
I started reading it as we were taxiing out of Sydney on Sunday morning with the plan to read a bit before watching a movie I was keen to see for part of the trip to Auckland. Before I knew it I was too far into the flight to have time to watch it all, so I just kept reading... and reading and reading! I read the whole of the flight from Sydney to Auckland and then again from Auckland to Dunedin. I simply didn't want to stop. Each night I read a bit more before going to bed, being totally sucked into the story of Ursula and her life - or should I say, lives. The two flights home were a similar scene to the flights to NZ - page after page - before using the 45 minute train trip from the airport to finish off the last few chapters.
I was never one to be into history as a student. I was very much focused on the sciences, but as I have grown and traveled different parts of the world I have become much more interested in the subject. I loved how this book incorporated a whole range of different moments in time and it was packaged in such a unique way.
The story jumps back and forth a little, but that's the beauty of it. What if you could start over and change the path of history? With each fall of the darkness, you wonder how Ursula is going to ensure that she does not suffer the same fate the next time around. Sometime her choices are not much better and result in a fate much worse in the end - don't even get me started on Derek - whilst other decisions result in positive outcomes for not just herself, but a potentially the whole world.
If you get the chance, this is a must read. I haven't read many books of this size in the short time frame that I did. It was simply stunning from cover to cover, drawing you in deeper and deeper with each chapter.