Cassie James's Blog: Itz All About Books!! - Posts Tagged "character-development"

Time Bomb by Joelle Charbonneau

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review, This doesn't in any way influence my opinion on it.


Time Bomb is the second book I'm reading from Joelle Charbonneau and I'm once again enamored by how talented she is. Her writing is so transcendent it's like the words come alive and she proves herself a master storyteller once more with Time Bomb.
Time Bomb is about a group of High School students who get stuck in the second floor of their school when a bomb goes off, Then they find out that one of them is the bomber and another bomb remains. Not only are they going to have to strive to survive, they also have to figure it before it's too late.
The story begins on the morning before the incident.
The students its about are:
1)Diana, the daughter of the Congressman who has always had to be perfect and a good model to other teens. She's never had a friend and her father doesn't really have much time for her along with her controlling stepmother. Diana was quite desperate to prove to her father that she can be of use to him than being picture perfect and sitting still and looking pretty.
2)Rashid is a Muslim boy/geek who has had time fitting in with peers due to his faith and the fact that high school students can at time just be cruel. He never the courage to face them but he knew something had to change.
3)Z is a boy who lost his mother to cancer and just got kicked out by his crappy landlord, He pushed everyone away and retreated into himself except his friend Kaitlin who never deserted him. Z was angry at everything and everyone finally decided to take a huge step.
4)Tad is a closeted jock (in school at least) who hooked up with another fellow jock over the summer but is now being ignored. He also came out to his family a few months ago but ever since then, things have been awkward between them. He was tired of being ignored and treated like that so he chose to do something about it.
5)Cas is an overweight girl who has become somewhat of a social pariah due to the way she looks, vicious rumors spread about her and embarrassing incidents from her previous school on the web. Cas has endured the snide comments, the judging looks, the bullying and the disconnect with her family. But she was done being the punching bag and everything was going to change for good.
6)Frankie is the Quarterback who is deeply entrenched in secrets. He's planning something huge but he's relying on the fact that the school needs him for suspicion to be cast away from him. He's a character whose motivations are purposely ambiguous so he's kinda hard to figure out but that's what makes this fun, The DRAMA.
These six teenagers go through a life changing horrifying event, While it's a terrible situation, I have to admit, Time Bomb is absolutely riveting and compelling. Not once did I feel like putting it down, I blew through the pages at a feverish pace, devouring the words like a starved woman.
One interesting things about this book is that all the main characters are suspects, they all have the motive to commit such an offence. But piecing (or at least trying to and failing) the puzzle together and figuring out who did it kept me on the edge of my seat. It could literally be any of them.
But it's not just a story of Who is It?. It's more than that, it's deeply personal as it deals with acceptance, self esteem, sexuality, suicide, anger, bullying, religion and how important it is to be seen and heard. Time Bomb will resonate with a lot of readers as we will find a bit of ourselves in some of these characters, I commend the author for making them so relatable. High School is a tough time and this book deals with the toll it takes on teenager, It's the little unnoticeable things that matter.
The moments before the end propelled the storyline towards a powerful and emotional ending. Knowing who the bomber was ended up not being too surprising but the motives behind the action was heart wrenching. In the end, they were all not the people that entered their High School that morning. They have all fundamentally changed and that experience will either make or break them.
I was satisfied with the conclusion of this book and I really wish every reader out there will pick it up, Joelle Charbonneau has outdone herself.
I happily and eagerly recommend this book to everyone because it's just too mesmerising.

P.S: The raw emotions displayed drove me to tears so have tissues nearby.



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