Oh goodness. I have just finished this book and it is one of
the most beautifully tragic love stories! I laughed and cried (oh how I cried!
But that might also have to do with the fact that I’m overly emotional facing
the fact that my family has to move from the little town I’ve grown to love and
all the people around me).
I don’t know if it was the differing genre, but Renee
Collin’s writing has come alive for me in a COMPLETELY different way from her
first published novel, “Relic”. Because I know Renee in real life, reading “Relic”,
I often heard Renee’s voice while reading. I expected it to happen again. It
didn’t. Cass (Cassandra) has SUCH a strong voice, that even though I expected
to hear Renee’s voice, from page one I didn’t. And Lawrence…..well, let’s just
say he’s every girl’s dream (insert over-dramatic sigh here)!
But I’m getting ahead of myself…Let me give you the synopsis
on the back cover:
“Country clubs and garden parties. The last thing Cassandra
wants is to spend the summer before her senior year marooned in a snooty
Massachusetts shore town. Cass craves drama and adventure, which is hard to find
when she just feels stuck. But when a dreamy stranger shows up on her family’s
private beach, claiming that it is his property-and that the year is 1925-Cass
is swept into a mystery a hundred years in the making. As she searches for
answers in the present, Cass discovers a truth that thrusts Lawrence’s life
into jeopardy. It won’t matter which century he is from if he won’t live to see
tomorrow. Desperate to save the boy who’s come to mean everything to her,
Cassandra must find a way to change history…or risk losing Lawrence forever.”
It’s a modern day Gatsby with a MUCH happier(?) satisfying
(?) ending, despite the tragedies that occur within. And it also felt
reminiscent of a Nicholas Sparks novel love story, geared towards the YA
audience. And of COURSE there are mobsters. There are a couple things that are
left unresolved, but they are fairly insignificant and I’m probably just weird
to be wondering about them.
The teen logic and thought process is authentic-even within
the era of each character. The 1925 lingo is almost cliché, but in the most
endearing way. The questions of time travel are ever present, trying to figure
out what will and won’t have a drastic effect on now….the idea that time exists
concurrently and parallel….that’s always been mind boggling to me. I want to
know HOW IT WORKS! But it’s not real, so how on Earth can it be logically
explained? It can’t! I mean, is the evidence of one thing proof of an event? Or
can everything be changed in the blink of an eye if something did or did not
occur? But don’t we have little bits of our lives that are like that? Little
coincidental, seemingly insignificant events that later prove to have life
altering consequences in our lives. For example, when I was 11 and starting 5th
grade, we were given the option to start band. I had this burning desire to be
in band. I was inexplicitly drawn to music, having BEGGED my parents to let me
take piano lessons when I was 8, and now I wanted more! But I had to choose an
instrument. At first I wanted alto sax because I loved jazz, but I also loved
the sound of the flute. When I realized that piano was a jazz band instrument,
my dilemma was solved. I’d play flute in band and piano in jazz band. And
because I chose flute and then later became a music major, I met and became
friends with a girl named Brandy. Who let me stay with her at her aunt’s house
one week in the summer to attend a summer flute clinic with my flute professor.
And Brandy took me out every night with her friends from high school. Where I
met a guy named Cory. Who would later become my best friend and husband. Who
knew picking the flute would have led to all that?? What would my life be like
if I went back in time and chose a different instrument to play?? So many of
the things in time travel certainly SEEM plausible. If time travel were to indeed
exist J But
I digress again.
The other thing I loved about this book is how self-centered
Cass starts out and to see how she evolves. She may still be a bit egocentric
at the end-but what teen isn’t? But her view of life, of love, of what it means
to LIVE changes so drastically that you can’t help but know she will live a
much deeper and richer life because of it. When you have to pour yourself into
someone else’s cause, you’re bound to change. Even if you think you’re doing it
for yourself more than anyone else.
There’s also the element of misjudging someone. We don’t
always know what motivates people to do what they do. And unless we know that
motivation, then maybe we ought to withhold harsh judgments. Of course, you’ll
need to make judgments to decide whether or not to associate yourself with
certain people to ensure your safety or whatnot, but we cannot judge an
individual unless we have the whole story-and you usually don’t get the whole
story.
It was so refreshing to have a single, stand alone novel to
read that’s not a series, no sequels (and you don’t feel like it NEEDS a sequel
either). Would to the powers that be that this would turn into a film. It would
be so AMAZING!
I don’t know a lot of actress names….but I’ll try to pull up
some who are dopplegangers for my imagination at least based on looks.
Cass: http: Maddie Hasson//www.imdb.com/name/nm4487976/
Claire Junlien http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4903197/
(photo 17)
Indiana Evans http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1505375/
Lawrence: This one is proving MOST difficult…
Asa Butterfield (with dark contacts) http://www.imdb.com/media/rm283246080/nm2633535?ref_=nm_phs_md_2
Gabriel Basso (with died hair, he’s close to the right age) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2773059/
Liam James (with dark contacts) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0416699/
Fay: (this one requires more imagination since you have to
picture current actresses with 1920’s hair and make up….and the voice would
need to be just right too) Phoebe Tonkin http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2100081/
Kate Findlay http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3818748/
Maia Mitchell http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2314596/
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