The story started off slowly, but was peppered throughout with stories told to characters, or read in old books. They were whimsical, dark, magical. As well, I loved the Podcast that seemed to mirror the emotions that Ruby was going through, Solving for X-traordinary. The premises for the podcast was fascinating (a girl causes an explosion in her lab, which sends her flying through time, and she must create an explosion again to find her way back), and held to the science interests of Ruby, while also traversing through history and geography. Ruby's fascination with science and Carl Sagan also adds to the strangeness of the tale, as she begins to understand the powers of her family and how unscientific and impossible they seem to be. I like the conflict that happens between her rational mind and her survival instincts. Dov is a good counterbalance to Ruby. He is popular, strong, proud, purposeful. He has a father and a mother, a devoted sister, and he seems to be willing to open his heart to Ruby. His family was very interesting as well, and I liked the idea that different sides tell different stories, and both may be true in a sense, or false. Because both of their families history is so old, it is hard to trust the accuracy. Family is very important in this novel as well. Family can be both a comfort and a noose. They are important, and it is through messages from Polina, Evelina and Ruby that the reader soon discovers sometimes family is not everything you think it is. Often times family members hold the biggest secrets, or do something they think protects others, but really hinders them. Can we be better than our parents, can we be better than our family feuds? What power does a new generation have against generations of tradition? When Ruby begins to put her faith and trust in the right family, they become her strength and her power. There is a lot in here about the power of words, of stories. How they are twisted by time or need, their true meaning lost or only grains of truth left. Words can scar, can cut, can mend or heal. Words are strength and weakness, and we often use them as weapons, when they should be used as bandages. Ruby's family passes their history down from daughter to daughter, but is it an accurate history, or a fictional story told in order to placate, hide the horrible truth of their bloodline? I highly recommend this very magical story about a girl trying to slide through her remaining days, but begins to find reasons she wants to fight to live. Only, fighting to live means sacrificing pieces of herself that she can never regain. All magic comes with a price, what would you be willing to pay? I was sent a copy of this ARC by HCC Frenzy in exchange for an honest review.
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