Book Review: Clockwise by Elle Strauss

Clockwise (Clockwise #1) by Elle Strauss

Genre: Young Adult (Science Fiction/Fantasy Romance)
Date Published: September 19, 2011
Publisher: ESB Publishing

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.

Clockwise is the first book in the Clockwise series by Elle Strauss. To have the gift of time travel would be amazing, but to have it and not be able to control it would be down right scary. Casey handles it well though. I thought she handled her life in 1860 better than her present day life at times. She just seemed well adjusted to life there. I wasn't sure what to think of Nate at first. He seemed a little superficial to me at first, but towards the end he grew on me more. This was a very entertaining story and I read it quickly. It has some dramatic moments, but for the most part it's a pretty light read. I enjoyed it, and I like the premise a lot. I'm curious to see where this story takes us in future books.

Just as we approached the exit I spotted Nate. What was he doing here? Seeing him outside of the context of school was weird, though any context seemed to have the same effect on me. Dry throat, butterflies in my stomach, the urge to squeal.

I tried to make a smooth maneuver out of his line of vision, but instead ran directly into a rack of blouses, almost knocking it over. He saw me. Of course he saw me! The whole store stopped to observe. His eyes didn’t flick away. Okay, I’m a train wreck, you don’t have to stare.

He finally looked back at what he was watching before—Jessica presenting a pretty ivory dress. At first, she seemed startled to see me but then she grinned her evil grin. What? Did she think she was getting married to him? It looked like a dumb wedding dress. I really hoped she didn’t pick that one.

A wave of dizziness smacked me as I tried to stand. Then a flash of bright light.

Elle Strauss writes fun, lower YA fiction (time-travel and fantasy).  A married mother of four, Elle divides her time between BC, Canada and Dresden, Germany. She enjoys drinking coffee and eating chocolate in both places. She also writes upper YA/adult mixed genre romance as LEE Strauss.

To learn more about Elle Strauss and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.