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100pagesaday's review against another edition
4.0
Abbey Sinclair is a high school freshman who spends her days studying the periodic table of the elements and reciting scientific principles. She enjoys a completely normal life until her older brother Simon and twin brother Caleb drag her along on a completely irrational adventure. Simon discovers a set of strange stones on Coventry Hill near their home. When Abbey, Caleb and Simon step onto the stones, they are taken somewhere else, somewhere that seems like a very familiar future. When the siblings learn of someone trying to do something dangerous with the stones, they are compelled to try and stop them, even if they don't quite understand everything themselves.
Immediately thrown into the adventure, A Pair of Docks offers a different kind of time-travel story. Compelling characters, danger and mystery drive the story forward. Even as an adult, I found plenty to enjoy throughout the story. I immediately connected with Abbey who was always trying to frame things through the lens of the scientific method. It was refreshing to see a character who didn't just accept that they had time traveled, but tried to figure out how and why it could happen using her current knowledge. Another amazing character is Mark, the Sinclair's neighbor. Mark has Aspergur's syndrome, he is integral to the story and the sibling's success. I liked the overall mystery of the stones and the ties to each of the character's futures, the reveal wasn't what I was expecting. My only complaint was that there were chronically absent parents, although there were explanations given and they stepped in towards the end.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Immediately thrown into the adventure, A Pair of Docks offers a different kind of time-travel story. Compelling characters, danger and mystery drive the story forward. Even as an adult, I found plenty to enjoy throughout the story. I immediately connected with Abbey who was always trying to frame things through the lens of the scientific method. It was refreshing to see a character who didn't just accept that they had time traveled, but tried to figure out how and why it could happen using her current knowledge. Another amazing character is Mark, the Sinclair's neighbor. Mark has Aspergur's syndrome, he is integral to the story and the sibling's success. I liked the overall mystery of the stones and the ties to each of the character's futures, the reveal wasn't what I was expecting. My only complaint was that there were chronically absent parents, although there were explanations given and they stepped in towards the end.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
guenhwyvar's review against another edition
4.0
*Really 3.5 stars*
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. First of all, I enjoyed the characters and the combination of fantasy and sci-fi. In addition, I enjoyed the writing, story telling, and description and found the pacing and plot engaging. However, I did take issue with a few plot and character elements as described below.
First of all, the main character has a supposed IQ of 175 however, there are a number of times when she doesn't react or respond appropriately for this IQ. I understand that she's young, but if she's a genius it should be a little more difficult for her to miss obvious details. Also, simply having a high IQ would not necessarily make her awkward in social situations or not wish to be around people, however the only explanation given for her reclusiveness when compared with her twin brother is her high IQ. The same goes for Simon.
Furthermore, there is a character in the story described as having Asperger's, however he presents more like someone further on the autism spectrum. I found this incongruence distracting, though I doubt people who aren't familiar with Asperger's would notice.
I also found that the two twins didn't have as close a relationship as I would have expected. Or rather, their closeness was described, but not often demonstrated in the book so far. The MC claims that she and her twin are very close, but we didn't get much of an illustration of that.
And finally, for so many science minded characters discovering something seemingly magical I expected quite a bit more scientific explanation and hypothesis than what we received. For all that the MC goes on about the scientific method, aside from objecting that others aren't using the scientific method she doesn't do much to study the stones in an objective way, and she doesn't seem nearly as curious about testing them as a scientist probably would be. For someone with a high IQ and a supposedly scientific mind, she is decidedly lacking in curiosity. Science requires curiosity, creativity and passion, otherwise nothing new would ever be discovered save for blind luck, and blind luck only serves as a stepping stone.
Still, my issues with the story aside, some of which I hope to find resolved with the sequel, I enjoyed this read and think it would make an entertaining story for young readers and adults alike.
*I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. First of all, I enjoyed the characters and the combination of fantasy and sci-fi. In addition, I enjoyed the writing, story telling, and description and found the pacing and plot engaging. However, I did take issue with a few plot and character elements as described below.
First of all, the main character has a supposed IQ of 175 however, there are a number of times when she doesn't react or respond appropriately for this IQ. I understand that she's young, but if she's a genius it should be a little more difficult for her to miss obvious details. Also, simply having a high IQ would not necessarily make her awkward in social situations or not wish to be around people, however the only explanation given for her reclusiveness when compared with her twin brother is her high IQ. The same goes for Simon.
Furthermore, there is a character in the story described as having Asperger's, however he presents more like someone further on the autism spectrum. I found this incongruence distracting, though I doubt people who aren't familiar with Asperger's would notice.
I also found that the two twins didn't have as close a relationship as I would have expected. Or rather, their closeness was described, but not often demonstrated in the book so far. The MC claims that she and her twin are very close, but we didn't get much of an illustration of that.
And finally, for so many science minded characters discovering something seemingly magical I expected quite a bit more scientific explanation and hypothesis than what we received. For all that the MC goes on about the scientific method, aside from objecting that others aren't using the scientific method she doesn't do much to study the stones in an objective way, and she doesn't seem nearly as curious about testing them as a scientist probably would be. For someone with a high IQ and a supposedly scientific mind, she is decidedly lacking in curiosity. Science requires curiosity, creativity and passion, otherwise nothing new would ever be discovered save for blind luck, and blind luck only serves as a stepping stone.
Still, my issues with the story aside, some of which I hope to find resolved with the sequel, I enjoyed this read and think it would make an entertaining story for young readers and adults alike.
*I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
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