What I read that attracted me to this book was that it was about time travel. Mhmm guess I got that wrong.
I'm really unsure about this book. Ok, so time travel is out. How about romance. Guess what? nope it's a tragedy. Really?

Yeah, so all my expectations I watch as they flew out my open window. I do get annoyed when the book blurb doesn't match the book.

Huge disappointment. But give it a go you may disagree with me.

Okay - so I was expecting a science fiction type book when I read the blurb. There is time travel, but no real science - so let's call it speculative fiction. Regardless - I really enjoyed this book, once I turned off my inner nerd.

Ullrich has written a really interesting story that just sucked me in. The story follows Eva and Casey, with a good portion of the book focused on their younger selves and their burgeoning relationship. Both of the MCs are particularly well developed and real, and the book covers a expanse of time that allows them to grow and change. There's a wonderful connection and chemistry between them. Ullrich also introduces some darker themes into the book with Eva's abusive uncle which adds a certain level of malevolence and tragedy through losses.

As with any book that introduces time travel, there's always the moral and ethical questions - could you, should you, would you go back and change things - what things - and what are the costs. How an author deals with those is much more important than how the time travel mechanism works (and Ullrich really didn't sell the science behind it - but I was too invested in the characters and whether Eva could change things to care about that)

Definitely recommend this - a wonderfully inventive and engaging book.

I am so sorry but I could not get through this book. I attempted this book two separate times and I found that I couldn't get more than a couple chapters in without getting bored and putting it down.

I loved this apart from the confusing bit at the end where I couldn't work out what really happened. The story was really well crafted, delicately sweet but also challenging.

This was definitely one of the unique lesbian fiction novels I've read recently. It's the story of Eva and Casey.

We start with the main story (the prologue is a teaser sort of thing) when they're both in High School, Casey a senior, popular and Eva, a junior and the butt of all the jokes of the school. They're best friends th ough and they each have a secret about how they feel about the other (which they both keep silent about).

There's lots of back and forth and then there's Eva's past. Her parents were killed when she was a kid and she's being raised by her Uncle who seems to be a touch of crazy as well as quite the drinker. And living with Luke his total hell for her.

We then fast forward six years to present day. The Casey and Eva stuff is still super complicated and both women have changed so much. Also, Luke dies and everything is left to Eva including the stuff in the basement that is super secret. That's also where the Science Fiction part of the book comes in, and it's awesome!

It had romance, science fiction, and then as the present day stuff continued it also had a bit of a mystery in it too which was subtle and quite cool. (What can I say, I'm a sucker for a mystery).

Overall I really liked the entire package of this book. For those who like romance, there's definitely that, for those who want to try lesbian science fiction or lesbian mysteries there's that too, and it's a good place to stick your toes into those genres too.

An all around awesome book.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books.

This is my 4th Ullrich book. I have enjoyed all of her books. I am not a huge fan of time travel books, so I was super leery of starting this book. It was the fact I enjoyed her other books that made the decision in the end. For me, this was a 3.5 star rounded up book. I enjoyed the YA portion of this book, more than the adult romance portion. I went into this book thinking it would be “butterfly effect” where actions would create ripples and impact the future. It wasn’t that at all. The time travel wasn’t as big of a role in the book as one may think going into the book.
I do not particularly enjoy YA books, but the YA portion of this book really was the reason I enjoyed the book so much. The YA portion does deal with some heavy issues: bullying, sexual abuse and physical abuse. However, the sexual abuse while implied it wasn’t written in a way making it difficult to read. I did find some of the other portions of the book difficult to read. Hard topics are often hard reads, but Ullrich did them well and I applaud her for writing it. If I rated the first 65% of the book, it would be 5 stars. Once Eva and Casey’s story moves to adulthood Ullrich didn’t lose me, but it wasn’t the same. I didn’t enjoy the characters as much, and I didn’t like where the story was headed. I didn’t love the ending, but some may disagree with me there. I started this book thinking I was going to love it, and in the end I did like the book but it wasn’t one I would put on my read over and over list. Don’t count this one out, I would recommend reading it and making a decision for yourself. I could see reviews being all over the place with this one.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review

I had a lump in my throat from about 17% onwards. Eva and Casey's story is powerful and utterly heart-rending. It begins with Eva lying in an alley bleeding contemplating her decision to save two people but it means the losing the love of her life. Then the time line changes to six years before where we meet Eva, an unpopular and bullied high school student. Her best friend and neighbour is Casey - beautiful, popular and smart.

Casey is a year older and constantly comes to the defence of Eva and doesn’t give a damn about what people say about their friendship. The story of their friendship is beautiful, poignant and with and air innocence in their unspoken feelings for each other. They’re both complicated characters whose pain and love is tangible.

I think it has a fantastic premise in conjunction with wonderful writing. I didn’t see 'Time Will Tell' as a time-travel book so much as posing the question “if I could go back and change one thing, what would it be?” and from that point of view I think it was really successful. This is one of those novels that will stay in my head for a long time.

It is an interesting plot with an unimaginable decision... the book is sad and makes you think how you would decide in a situation like that. I really liked the book up to the last quarter - it kind of lost me. The ending was too abrupt and left me unsettled and wondering.
The book is more in the YA category for me with romantic and drama parts in it.

Time Will Tell is the fourth book released by M. Ullrich but as the author indicates in her acknowledgments, this was her first attempt at writing a full-length novel. It comes across as polished, but the remnants of debut author linger on the early pages. Like other readers I was excited about the time travel aspect of the novel. Time travel does play a significant role in the outcome but is not the focus of this tale. Instead we are treated to a story of survival and the importance of best friends who accept you with all your many flaws and stand by you when life gets hard. Until they don’t, and you are left floundering and lost.

The first half of the novel has all the hallmarks of a sweet YA novel. Eva is young teen forced to live with her abusive Uncle following the deaths of her parents. Her neighbour and classmate Casey is the popular kid who defends Eva when she is bullied and is attracted to her in spite of Eva’s secretive nature. I was impressed with how the author handled Eva’s return following her Uncle’s death. I liked how this YA morphed into an NA with all the emotional impact, the hurt feelings, the questions and the doubts, the fact that both women had changed so much over the ensuing six years. It all felt very real. Actions have reactions and sometimes they are not the ones you were expecting. I liked that the author bent her early stereotypes of the popular girl and the freak allowing Casey and Eva’s personalities to grow and change as a consequence of their actions.

And then Eva is given the opportunity to change (fix) her past and undo the things she regrets. Many rules are broken in the butterfly effect theory of time travel but since this is, in essence a debut novel I won’t rag on the flaws in this version. What I will say is that I wish there had not been an epilogue. I was content with the ending. [ I found Eva to be noble in her efforts to shield Casey from the struggles she faced following Eva’s disappearance. To give one's life to erase the pain in the life of the woman you love? Beautiful and poetic. (hide spoiler)]

Four stars for an entertaining debut read and clear evidence that M Ullrich has all kinds of talent.

ARC received with thanks from BSB via NetGalley for review.

When I read the synopsis for this book I wasn't sure if it was something I could get into. Time travel seemed a little too far out of my comfort zone. I couldn't see myself enjoying this book at all. But having read and enjoyed other books by M Ullrich I decided to give it a go. I was more than surprised by the fact that I couldn't put it down. Ullrich tells the story of Casey McClellan and Eva Caldwell. We first meet them as teenagers, with Ullrich taking us back and forth in time in a way that made this a very smooth read. I found myself falling in love with both characters. Loved this book. An absolutely great read.

‘Time Will Tell’ is not your run of the mill romance. I found it dark, intense, unexpected. It is also beautifully romantic and sexy and tells of a love that is for all time. I really enjoyed it. Eva lives with her abusive drunk of an uncle after her parents are murdered. The only light in her life is her best friend Casey, who she is completely and utterly besotted with. Of course she doesn’t tell her this. Casey is all set to go to college and become a doctor and Eva is distraught at the thought of being without her. I can’t go into too much detail about the actual story although the blurb does mention time travel. This is part of it but by no means the main point. Suffice to say this is a book about two women, an all-encompassing love and how far we are willing to go for the one we love. I have no hesitation in recommending it as I loved it and it’s great to see something a bit different in the romance genre. 5 Stars.

I was given this ARC by Bold Strokes and Netgalley in return for an honest review.

This story was unique and engrossing from start to finish. I had no idea the direction it would go in and was unable to look away till it was over This story is not for the faint of heart or more specifically, folks who don’t connect well with trauma or characters who aren’t perfect. I especially connected with the main character Eva as she copes with her incredibly painful life in ways that may not be healthy but are relatable. Without giving too much away about the ending/ direction of the ending of the book, I will say time travel is a very difficult thing to incorporate in a story. There is a lot that can go wrong in the complexity of it while also carrying on character development. I recommend not focusing too much on the logistics of time travel and to instead focus on the message being given through it’s use. The story was complex and enjoyable even if at times I may have disagreed with the direction it took. I left with a feeling of incompleteness within myself, waiting for the other shoe to drop. In the end I’ve decided that is not such a bad thing…

It's a very interesting concept. I liked this book, especially the first part following the teenager characters.
That part was a pageturner for me, but the adult part was a little less captivating for me. I liked the way it was concluded, even though the ending with the epilogue felt a little rushed.
All in all, an enjoyable book, but it won't go in my reread pile.

Well, maybe I'll read it again for the young adult part, which I really really liked.

I loved the beginning, shook my head at the middle, and am totally perplexed by the ending. Was it well written? Absolutely! Did I like it? Well, I'm unsure. So, so unsure to be honest. There are parts of this book that are brilliant, parts that made my heart hurt, parts that made me smile and parts that I thought what the bloody hell. This book is a conundrum.

A lovely work from an author will many strengths, specifically in capturing the effort required to recover from grief and loss as well as the respite that can be found in a positive romantic relationship. I particularly enjoyed the sweet intimacy that was conveyed in Eva's interactions with Casey. The chronological transitions were handled very well and the context that was provided by the depiction of the protagonists in adolescence was thorough, sad as well as moving. I was, by the midway point, deeply vested, after all of the earlier suffering, in an ending that healed and allowed the couple to move forward. Having received that, I was grateful for the whole tale.

This was a gut-wrenching romance. There was so much emotion at times that it was tough to read through for me. The despair, despondency, the light, the laughter, everything is caught accurately in the two teen leads. More than half the book is set when they were in their teens and roughly a third when they met again 5 years later.

Both times, I think it was well done and not over the top. The time travel and the uncle's nonsensical attitude was something I had easily guessed / could guess so there were hardly any surprises there. However, I think with the way things unfolded the book had the best possible conclusion.

I've taken off one star because the book could easily have followed into another short story/novella on how they eventually meet at Penn State University and fall in love as grown-ups. Instead, we get a decently sized epilogue or a chapter (can't remember) that fast forwards us with a highlight reel of their life after the time correction/alteration.

I started this book without reading the synopsis nor any review either so I didn't have any expectations. It is difficult to review without spoiling much of the plot, so I will only say that sadness has sorrounded me through the reading. And if there weren't an epilogue it would have been better for me. It's basically a YA book, with hard situations, tough to read sometimes and it's mostly about inconditional love. So from prologue till the end, sans epilogue, it is a pretty interesting and enjoyable reading.

She's back! I was a fan of this author after "Life In Death" but wasn't a huge fan of her last book. This one takes me back to the author that I enjoy, deep characters with a twist on the storyline. This book happens to involve a time machine, but it isn't as sci-fi as one would expect with a possible time travel story. Instead, this book mainly focuses on the troublesome childhood of Eva and her savior Casey.

I really liked both characters and felt for them in both their love for each other and the sometimes impossibleness of life going right for them. I especially liked how much each of them changed over time and not always for the better. In fact, I'd say this book shows how a few decisions can really mess up someones life but some things never change even in the darkest of times.

I'd recommend this book to everyone, especially those thinking a time machine doesn't sound like their cup of tea. You'll be surprised.

I want to preface this review by saying, I did like this book but the summary is extremely misleading. When I first started reading Time Will Tell by M. Ullrich I thought I was reading a completely different book. Time travel is not the focus of this book. It’s in there, briefly, but don’t expect it.

Now on to what I liked.

I loved Eva and Casey’s relationship. We got to see it in the early stages during high school and how electric that attraction continued to be once they became adults. I’ve always wanted to read a book that showed that kind of evolution in a relationship. The intensity they fell into such an intimate relationship bothered me. How can Casey, who was so heart broken, forgiven Eva that easily? There was so much time spent in their teenage years, I feel as though their adult relationship deserved that attention as well.

While it was difficult to justify how ‘in love’ the two were to jump into sex, the scenes were written very well. I’ll give M. Ullrich points for that. A lot of previous F/F pieces I’ve read used really disgusting terminology when it wasn’t needed. Ullrich wrote hot scenes without the use of swearing or raunchy descriptions. So A+ there.

There were jumps in time, moments where I felt like there could have been more information so the storyline didn’t give you whiplash. The ending was a bit rushed. There was no explanation of how Eva came to her decision to time jump. If there were maybe forty more pages of story, it would have been perfect.

As is, it’s not my favorite. I’m not jumping to go read more of Ullrich’s work.