75. Through Each Tomorrow

75. Through Each Tomorrow. Gabrielle Meyer. 2025. 384 pages. [Source: Library] [historical fiction, 4 stars, time slipping, christian fantasy]

First sentence: Hardship seemed my constant companion. The only difference was that in 1563, I had money and a title to overcome the difficulties life threw at me. 

Through Each Tomorrow features FOUR, yes, FOUR time-crossers. Charles (1560s and 1880s), Cecily (1560s, 1910s but she's deceased in her second time so she's stuck in Elizabethan England), Drew (1560s and 1880s) and Evelyn (1690s and 1880s). We get points of view from Cecily, Charles, and Drew. 

This novel is ALL about time-crossers crossing into each other. Charles and Drew occupy the same times and have become friends in both times. Drew falls for Charles' sister, Cecily. Charles falls for Drew's sister, Evelyn. I believe Charles and Cecily are step-siblings. Drew's sister Evelyn was adopted. There's plenty of complications mainly about CLASS and REPUTATION and snootiness. 

Charles is an Earl in his 1560s timeline; Charles and his sister are both in the royal court of Queen Elizabeth. In the 1880s, Charles is a poor farmer. He poses as an EARL to help out his friend, Drew/Andrew. In the 1560s storyline, Andrew/Drew is a poor nobody. In the 1880s he's studying to be a doctor AND the heir to a company. Charles wants Drew to play doctor in the 1560s in the royal court. 

I liked it well enough. I did. Not my favorite or best, but somewhat mostly interesting. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

36. For a Lifetime

For a Lifetime (Timeless #3) Gabrielle Meyer. 2024. 400 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: It was a strange reality to be on the precipice of tragedy and not be able to stop it. Stranger, still, to live two simultaneous lives and know that one day I would have to choose one and leave the other forever. But this had been my existence since birth. A gift, my mama had called it, though I am certain she only said that to placate the fears of a child. A child born with the mark of a time-crosser.

Grace and Hope--our two heroines--are time-crossing twins. They live their double lives in 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, and 1912 New York City. Normally time-crossers have difficulty choosing between their two (or even three lives), but not in this case. Who would want to stay in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials? Also knowing from your other timeline in history class about the Salem Witch Trials long before they started. Their upbringing is also radically different. Again, no contest, right? But it wouldn't be much of a book if there were no twists and turns and surprises. Life doesn't go as intended for either Grace or Hope. 

This is the third in the series. I mildly disliked the first, really enjoyed the second, and found the third difficult to get through. Just like Grace and Hope I really didn't have any desire to stay in the 1692 timeline. I also disliked having TWO narrators. I realize that the whole point of this one was revisiting the same old premise but with the TWINS feature. It does complicate things certainly, because you feel an extra special connection with your twin and don't want to choose a different timeline than your sister. 

But I found the characterization a little lacking. 

The fourth book is coming later in the year. If I go with my pattern, I'll probably really enjoy that one. It is so odd to have such vastly different reactions to books in a series. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

22. When the Day Comes

When the Day Comes. (Timeless #1) Gabrielle Meyer. 2022. 384 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: For as long as I could remember, my mama had told me that my life was a gift. But at the age of nineteen, I had yet to see how this life I was living--or rather the lives I was living--could be anything other than a burden.

Premise/plot: When the Day Comes is a "timeslip" novel I believe. The premise is that there are a select number of human beings gifted/blessed by God with an unusual ability. They live two lives. When they fall asleep in one life, they wake up in the other. That's the keeping it simple summary. On her twenty-first birthday, the individual--in this case, Libby--must choose between her two lives and commit to living in one time period. Libby lives in Colonial Williamsburg in 1774--so essentially the country is on the verge of the war--and New York in 1914--again, Libby is living on the verge of war, though she probably doesn't know that bit. Her mother is also a "time traveler" (her lives were Colonial America and the 1990s). 

Libby is 100000000% certain that she knows her choice already. She is going to stay with her widowed mother and siblings in Colonial America, and, above all she is going to stay with her much beloved sweetheart, Henry. She hates almost every moment of her "modern" life in 1914. She doesn't hate her father, she might miss him a little bit. But she has no bond or connection with anyone else. Everything is a drudge.

But God may have different plans for her life. Will He work all things out for good?

My thoughts: I don't hate the premise. I don't. I actually think it has a LOT of potential. I do. I think it could be done really well. There could be great characterization, immersion into different time periods, and genuine tension and conflict. Like what if she *equally* enjoyed/loved both lives. What if she actually cared about both families. What if she actually lived life to the fullest in both lives. What if she authentically belonged to both timelines. But as it is, the characterization just isn't there. The characters lack fleshing out. The relationships feel flat, for the most part. The book does not read historical for either time period because the main character doesn't really 'belong' anywhere. She knows too much about Colonial America [and American history up through 1914 at least]. And through conversations with her mother, she has hints of even more. At one point her mother gives her a brief overview of the twentieth century. 

I think the biggest problem for me was the NON love triangle. We have one of the weakest love triangles ever. Which is fine, completely fine. Many people hate love triangles. But when you've got the main character in relationships in both timelines, but she loves one madly and despises the other...then it is just wearisome. The modern timeline depicts S.A. 

I take back what I said about the biggest problem. The solution tie-a-bow-on-it-ending was 1000000% convenient and felt cheater-pants. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible