Book Review: TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow

4 yummy peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies.

Cover Love: Yes! I love how it looks like the TimeRiding team is just stepping out of time to save the day.

Why I Wanted To Read It: Check out the trailer I posted here. That is the reason I wanted to read the book because the trailer gave me goosebumps. I was lucky enough to get a copy from Walker Books. Here's the summary from Good Reads:

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, 'Take my hand ...' But Liam, Maddy and Sal aren't rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose - to fix broken history. Because time travel is here, and there are those who would go back in time and change the past. That's why the TimeRiders exist: to protect us. To stop time travel from destroying the world.

I Kept Reading Because: It was so fast paced. And the plot was so engrossing and kept me guessing. Some of the things that happened really surprised me, but never made me want to stop reading. The last 150 pages were non- stop action that had me on the edge of my seat.

Romance?: No romance. Just some good friendships being made as the team learned to trust each other.

What I Loved: This is a book written for middle grades so I was glad that the time travel technology was talked about, but not hashed out. It would have made it too confusing. In fact, as the timeriding team was getting trained several times Foster, their trainer, even admitted that there was a lot of it he didn't understand.

I loved the history that Mr. Scarrow re-wrote. Not that I loved what the world became, but I don't think many people would decide to write about what the world be like if Hitler won WW2.

I loved Liam, he was by far my favorite character. But, Maddy and Sal were great as well.

I didn't even mind the filling back and forth between times. It was well laid out so I didn't get too confused.

What I Would Like To See: If this becomes a series, I would love to see the agency in charge of the TimeRiders. Our team cannot be the only ones tasked with watching all of history!

To Sum Up: This is a fast paced novel, but not a quick read. It makes you think and the action will keep you on the edge of your seat. Boys would especially like all the plot and excitement. It will be an easy sell to middle grade readers and I will be adding a copy to my library!

Book received from Walker Book for Young Readers: Thanks Kate!!
(new review format inspired by Wicked Walker)