Book Review: Twist by Karen Akins

Twist (Loop #2)
Author:  Karen Akins
Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin, 336 pages
Publication Date:  April 7, 2015

From Goodreads:
Bree Bennis finally has it all—a non-comatose mother, an uber-hot (albeit anachronistic) boyfriend named Finn, and a new-found mission to protect the timeline from those who would skew it for their own gain. But when she leans over one day to smooch said boyfriend, her lips meet those of her arch-nemesis Wyck instead. The timeline has been altered, and Bree is caught in the crosshairs. But when she goes back to repair the damage, she is stopped by none other than her Future Self, who delivers an urgent message: Someone is kidnapping Shifters from the distant past. It’s up to Bree to stop them. But first, she has to figure out who... and why.

To follow the trail of chronocrumbs, Bree reluctantly accepts her new undercover gig as Wyck’s girlfriend. Everything goes spiffy until Finn shows up in the 23rd century on the eager arm of a gorgeous fellow Shifter, Blark. Even as Bree struggles with jealousy, she battles the nagging dread that Finn might be better off with someone less chronologically complicated. Her worst fear is confirmed when Finn becomes the kidnapper’s next victim. As Bree zeroes in on the culprit, they unravel her life one timeline-change at a time. She realizes that she alone has the power to save herself and everyone she loves. But to do that, she may lose Finn forever.

Review:
I loved Loop, the first book in this duology (see my review here) so I was really excited to read Twist.  While I liked it, I didn't love it, but that may just have been because my expectations were too high.  It seemed to be missing the magic from the first book, if that makes sense.  Honestly, I didn't get enough Finn.

One of my favorite things about Loop was the relationship between Bree and Finn, their banter, and the fact that he knew the future her (and was in love with her) but she didn't know him at all.  But Finn is not in this book as much.  In fact, Bree is on her own a lot, struggling to fix all of the changes in the timeline.  And there's a misunderstanding between Bree and Finn that made me crazy.  It doesn't last too long, but it seemed unnecessary.  I wanted them to work together, and for the most part, that didn't happen.

The stakes are much higher in this book and that leads to a more serious book.  There were a couple of time travel plot questions that I had and I'm still trying to decide if I liked the ending or not.  In some ways I do and it sort of had to happen that way, but part of me is sad.  I can't say anymore without spoiling it so I will leave it at that.

Fast-paced and full of action, I did enjoy it, but there was a lot of frustration and angst while reading it.  

Posted by:  Pam