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kelleemoye's review
3.0
Susan Maupin Schmid makes a new world filled with mystery in this sci-fi novel. Although at first it is hard to keep track of the new species and planets, you soon get entwined in the adventure and puzzlement of helping Violynne find her parents.
bookishvice's review
3.0
This was such a wonderful and fun read. I picked it up on a whim and opened its pages to find an exquisitely crafted world, with many cultures and details, and a heroine who made me want to follow her. Violynne’s world was amazing in its alieness, but also in the realistic future technology. I think if the story as scifi given the setting, but the situation fits in with a dystopian story—the Arbiter rules the city with a tight fist, and the Coil rules the planet.
When the story begins, Violynne’s parents have been missing for a year and she’s living with her Aunt Madelyn and a butler. I was amazed at resourcefulness of these two and the secrets they carried. It’s thanks to them and the unfortunate events that happen that Violynne grows strong and fearless. Her parents disappearance is just part of a deeper revolution going on in the planet, and it’s up to Violynne to set things right.
My only complaint would be that it’s such a short novel for such a huge world. At 169 pages, it looks more like a novelette, but it reads like a full novel. Due to its shortness, there’s a lack of detail in many of the things presented—the characters, the races, the situation—so that you’re left to take in things at face value and move along with the story. Then again, that’s part of what I liked about it. We’re thrown into this alien world and the pacing is just right for us not to think much about the why’s, and just enjoy the fast ride.
When the story begins, Violynne’s parents have been missing for a year and she’s living with her Aunt Madelyn and a butler. I was amazed at resourcefulness of these two and the secrets they carried. It’s thanks to them and the unfortunate events that happen that Violynne grows strong and fearless. Her parents disappearance is just part of a deeper revolution going on in the planet, and it’s up to Violynne to set things right.
My only complaint would be that it’s such a short novel for such a huge world. At 169 pages, it looks more like a novelette, but it reads like a full novel. Due to its shortness, there’s a lack of detail in many of the things presented—the characters, the races, the situation—so that you’re left to take in things at face value and move along with the story. Then again, that’s part of what I liked about it. We’re thrown into this alien world and the pacing is just right for us not to think much about the why’s, and just enjoy the fast ride.
crowyhead's review
3.0
This is a mostly-forgettable science fiction mystery. Twelve-year-old Violynne Vivant and her parents live on the planet Lindos, where her parent work at archaeologists studying Lindos's vanished ancient peoples. When both her parents disappear during a dig at the ancient city of Ninthon, Violynne is convinced there's more going on than anyone's telling her, particularly when thieves break into her home. Suddenly no one and nothing are what they seem, and Violynne is swept up into warring adult factions, political intrigue, and new mysteries surrounding Lindos's dark moon.
This was entertaining enough while I was reading it, but as I said, it was ultimately pretty forgettable. Violynne is not particularly well fleshed out as a believable twelve-year-old, and the book is by and large powered by its plot. This is fine, but the plot's pretty thin at points, and the conclusion isn't as satisfying as one might hope. I don't know if Schmid plans a sequel; the book is certainly left open for it, but it also stands on its own fine. This will appeal to middle readers who are fans of genre fiction, but I doubt it will become a classic.
This was entertaining enough while I was reading it, but as I said, it was ultimately pretty forgettable. Violynne is not particularly well fleshed out as a believable twelve-year-old, and the book is by and large powered by its plot. This is fine, but the plot's pretty thin at points, and the conclusion isn't as satisfying as one might hope. I don't know if Schmid plans a sequel; the book is certainly left open for it, but it also stands on its own fine. This will appeal to middle readers who are fans of genre fiction, but I doubt it will become a classic.
cjmichel's review
3.0
Lost Time by Susan Maupin Schmid is a short novel for young teens and tweens about Violynne, a 12 year old girl, who goes in search of her missing parents and ends up saving her world from all of the power hungry factions that are battling for control.
minxlette's review
3.0
Very reminiscent of Madelien L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time as it drops the reader into a fantastical setting without much warning and an absolute expectation that the reader will simply keep up. Most of the time, that's true, but the complexities of the plot and the time travel discussion might be too complicated for some and are certainly not always easy to follow. Violyn is, none the less, an enjoyable main character and the book's a good, fairly fast read.
victoria_elaine's review
4.0
This book is very interesting, and the only reason I didn't rate it as a five is because it is confusing at certain parts in the story, but overall it is fantastic.
firedemonreads's review
3.0
This book was good enough that I wanted to find out what was going to happen next, but I really didn't like how the author would assume that you knew what every alien was and didn't describe them. I was very confused with some of the other details too.
librarian343's review
1.0
I DNF’d this book for now. I feel like there’s too much going on in this book with not a lot of pages to flesh out the story. Perhaps if I was younger this book would appeal to me more.
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