25. In this Moment

In This Moment. (Timeless #2) Gabrielle Meyer. 2023. 416 pages. [Source: Library] [Speculative fiction; historical romance]

First sentence: Most days, I could pretend that my life was normal. I was a twenty-year old woman searching for my place in the world, trying to decide my future. The only difference was that I had three normal lives, and on my twenty-first birthday, just eight and a half months from now, I would have to choose which one to keep and which to forfeit. Forever. 

Our heroine is "Margaret Wakefield," "Maggie Hollingsworth," and "Meg Clarke." Her timelines are respectively 1861, 1941, and 2001. In each timeline she has an interest in medicine be it as a nurse or doctor/surgeon. A little bit of backstory, she is the daughter of TWO time slippers or two time travelers. She bears two birthmarks which signify that she has this special ability; one is inherited from her father and the other is inherited from her mother. 

This is the second novel in the series. Unlike the first book, I really LOVED this one. Mainly because it was so much improved from the first novel. What I appreciated about his novel is the characterization and storytelling. Characters are fully fleshed out in all three timelines. Well, mostly. Two of the timelines definitely get more attention to detail. However, I felt that the stories in all three were actually engaging and well-balanced. I did not feel that there was a super incredible obvious choice within the first three or four pages. I did not feel that there was one obvious HERO that would be THE ONE within the first three chapters. I think the balance between the three storylines, the cast of characters in each timeline, were well done. Most importantly, I think the heroine was actually likable. And that makes all the difference in the world. If you can't stand to be anywhere near the main character and you think she is off-putting, it's hard to like a book well enough to finish it.

Loose lips apparently don't sink ships in the world Meyer has created. Our main character can't really keep her abilities to herself. She confides in friends, family, and love interests. In every timeline she has a support system in place which allows her to talk relatively freely about her other lives, other families, other love interests. I don't know how I feel about this to be honest. 

There was one scene that I thought was theologically iffy. But I think the theology of this speculative fiction is just necessarily iffy. Because it is all make believe and has a different set of rules. God somehow seems less sovereign and less in charge of his universe. Like he's waiting on his special time-travelers to figure out how the story is going to play out. 

"Sometimes I wish God would just choose for me."

"You wouldn't really want that, would you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It would be easier." 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible