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Tangled in Time #1
Tangled in Time: The Portal
Life used to be great for Rose: full of friends, a loving mom, and a growing fashion blog.
But when her mother dies in a car crash, Rose is sent away to live with a strange grandmother she hardly knows and forced to attend a new school where mean girls ridicule her at every turn.
The one place Rose finds refuge is in her grandmother’s Tudor-style greenhouse. But one night, she sees a strange light glowing from within it. She climbs a ladder to investigate . . . and finds herself transported back four hundred years to Hatfield Palace, where she becomes servant and confidante of the banished princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII. Rose soon discovers something else surprising—a locket with two mysterious images inside it, both of them clues to her own past.
Could her grandmother’s greenhouse portal offer answers to the mysteries of her family . . . and their secrets? And how will she ever unravel them all?
But when her mother dies in a car crash, Rose is sent away to live with a strange grandmother she hardly knows and forced to attend a new school where mean girls ridicule her at every turn.
The one place Rose finds refuge is in her grandmother’s Tudor-style greenhouse. But one night, she sees a strange light glowing from within it. She climbs a ladder to investigate . . . and finds herself transported back four hundred years to Hatfield Palace, where she becomes servant and confidante of the banished princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII. Rose soon discovers something else surprising—a locket with two mysterious images inside it, both of them clues to her own past.
Could her grandmother’s greenhouse portal offer answers to the mysteries of her family . . . and their secrets? And how will she ever unravel them all?
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First published March 19, 2019
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About the author
Kathryn Lasky
266 books2,274 followersKathryn Lasky, also known as Kathryn Lasky Knight and E. L. Swann, is an award-winning American author of over one hundred books for children and adults. Best known for the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, her work has been translated into 19 languages and includes historical fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 223 reviews
August 13, 2020
Q:
Who knew if proper time would be as interesting as time out of time? (c)
Q:
But what is real? Rose thought. Is this real, to be caught between two centuries? (c)
Q:
I shall love you through all time and place. Through every century imaginable. (c)
Rosalinda, Rosemary, just plain Rose…
The Royal setting. Time travelling. Flowers abound. Cunning court fools. Mercurial, capricious princesses. Quoits court meetings…
Lovely reading for kids and grown ups alike.
I love the color. And I love the Gran / Rose relationship!
Q:
… there was no settling in to speak of. Rose felt entirely adrift. (c)
Q:
On this crisp day, the creature seemed to be the essence of fall. September, that’s what you should be called… (c)
Q:
I don’t believe in feeding cats. They can become a nuisance.” She pursed her lips and shook her head in disapproval.
Rose believed in cats—in feeding them and cuddling them. She did not find cats a nuisance in the least. She found them soft, quiet, gentle, and for the most part accepting. She loved the feeling when a cat plopped in her lap. She often wondered how they could be so comforting without ever saying a word. How they could seem to listen, to understand. (c)
Q:
But if she was ripping out the weaklings, was it survival of the fittest or murder of the frailest? (c)
Q:
And from there Rose went on to another table where there were more plants with names like heartsease, cupid’s dart, scarlet snowcaps. Rose felt as if she were walking through a poem, or perhaps the shadows of very old legends. Stories swirled about her. (c)
Q:
We don’t want the poor thing moon-blinked. You know too much moonlight can do that.”
“What’s moon-blinked?”
“Slight confusion and then . . . … It will go catawampus. Plants can do that when confused.” (c)
Q:
Rose felt as if she were in the midst of a blooming rainbow. A calm stole through her. All the terrible words, the terrible images etched in her mind since that horrible day when her mom had died seemed to fade away. She felt free, and it was as if for the first time she could breathe again. (c)
Q:
Call these my dream shoes. They tiptoed into my dreams last night, or maybe I tiptoed into theirs. (c)
Q:
Perhaps someday she might write a book about cats. Tips for Cat Owners. But that was the catch, of course. No one ever really owned a cat. (c)
Q:
And one evening when Rose brought her laptop down to look up some plant information on the internet, Rosalinda was captivated. “Such treasures!” she exclaimed. For indeed Rose found a solution for controlling the bugs that wreaked havoc on her grandmother’s tiny ruby-red carrots, and then five minutes later discovered a special kind of bonemeal as a nutrient for stunted toad lilies. From that point on, Rosalinda insisted that Rose bring her laptop with her every evening. (c)
Q:
Six weeks before, on September 17, her secret life had begun. (c)
Q:
“Taking a break from your fashionista life on the internet?”
“I’m not a fashionista.”
“Well, what are you?”A crafter of fine things, she thought. “I sew,” Rose said softly. (c)
Q:
“What, dear child?” This caught Rose up short. Her grandmother had often called her “dearie,” but never until this moment “dear child.” It touched her deeply. She felt truly loved in that moment. (c)
Q:
She was free to wander. Wander and wonder … (c)
Q:
“Blessed with this kind of vision of seeing things differently.” (c)
Who knew if proper time would be as interesting as time out of time? (c)
Q:
But what is real? Rose thought. Is this real, to be caught between two centuries? (c)
Q:
I shall love you through all time and place. Through every century imaginable. (c)
Rosalinda, Rosemary, just plain Rose…
The Royal setting. Time travelling. Flowers abound. Cunning court fools. Mercurial, capricious princesses. Quoits court meetings…
Lovely reading for kids and grown ups alike.
I love the color. And I love the Gran / Rose relationship!
Q:
… there was no settling in to speak of. Rose felt entirely adrift. (c)
Q:
On this crisp day, the creature seemed to be the essence of fall. September, that’s what you should be called… (c)
Q:
I don’t believe in feeding cats. They can become a nuisance.” She pursed her lips and shook her head in disapproval.
Rose believed in cats—in feeding them and cuddling them. She did not find cats a nuisance in the least. She found them soft, quiet, gentle, and for the most part accepting. She loved the feeling when a cat plopped in her lap. She often wondered how they could be so comforting without ever saying a word. How they could seem to listen, to understand. (c)
Q:
But if she was ripping out the weaklings, was it survival of the fittest or murder of the frailest? (c)
Q:
And from there Rose went on to another table where there were more plants with names like heartsease, cupid’s dart, scarlet snowcaps. Rose felt as if she were walking through a poem, or perhaps the shadows of very old legends. Stories swirled about her. (c)
Q:
We don’t want the poor thing moon-blinked. You know too much moonlight can do that.”
“What’s moon-blinked?”
“Slight confusion and then . . . … It will go catawampus. Plants can do that when confused.” (c)
Q:
Rose felt as if she were in the midst of a blooming rainbow. A calm stole through her. All the terrible words, the terrible images etched in her mind since that horrible day when her mom had died seemed to fade away. She felt free, and it was as if for the first time she could breathe again. (c)
Q:
Call these my dream shoes. They tiptoed into my dreams last night, or maybe I tiptoed into theirs. (c)
Q:
Perhaps someday she might write a book about cats. Tips for Cat Owners. But that was the catch, of course. No one ever really owned a cat. (c)
Q:
And one evening when Rose brought her laptop down to look up some plant information on the internet, Rosalinda was captivated. “Such treasures!” she exclaimed. For indeed Rose found a solution for controlling the bugs that wreaked havoc on her grandmother’s tiny ruby-red carrots, and then five minutes later discovered a special kind of bonemeal as a nutrient for stunted toad lilies. From that point on, Rosalinda insisted that Rose bring her laptop with her every evening. (c)
Q:
Six weeks before, on September 17, her secret life had begun. (c)
Q:
“Taking a break from your fashionista life on the internet?”
“I’m not a fashionista.”
“Well, what are you?”A crafter of fine things, she thought. “I sew,” Rose said softly. (c)
Q:
“What, dear child?” This caught Rose up short. Her grandmother had often called her “dearie,” but never until this moment “dear child.” It touched her deeply. She felt truly loved in that moment. (c)
Q:
She was free to wander. Wander and wonder … (c)
Q:
“Blessed with this kind of vision of seeing things differently.” (c)
December 28, 2018
This is a difficult review to write. Because I wanted to like this book. I was looking forward to it. Time travel and Queen Elizabeth? Good show! But at last, disappointment was waiting for me. It was quite drawn out. If it had been a bit shorter, it would have been considerably more enjoyable.
Right from the start, we are thrown into a country song. In the very first sentence, the protagonist Rose, is being bullied. Then we find out that her mother just died, and her father appears to be a deadbeat who has abandoned her. She has just moved in with her a grandmother who suffers from Alzheimer's, and as such, can't always remember that her granddaughter is there.
Well thank goodness there is no dog- Wait...it was a cat. The cat died too.
This all happens within the first chapter.
I had a difficult time feeling any empathy for her, because all of her traumatic experiences were forced upon me so quickly.
The one I felt the most empathy for, was actually the grandmother.
The times that she and Rose spend together are very sweet. When she is cognitive, she is able to talk to Rose about her mother. But the moment the disease takes over, it is heartbreaking. It makes you wonder how many moments they will have left.
I found the writing to be a bit choppy. The majority of the conversations are childish and redundant. Then occasionally, something intellectual would be thrown in. I don't think it was quite hitting the desired middle school age range.
The book is essentially a child's version of The Time Traveler's Wife. There is little understanding of how to control the time traveling, and you have to live out your life in both times. The author is also trying to add the moral that bullying is bad, but unfortunately it didn't come off very well, because the "heros" were unkind in their own remarks.
The plot is a good idea, and it did make greenhouses sound and feel magical.
But unfortunately, it did not live up to expectations.
Happy reading, and may the good Lord grant you an incredible reading list!
Right from the start, we are thrown into a country song. In the very first sentence, the protagonist Rose, is being bullied. Then we find out that her mother just died, and her father appears to be a deadbeat who has abandoned her. She has just moved in with her a grandmother who suffers from Alzheimer's, and as such, can't always remember that her granddaughter is there.
Well thank goodness there is no dog- Wait...it was a cat. The cat died too.
This all happens within the first chapter.
I had a difficult time feeling any empathy for her, because all of her traumatic experiences were forced upon me so quickly.
The one I felt the most empathy for, was actually the grandmother.
The times that she and Rose spend together are very sweet. When she is cognitive, she is able to talk to Rose about her mother. But the moment the disease takes over, it is heartbreaking. It makes you wonder how many moments they will have left.
I found the writing to be a bit choppy. The majority of the conversations are childish and redundant. Then occasionally, something intellectual would be thrown in. I don't think it was quite hitting the desired middle school age range.
The book is essentially a child's version of The Time Traveler's Wife. There is little understanding of how to control the time traveling, and you have to live out your life in both times. The author is also trying to add the moral that bullying is bad, but unfortunately it didn't come off very well, because the "heros" were unkind in their own remarks.
The plot is a good idea, and it did make greenhouses sound and feel magical.
But unfortunately, it did not live up to expectations.
Happy reading, and may the good Lord grant you an incredible reading list!
June 12, 2019
Jesus, glad I didn't buy this one.
Lowlights:
-Rose is in 1540s England, and nobody questions her accent or slang; it's there and gone and of course no one pays attention to it or interrogates her about it. Same with her supposed connections to the Ashleys; nobody ever asks any questions that could make her life noticeably inconvenient.
-Rose comes off as totally Mary Sue-ish: She swims great, skates great, rides horses great, is a fashion prodigy and runs her blog. She manages this AND time-traveling between her time and England, and does it all perfectly.
-Of course, because they're twelve year-olds, it never occurs to Rose to report to, you know, ANYONE that the "Mean Queens" actually went so far as to TEXT HER A PICTURE OF HER DEAD MOM'S CAR-WRECK. I mean Christ, there's a line and it was CROSSED. Did nobody ever think to tell an ADULT about the really nasty things they were saying to the kid with cerebral palsy? CHRIST.
-Rose is ENTIRELY unfazed by time-travel. The author hand-waves it by saying "Oh well her mom died and it was so sudden that nothing's shocking anymore" but for fuck's sake Rose is TWELVE. She is ABSOLUTELY at the age where she can comprehend realistic surprises like death, versus unrealistic surprises like TIME-TRAVEL. She's totally unfazed by it, not freaked out at all, and good lord are you kidding me?
-On that note, of course the time traveling is never inconvenient for Rose. Never. She spends days in the 1500s and only minutes pass at home; she goes back to the 1500s after WEEKS have passed, and she still fits in just fine. The idea, essentially, is that Rose is still there in the 1500s doing all of these tasks; and so when REAL Rose comes back from the 21st century, she had all of that information ~magically~ stored away in her head.
This is a STUPID premise that reeks of more Mary Sue shit. At no point is Rose genuinely inconvenienced by the time traveling: It's random, but she's not missing out on anything in either century. What would have been interesting would be to have Rose going missing in the 1500s and having to explain her absences; but then we might actually have to inconvenience the poor dear, and we can't have that.
-The writing was not great. I've got a tag for "teenagers don't talk like this", and I use it any time characters (esp. teens or kids) start talking in a way that seems completely unnatural to them. Rose would qualify: At first I thought maybe she was just absorbing language from the 1500s, but her friends started to speak in weird ways too; so did the adults. It came off as unnatural.
-Rose lectures people about seeing dwarves (the preferred term today iirc is "little people") as funny little entertainers because they are HUMAN and oh my God how OFFENSIVE- and everyone she says that to is immediately like "OMG I never thought of it that way!! Thank you, I'm so WOKE now!" Instead of, you know, laughing her off and ignoring her because it was the 1500s, not 2019, and they had an entirely different system for what people had worth back then. I'm not saying it's right- I'm just saying that if you think you can time-travel to the 1500s and say "THESE PEOPLE ARE HUMAN TOO HOW DARE YOU" and expect to change literally anyone's opinion significantly, you are delusional.
-On that note, the low-key retroactively diagnosing Jane the Fool with autism and Rose being Woke about it again. It works on my nerves when people retroactively diagnose people with mental/physical/developmental conditions (you were not there, you did not examine the person yourself, you have second-hand and not necessarily reliable testimony as to the person's behaviors; you want to speculate? Fine, but don't "claim" them for something they may not have even had). For all we know, Jane was just putting on an act, or had been doing the "fool" bit for so long that she didn't know how to turn it off. It irritates me when any eccentric or unusual person gets the "Oh, they must be autistic" treatment, like it's impossible to have quirks or eccentric behaviors without having a disorder.
And the thing that pisses me off especially is that this comes off less as a speculative "Oh, hey, maybe she's got a condition" idea; like, if you wrote a book from Jane's perspective and said "Oh yeah, I'm writing it from the idea that maybe she had autism", then okay, whatever, you do you. But THIS came off more as a "Let's showcase what a Super Good Person Rose Is by making her the ONLY PERSON who ever treats Jane like a human being" bit. They were trying to make Rose look good by giving her the moral high-ground; and they did it by sticking her in the 1500s, thereby surrounding her with people who are, compared to 2019, extremely prejudiced against physical/mental/developmental disorders.
Wow, I ranted a lot more than I thought I would.
Again, I'm just glad I didn't actually BUY this. I almost did, and I held back, and boy oh boy I'm glad I did.
Lowlights:
-Rose is in 1540s England, and nobody questions her accent or slang; it's there and gone and of course no one pays attention to it or interrogates her about it. Same with her supposed connections to the Ashleys; nobody ever asks any questions that could make her life noticeably inconvenient.
-Rose comes off as totally Mary Sue-ish: She swims great, skates great, rides horses great, is a fashion prodigy and runs her blog. She manages this AND time-traveling between her time and England, and does it all perfectly.
-Of course, because they're twelve year-olds, it never occurs to Rose to report to, you know, ANYONE that the "Mean Queens" actually went so far as to TEXT HER A PICTURE OF HER DEAD MOM'S CAR-WRECK. I mean Christ, there's a line and it was CROSSED. Did nobody ever think to tell an ADULT about the really nasty things they were saying to the kid with cerebral palsy? CHRIST.
-Rose is ENTIRELY unfazed by time-travel. The author hand-waves it by saying "Oh well her mom died and it was so sudden that nothing's shocking anymore" but for fuck's sake Rose is TWELVE. She is ABSOLUTELY at the age where she can comprehend realistic surprises like death, versus unrealistic surprises like TIME-TRAVEL. She's totally unfazed by it, not freaked out at all, and good lord are you kidding me?
-On that note, of course the time traveling is never inconvenient for Rose. Never. She spends days in the 1500s and only minutes pass at home; she goes back to the 1500s after WEEKS have passed, and she still fits in just fine. The idea, essentially, is that Rose is still there in the 1500s doing all of these tasks; and so when REAL Rose comes back from the 21st century, she had all of that information ~magically~ stored away in her head.
This is a STUPID premise that reeks of more Mary Sue shit. At no point is Rose genuinely inconvenienced by the time traveling: It's random, but she's not missing out on anything in either century. What would have been interesting would be to have Rose going missing in the 1500s and having to explain her absences; but then we might actually have to inconvenience the poor dear, and we can't have that.
-The writing was not great. I've got a tag for "teenagers don't talk like this", and I use it any time characters (esp. teens or kids) start talking in a way that seems completely unnatural to them. Rose would qualify: At first I thought maybe she was just absorbing language from the 1500s, but her friends started to speak in weird ways too; so did the adults. It came off as unnatural.
-Rose lectures people about seeing dwarves (the preferred term today iirc is "little people") as funny little entertainers because they are HUMAN and oh my God how OFFENSIVE- and everyone she says that to is immediately like "OMG I never thought of it that way!! Thank you, I'm so WOKE now!" Instead of, you know, laughing her off and ignoring her because it was the 1500s, not 2019, and they had an entirely different system for what people had worth back then. I'm not saying it's right- I'm just saying that if you think you can time-travel to the 1500s and say "THESE PEOPLE ARE HUMAN TOO HOW DARE YOU" and expect to change literally anyone's opinion significantly, you are delusional.
-On that note, the low-key retroactively diagnosing Jane the Fool with autism and Rose being Woke about it again. It works on my nerves when people retroactively diagnose people with mental/physical/developmental conditions (you were not there, you did not examine the person yourself, you have second-hand and not necessarily reliable testimony as to the person's behaviors; you want to speculate? Fine, but don't "claim" them for something they may not have even had). For all we know, Jane was just putting on an act, or had been doing the "fool" bit for so long that she didn't know how to turn it off. It irritates me when any eccentric or unusual person gets the "Oh, they must be autistic" treatment, like it's impossible to have quirks or eccentric behaviors without having a disorder.
And the thing that pisses me off especially is that this comes off less as a speculative "Oh, hey, maybe she's got a condition" idea; like, if you wrote a book from Jane's perspective and said "Oh yeah, I'm writing it from the idea that maybe she had autism", then okay, whatever, you do you. But THIS came off more as a "Let's showcase what a Super Good Person Rose Is by making her the ONLY PERSON who ever treats Jane like a human being" bit. They were trying to make Rose look good by giving her the moral high-ground; and they did it by sticking her in the 1500s, thereby surrounding her with people who are, compared to 2019, extremely prejudiced against physical/mental/developmental disorders.
Wow, I ranted a lot more than I thought I would.
Again, I'm just glad I didn't actually BUY this. I almost did, and I held back, and boy oh boy I'm glad I did.
April 23, 2019
I'm desparate for book 2!
September 28, 2018
The digital arc of this book was kindly provided by the publisher via Edelweiss+ website in exchange for an honest review.
The main idea of this book is fascinating but the execution really fell flat, in my opinion. It was ridiculously over the top when it came to bullying, extremely simplistic when the friendship was concerned and just wasn't that interesting half the time. I did enjoy Rose's personality and her relationship with Princess Elizabeth; plus the book presented some great ideas overall but, other than that, I can't say I liked the story that much which is very unfortunate.
The main idea of this book is fascinating but the execution really fell flat, in my opinion. It was ridiculously over the top when it came to bullying, extremely simplistic when the friendship was concerned and just wasn't that interesting half the time. I did enjoy Rose's personality and her relationship with Princess Elizabeth; plus the book presented some great ideas overall but, other than that, I can't say I liked the story that much which is very unfortunate.
April 27, 2019
I just...don't understand.
Ok first, props for the cover. Very appealing cover, and the audiobook narrator was pretty good too.
And granted, I'm hardly the target age/audience for such a book; perhaps my 10-year old self would have enjoyed it (Perhaps). But while I normally enjoy historical fiction in any form, this was one of the very few times where I actually found the present day plot-line more compelling. A middle school girl dealing with the death of her mother while learning to love her aging grandmother and make new friends? This could be a sweet and compelling story, especially with the greenhouse s the main backdrop. We the readers could walk through the seasons with Rose as she learns to care for plants and see new friendships grow.
I've admittedly not read a wide selection of time-travel tales, but to me a time-travel story only works if the time-travel is well-incorporated into the rest of the book. Will Rose learn lessons in the past that help her in her present situation, or vice versa? Will she find herself stuck in the past, permanently unable to get home? Is she temporarily inhabiting the body or mind of some historical ancestor, Assassin's-Creed style? Was she actually born in the past and brought forward to the 21st century? So many possibilities, but no answers. The 21st C and the 16th C storylines hardly intersect except in the most superficial way. The "gaps" in time don't make sense; we're told that Rose is somehow "there" in the 16th C even when she goes back to present time, and that when she returns she knows some things (like where Elizabeth's closet is), but not others (where the chapel is). And everyone is just cool with her anachronisms. There's no logic to it, and no explanation.
I enjoyed reading The Royal Diaries when I was a middle schooler, partly because they usually managed to capture some nuance about the historical figure they portrayed. All of THESE royals are just black-and-white stick figures: Mary is "a jerk," Elizabeth is "a brat," and Edward is...spoiled? Sick?
Ranting about a middle-grade novel is hardly the height of sophistication. But it's made me feel better.
Ok first, props for the cover. Very appealing cover, and the audiobook narrator was pretty good too.
And granted, I'm hardly the target age/audience for such a book; perhaps my 10-year old self would have enjoyed it (Perhaps). But while I normally enjoy historical fiction in any form, this was one of the very few times where I actually found the present day plot-line more compelling. A middle school girl dealing with the death of her mother while learning to love her aging grandmother and make new friends? This could be a sweet and compelling story, especially with the greenhouse s the main backdrop. We the readers could walk through the seasons with Rose as she learns to care for plants and see new friendships grow.
I've admittedly not read a wide selection of time-travel tales, but to me a time-travel story only works if the time-travel is well-incorporated into the rest of the book. Will Rose learn lessons in the past that help her in her present situation, or vice versa? Will she find herself stuck in the past, permanently unable to get home? Is she temporarily inhabiting the body or mind of some historical ancestor, Assassin's-Creed style? Was she actually born in the past and brought forward to the 21st century? So many possibilities, but no answers. The 21st C and the 16th C storylines hardly intersect except in the most superficial way. The "gaps" in time don't make sense; we're told that Rose is somehow "there" in the 16th C even when she goes back to present time, and that when she returns she knows some things (like where Elizabeth's closet is), but not others (where the chapel is). And everyone is just cool with her anachronisms. There's no logic to it, and no explanation.
I enjoyed reading The Royal Diaries when I was a middle schooler, partly because they usually managed to capture some nuance about the historical figure they portrayed. All of THESE royals are just black-and-white stick figures: Mary is "a jerk," Elizabeth is "a brat," and Edward is...spoiled? Sick?
Ranting about a middle-grade novel is hardly the height of sophistication. But it's made me feel better.
October 17, 2019
My lifelong obsession with The Tudors started with Kathryn Lasky’s book on Queen Elizabeth from the Royal Diaries series, so I can’t help but wonder if I were still a 9-year-old instead of a 30-year-old, would I have felt differently about this book?
The plot revolves around Rose and her ability to travel back to Tudor England for the dual purpose of 1) studying their clothing, and 2) finding her father. Time doesn’t move at the same rate in her world vs. the Tudor world, however, and she’s left to assume that she must have some kind of body double while she’s away since no one finds her absence weird. But *I* find it weird that she’s spent ~6 years in Tudor England throughout the book (presumably the last year of Henry VIII’s reign in 1547 to Edward VI’s death in 1553) and no one cares that she still looks like a 12-year-old.
The current day plot involves Rose dealing with three bullies called the Mean Queens, and also putting together her Halloween costume. I liked the Dr. Who references and thought that was a fun parallel to the time travel in the book. I think in general that the story was not well thought out and reads like something you would find on Fanfiction.net, but I’m probably going to keep reading this series as long as I can get them as library books… I’m not totally sure why. I love Queen E so much and the cover art is really well done, so there's that.
See more of my reviews: Blog // Instagram
The plot revolves around Rose and her ability to travel back to Tudor England for the dual purpose of 1) studying their clothing, and 2) finding her father. Time doesn’t move at the same rate in her world vs. the Tudor world, however, and she’s left to assume that she must have some kind of body double while she’s away since no one finds her absence weird. But *I* find it weird that she’s spent ~6 years in Tudor England throughout the book (presumably the last year of Henry VIII’s reign in 1547 to Edward VI’s death in 1553) and no one cares that she still looks like a 12-year-old.
The current day plot involves Rose dealing with three bullies called the Mean Queens, and also putting together her Halloween costume. I liked the Dr. Who references and thought that was a fun parallel to the time travel in the book. I think in general that the story was not well thought out and reads like something you would find on Fanfiction.net, but I’m probably going to keep reading this series as long as I can get them as library books… I’m not totally sure why. I love Queen E so much and the cover art is really well done, so there's that.
See more of my reviews: Blog // Instagram
September 9, 2021
There is a lot to say about this book, so bear with me.
Rose, a tall slim tween girl, coping with the loss of her only parent, her mother, is sent to live with her dementia-riddled grandmother in Indiana. Rose is a very savvy and creative seamstress and fashion blogger. As she makes new friends at school, a resilient group of Dr. Who fans, deals with bullies, a trio known as "Mean Queens", and tries horseback riding and gardening with her grandmother, she also has the ability to travel through time. She goes back to the 1500's and meets a teenage Princess Elizabeth along with her half-step siblings, Edward and Mary. She befriends an epileptic serving maid who may have a secret of her own. She also may uncover secrets about her own past.
1) Author Kathryn Laskey does a great job of the historical facts of the 1500's, including the lives, politics, religion, geography, fashion, and day-to-day life and circumstances that happened in both the courtiers' world and the servants. This makes the read a great fit for a fashion-loving enthusiast, but also any history buff. The attention to the historical accuracies was incredible.
2) I'm not personally big on time-travel stories, so for me to be kept hooked by one the whole way through is a very good attribute to the author. If you like Jennifer A. Nielsen's plot twists and suspense, you will appreciate this. The author tends to keep the modern world in more of a Shannon Hale style of writing, keeping the kids and the adults they come in contact with as real as possible, but making them relatable for kid readers.
3) I honestly do think that this book would be enjoyed by any age, as both the vocabulary, plot twists and historical tie-in's are appealing.
4) She does a great job of supporting inclusion and diversity, though I admit it's mostly from the supporting cast of characters.
5) As it is catered (mostly) towards a female-identifying audience, there is a possible romance.
6) One thing that makes this story relatable to others of world-traveling youth (Wonderland, Oz, Narnia, Land of Stories) that I enjoyed was the slowly subtle melding of present time and the past through the characters and who they may be reincarnations of, though it is only suggested that we all have a parallel self in another time and place.
Now for me, the negatives:
1) The bullying Mean Queens do not even come CLOSE to the karma they deserve. I'm hopeful that the sequel will fix that. While the book does address bullying issues, the resolution feels like it falls a bit short.
2) Possible Spoiler: It is a cliff-hanger so if you like this one, make sure you have the sequel ready.
3) I listened to the audiobook version, performed by Giorgianna Marie. Marie's performance left something to be desired for me as some of the characters' voices were very similar and often made it hard to follow if the scene involved more than 3 characters, especially in modern times. Often the males are simply a deepening of voices and the mean queens seem to be more of a Greek Chorus than individual personalities. However, her portrayals of Frannie (the kitchen maid), Rose's grandmother, and a unique character, known as Jane the fool, have very distinctive voices. Her narrative voice works well for the story.
4) Though it has been a while since I read/listened to an ominiscient narrator instead of first person, Laskey's writing does bounce a bit later in the story, offering two very different perspectives than what most of the story had followed up until three quarters of the way in.
Overall, a great read, but I would suggest reading rather than listening.
Rose, a tall slim tween girl, coping with the loss of her only parent, her mother, is sent to live with her dementia-riddled grandmother in Indiana. Rose is a very savvy and creative seamstress and fashion blogger. As she makes new friends at school, a resilient group of Dr. Who fans, deals with bullies, a trio known as "Mean Queens", and tries horseback riding and gardening with her grandmother, she also has the ability to travel through time. She goes back to the 1500's and meets a teenage Princess Elizabeth along with her half-step siblings, Edward and Mary. She befriends an epileptic serving maid who may have a secret of her own. She also may uncover secrets about her own past.
1) Author Kathryn Laskey does a great job of the historical facts of the 1500's, including the lives, politics, religion, geography, fashion, and day-to-day life and circumstances that happened in both the courtiers' world and the servants. This makes the read a great fit for a fashion-loving enthusiast, but also any history buff. The attention to the historical accuracies was incredible.
2) I'm not personally big on time-travel stories, so for me to be kept hooked by one the whole way through is a very good attribute to the author. If you like Jennifer A. Nielsen's plot twists and suspense, you will appreciate this. The author tends to keep the modern world in more of a Shannon Hale style of writing, keeping the kids and the adults they come in contact with as real as possible, but making them relatable for kid readers.
3) I honestly do think that this book would be enjoyed by any age, as both the vocabulary, plot twists and historical tie-in's are appealing.
4) She does a great job of supporting inclusion and diversity, though I admit it's mostly from the supporting cast of characters.
5) As it is catered (mostly) towards a female-identifying audience, there is a possible romance.
6) One thing that makes this story relatable to others of world-traveling youth (Wonderland, Oz, Narnia, Land of Stories) that I enjoyed was the slowly subtle melding of present time and the past through the characters and who they may be reincarnations of, though it is only suggested that we all have a parallel self in another time and place.
Now for me, the negatives:
1) The bullying Mean Queens do not even come CLOSE to the karma they deserve. I'm hopeful that the sequel will fix that. While the book does address bullying issues, the resolution feels like it falls a bit short.
2) Possible Spoiler: It is a cliff-hanger so if you like this one, make sure you have the sequel ready.
3) I listened to the audiobook version, performed by Giorgianna Marie. Marie's performance left something to be desired for me as some of the characters' voices were very similar and often made it hard to follow if the scene involved more than 3 characters, especially in modern times. Often the males are simply a deepening of voices and the mean queens seem to be more of a Greek Chorus than individual personalities. However, her portrayals of Frannie (the kitchen maid), Rose's grandmother, and a unique character, known as Jane the fool, have very distinctive voices. Her narrative voice works well for the story.
4) Though it has been a while since I read/listened to an ominiscient narrator instead of first person, Laskey's writing does bounce a bit later in the story, offering two very different perspectives than what most of the story had followed up until three quarters of the way in.
Overall, a great read, but I would suggest reading rather than listening.
January 25, 2021
Yes, this is the kind of stuff that's written just for me. Time travel + Tudors. Yes please.
I've seen this classified as both middle grade and young adult, but it definitely reads more middle grade. Rose jumps back and forth between present day and Tudor England when Henry is married to Katharine Parr, eventually leaving 9 year-old Edward to take the throne. Rose is at first fascinated by the actual time jumping but then she is propelled by a more personal mystery: the identity of her father.
I really liked to read about Rose in Tudor England, but I was kind of bored when she was back in present day. I didn't really care about her friends or the mean girls who just decided to be mean for no reason at all. Fortunately, those present day breaks were short compared to her time jumps.
I am naturally predisposed to love Tudor fiction. You'd have to really muck it up for me not to enjoy your story. I'm happy to report that this was another cute spin on the Tudor tale with the addition of time travel and mean girls. I also really loved the different era time travel nod we got in the last few pages and I'm SO excited to see where that story goes.
This was definitely a good time and the hard copy will be staying on my shelf.
I've seen this classified as both middle grade and young adult, but it definitely reads more middle grade. Rose jumps back and forth between present day and Tudor England when Henry is married to Katharine Parr, eventually leaving 9 year-old Edward to take the throne. Rose is at first fascinated by the actual time jumping but then she is propelled by a more personal mystery: the identity of her father.
I really liked to read about Rose in Tudor England, but I was kind of bored when she was back in present day. I didn't really care about her friends or the mean girls who just decided to be mean for no reason at all. Fortunately, those present day breaks were short compared to her time jumps.
I am naturally predisposed to love Tudor fiction. You'd have to really muck it up for me not to enjoy your story. I'm happy to report that this was another cute spin on the Tudor tale with the addition of time travel and mean girls. I also really loved the different era time travel nod we got in the last few pages and I'm SO excited to see where that story goes.
This was definitely a good time and the hard copy will be staying on my shelf.
March 11, 2023
Hyggelig og spændende fortælling, med en sjov sammenblanding af Doctor who, Queen Elisabeth og vintage tøj.
January 17, 2019
The book was a mess. Utter mess. The author is a lady with old writing style.
The starting was really interesting and the book had great potential. But it got worse.
It was like a mix of mean girls in a history book. It's not at all fair and full of cliche's .
The story is a low fantasy which happens both in 21st century and 16th century in Tudor period.
The characters potrayed are mostly women and most of them are either showed bad & mean or good & shy. Human beings have layers. No one is good or bad.
I can clearly say no one should read this book. It potrays women so bad and the characters. Just because Mary (the Bloody Mary) was a real villain in the history doesn't mean she had to be a jerk all the time.
According to the author , All the royals are spoiled and screwed. Seriously???
I've read the cousin's war by philippa gregory and some history I knew what happened during Henry VIII reign. Probably the whole world know that too. We don't really need a retelling if its not really a "RE" telling.
The author has gone with all the cliche's and roles there are. There isn't a single surprise or unique moment.
Everyone is good or bad and royal kids are being kids?! Is it even possible? After your mom and stepmom being beheaded by your father , will you still go play behind a tree? Edward was the worst portrayal. He had been through worse. He won't act like a child after a severe childhood trauma!! Its like rhe author didn't even care about what she's writing.
If you're going to screw something , create and screw. Don't get history which the whole world knows and screw it .
Thanks for reading an bearing with this rant guys. Love y'all.
The starting was really interesting and the book had great potential. But it got worse.
It was like a mix of mean girls in a history book. It's not at all fair and full of cliche's .
The story is a low fantasy which happens both in 21st century and 16th century in Tudor period.
The characters potrayed are mostly women and most of them are either showed bad & mean or good & shy. Human beings have layers. No one is good or bad.
I can clearly say no one should read this book. It potrays women so bad and the characters. Just because Mary (the Bloody Mary) was a real villain in the history doesn't mean she had to be a jerk all the time.
According to the author , All the royals are spoiled and screwed. Seriously???
I've read the cousin's war by philippa gregory and some history I knew what happened during Henry VIII reign. Probably the whole world know that too. We don't really need a retelling if its not really a "RE" telling.
The author has gone with all the cliche's and roles there are. There isn't a single surprise or unique moment.
Everyone is good or bad and royal kids are being kids?! Is it even possible? After your mom and stepmom being beheaded by your father , will you still go play behind a tree? Edward was the worst portrayal. He had been through worse. He won't act like a child after a severe childhood trauma!! Its like rhe author didn't even care about what she's writing.
If you're going to screw something , create and screw. Don't get history which the whole world knows and screw it .
Thanks for reading an bearing with this rant guys. Love y'all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2020
I did not exactly understand what the goal of this book is or where it intends to go moving forward . There were some nice scenes but otherwise I am confused as to what the point of this book is . From what I remember, I wasn't particularly engrossed in the book while reading it . Just the curiosity to see where this would lead to kept me going. So the chance of me reading the next book are minimal.
Maybe it's just me and someone else might absolutely love it but surely this one wasn't for me and I don't see myself recommending it to anyone or continuing with the series anytime soon.
Maybe it's just me and someone else might absolutely love it but surely this one wasn't for me and I don't see myself recommending it to anyone or continuing with the series anytime soon.
January 22, 2020
It was a little confusing. I am not looking forward to the horror of Mary.
March 21, 2022
Una aventura en el tiempo que al principio me costó entrar en los primeros dos o tres capítulos porque dieron un poco de contexto innecesario para la caracterización de la protagonista.
En sí es una historia de paso moderado vivida en la modernidad y en un ambiente histórico paralelo, nada lleno de acción sino una especie de día a día resumido pero que entretiene.
A pesar de no ser tan corto se lee rápido.
Entrada para #middlegrademarch como Título de cinco palabras o más y como ficción histórica.
En sí es una historia de paso moderado vivida en la modernidad y en un ambiente histórico paralelo, nada lleno de acción sino una especie de día a día resumido pero que entretiene.
A pesar de no ser tan corto se lee rápido.
Entrada para #middlegrademarch como Título de cinco palabras o más y como ficción histórica.
April 20, 2019
Kathryn Lasky’s latest, Tangled in Time is a terrific time-traveling tale sure to tantalize fans of historical fiction AND fantasy in one fantastic swoop! Meet Rose, a little girl lost after the death of her mother and Rosalinda, her eccentric grandma who spends her time immersed in her elaborate greenhouse. When Rose begins to help with her grandma’s gardening tasks, she too becomes entangled in the mysteries hidden within the greenhouse, finding herself transported to the House of Tudor and friend of Elizabeth, the future Queen of England. Will Rose figure out her families long-held secrets of old or will they fade into history with Henry VIII and his battling, beleaguered and besieged princesses? I absolutely adored it!
November 12, 2023
Abandoned after 27% read.
This was ridiculously unbelievable:
The 11-year-old protagonist has a fashion blog.
After her mom dies, her grandmother is given custody. Except, her grandmother has dementia and doesn't remember who her granddaughter is half the time. I have a hard time believing that the courts would give her custody.
The "mean girls" in the school are over-the-top cruel, especially for their ages.
The time travel isn't questioned at all, and so far, the book hasn't explained how it's possible.
I realize I'm not the target demographic for this book, but the writing was just not great.
This was ridiculously unbelievable:
The 11-year-old protagonist has a fashion blog.
After her mom dies, her grandmother is given custody. Except, her grandmother has dementia and doesn't remember who her granddaughter is half the time. I have a hard time believing that the courts would give her custody.
The "mean girls" in the school are over-the-top cruel, especially for their ages.
The time travel isn't questioned at all, and so far, the book hasn't explained how it's possible.
I realize I'm not the target demographic for this book, but the writing was just not great.
January 27, 2022
Oh my dear sweet Rose! How I wish I could give you a hug. This book made my daughter fall in love with Tudor England, fed her addiction to fashion design, and made her find a favorite author. This lovely story is well written and brings history alive. I’ll be reading the second book soon (my daughter has already read it). If you get a chance tell others about this lovely series and beg the publisher to allow the third book in the series!
August 8, 2018
This book is not the normal fairytale retelling, instead it is a fictional retelling of real princesses. This book took Rose from current day where she has lost everything and is now the new girl, to the time of Princess Elizabeth daughter off Anne Bolyn. In both times she is forced to deal with three mean girls. I really liked this book and look forward to reading the rest of the series.
April 10, 2019
The Portal is the first book in Lasky's Tangled in Time series. I quite enjoyed the setting of Hatfield during the sixteenth century. There were nice tidbits of information from the time period, like how people might have brushed their teeth with twigs of bayberry and juniper. Lasky also incorporated photo's of time period clothing and shoes as well as portions of Rose's blog posts, diary entries and letters she shares with Franny into the story. Truthfully, if Rose spent the whole time in England, I would have enjoyed the story so much more. It might have felt more magical. Rose never completely immersed herself into the time period. She straddled between the two, bringing the twenty-first century with her in her expressions and mannerisms. There also appeared to be many inconsistencies that stuck out to me, like how everyone in Hatfield took Rose so literally at her words and that they don't really question her use of common twenty-first-century phrases as being odd, they just seem to gloss over them. Even Rose's actions aren't consistent, one minute Rose is reprimanding Elizabeth for her demeaning remarks to a chambermaid and then herself refers to Princess Mary as "snailhead." Then there was the trio of means girls, who just seemed unnecessarily mean. Perhaps if the message was consistently made that all forms of bullying are wrong it would have worked better for me.
Lastly, I found that I wanted to know more about Rose's grandmother. She seemed like such a sweet elderly lady. But why would she be put in charge of Rose's care? Despite having the financial means, is this really the best option? Most of the time she needed to be reminded who Rose was, unless she was in the greenhouse and then she excelled at recalling everything about caring for her plants and flowers. I probably spent way to much time thinking about what Rose's future would be like and so I don't think I was as vested as I could have been in figuring out who Rose's father was. Or maybe it was that everything seemed to come together rather quickly. The story ends with an epilogue that hints to the direction that future time travels will take Rose and am curious enough that I will keep an eye out for the next book in the series.
Favorite line: "So much of life is yielding to the extraordinary."
Lastly, I found that I wanted to know more about Rose's grandmother. She seemed like such a sweet elderly lady. But why would she be put in charge of Rose's care? Despite having the financial means, is this really the best option? Most of the time she needed to be reminded who Rose was, unless she was in the greenhouse and then she excelled at recalling everything about caring for her plants and flowers. I probably spent way to much time thinking about what Rose's future would be like and so I don't think I was as vested as I could have been in figuring out who Rose's father was. Or maybe it was that everything seemed to come together rather quickly. The story ends with an epilogue that hints to the direction that future time travels will take Rose and am curious enough that I will keep an eye out for the next book in the series.
Favorite line: "So much of life is yielding to the extraordinary."
January 11, 2020
I rather enjoyed the book, I like historicalish fiction. Especially Tudor fiction! But I can understand some other reviews the book did take a while to get to the point. I wish there had been a little bit more explanation about her grandmother and her time in the 16th century. But this seems to be the beginning of a series or trilogy, I am about to read book 2, so maybe it will answer the questions she left us with in book one. I hope that she focuses a little more on Rosemary, the way that Rose kept saying "no remains" maybe she timed traveled at that moment, but she is stuck in time somewhere. Maybe she is in a coma or she has memory loss and can't remember therefore she can't travel back to the 21st century. Who knows, but I did like the book. I liked how the bullies didn't get away with their bullying, but hoping that in 2nd book we here a little bit more about Franny and her bullies from the 17th century Salem. But again I think some people were harsh in their reviews, this is the first in a series/trilogy, so we should be patient to see what Kathryn Lasky has in store for us with this story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2021
I really liked this book because of its different points of view. I was able to enjoy both modern and historical points of view in just one book. Usually time traveling books become really confusing, especially since the past effects the future. However, this book really imbeds the causes and effects of Rose and her mother traveling into the past. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction along with modern-day fiction because it involves both categories in this book.
June 12, 2019
A great book. Loved very much. Didn't feel rushed nor did it lag. A good steady pace to read. The Tudors are my favorite historical family so while (obviously) not historically accurate with the main character involved, the historic events are accurate and I really appreciate that as a history lover.
Just when things were starting to come to a close, a problem arose and left you with a cliffhanger. Looking forward to the next book.
Just when things were starting to come to a close, a problem arose and left you with a cliffhanger. Looking forward to the next book.
January 27, 2020
Oddly charming time travel novel that revolves around bullying. Both timelines' plots are engaging in their own way. The time travel mechanics and rules are weirdly convenient and not well thought out and the main character is a bit of a Mary Sue. Lots of Doctor Who references.
April 22, 2021
This is an excellent book! It is such a good mash up of History, Fiction, and Time Travel. Anyone who likes those three things would most likely enjoy this, and it has a very good plot line.
April 22, 2022
Not my cup of tea.
June 2, 2023
Rip King Edward VI
Did you know that Bloody Mary and Queen Elizabeth I were 17 years apart cuz I didn’t?
Did you know that Bloody Mary and Queen Elizabeth I were 17 years apart cuz I didn’t?
September 10, 2025
Absolutely loved! 🥰🤩🥳
November 7, 2019
3,75
so much fun!
so much fun!
April 4, 2019
I feel so bad that I didn't like this book because the cover is just gorgeous, but the story really irritated me with how it treated some of the historical figures.
March 14, 2020
Crazy good. Great story with a historical tie-in that makes it feel even more realistic.
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