Review: Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
Publication Date: October 9th, 2013
Publisher: Hyperion
Page Count: 384 pages
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher for Review
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Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility.
As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time.
Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.

When I first found out about Time Between Us I was so excited. Not only is the main character's name, Anna (like me!!), but time travel?! Yes please! I've even had the pleasure of meeting Tamara at a few local events, since she's a local author, so I was incredibly excited to dive in. Not only are the characters amazingly real, but the story itself is breathtaking. It definitely reminded me of The Time Traveler's Wife which is one of my most favorite books ever, and a little bit of The Lake House. Yes, two amazing stories that also involve romance and time travel. If you're a big fan of romance and time travel then you will definitely want to pick up a copy of Time Between Us!!
I absolutely loved the characters in this story. Anna is strong, independent, intelligent, and driven. There is definitely a point where Bennett and Anna are struggling to hold on to each other, but I loved how Anna didn't curl up into a ball in the woods and cry about it for months. She really shows how strong she's become throughout the story. And Bennett... oh my God Bennett... If there was every a swoon-tastic boy in a YA story it's Bennett. He's so caring and romantic and I loved getting to know all of his secrets at the same time as Anna. Their relationship is definitely not normal, considering he travels through time, but it's romantic and easy to relate to. We can all remember out first loves :)
The story itself is just fantastic. There are so many details that make this story so wonderful. Tamara's writing style is just gorgeous. She has a way with words that really helped paint a picture of certain settings. When Anna and Bennett go rock climbing, I seriously felt like I was scaling the mountain myself. Even the dialog is great and so true to teenagers and the way they speak. There are even a couple plot twists that I had no idea were coming! By the end I was laughing and crying!
Overall, I absolutely loved Time Between Us. It's an amazing story of love, loss, and friendship and I loved every minute of it. The characters are all amazing and easy to relate to, and I loved their growth throughout the book. If you haven't already added Time Between Us to your TBR do so NOW. I'm not sure if this book is a standalone, but I'm really hoping Tamara will write more of Anna and Bennett's story because I just couldn't get enough!!