YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

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.

Christina and I will be reading this in the month of July. Join us!

8%
(view spoiler)[Betsy one to Betsey thirteen is what Casey calls the cows. Isn't that the most typical name ever for a cow? XD (hide spoiler)]

29%
(view spoiler)[Nate seems to take everything in surprisingly calmly, even after the shots were fired after Casey stole the clothes. Casey kind of likes him for his looks right now... I hope to see a side of his personality that is worth liking (because if his gf is that bitchy cheerleader, what does that say about him? =.=) (hide spoiler)]

4% (view spoiler)[Why does the main character go back to 1860s?

"Times like these made me thankful for my poached egg sized breasts. Just call me Mr. Casey" HAHA (hide spoiler)]

60%
(view spoiler)[ nothing Casey says deters Roberts interest in her lol. Nate starting to show signs of liking Casey. It would be nice if in their other life he dumped the cheerleader and hung out with Casey! (hide spoiler)]

Ending thoughts
(view spoiler)[Enjoyed the 'past' timeline better than Casey;'s 'present' where the story was ridden with cliches e.g. Nate's ex-gf fit the bitchy Cheerleader archetype and there was no redeeming quality about her. Why was Nate with her in the first place baffles me. Also, the thing about how clothes and makeup make the main character prettier and she was actually missing those items all her life...

Sometimes the plot moved at a weird pace. Like Casey and Nate would be doing something and then the next paragraph jumps hours ahead.

Definitely an entertaining read though. I didn't expect to learn about life in the 1860s and the prejudice against dark skinned people. The twist at the end was pretty cool. I'm happy there's a continuation because just when it was revealed, the book ended! (hide spoiler)]

28%- (view spoiler)[the story is pretty ridiculous but light hearted and funny. I'm enjoying it so far.

I like how the book explores issues in the 1860 time period such as racism and gender equality.
(hide spoiler)]

61% - (view spoiler)[Whoa! Robert asking Casey's hand in marriage? That's a bit fast!! And he barely knows her (hide spoiler)]

73/ (view spoiler)[uh oh! She left Nate behind! (hide spoiler)]

91% (view spoiler)[yay they're together now! (hide spoiler)]

Noella wrote: "60%
[spoilers removed]"

Robert is so annoying!
Gives me the creeps

94%- (view spoiler)[what a shocker! Was not expecting Samuel to actually appear in the present and reveal that Casey's dad is Rosa's son! (hide spoiler)]

Christina wrote: "94%- [spoilers removed]"

I know! Shocking especially cause (view spoiler)[Casey was witnessing her dad's birth and about to help deliver him before she got sucked back into the 1860s (hide spoiler)]

La fin_(view spoiler)[yes it was quite abrupt but it tied in nicely. Still not sure why she appears in 1860 though. At least the 1950s were explained. There must be a cosmic connection to 1860 somewhere (hide spoiler)]

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Restarting May 12th 2015

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Still doing this but I am a couple days behind right now so I'll be starting a bit late.

I'm in! I'll be starting it tomorrow, want to finish my two current reads first. Can't wait! :)

63% (view spoiler)[

This book really drew me into it and before I knew it I was 63% done, had to stopped myself so I could make a comment. :)

The first scenes, when Casey arrived in the 1860's, were funny. I loved how Sara finally caught on that she was a woman, but didn't tell anyone else about it.

I think the Watsons are a great family, but almost a little too trusting. I hope nothing bad will happen to them because of it.

I thought it was well written some of the things we do nowadays that were so different back then. Suchas Nate treating Samuel like he would anybody else, but that was seen as strange back then. So glad that's not the norm today!

Robert is SO annoying. I can't believe he's so insistent on pursuing Casey, but then she didn't clearly let him know she wasn't interested. How rude to propose, in front of everyone, while saying that he wanted to do things right. If he wanted to do them right he would have spoken to Nate privately asking for permission, since he's supposed to be her brother, but I think Robert knew that Nate would say no and that's one of the reasons he did it the way he did.

Do you think Cobb saw Casey disappear on one of her trips there and that's why he had always been so weird to her? Or do you think he just always suspected she might be a girl and was just a creep? I'm not sure myself, but I'm thinking he hasn't seen her disappear because he would have probably confronted her about it. (hide spoiler)]

83% (view spoiler)[

That was different! I was wondering what would happen if she met another time traveler and she was brought to that person's time. Now I know :)

I have a crazy thought that (view spoiler)[

Samuel's sister, Rosa, is Casey's grandmother since her Dad was adopted and she planned on giving her child up. Plus Samuel and Casey are both time travelers, so maybe it's a family trait?

(hide spoiler)]. Will have to wait and see if that's even possible. Be kind of neat if it was.

I love how Nate defended Casey from Robert! Hopefully Nate hurt him. Robert is SO disgusting!

Think I'm going to try and finish it now. :)

(hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[

Well my guess was correct. That was a nice twist and i hope that future books build on it. I'd love to see her visit again with Samuel in future books, but have a feeling that's not going to happen.

I loved how Nate, in the prom scene, showed Casey how much he cares for her by not only switching colleges, but letting her know that he's okay with her time-traveling ability...in fact, that he'd rather go with her to help keep her safe. So sweet.

I hope that kiss between Casey's parents is an indication that they will get back together, because that's how I took it.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable book! Can't wait to see what you think of it :) (hide spoiler)]

8% Well I only read a bit so far but it reads fast. (view spoiler)[How does she so easily know exactly what year it is. I hope they stop soon and explain about her time traveling and leaving the hidden bag, how she knows where it is, etc. Does she always return to a certain era or something? (hide spoiler)]

chapter 3 (17%): (view spoiler)[Impressed she was able to get the hoop skirt on. I would likely be a mess n the floor. (hide spoiler)]

Jamie wrote: "8% Well I only read a bit so far but it reads fast. [spoilers removed]"

I'm 15% done. (view spoiler)[I agree. I'm curious how she knows exactly to what year she time traveled. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 5 (view spoiler)[ I think Nate likes her with how he watches her and calling her beautiful. His girlfriend cant be too happy about that. (hide spoiler)]

27% (view spoiler)[ Ah, the dance was a dare. Shame on him! And he needs to stop assuming things are a practical joke and realize this just MIGHT be real. (hide spoiler)]

37% (view spoiler)[ Nate may be a punk jock but he cares. He sure jumped into that brawl to help Samuel fast enough. ANd I love how their first night in the past together she is fine just covering herself with a dress and sleeping but once they get their cabin she is all modest and needs a full wall of separation. (hide spoiler)]

Jamie wrote: "Chapter 5 [spoilers removed]"

I agree!

I'm finished

(view spoiler)[This was a fun read. I enjoyed the story. It was really cool how Samuel was a time traveler too, as was the girl Casey met that one time. I'm curious how many others there are!

I'm interested in reading the next book in the series, but I don't think I'll be reading it anytime soon (too many other books, lol!). (hide spoiler)]

Megan wrote: "83%

..."

I can't believe(view spoiler)[ you guessed it! I didn't see it coming at all! (hide spoiler)]

45% (view spoiler)[ Lucinda is a good friend. Many people I have known aren't willing to hang around when you are feeling down. Anyone willing to stand by a friend and take them as they are is a good one. (hide spoiler)]

Ch. 14 (view spoiler)[ Poor Sara having to witness that proposal! Glad they saved Samuel! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17:Grr twice now my reading status has not shown. Anyways.... (view spoiler)[ I cannot believe she left Nate and pulled Samuel to current times. How will he react. How long will Nate be left there?! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 19 (view spoiler)[ If she is worried she will never see Samuel again she should try and track him down in her time. Odds are he still might be around then (hide spoiler)]

done! (view spoiler)[ So glad she saw Samuel again. DId not expect him to be her uncle. Would have been more interesting now if she had delivered Rosa's baby. (hide spoiler)]