Eyes Like Mine by Julie Wright

Eyes Like Mine
by Julie Wright

LDS YA Speculative/Historical
288 pages, softcover
Target reader: 14+

Covenant
978-1-59811-625-0
Release date: July 28, 2009



From the publisher:

A story of family that transcends time William has been missing for two days. And even though the rest of the wagon company has decided they must continue on to Zion, Constance Brown refuses to go any further until she finds her husband. All she can think about is the last time she saw him — he lovingly touched her face and then sang their baby girl to sleep. Will that memory be all Constance has to hold on to?

In a future time and place, Liz King is a teenager struggling with her identity in the modern world. The embarrassment she feels because of her parents’ divorce and her family’s new-found financial problems turns to bitterness.

Through an inexplicable twist of fate, Constance and Liz are brought face to face. Liz recognizes Constance’s name from her mother’s endless lectures on their family history, and she also recognizes her eyes — they are exactly like her own. Were these distant relatives brought together in order to help each other?

Will Constance be able to return to her own life and find William, and will Liz be able to keep from telling Constance how her story ends? In this irresistible novel filled with gripping adventure and heartfelt emotion, two young women from drastically different times and settings learn that the challenges life holds for them are not so different after all.

Read an excerpt.

Eyes Like Mine is one of those stories that's difficult to categorize. It's definitely for young adults, but adult women will like it too. Most of it is set in current time and deals with current issues—like divorce, infidelity, teen drama— so that makes it general or realistic fiction. Except it's not very realistic because there's a time-traveling relative involved. That makes it speculative. There are also several scenes that happen in the past, which makes it historical. And for good measure, there's some romance thrown in.

Whatever we call it, it was a pretty good read. I thought the characterization of Liz and Constance was very good. They became very real to me. Garrett, the love interest, was also pretty good. Liz's parents and siblings weren't as well developed as I'd like to see.

The plot was good. Liz's teen angst and drama drives a lot of the story. I liked the juxtaposition of two personalities—Liz and Constance—from two eras in time, and how values, thoughts and behaviors are somewhat shaped by our culture.

I also liked the very strong message that families are forever. Families are more than just the nuclear unit we see them as today. They stretch backward and forward in time.

The time traveling may be a stretch in believability for some readers, but it didn't bother me.

For me, this book was 3.75 stars—so close to a 4.0 that I'm going ahead and rounding it up. I think those who like clean stories and aren't offended by the mix of time travel and LDS theology should enjoy this book.


Plot:

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Content Ratings

Language: No swearing.

Violence: Liz's horse is hit by a car. That was a little hard.

Drugs/Alcohol:

Immorality: Liz's father was unfaithful, causing a divorce.

Values/Themes: An LDS book with themes on faith, trust, genealogy and family.

Age Appropriate: Teens and adult women should like this book.

Writing Mechanics: A little glitchy in spots, but dead on in others. Some head-hopping and abrupt POV changes.


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