REVIEW: The Last Beginning by Lauren James

Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Walker Books
Genre: SciFi, Time Travel
Release Date: October 6th 2016
Buy The Book: Book Depository

The epic conclusion to Lauren James' debut The Next Together about love, destiny and time travel.

Sixteen years ago, after a scandal that rocked the world, teenagers Katherine and Matthew vanished without a trace. Now Clove Sutcliffe is determined to find her long lost relatives. But where do you start looking for a couple who seem to have been reincarnated at every key moment in history? Who were Kate and Matt? Why were they born again and again? And who is the mysterious Ella, who keeps appearing at every turn in Clove's investigation?

For Clove, there is a mystery to solve in the past and a love to find in the future.

My Thoughts:
Oh my GOSH. I don’t even know where to start with this book. Since I read The Next Together, I have been dying (literally DYING) to get my hands on this sequel, and let me tell you, it was everything I wanted it to be and more. The Last Beginning follows Clove, the daughter of Katherine and Matthew, who was born right at the end of the previous book. It’s been sixteen years since her birth, and she has grown up believing that Matthew’s brother Tom, and Tom’s wife Jen, are her biological parents. When she discovers the truth about her past, she makes the decision to use the time machine created by Tom and Jen to get some answers. But time travel is tricky, and not everything goes to plan.

First of all, let my start by saying that this book is so CLEVER. Honestly, the way it ties in with the first book is brilliant and well thought out. I had to grab my copy of The Next Together from my shelf and go back to certain parts now that I understood it more. There were so many ‘OOOOHHHHH’ moments and I need to praise Lauren James for her wonderful brain. The time travel in the story works out so well, and I love that whilst the plot was intricate and complex, I never felt too confused by what was happening. I’ve read time-travel stories before that have just mind-boggled me to the point that it wasn’t enjoyable, but James explains everything perfectly in due course.

So moving on to the characters. I LOVE CLOVE AND ELLA SO MUCH, I CAN’T EVEN BEGIN TO EXPLAIN. Their chemistry is perfect and I was living for scenes between them. (I would also highly recommend reading Lauren’s lovely post about her decision to give this sequel an LGBT protagonist.) Clove journeying through time leads her to cross paths with Ella, who is more linked to Clove’s timeline than she ever could have imagined. Their relationship builds beautifully and the lighthearted moments between them made for touching breaks in the tension-filled race through time. It was great to also revisit characters I thought we’d left behind in the first book (like certain coachmen from a certain year…) AND I NEED TO MENTION HOW MUCH I LOVE SPART, OH MY GOD. Spart is an AI created by Tom and finally I was able to find out what was behind the computer text that appeared throughout The Next Together. Spart was so much fun and I want my own one. When will it be a thing??

Like with The Next Together, the story was told in part through articles, documents, and excerpts. There was also the lovely addition of social media interaction between Clove and Ella, with even a couple of adorable Snapchats thrown in too. These little inserts bring another layer to the story and the characters, and the story works so much better because of them. The language used was current and relatable, and I loved the references cleverly dotted throughout. Also, the humour is on point.

This story perfectly tied up every loose end from the first book and it was satisfying to realise how the two books threaded together to create such a smart story. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect conclusion. I also need to mention how believable the writing was - it made me feel as though any of the events that happened within the pages could actually happen in real life (YES, I AM EXPECTING A WORKING TIME MACHINE BY THE YEAR 2056). I’m so glad I decided to read this thrilling SciFi duology and I’m super excited for whatever stories Lauren James might have planned in the future.

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REVIEW: The Next Together by Lauren James

Pages: 356
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Walker Books
Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel
Release Date: September 3rd 2015
Buy The Book: Book Depository

How many times can you lose the person you love?

Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again, century after century. Each time, their presence changes history for the better, and each time, they fall hopelessly in love, only to be tragically separated.

Spanning the Crimean War, the Siege of Carlisle and the near-future of 2019 and 2039 they find themselves sacrificing their lives to save the world. But why do they keep coming back? What else must they achieve before they can be left to live and love in peace?

Maybe the next together will be different...

A powerful and epic debut novel for teenagers about time-travel, fate and the timelessness of first love. The Next Together is told through a mixture of regular prose, diary entries, letters, "original" historical documents, news reports and internet articles.  

My Thoughts:
This book had always sounded intriguing to me and after buying it recently, I’d been meaning to read it. When the fabulous Lucy from The Queen of Contemporary announced that it would be one of the books being read for the UKYA Book Club throughout June, I saw it as my chance to finally pick it up!  

This story follows Kate Finchley and Matthew Galloway throughout several different time periods. The pair keep meeting and falling in love during crucial points in history, and both are eventually pulled apart by death. For that reason, no matter what time they’re in, they never get to live out the rest of their lives together. As their timelines start to merge, their different reincarnations try to figure out what is going on and why this keeps happening.

The Next Together is packed full of interesting storytelling. The notes between Kate and Matthew in 2019 were a great way to show their story, as well as articles, letters and newspaper clippings from all different periods, including 2019 Kate’s blog. These little inserts made the story extra exciting and they definitely kept me hooked. Also, the little computer messages about progress and interventions throughout the chapters were quite chilling and made me desperate to find out who or what was behind all of this. 

As for the characters, I simply adored them, in every single time period. Although we only get told 2019 Matthew and Kate’s story through articles and notes sent between them (oh, and even a PowerPoint presentation) I still felt like we got to know them simply by their interactions. Their notes provided a lot of humour, and since it was the year closest to our time, their language was current and hilarious. The other time periods were just as brilliant and it’s impossible for me to choose a favourite. 

The final few chapters were intense and fast paced, with a whirlwind of emotion thrown at you from every reincarnation of Kate and Matthew, and there are a few twists that I definitely wasn’t expecting. By the very end, there were still questions I was dying to have answered, and it’s made me extremely anxious to get my hands on the next book! 

I simply adored the writing style of The Next Together. It was clever, unique, and super intriguing. If you haven’t managed to give this book a read yet, then I highly recommend you check it out because it has a little bit of everything to offer. I know that a short story was recently published, titled Another Together, and I plan to get reading it ASAP because I’m utterly sucked into this mystery and I need more of Kate and Matthew in my life. 

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