I’ve been on a Cara kick lately. I just recently discovered her and she’s become one of my fav modern day authors! I also absolutely love time travel so a book she wrote that has romance is perfect for me! The main narrators were great and had amazzzzing chemistry. I also loved Mikey’s neighbor and Dr. Einsteen’s voices! The book just pulls you in with its unique premise and there is never a dull moment. I couldn’t relate much to the emphasis on sports but it was still enjoyable to listen to. I could very much relate to June who is anxiety incarnate, just as I once was. Plus, I love English and writing! She is one of my fav modern MCs in a long time!
Spoilers: it’s interesting that the book begins with Mikey and June reflecting on their time traveling adventure. This lets the reader know that the mysterious peril is over but it somehow does not take away from the suspense and the specifics of how they manage to save June. The action begins instantly, with the reader listening in on a phone call between Mikey and future June. It was a good choice to hear limited info about the future and it actually made sense that she was dubbed a Jane Doe and placed in funded care bc she was babbling about being from the past. She has little to no access to anything or anyone which leaves her to only beg for help from her one phone contact in the past, the gym teacher who she has pegged all wrong.
Mikey trying to win over past June with future June’s help was just delightful. It seems like future June is a different person but she is really just a better version of who she always was, her true unbridled self. We can see this when Mikey starts pulling present June out of her shell. It’s very poetic that a woman who is terrified of everything would be the victim of a wormhole that propels her 85 years into the future. In retrospect, Future June sees that she never had any true problems and sees her old life in a new light she desperately wants to return to. She had Mikey pegged all wrong after his time as a coach and it was such a sweet reveal that they were friends as children! I totally get the awkwardness and Mikey not acknowledging her bc she didn’t first and he assumed that’s how she wanted it. Her crush on Lux is adorable but clearly misguided and I was happy to see it predictably unravel the more she bonded with Mikey. The final reveal about Mikey’s dream coach was kinda much ado about nothing imo. I get his moral dilemma, but unless the guy was directly mistreating the students based on race, sexual orientation etc, I think Mikey could have swallowed his pride and continued. It doesn’t help that we don’t get intel on what the coach actually said. Was it a joke or bravado? Was it something the guy did all the time? That would have helped to know.
Things really got interesting and intense when Mikey sought out Dr. Einsteen. I really wish we had seen and heard more from him! I really wonder what time period the physicist is truly from or if he is truly from their present but he has accessed other time periods before. His voice and dialogue was so amazing, I wanted to keep rewinding! I wish they had done more with Dr. Fitzgerald being his enemy! That seems to imply that she is from this timeline but travelled ahead herself. We don’t really get to understand what her end game was by keeping June under observation but that’s not the point of the story. I would def love to see some kind of spinoff about Dr. Fitzgerald and Dr. Einsteen though! I loved when he raced ahead to rescue future June and that they all helped save her. It was sooo cute how Mikey was going to jump through the wormhole, he didn’t care what time period he existed in as long as it was with her. It was so poetic that June helped save herself and that both Junes essentially fused. The best parts were when Future June got new memories from past June! Very creative stuff.
My only complaint is that I wish this had been longer! The romance and fantasy were a perfect balance and the narrators were just lovely to listen to! This could be a perfect movie or mini series. Far better than the bs currently on TV and in the movies! I highly recommend this book, my fav of Cara’s so far!