A Time to Change - Callie Langridge - ★★.½

AUTHOR: Callie Langridge

GENRE: Time Travel., Historical Romance.

RATING: 2.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A decent story but somehow, it didn’t live up to the promise. Outlier opinion coming up.

Story Synopsis:

2013. Louisa has always loved the neighbouring Hill House. Currently dilapidated, it was once house to the wealthy Mandeville family, who were beset by a series of tragedies resulting in their ruin.

When Louisa faces a personal tragedy of her own, she runs to Hill House for comfort. To her surprise, the house transforms and she finds herself a hundred years in the past. Even more shocking is the fact that the Mandeville family is expecting her as they have been informed of her arrival through some distant relative. As Louisa finds herself caught in ballrooms and tea parties, she also gets to know the Mandeville family. The more she learns about them, the more determined she is to save them from their fate.

The story comes to us in the third person perspective of Louisa from the two timelines.

The start of this book captivated me. Louisa’s initial tragedy, her wandering into Hill House seeking a respite, and the way the house transformed into the historical timeline – all were excellently written. Unfortunately, soon the story went into a different direction.

I enjoy timeslip stories, and was hoping that this would satisfy me on that aspect. Unfortunately, the timeslip elements are barely used until the halfway mark. Most of the historical timeline focusses on Louisa’s interactions with the Mandevilles, their opinion on the then current socio-political issues (giving Louisa a chance to spout 21st century feminist ideas), and their personal troubles with certain family members. There is also the mandatory romantic track. This makes the book feel more like generic historical fiction than a timeslip novel. After the 50% mark, the timeslip back-and-forth happens more often. But it’s a long wait, and for a book that is extremely slow-paced, I had a tough time keeping my patience waiting for more switches between the timelines.

As someone who is suddenly transferred from 2013 to 1913, Louisa should have been more confused or worried about her predicament. Her initial feelings are explained by the fact that she thinks she is dreaming. But when days go by and she is still in 1913, her response doesn’t change to a more anxious one. She seems to fit into the historical society without any problem whatsoever. Even the Mandevilles seem to accept Louisa’s atypical behaviour without any questions. Further, Louisa seems more concerned about the Mandevilles than about her own brothers who are left behind in the 2013 timeline. Her emotions seemed pretty off to me. This lack of an emotional connect with Louisa meant that I couldn’t get myself to feel concerned for her. This same is applicable to all the main characters – though a few of them were quite interesting, something in the way they were written meant that I simply didn’t feel invested in them.

(I have to add: four-year-old Bertie creeped me out!)

For speculative phenomena such as timeslips, I don’t expect any logical explanation to be provided in the content. However, when there is some justification provided, it has to make sense. In this novel, the explanation provided for the timeslip is quite weak. The “one in, one out” premise was stretched too far. For a house that seems to have magical abilities, Hill House is very underutilised. I think reading Charlie Holmberg’s ‘Keeper of Enchanted Rooms’ has spoiled me for life because every time I read about a magical house, I expect it to match up to that brilliant experience.

The romantic track was also disappointing – utterly clichéd and needlessly sentimental. As it is, I don’t like romance to be shoved into every single book, but if it has to be there, it has to be handled better.

What saves the book to a great extent was the final quarter. The ending is tied too neatly, but still, it is better than the rest of the book. I like that it is a bittersweet finish, which adds a nice touch of realism to what would otherwise have been picture-perfect.

If I had read this as a typical historical story, the Mandevilles would have offered enough of reading satisfaction through their familial issues. But as I wanted a timeslip story, I am disappointed by how flat the experience was for me.

Overall, I think this will work better if you are looking for a historical romance than a timeslip story. If the initial 50% had been trimmed down, if Louisa’s initial emotions were more genuinely presented, and if the sappy romance had been written in a more realistic manner, I am sure I would have liked this book more. Unfortunately, these ‘ifs’ are too great for me to overlook, and hence my rating will be rounded down. Then again, most readers seem to have loved this book, so mine is very much an outlier opinion. Do read the other positive reviews before you take a call about this book.

My thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “A Time to Change”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.