Divine Intervention

The Dining and Social Club for Time Travellers #1

by Elyse Kishimoto

It is true that time travellers can have extraordinary adventures, but this tends to be the exception and not the rule. For the most part, time travellers hardly ever have any adventures at all. But this is not entirely by choice. A wrong word uttered, a thought interrupted, even an insect accidentally squashed--the tiniest alteration to the past might set in motion a chain reaction, unleashing a tidal wave of change, the results of which could be catastrophic.

Louisa Sparks is thrown into a world of chaos and adventure when she finds an unusual timepiece in the pocket of her grandfather's old coat. With the press of a button, she is suddenly transported through time. Soon after, she receives an invitation to join the strange fraternity of The Dining and Social Club for Time Travellers. But her adventures have only just begun! Time travellers are going missing, and Louisa may be the only one who can save them.

Genres: Science Fiction, Middle Grade

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dining and social club for time travelers whose members start to go missing? As a fan of time travel, this short novel sounded exactly like something I'd love. Unfortunately, though, this turned out to be a read where I liked the central concept more than I liked the final product. It's been billed as a YA novel, but it reads much more like an MG book - I'm not sure if I missed Louisa's age, but she sounds like she must be somewhere in the 10-12 year old age range. As for the rest of the cast of time travelers, I had a really difficult time keeping them all straight in my mind - maybe that's because of the weird names, but it's more likely that everyone is rather flat and two dimensional. Plus, I had a hard time connecting to anyone at all. Overall, the first 40 or 50 pages (out of 200), when things are getting set up, are the most interesting, but the novel suffers from far too little world building and character development to truly hold my attention. You have to admit, though, it has an awesome cover.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! It's very complicated though. Can't wait to read the next in the series.

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story with time travel and likeable characters and of course, a few bad characters too.. Enjoyable and I hope there are more books in the future.

[Macee]

This book was absolutely astounding! The writing work was perfect and detailed to the brim. I got my copy signed by the author and illustrator . Great work!

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it to nephews 8 and 10 on family vacation. I became a daily must have entertainment. Somewhat of an unintended consequence... But gained favourite uncle status:)

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a great book written for ages of Louisa's age. Trying to tell a time travel story to younger audiences is not easy and Kishimoto did such a great job doing just that. When I first picked up the book I thought that it was for kids my age at the time (17 years old) and it was so fresh to read a book that was meant for another audience.
The only critique I have is that sometimes it was hard to follow what was happening and it seems that some details were left out and we just jumped into different scenes at random. Maybe this is just the simplicity of a plot for younger readers and that is why it jumped around. Also there didn't really seem to be a conclusion at the end. The Nephilim are still at large and they somehow lost Belthazzar in a wormhole just like he did to Adalbert and then, just like that, they were all safe in Adalbert's home on the Eiffel Tower along with Uncle Hignard. Who might also be a time traveler? And how did all the rest escape from Belthazzar's tower? And Gendun just get's away from stealing and saboteuring? There are many loose strands and I hope that the second book offers some insights.
Either way it was a nice and fun read filled with many odd but loving characters and I can't wait to read the second book to get the conclusion as to how the time travelers will defeat the Nephilim once and for all.

[Tom Plaskon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the concept of this book, a dining and social club for time travellers, is a very interesting and fun idea. I really enjoyed the first third of the book that sets up Louisa's life and surroundings. I thought there was some great descriptions in this part of the book. I also really like the part of the book that deals with the dining club. However, the book fell apart a little for me after that. The story of Louisa vs the bad guy (spoiler free) felt a little rushed, and the ending felt outright abrupt to me. Maybe these things should be expected given that this is a teen book but it definitely detracted from the experience for me. That being said, I think the concept alone is enough to make this book worth checking out.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my all time favourite novel. I love the characters, their development throughout the story, and how they navigate the trouble they get into. Rhadamanthus was written as a sort of father figure to young Lousisa. He aided her with her first time travelling experience and taught her how to navigate the world of time travel. Every time I read this book is like reading it for the first time.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot, but it was a little disjointed at times. Worth the read though.

[Munro's Kids · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry, but I could not finish this book. Actually, I'm not sorry.

I got about 80 pages in and felt confused and unsettled the entire time. The pacing was rushed, with so much happening in very little space and no time to digest it. It was all flash and bang with no emotional layer to flesh it out. However, despite the constant action, it wasn't even exciting! Nothing... really... mattered to me. I had no connection to any of the characters and was thrown from one plot point to the next and I just didn't care. Which is a pity, considering it's such a cool concept. Time travelers from around the world and across time have their own social club, and fight against an evil group from the lost city of Atlantis. Cool, right?! But naw.

The group of time travelers that the protagonist meets - while interesting in theory - are difficult to distinguish from one another and don't seem to have any distinct personality traits. The writing is clumsy and basic. I am surprised this is being called a teen read when I would firmly put it in intermediate (8-12). Perhaps some darker stuff happens in the latter part of the novel that I didn't read, but I honestly don't see how (from what I read) this could be marketed for high schoolers. It had that slightly-talking-down-to-you voice that books about precocious children sometimes have. I think the protagonist is 12 herself. Definitely would never consider giving this to a teenager. I would actually recommend holding it in intermediate instead of middle grade. But that's just me.

Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone, despite my love of time travel (huge Doctor Who fan here). This was a letdown.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is definitively for young adults and even I enjoyed reading it. My only problem was I just could not pronounce the names of some of the characters in the book--but you can't go by me--some of the names in Harry Potter got me too. I think only kids can get these names! As in any good book the characters are well defined--both the good ones and the bad. Although you might think by the title of this book that there is a lot of time travel--not so much. It is more about Time Travelers themselves.

There are really nice illustrations throughout the book which give you an idea of what each Time Traveler looks like--The only reason I am going to tell parents to read this before handing it over is there are a couple of pages that describe in detail the methods used in olden times to interrogate people and they are not pretty!
The Dining and Social Club for Time Travellers:

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

To me, the cover is a little deceiving. I wasn't expecting this to be a middle grade book and honestly it took away from my enjoyment of it because I was expecting something different. The main character is a young girl, but at times she annoyed me and every character in the book has a big personality since it's a children's book. I also wasn't clear on what the time period was. The grandfather was a child during WWII, which would mean Louisa a modern kid and yet it felt like the 19th century. Still, I enjoyed Louisa's story and learning more about this strange club of time travelers.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read! Louisa is an adorable character- you feel as though you are travelling with her on her adventures! The illustrations add a whimsical touch to the story as well. I invited Elyse to come and speak to the students at my school. Student response to her book talk was terrific! They loved hearing how her travels influenced story and character development. Her presentation included pics, personal stories and Q&A. I would gladly invite her back again in the future! When does part 2 come out?

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wildly imaginative and beautifully illustrated, The Dining and Social Club for Time Travellers is entertaining for both kids and adults alike. I highly recommend.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book alot and I hope that others too. It's a very good semi-quick read.