Book Review: Clockwise by Elle Strauss

Here's a little blurb from Goodreads:

A teenage time traveler accidentally takes her secret crush back in time. Awkward.

Boy watching with her best friend would be enough excitement for fifteen year old Casey Donovan. She doesn't even mind life at the bottom of the Cambridge High social ladder, if only she didn’t have this other much bigger problem. Unscheduled trips to the nineteenth century!

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but I was pleasantly surprised! I've never read a time travelling novel quite like this one. The way Casey has to have actual skills to survive in the 1860s was a realistic aspect to the story that many lack. She uses her instincts and creates ways for her to be better prepared when she goes back in time. She is smart, not just bookish but street smart in her own way. While she has that boy obsession that every heroine in YA novels has, it's very real. Being married now for years, at first I was thinking "Man, Casey, what is so great about this one guy?" But then I started to think back to how I was in high school and the boys I crushed on. I was the exact same way!

**Slight spoiler** When Casey goes to the 1960s, I wasn't really sure why that was necessary - but Strauss had a good reason for that. I also found it kind of coincidental that Nate goes on so many "trips" with her. But I can see why it was needed to forge a good bond between Casey and Nate and make their relationship be based on something other than "love at first sight." Everything wraps up very neat and tidy, maybe a little too tidy, but who doesn't love surprise coincidences and connections between seemingly random parts of a story? This was a relatively quick read and I'd recommend it!

4/5 Stars