Marking Time By April White

A Review By Wendy

5 Infinitely Creative, Surprisingly Touching Stars

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It always amazes me how inventive people can be...whether it is something from long ago which we still use today or a new product that is just catching on. We as people come up with ideas and somehow figure out how to make them real. 

Writers do this all of the time. They create whole worlds, down to the last details. Some are reflections of our everyday lives and sometimes they create alternate universes which marry real life history to their stories. Marking Time (The Immortal Descendants #1) by April White is a perfect example of this type of book.  

(This is where you should read the blurb, as the author tells her story much better than I could :D)

This is not my usual type of book; however it kept my complete attention from the first intro to the heart wrenching end. I never was bored and was always enthralled. It had drama (Jack the Ripper), time travel, vamps, weres, shape shifters and more. There was a very sweet first love which caused a lump in my throat at times. All of these factors worked together.  

This was such a delightful surprise. It touched me in so many ways; I felt for all of the characters; I was curious even when I thought I figured out some of the plot points. I cared about the girl; those she met and those who loved her.

What really worked was the extreme attention to detail. It was not forced or over the top; it was just part of the story causing you to feel as if you were in old London.

The other part which worked was the humanity; all of the issues we deal with everyday were presented in such a way as to bring clarity and vision... to see what is important... how we as people are all the same deep down... we wish to belong and have those around us support and care about us. We need to see through the barriers we put up and open ourselves to the wonders of the world. Our characters learned this. 

I hope this is the beginning of a multi-part series... because I, for one, am ready for my next adventure.

A copy was gifted to me by the author in exchange for an honest review

About April White

APRIL WHITE has been a film producer, private investigator, bouncer, teacher and screenwriter. She has climbed in the Himalayas, lived on a gold mine in the Yukon, and has read the entire Harry Potter series three times; once to herself and twice out loud to her boys. She and her husband share those boys and their home in Southern California with their dog, various chickens, and a lifetime collection of books. April wrote her first novel, Marking Time, because it's what she wanted to read, and now needs to finish the five-book series so she can find out what happens next. More information and her blog can be found at www.immortaldescendants.com

BLURB

Seventeen-year-old tagger Saira Elian can handle anything... a mother who mysteriously disappears, a stranger who stalks her around London, and even the noble English Grandmother who kicked Saira and her mother out of the family. But when an old graffiti tag in a tube station transports Saira to the 19th Century and she comes face-to-face with Jack the Ripper, she realizes she needs help after all.

Saira meets Archer, a charming student who helps her blend in as much as a tall, modern American teen can in Victorian England. He reveals the existence of the Immortals: Time, Nature, Fate, War and Death, and explains to Saira that it is possible to move between
centuries – if you are a Descendant of Time.

Saira finds unexpected friendships at a boarding school for Immortal Descendants and a complicated love with a young man from the past. But time is running out for her mother, and Saira must embrace her new identity as she hides from Archer a devastating secret about his future that may cost him his life.