Twist by Karen Akins

Twist
by Karin Akins
Read: March 23 - April 1, 2015
Published: April 7, 2015 by St. Martin's Griffin
Source: NetGalley (Thank you!)
Category: YA, time travel, 
Series: Loop #2
Find: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Indiebound 

The unbelievably thrilling sequel to the time-travel YA novel Loop.

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. 
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NOTE: Twist is the second book in a duet that started with Loop.

I enjoyed Loop the first book in this duet so much. Although the twisty-ness of the story made my head spin at times, the clever time travel plot was extremely entertaining and it kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. Of course what I loved so much about the story was Finn and Bree's romance. Because of the addition of time travel to their lives, it doesn't start or build in the regular manner and all of that served to make it more engaging. It is a slow burn love story, but not in the typical way, and that worked well for me. Although Bree could be frustrating in her stubbornness and inability to reveal information, I enjoyed her voice, and I fell hard for Finn. When I finished Loop, I could not wait to find out what would happen next in the sequel Twist. 

What I was hoping for in Twist was lots more Bree and Finn time together, especially with them working together and on the same page. I was excited for an increase in the level of swoon and hoping for more communication from Bree. Sadly, most of that didn't happen and this book was much more of a frustration than an enjoyment. It also felt far more slower paced than Loop did. Maybe it was due to my personal frustrations, but I felt like not a lot happens in places.

The major issues I had with Twist -

1) Bree spent 35% of this book fake dating Wyck, and though I appreciated that she wasn't really into the relationship, it bugged me nonetheless. I got very tired of watching her make out with him to "keep him happy" even if she didn't want to kiss him. Unfortunately  I'm finding that "it's not really a love triangle" still means it's going to be an issue for me. 

2) Compounding that was a complete lack of communication with Finn during that time. They could have had one conversation earlier on in the book that would have cleared up a lot. But without it, I just found myself frustrated and upset over the level of angst. Later in the book Finn is off screen a lot again (and during that time Bree spends even more time with Wyck), making Bree and Finn's time together in this sequel much less than I had hoped to see. 

3) There was little to no guidance about what Present Bree was supposed to be doing, and I never understood why Future Bree (or another associate) couldn't sit her down and give out some clear information, instead of constantly being secretive and cryptic. Later in the book we are given somewhat of a reason for why the plot unfolded this way, but it was too little too late for me. It just seemed like a ploy to add confusion and drama that upped my anxiety level. Even after the explanation, I didn't fully understand why everyone was so cagey for so long. 

4) The end. In one sense it was sweet and appropriate for this story. But after the frustration of 60% of the book, I needed for it to continue a little further for me to be fully satisfied. It just wasn't enough for me. I was hoping to see this story loop back to previous scenes that we are told about but never see, although that doesn't happen. Also I just wanted more romance overall (truly, we may have seen more kissing scenes between Bree and Wyck than between her and Finn). 

As I said, I enjoyed Loop a lot, but Twist didn't work well for me. However, if you aren't as bothered by the it's not "really" a love triangle situation, and if you aren't as frustrated by the scarcity of explanation until the end, you'll be ok. It's become a major pet peeve of mine when the heroine and hero are kept apart for much of the final book. I like to see them working together. Still, I do love Finn so much, and this was a unique time travel concept. 

Love Triangle Factor: None. (But I was still disappointed with how the romance played out.)
Cliffhanger Scale: Series end