Friday, September 13, 2013

{Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway} 15 Minutes by Jill Cooper


Release date: June 15, 2013
Pages: 234
Format: Egalley
Source: Provided for blog tour
Buy the book: Amazon
I have 15 minutes to save my mother’s life…

15 minutes is all the Rewind Agency gives you in the past, but for Lara Crane it’s enough time to race through the city, find her mother, and stop her from being killed in a mugging that happened over ten years ago.

But that’s not how it happened. The story she’s been told all her life is a lie and when Lara takes a bullet meant for her mother, her future changes forever.

The love of her life acts like a stranger. Her simple life is replaced with a giant house, glamorous clothes and a new boyfriend. Except someone knows her secret. And he will try to stop her at every turn as she races against the clock to unravel a dangerous conspiracy.

15 Minutes is an edgy high octane YA thriller that can be described as Back to the Future meets Inception where the people Lara trusts change in an instant. She is in a timeline she doesn't understand, and is about to make one fatal mistake as she faces an enemy so familiar, he’s family.
I fully expected to like 15 Minutes, but I absolutely did not expect to become so riveted in the story that I was mad it was over and am now flipping out because I have no idea when a sequel will come out. I spent the whole time I read speculating and jotting down crazed notes, only to find everything I thought I had figured out was absolutely WRONG. I don't think I've been taken on such a ride in a long time, and it was absolutely marvelous!

The description of Back to the Future meets Inception is the most apt I've heard in a long, long time. Lara wants to change things in her life, but those actions cause problems she could never dream of. She is also becoming deeper and deeper entwined in a mystery larger than herself, one that is so entrenched in turnarounds that it's hard to keep up. I fully expected this to be a pretty simple time travel story in which all of Lara's problems would be solved neatly and without too much trouble, one in which she simply realizes that life works out a certain way and that she should be happy to have her father. HAHAHAHAHAHA. NO. Yes, it's a time travel story, but it's not like any other I've read before.

The biggest highlight of the book for me was Lara herself. Barring a few teenager moments, I was constantly high-fiving her in my mind. Even when she changes her mother's fate and is plopped into a new life in which she finds she was totally different, that different Lara is still the same person deep down. No matter how her life goes, she is still determined and as right-seeking as before. You can change the clothes and the hair, but you can't change her personality. And I loved her.

And can I mention the Dunkin' Donuts joke thrown in there? It was one line, but it stuck with me. My dad is from the Boston area and we visit family up there all the time. Now, we didn't get a Dunkin's in my home town until the last two years or so, but I know how important that Dunkin's is to the Bostonians, and I loved the joke about there being one on every corner. I busted out laughing. :) It was such a good little joke that kept the book grounded in it's location, which could easily be forgotten in a book with so much else going on.

Anyways, 15 Minutes is an absolute thrill ride that won't let up--even when it's over. It's a high-stakes, fast-paced, intelligent book that I am so pleased to have read. Now when can I have the sequel?

About the author:

Jill loves to blend horror, comedy, the supernatural, and love, through her novels. A fan of genre blending, her work strives to cross boundaries, but most of all strives to entertain. She loves soft cuddly cats, warm blankets, and paranormal romances. Jill resides in Massachusetts, is constantly renovating her home that she shares with her husband, young daughter, and two skittish cats.


In order to find the answers to the hints in the giveaway, visit the tour page and find the links to each blog with the answers! To find the answer for today's hint (#4), you can visit Little Birdie Books! :)

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