Timeless by Alexandra Monir

Timeless
Alexandra Monir
Publisher: Delacourte
Released: January 11, 2011
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 288
Source: Cavalier House Books
Series: Book 1 of Timeless

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor's world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she's never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century's worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life - a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves - a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.

Man, I loved this book. I always forget how much I love historical fiction, and then I pick something up like Timeless, and I'm completely swept away. I don't have much experience with time travel in literature, but I think the author did an incredible job of focusing on the story instead of the science. Too often authors can get themselves in trouble with too many details and confusing technicalities. This was not the case with Alexandra Monir's fantastic debut.

Michele has been haunted by dreams of a mysterious man for as long as she can remember. She doesn't know his name or who he is, but she knows his face and his voice. When she's forced to move across the country to live with her estranged grandparents, the last thing on Michelle's mind is her mystery man. That is until she finds herself thrown back 100 years into history and she comes face to face with him.

Monir's descriptions of 1910 New York bring the city to life - all the hustle and bustle, fancy ball dresses and tuxedos - I could really see it. Good historical fiction makes me want to be in that time period, and Timeless had me searching for keys and old diaries in hopes of hurtling myself back in time. Michele's voice was an authentic one, in that I empathized with her from the start. The loss of her mother, the frustrations that came with being in a strange place with distant people, running into the man from her actual dreams - all these things made me root for Michele and a solution to her problems.

Overall, I was invested in the characters, and I loved the setting. My one criticism is I could have used a little more Philip. He was pretty dreamy. Lucky for me (and you), I think he'll be around in book two ;)