Welcome Back, Booklovers! October has been a busy month and time is flying by so quickly. I can't believe the month is almost over. I'm always checking for Black YA romance so For All Time was one that caught my eye from the cover reveal. Like with many of my reads I made this a blended read with the audiobook and a print copy.
The book opens with present day South Carolina where Tamar is dealing with a long term lung illness she has as a side affect of the Covid 19 pandemic. Gone are her plans to attend Spelman after high school. She's in a relationship with Fayard but doesn't want to officially be his girlfriend because she thinks the label comes with too many expectations. She's afraid of dying and having to leave him behind but Fay really loves her and is determined to stop her from boarding a plane to try an experimental procedure so he shows up at the airport with a promise ring and a whole band of people.
From there we jump across a number of different timelines both past and present. In 1920s Philadelphia Tamar is dealing with a strict father who is intent on marrying her off against her will while Fayard doesn't want to grow up and hold down a steady job. In ancient Mali, Tamar is a slave to a woman Fayard is set to marry. In 2260 both are on a special mission on a lunar base.
While the jumps in time were a little confusing at first I enjoyed how the story was set up for each time. And the chemistry between Fayard and Tamar never waned regardless of what time period they were in. Plus they actually felt like modern Black teens. It takes some time to set up but once we get the reveal about the nature of their existence the book moves along at a face fast.
Enjoyed the review. I've started to stay away from YA because I'm not the target demo anymore, but I'm intrigued by the premise and interested in giving this a read.
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