Linda Pohring

Willa begins moments after the events of book 2, Maxim and recounts what happens to Willa directly after the orb of light passes through her.

Taken away by the High Council member, Willa wakes up in a science lab and finds she has been rebirthed as a clone of her original self. The novella covers her rehabilitation as she learns to use her body again and the relationship she develops with her primary scientist/doctor person, Charlie.

This was a pretty weak novella. Although it gives further details about what happens after the events of Maxim, it's pretty thin. Willa wakes up, falls in love with Charlie even though they don't speak and then finds out she is being sent back to her timeline. But most novellas are pretty terrible.

1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 stars.… (mer)

Picking up directly after the ending of Oddily, Maxim dives right into the action with Oddily and Maxim returning to Stafford Estate and finding intruders on the property. Kip and Starla have followed Nexa, Nero has arrived for some mysterious purpose of his own and a dark haired stranger has shown up claiming to be a friend of Maxim's.

Like the first book this is a quirky young adult science fiction novel with a lot of potential. But the second book of the series is even more of a mess than the first and desperately needs a good editor. The main plot was interesting but was bogged down by unnecessary side plots that just confused everything. Decent editing would make this a much better read by streamlining the existing plot and putting everything in the proper place. There was just too much going on and not enough detail for any one thing.

The world building in this one is a lot more intricate than the first book. The hints of technology that were present in the first have been expanded into experimental bred insects and animals, parallel universe domes and rooms that can simulate weather conditions. The science fiction theme is also more prominent.

Oddily was fiercer in this book. Having confronted her bullies at the end of the last book she's more willing to speak up for herself and has cultivated a group of friends that include Pepper, Carrie, Paul, Nexa and Maxim. That said, she annoyed the crap out of me. Her obliviousness in this one was insane. She seems to exist in a dreamlike state and while it was endearing in the first book when she was being bullied and had no one - in this one it was just irritating. She has no curiosity or interest in finding out anything and seems to just accept everything at face value - even when it makes no sense. She doesn't ask questions about her new home or Nexa or Maxim and just seems content to ignore it all. It drove me nuts. But she wasn't the only one guilty of it. Nexa and Maxim both seem to ignore the fact Paul can hear and communicate with them telepathically. I'd be asking a lot more questions about who he is, where's he from, how can he possibly be the same as them. They've never met anyone else like them besides their father - how come they don't have any curiosity? Plus Paul seems surprised by it but then comes out with he can travel the timeslips? It just wasn't consistent or plausible.

Maxim was about as frustrating as Oddily. He claims he loves her and wants to spend his life with but refuses to just tell her about him and Nexa. Half the problems could've been solved by these people having a bloody conversation. The romance between them was painful.

There was a lot more thoughts and discussion about sex in this one but it was at odds with the innocence of Oddily and it made it weird and awkward to read. Maxim mentions his urges more than once and it bothered me. He's moved Oddily into his room and is planning forever and Oddily can barely look at him fully clothed or consider undressing and having a shower in the next room. The dissonance between their emotional and sexual maturity didn't work for me. Either keep it as a fairytale innocent type love or make it modern but pick one and stick with it. Plus if Maxim is so "advanced" then he should've been clear with Oddily and discussed what he was thinking.

The rest of the book struggled with too many ideas and not enough clarity. There's apparently a High Council who governs stuff, betrothal promises for both of the twins, mysterious experiments conducted on Zaylyn and through her, Oddily, forays into parallel universes by accident, time travel with no clear rules, etc. It was just too much and it started to fall apart.

An admirable effort but one which would benefit from a good editor. 2.5 stars, rounded to 3 stars.… (mer)

Seventeen year old, Oddily has been bullied her entire life. Her latest foster home with her foster sister, Starla is just the latest in a long line of pain and heartbreak. She longs for the chance to escape the dreariness of her life but until she can she spends her time daydreaming about being someone else.

Maxim and his sister Nexa shouldn't exist - in this timeline at least - and so they keep to themselves, unwilling to accidentally influence or alter something they're not meant to. Right up until Starla bullies Oddily into trespassing on their home, the Stafford Estate and the twins become involved in Oddily's life.

This is a quirky young adult science fiction novel with a lot of potential. Unfortunately it needs a good editor. It's clunky to start with and some of the transitions between scenes don't quite make sense.

Maxim and Nexa are meta humans and identical twins who were born to a father who is a time traveller. The father fell in love with a "primitive" woman while travelling to a different time stream. The woman died giving birth to Maxim and Nexa. Apart from the twins powers, they have advanced technical gadgets like virtual reality glasses and high tech medical equipment. They keep to themselves in order to avoid discovery by scientists and governments who would undoubtedly study them.

Nexa is the most interesting character. Considered to be an angel by Oddily, she's also kind, smart and has the power to read and manipulate minds. Although interesting she spends most of her time on the peripheral of the novel.

Maxim is your cliche romance hero with little personality, great looks and lots of money. That said he is very kind and thoughtful and considerate of Oddily and horrified by the bullying that she encounters at school. He has the power to erase fragments and entire parts of memories and thoughts.

Oddily is the heroine of the novel and was found in a wrecked car as a baby. Since then she has lived in various foster homes. Oddily is an amusing, naive and very young seventeen year old who has an innate goodness about her. She struggles with severe bullying but is still kindhearted, generous and willing to forgive and forget on the off chance someone is willing to talk with her. It was actually kind of heartbreaking. She can be a little stupid and is extremely emotional over everything.

Oddily's romance with Maxim is terrible and is actually pretty painful to read. Every cliche you can think of is thrown at this relationship. It's total instalove, super sweet fluff and will likely be a pleasant read for young tweens but for those that are after a bit more substance it was over the top ridiculous.

But as young and ridiculous as it could be, I actually quite enjoyed Oddily. The story was interesting and kept me interested in finding out more about Oddily, Maxim and Nexa - particularly what happened to the twins father and Oddily's mother.

The use of the advanced technology and how it was incorporated into the story was good, if a bit thin on details. I would've liked to see more world building particularly in regards to the technology and some further detail on the twins' powers and time travel. But it was sufficient to keep me curious. The bullying storyline is wrapped up with Oddily coming to the realisation that she feels sorry for Starla and Kip - not particularly realistic but hopeful for those struggling with it themselves. And the end finds Maxim bringing Oddily home to the Stafford Estate where he'll answer some of her questions.

It's not a perfect novel but it has potential to be a good one with a decent editor. 3 stars.… (mer)

Somehow my review for this book was lost, so you will get the condensed version.

I paid $.99 for this book and it was almost worth every penny.

Editing was terrible.

Writing was awful:

"She couldn't help herself because her tortured heart was monetarily relieved from its painful place of humiliation."

Direct quote, punctuation and all...or lack there of. This is just one example of several sentences that made me cringe and rewrite them in my head.

I originally bought the book:

a) Because, my Nook was empty and I needed some stuff on there in order to feel good about having it.
b) Because, I thought the premise looked cute for a bit of fluff reading one day.
c) I liked the cover, I liked her hair.
d) I originally saw it on firstreads and figured for a buck, I'd forgo the competition.

Based on that, I deserved what I got...torture. The story line was completely over done, over dramatized and far fetched. All of the trials in Oddily's life could be realistic, but not as exaggerated as they were, it was ridiculous.

In the end, I recommend this book to completely undiscriminating teen girls who like over dramatization and happen to have a lack of pocket money. For that specific demographic, this book is perfect.… (mer)