In This Moment - Gabrielle Meyer - ★★★.¾
Author: Gabrielle Meyer
Series: Timeless, #2
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction.
RATING: 3.75 stars.
In a Nutshell: A worthy second book in the Timeless series. The focus is slightly more on romance this time around, which is why it didn’t work as the first book well for me. But it’s still an imaginative work. Better if read in order, though this can be tried as a standalone.
Story Synopsis:
Thanks to her time-crossing parents. Maggie is born with the special ability of living three lives simultaneously – in 1861, 1941, and 2001. Each night, when she goes to sleep in one period, she wakes up in the next one, without losing any time in the earlier life.
In 1861, the country lies at the brink of the Civil War and Maggie is forced to assist her senator dad at hosting parties rather than help the wounded soldiers.
In 1941, she is a naval nurse, struggling with her knowledge of what’s going to happen in Pearl Harbor at the end of the year.
In 2001, she is an overachieving medical student, trying to fulfil her dream of becoming a surgeon at least in one timeline.
Maggie knows that once she turns twenty-one, she will have to choose one of these lives, forfeiting the other two forever. But with beloved ones, plenty of medical challenges, and a romantic interest in each life, how on earth is Maggie to choose?
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Maggie.
I had been blown away by ‘When the Day Comes’, the first book of this series, when I read it in May last year and spent the whole year waiting for this sequel. While it didn’t work as well as the first one for me, I still enjoyed it tremendously.
Bookish Yays:
😍 Yet again, the author’s imagination won me over. Three physical bodies, one unified mind? A girl who can live simultaneous lives in three distinct times? And we the readers can read this without any difficulty in accepting the complicated concept because there seem to be no loopholes in logic? And nothing feels exaggerated in the time-slip aspects? What impressive creativity and writing!
😍 Imagine writing three historical timelines with perfect attention to detail in each. All the three years of Maggie’s time-crossing life come alive in terms of their atmosphere and character detailing. Brava, author! Loved the historical research and accuracy.
😍 Luckily for me, this time around, I was far better equipped with the historical knowledge needed to grasp the plot better, because the American Civil War, WWII & Pearl Harbor, and 9/11 are all events I know pretty well about. So the historical content was easier for me to comprehend. (This of course won’t be an issue to US readers.)
😍 Maggie is quite intent on being a healer, and this manifests well in all three timelines, despite the vast difference in their medical knowhow. Her struggles on using the knowledge from the modern timelines in the historical ones come out well. Through Maggie’s medical interests, the book also highlights how the role of women changed in the field of medicine over the years.
😍 The book covers multiple genres, though it is a historical fiction at heart. The timeslip elements bring in a sort of magical realism to the flow, and there’s also romance. Mixed genre books are always more fun to read.
😍 The book is also marked as ‘Christian Fiction’, and this shows in the regular faith-based thoughts that Maggie has when she asks for divine guidance in helping her choose the right timeline, and also when she tries to understand why God isn’t giving her what she most wants. Though the faith elements were greater in intensity this time, I appreciate how they were genuinely interwoven into the plot as a moral compass for Maggie rather than being too preachy or simply throwing in biblical verses in the plot.
(That said, I feel I should point out that there are many romantic kissing scenes between unmarried couples in this book, which some Christian readers don’t prefer in this genre. I was okay with these; they were not vulgar at least to my eyes.)
😍 Despite the length of the book, it is quite fast-paced and contains very little rambling. I didn’t feel like I was reading a 410+ page book at all.
😍 There were some interesting secondary characters in the story, though they don’t get much page space because of the extensiveness of Maggie’s three lives. It was nice to see Libby and her family getting some focus. Of the three love interests, two are written well.
😍 The ending is amazing. I love how the author manages to tie everything together neatly despite there being so many complicated subparts in each tale.
(Also, I did NOT see that ending coming! Is it indicating a possible continuation to the series? I sure hope so!)
😍 Don’t miss the author’s note at the end, detailing the factual elements of the plot and where she took liberty with the facts. I adore authors making such efforts to present to us a clear picture of the accuracy of the historical content.
Bookish Nays:
😕 Unlike in the first book, the stories across the timelines seemed quite similar. Maggie’s social and financial status is the same in all three, as is her interest in medicine. All three years have characters somehow connected to politics and other topics of national interest. All three have a man entering Maggie’s life on the same day, with her spending a great deal of the book wondering whom she likes best. In other words, though the historical situation was vastly different, the basic plot across the three years felt the same. This was the biggest reason why this sequel didn’t work for me as much as the first one did, because the first had not only two distinct time periods (with no overlap of themes) but also distinct financial situations. (Libby being wealthy in one and poor in the other.)
😕 Again, unlike the first book, romance gets the central focus this time, with Maggie’s interest in medicine coming a close second. I would have preferred it the other way around, though readers who enjoy romance stories will enjoy the love triangle. (Or should it be called “love quadrilateral” because there are three guys and one girl?)
😕 Unlike Libby in the first book, Maggie has a confident go-getter personality. But she still didn’t endear me as much as Libby did, partly because of how confused she was over the three guys, and partly because her track didn’t have multiple layers. It was just love and medicine. The themes were better explored in the first book.
😕 I didn’t understand why Maggie’s parents in the 2001 timeline, who are modern in every other way, were so insistent on seeing her in a relationship. She was just twenty! This angle made sense in the other two timelines, but not for 2001.
😕 The writing gets a bit repetitive at times because of Maggie’s first person thoughts delving on the same issues again and again.
(Three of my points of criticism come from comparison. So I guess I would have enjoyed this sequel better had I not sought to replicate the high I had after reading Timeless #1.)
All in all, I did enjoy this book a lot, but I guess the first one was so exceptional that this sequel, while brilliant, felt a little bit short. Nevertheless, it is still a fine example of creative writing and historical research working in a harmonious blend. If there is indeed a third book, I am definitely on board!
Though this book can be read as a standalone, it will be far better if you read the series in order, as the details of time-crossing are better explained in the first book.
My thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for the DRC of “In This Moment”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
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