Untimed

Beautifully paced with little to fault, Untimed follows the romantic and thought provoking journey of Jai and Aliya, two childhood best friends, separated through untimely circumstances, continuously crossing paths in surprising ways. Despite it not being void of certain tropes of its chosen genres, Untimed is thoughtfully written, balanced, and educates its readers in a manner that is gently engaging. Interweaving cultural references and language that is comprehensible to most readers, while maintaining a coherent pace and development of storyline and characters, the reader’s attention is completely captivated and maintained.

The presentation of Untimed was overall comprehensive, clearly depicting and maintaining changes in time, context, and point of view, making it easy for the reader to follow and bond with the characters. Additionally, the author’s disclaimer along with a vocabulary list and italicising of unfamiliar terms provide the reader a concise, coherent and accessible reference to the setting and terms. Presentation occasionally lacks, however, in its formatting of paragraphs, sentences and line spacing, which is not always consistent or apparent and could be due to a logistical error rather than a lack of editing.

This novel comfortably suits those whose interests lie in historical, romantic and young adult fiction due to its inferences to adult and cultural themes and its simplistic construction of a storyline. As mentioned briefly, the use of tropes is not hard to ignore, so some could find this disengaging and somewhat predictable. Despite this, however, Untimed balances this with its beautiful depiction of characters, contexts and culture with nuggets of informative writing, enthralling right from the start, leaving the reader hanging on every word. Its characters and storyline create a lasting imprint, even after completion. A highly recommended read, even for those looking for something light and thought provoking.