Review by jhmende -- Crossing in Time by D.L. Orton

jhmende · Post by **jhmende** » 29 Aug 2016, 11:31

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Crossing in Time" by D.L. Orton.]

2 out of 4 stars

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In D. L. Orton’s Crossing in Time: An Edgy Sci-Fi Love Story, the world is ending, and the only way it can be saved is through time travel: going back and changing some minute detail in the past so that the future doesn’t fall to bits. That minute detail happens to be the love life of our two main characters, Isabel and Diego. In order to save humanity from extinction, Isabel must go back and make sure that her relationship with Diego goes right.

First off, I thought this book was decent. It was at points well written, and there were times when I was entertained. It was not perfect, though, and there were moments when I felt that the plot was very contrived—things happened not because they exactly made sense, but because the author wanted a certain scene or scenario to happen. It is definitely for people who like modern romance novels, and not necessarily for those with more of a preference for science fiction.

Let’s start off with the good stuff. The beginnings of novels are important, and this one had me hooked. The starting scene was well done and established the ‘edgy’ mood that the title promises, and I was excited to see what the rest of the book had in store.

The two protagonists, Diego and Isabel, did genuinely feel in love. I at no point doubted that they cared for one another. Although their love is kindled very quickly, it at least makes a small amount of sense. I wanted to know what happened to the couple, which made other parts of the book more bearable.

There were moments where the pacing was incredibly quick—so quick that I got dizzy. There are a lot of characters and ideas suddenly thrown around, and the world goes from okay to near-wasteland in what seems like record time.

The apocalyptic scenario that D. L. Orton created is nothing really that new or creative. Without spoilers, it’s something that has been addressed time and time again. To Orton’s credit, though, this scenario is at least done well in the novel, and felt like it could possibly happen.

Diego and Isabel were both complicated characters with their own flaws and strengths, as were some of the other survivors. While the protagonists are well written, though, the less savory characters are all one dimensional. There is no one real antagonist (the antagonist is the whole world), but the villainous people that populated Orton’s dystopia were all vile, disgusting, or just plain idiots, lacking any redemptive qualities. This made the story less real for me.

I would rate this title 2 out of 4 stars: fair. Crossing in Time is definitely a typical modern romance, and if you are a fan of that genre, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this quick-paced read. For other types of readers, though, there was nothing that really stood out.

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Crossing in Time
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