REVIEW: INTO THE DIM BY JANET B. TAYLOR (OR HOW I VOWED NOT TO READ YA TIME TRAVEL NOVELS EVER AGAIN)

Into the Dim (Into The Dim #1)

Written by: Janet B. Taylor

Published by: HMH Books for Young Readers

Genre: YA Time Travel / Historical Fiction

Source: NetGalley e-ARC

Release date: March 1st 2016

         
          

When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing. Addictive, romantic, and rich with historical detail, Into the Dim is an Outlander for teens. 

MY REVIEW:

What aspects should a good novel have? My list consists of relatable and in detail developed characters, intriguing world-building, emotional moments, addictive plot and preferably a twist or two. Into the Dim had none of these. What it did have was insta-love, boring plot, shallowly written one-dimensional characters and stupid narrator (who in their right senses would not question why stranger is stalking you and secretly taking your pictures just because of pretty eyes of said stranger???). Not very attractive combination.

Another thing that I want to point out is how inaccurate label "Outlander for teens" for this book is. Even though Into the Dim borrowed "I'm going to Scotland and find out that I can time-travel" thing, it has zero of charisma and gripping emotional plot that Outlander had. This book is nothing like Outlander and it doesn't contain anything of what Outlander stands for. If you are Outlander fan and if you are interested in this book because it was compared to Outlander, do yourself a favor and stay away from this book. At least you will avoid disappointment which I experienced while reading Into the Dim.

And if you are going to read this book because you are interested in historical aspect, you most probably won't be wowed either. It took so long until story took historical turn and besides some historical facts, there wasn't any deeper insight into 12th century London. And beside slang, you won't get much of Scotland either. This novel was a disappointment in all ways.

MY VOW:

No one was as excited as me when all those beautiful covers for YA time travel novels were revealed last year, when all those amazingly sounding blurbs were shared. And most probably no one was as disappointed as me when all those books were released. Into the Dim was a complete failure, I couldn't finish The Girl From Everywhere as well as Until We Meet Again and negative reviews for Passenger from trusted reviewers discouraged me to even pick it up. I'm done. Seriously, I'm done with this subgenre and I'm not going to read any YA time travel novels in the near future no matter what. Hopefully, YA authors learn how to write engaging and thoughtful time travel novels so I can lift my little embargo on YA time travel novels one day.

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT RECENTLY PUBLISHED YA TIME TRAVEL BOOKS?

DID YOU HAVE BETTER LUCK WITH THEM THAN I DID?

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