Clockwise by Elle Strauss

Release Date: November 21, 2011
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 290
Series: Clockwise #1
Review Source: eBook from author for review

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Casey Donovan has issues: hair, height and uncontrollable trips to the 19th century! And now this --she’s accidentally taken Nate Mackenzie, the cutest boy in the school, back in time. Awkward.

Protocol pressures her to tell their 1860 hosts that he is her brother and when Casey finds she has a handsome, wealthy (and unwanted) suitor, something changes in Nate. Are those romantic sparks or is it just “brotherly” protectiveness?

When they return to the present, things go back to the way they were before: Casey parked on the bottom of the rung of the social ladder and Nate perched high on the very the top. Except this time her heart is broken. Plus, her best friend is mad, her parents are split up, and her younger brother gets escorted home by the police. The only thing that could make life worse is if, by some strange twist of fate, she took Nate back to the past again.

Which of course, she does.

My Thoughts:
Clockwise was a really cute book that I definitely enjoyed. I'm a sucker for time travel novels, and it was interesting to read about time travel happening with no warning and always going back to the same time period. I didn't quite get all the specifics about it, such as why when you ended up in the past you still had your regular clothes on, but when you went back to the future (ha, I couldn't help the reference, especially with Back to the Future being references in the text) you always ended up back in those normal clothes no matter what else you were wearing. I also would've thought that injuries might heal when you went back to the future because of that change of state with clothing, but apparently not.

Time travel specifics aside, I did enjoy the main character. I thought Casey was sweet and a little awkward, but with great inner strength and intelligence. Nate was kind of a dud as a love interest, though. He was that cute popular boy character, and I suppose he's more true to life than most YA love interests in that his friends were jerks and he gets dared into doing things, but I just didn't feel like his character got developed as much as he could have.

While this isn't an instant favourite I definitely liked it well enough. It's an enjoyable first instalment to a series, and with some stronger editing it could be really good. I loved the concept of the book, and I found myself really enjoying the scenes that took place in the past, as well as all the developments with characters there.

The Cover:
Cute! =)

Rating:
[3/5]

Find Clockwise by Elle Strauss on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon. (99 cents on Kindle & Smashwords)