Shine Until Tomorrow

Sine Until Tomorrow
Author(s)
Age Range
14+
Release Date
January 12, 2021
ISBN
978-1644281420
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Social misfit Mari Caldwell desperately wants to get on with her life. If only she could get there faster―specifically to Yale―and leave behind all the things that make her anxious: driving a car, crossing bridges, her peers, her parents’ divorce. Mari only feels at ease behind the lens of her vintage Leica. Her camera keeps the world―and the people in it―at a safe distance. When Mari comes across an old scrapbook of her mother’s, she discovers her white collar parents were once blue denim hippies. She ends up fighting with her mother and storming out. She pedals her bicycle into a downpour, swerves to avoid an oncoming jeep, and flies smack into a tree. Mari climbs into an abandoned VW van bearing the ghost of a psychedelic paint job, and passes out. The next morning, Mari wakes up to the sound of music. A young couple wander through the glen like hippie gypsies, playing recorder and tambourine. Mari accepts their offer of a ride into San Francisco. But something is wrong; Mari can’t quite figure out what. The skyline, her father’s address, the music on the radio. Everything is slightly off. Except Jimmy, the driver of the van. There’s something about him that calms her inner chatter. Only after she says good-bye to the merry band and runs headlong into a war protest does Mari being to realize: it is June, 1967.

Social misfit Mari Caldwell desperately wants to get on with her life. If only she could get there faster―specifically to Yale―and leave behind all the things that make her anxious: driving a car, crossing bridges, her peers, her parents’ divorce. Mari only feels at ease behind the lens of her vintage Leica. Her camera keeps the world―and the people in it―at a safe distance. When Mari comes across an old scrapbook of her mother’s, she discovers her white collar parents were once blue denim hippies. She ends up fighting with her mother and storming out. She pedals her bicycle into a downpour, swerves to avoid an oncoming jeep, and flies smack into a tree. Mari climbs into an abandoned VW van bearing the ghost of a psychedelic paint job, and passes out. The next morning, Mari wakes up to the sound of music. A young couple wander through the glen like hippie gypsies, playing recorder and tambourine. Mari accepts their offer of a ride into San Francisco. But something is wrong; Mari can’t quite figure out what. The skyline, her father’s address, the music on the radio. Everything is slightly off. Except Jimmy, the driver of the van. There’s something about him that calms her inner chatter. Only after she says good-bye to the merry band and runs headlong into a war protest does Mari being to realize: it is June, 1967.

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Unique and Fun
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5.0
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Wow, this book didn’t turn out to be anything like I expected.

The story:
Tamara is a young overachiever who struggles to go with the flow or focus on anything beyond her Yale aspirations and her photography. A bike accidents sends her back in time to 1967 where she meets Jimmy, the lead singer of a band. Jimmy is sweet and optimistic and free loving, just like most hippies of the time. And Tamara falls completely in love with him. But it’s not her time or her life and she knows she needs to get back to both.

What I loved:
This book is surprising. You never know quite what’s going to happen. The people Tamara meets, the connections to her real life she finds in 1967, it’s such a well crafted story, it’s not possible to forget it. The author obviously did her research because she paints a world that’s so vivid and so historical accurate that it feels like you’re right there with Tamara.
There were several laugh out loud moments, and the cast of characters are a lot of fun.

What was just okay:
The ending was more bittersweet than happy but I’m not sure it could’ve been anything else. It also started rather slowly, but once the pace picked up, it didn’t let go.

Final Verdict: A story with depth, Shine Until Tomorrow features a great storyline, engaging writing, and characters you won’t want to let go of.
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