off and a grump about it. But I admired Anna’s resilience and thought her best friend Emma’s (who was exactly what best friends should be like) encouragement went after Bennett once more. I’m so glad that Anna did because the relationship which emerged was one of the most sweetest and beautiful ones yet. 

I kind of had a feeling that there would be heartbreak along the way for Anna and Bennett and to be honest this is how I like my romance in stories to be, I want my characters to have a battle through tough hurdles and really fight for their relationship. And this is exactly what Bennett and Anna had to do. But the hurdles they had to deal with were so different to what a normal couple had to deal with. With Bennett’s ability, it was that they could only enjoy themselves so much before something out of their control could take everything away in an instant. 

Time Between us not only had a poignant romance it also featured many beautiful places; Vernazza Italy, La Paz Mexico and Ko Tao Thailand, I loved having that feeling of being able to be whisked away to another place anywhere in an instant and being able to forget the rest of your troubles behind. 

Tamara Ireland Stone truly wrote an exceptional story in Time Between Us. I liked how she didn’t leave it easy for our characters Bennett and Anna that they had to constantly try and savour each moment as their last. The twists thrown in I extremely enjoyed, as I was constantly left guessing until the very last page. Time Between Us was a book which satiated my latest addiction of time travel books. Now all that is left is my own Bennett to turn up and whisk me away to some place else. 

A big thank you to Rebekah for reading this with me.