Tag: #TimeTravel

Madame Eldridge’s Wayward Home for Unruly Boys by Benjamin Ryan

On By @f33lthesunIn Young Adult1 Comment

Blurb

Deep in the heart of Virginia’s dense backwoods, the Wayward Home for Unruly Boys hides more than just troubled youth. Under Madame Eldridge’s watchful eye, three strict rules govern their behavior

1. What happens here stays here.

2. You must complete all eight steps—no exceptions allowed.

3. Forget your name; you’ll be known only by your problem.

But, there’s one unspoken rule that sends shivers down the boys’ never enter the forbidden third-floor bedroom of the boy who vanished, leaving nothing behind but whispers.

When Vandalize and Stealer defy this warning, they uncover a treasure trove of bewitched artifacts, each with a strange and powerful ability. Using these relics, the boys tackle Madame Eldridge’s whimsical—and often bizarre—challenges, only to learn magic always demands its price.

Amidst the chaos, Fibbsy stumbles upon a peculiar object that sends him hurtling back in time, revealing an unfathomable truth about Madame Eldridge, the eerie town, and the missing boy’s fate. But who will trust the words of a liar?

Bound by the house’s darkest mysteries, Fibbsy, Defiance, Slob, and Secret form an unlikely friendship as they race to unveil the shrouded secrets surrounding the Wayward Home. Together, they confront their deepest fears, uncovering that the real magic lies in facing their own personal demons—and each other.

Review

I really enjoyed this book. It had hidden depths that do not appear until later on. I loved the concept of the positive behaviour promoting programme and how names and consequences were linked to each boy’s problem…Bully, Cheater, Defiance, Fibbsy etc. Fibbsy realising that no one believes him when he tells them he was in danger is very much Boy Who Cried Wolf.

I was already invested when the deeper secrets of the home are revealed. The descriptive passages about the dark presence are spine chilling. The discovery of magical objects and secret meetings just added to the overall deep unease of the place.

As the boys grapple with their own issues, having to work on group tasks means also dealing with the issues of each other and pushing back against their natural, self preservation instincts.

Overall, the characterisation and world building is well crafted. There is a deep sense of foreboding throughout, mixed with just the right amount of dark humour.

A thoroughly deserved 5th place in the BBNYA 2024 awards.

Thank you to BBNYA and The Write Reads for allowing me to be on the judging panel and also the author for providing me with a copy of the book to review.

Please look out for all the other blogs on this tour.

Book Details

Length: 290 Pages

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery

Age Category: Young Adult

Date Published: August 1, 2023

Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/2xhAZT8 (Canada) https://a.co/d/gy4ZbEk (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/6gb1kDI (UK) 

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221648688-madame-eldridge-s-wayward-home-for-unruly-boys 

The Story Graph Link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/dae36be6-672b-4648-9308-594850a53715

About BBNYA

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists (16 in 2024) and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads. 

Hive:Madders of Time ~ Book 1 by D.L. Orton

On By @f33lthesunIn Adult2 Comments

Blurb

What if saving the future meant rewriting the past?

In a dying world overrun by microdrones, humanity’s last survivors cling to life inside the Eden-17 biodome. Isabelle Sanborn knows her time is running out, but one desperate plan might give humanity a second chance. With the help of Madders, an enigmatic AI built from the memories of a brilliant physicist, Isabelle sends Diego Nadales—the love of her life—35 years into the past. His mission? To change the course of history and prevent their world’s collapse. 

When Diego arrives in the vibrant yet fragile Main Timeline, he’s forced to confront ghosts of the past, including a younger, ambitious version of Isabelle. As he battles to shape a better future, Diego must navigate a delicate web of relationships and events without destroying the very fabric of time. 

Brimming with suspense, heart-pounding action, and a poignant love story that transcends time, Madders of Time – Book One is a breathtaking science fiction adventure. Award-winning author DL Orton weaves a tale that explores sacrifice, resilience, and the timeless power of love. 

Fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Dark Matter will find themselves captivated by this unforgettable journey through parallel worlds and intertwining destinies. 

The clock is ticking. Can love survive the collapse of time itself?

Review

Before reviewing the book, I would like to take a moment to appreciate the fabulous cover art and, even more so, the #UnderTheDustJacket illustration by the author.

Now to the story…

Set in two universes, not too far apart time wise and told from multiple perspectives, this first instalment of the series starts in the future. It is almost the end of the world, a world destroyed as a consequence of the actions of a narcissistic, rich, tech bro. The two remaining humans, Isabelle and Diego, make a decision to send one of them back in time to try to alter events. The rest of the story follows what happens when Diego makes his future changing actions.

Will what he does be enough to change the fate of the world? Could he have done more?

His actions change fate for Isabelle and Diego almost immediately, but what about Dave Kirkland (Isabelle’s ex husband, and previously referenced narcissistic, rich, tech bro) and his mutant killer bee bots? You will just have to read this engrossing, dystopian sci-fi to find out.

The story leads us to think morally and philosophically about time travel and altering history. It also makes you ponder the age old question of how some people (either greedy, power hungry or despotic) can turn anything that is created/invented for the good of the human race and life on Earth into money making ventures, with the potential to harm when misused or adapted. Again, looking at you, Dave!

I enjoyed the cultural references to time travel (flux capacitors anyone?) and passwords, as well as the humour between Matt and Sam when they are held against their will in a military compound to work the science, their way of coping with the stress and lack of information.

I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in this story and cannot wait to read the next part…what a place to pause!

Thank you to D.L. Orton and @The_WriteReads for a physical copy of the book to read and review. Please look out for other review blogs on this blog tour.

About the Book

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Category: Adult

Number of Pages: 350 Pages

Publication Date: May 6, 2025

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222567665-hive 

StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/92ec58c7-fbb5-45cf-b7ab-23c42ea9f4e9 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/bnN8PN1 (Canada) https://a.co/d/7AiywJA (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/1P5EFIe (UK)

Elsetime by Eve McDonnell

On By @f33lthesunIn Children KS2Leave a comment

Elsetime is a time travelling story that will suck you in. It is set in both 1864 and 1928, with a backdrop of the danger and loss of life possibilities of the Great Flood of London on 6th January 1928.

Needle is a creative mudlark who finds treasure and makes items from them for his mother to sell. He can “see” the history of the items, and their owners, when he holds them. His father has also mysteriously disappeared.

Glory is a 12 year old orphan, with only one hand, who pretends to be older to get work making fine items for the mean Mrs Quick, in Frippery & Fandangle Emporium, to help her sister pay the rent and buy food. Unfortunately they lack finesse and fall apart.

Neither know of the other’s existence (although they both know a helpful crow called Magpie/Dust) until Needle finds treasure that, being from the future, makes his hand burn. This leads him to discover a hag stone through which he finds he travels through time to a London that is both familiar but different.

Needle and Glory end up working together, thanks to the crow engineering their meeting, to try to save the people who they think will perish in the flood. This is difficult as no one seems ready or willing to listen to their wondrous tale.

We are taken on a journey with Needle and Glory through time as well as the development of their friendship, which is not without its misunderstandings, to a high octane conclusion on the night of the flood. A twist in the tail left me with lots to ponder once the reading was done.

I love endpapers in picture books and hardbacks. They are rarely found in paperbacks so it was a lovely surprise to find the crow illustrations by Holly Ovendon inside the cover. Holly’s cover and illustrations throughout the book are a joy.