Review Detail

I, too, would like a coat with pockets large enough to hold several hefty books.

This time-traveling romp is an ode to science girls, the brilliant minds held back by prejudice, and the small pebbles that start avalanches. It’s 1934. Genevieve is bursting to share her latest scientific discoveries (never mind that the foundation thinks she’s a boy - they won’t have time to change their mind on the spot); Ash is headed for the same event, not sure what he’s looking for other than that something in the World Fair is going to bring the end of the world. When things go wrong and Ash’s time travel ability takes them to the year 1893, it’s up the disgruntled duo to return to the future and prevent the apocalypse which they may have unintentionally wrought.

Genevieve and Ash jump off the page. They're both funny and smart, and like to show it, and their different upbringings bring humor and tensions. While their mystical abilities aren’t fully explained, they clearly stem from key moments in their lives and continue to shape and be shaped by their identities. These connections are slowly revealed as the two get to know each other, and confront truths about themselves, and the underlying emotion is deeply relatable (the fear of being seen, for example, or not being seen by those one loves). There’s also a cultish commune, dire predictions, and skulking in labs and libraries. Genevieve is a budding physicist, so there’s a fair amount of science babble that may or may not be as far-fetched as her invisibility power, but as a non-physicist myself, I’m happy to accept it for the story. Is it actually feasible to build a cyclotron in the backyard greenhouse and discover a new element? Debatable, but if anyone can, it’s Genevieve.

Apart from the jump back to 1893, the time travel is largely limited to minute/hour changes. Rewinding a conversation, etc. So while there is an inevitable discussion of time loops and paradox, it’s not a narrative focus, and I slide it into the same category as the science babble - might trip up hardcore sci-fi fans or PhDs, but it works for me.

This book is the latest in a set of companion novels that take place in the same world and feature Genevieve’s sisters. Although Time Traveler is at the end chronologically, I read it without the others and both enjoyed it as a standalone and am now looking forward to picking up the others.