YA Review: A Tale of Two Centuries

A Tale of Two Centuries (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, 2) by Rachel Harris, August 6, 2013. 320 pages. Published by Entangled Teen. Source: library.

Alessandra D’Angeli is in need of an adventure. Tired of her sixteenth-century life in Italy and homesick for her time-traveling cousin, Cat, who visited her for a magical week and dazzled her with tales of the future, Alessandra is lost. Until the stars hear her plea.

One mystical spell later, Alessandra appears on Cat’s Beverly Hills doorstep five hundred years in the future. Surrounded by confusing gadgets, scary transportation, and scandalous clothing, Less is hesitant to live the life of a twenty-first century teen…until she meets the infuriating—and infuriatingly handsome—surfer Austin Michaels. Austin challenges everything she believes in…and introduces her to a world filled with possibility.

With the clock ticking, Less knows she must live every moment of her modern life while she still can. But how will she return to the drab life of her past when the future is what holds everything she’s come to love?

First Sentence:

I close my eyes against the gentle breeze and twirl, my green silk surcoat swishing around my ankles in glorious abandon.

With only her second book, well that I've read, Rachel Harris has left me quite pleased. I found A Tale of Two Centuries to be a fun read because I enjoyed watching Alessandra find some happiness, and, because the writing was snappy making this a quick read to sneak in between review books.

First I want to tell y'all just how amazing my local library system is! I love how well they respond to all the request that the patrons send their way; I have sent my fair share, this being one of them. Guys, don't ever forget to check out your library for your next read.

Okay, back on track...

There's just something fun and daring about flipping around the time travel scenario and sending someone from the past into the future. Especially a future so distant from the time and customs of their own. That being said, I really enjoyed seeing how easily Less took to the modern times of her cousin Cat and watching her chase the dreams she couldn't achieve in her own time.
   The characters and their individual stories, like how Cat and Less both got to go on a crazy gypsy time-travel adventure, and the way Rachel Harris handled their journeys is what has really made both of her books such fun reads. It was enjoyable to see them tackle what they thought was the problem and then see them look deeper to the true cause of their unhappiness and find out what they needed to change that. I think she did quite the job keeping the characters realistic, even when you wanted to shake them.

While I was not at first keen on the guy Less falls for, I found him to be an interesting character the further along the book got. Why, because he actually turned out to be not that bad of a guy. It was interesting to see that underneath that attitude was an okay guy; although, he did do his best to grate on my nerves with his sass.
  Main love interest aside, I loved the sister like relationship between Cat and Less and how even when they were keeping secrets, important ones too, from each other you could always see that they wanted nothing but the best for the other. Seriously, I could probably read another book with just those two going on yet another grand adventure-even if they don't time hop-because they are bound to get themselves into some kind of mischief. Truthfully, I just really enjoyed reading about the character interactions throughout the book and the way Rachel Harris wrote them.    

What I enjoyed most about A Tale of Two Centuries  would have to be the writing. I just adored Rachel Harris' writing and her ability to capture all the feelings of each character so well. Her writing is so fun and entertaining to read that I was, much to my dismay, finished with this book before I knew it. It was just such a refreshing read and left me quite happy to have discovered her books through my library.

Final Verdict: A Tale of Two Centuries- A wonderfully fun read filled with wit and charm.

A Tale of Two Centuries earns