This book was a cute little adventure story where the main character goes on a quest to find out more about her dad that is kidnapped. It was quite fast paced for a kids book and I enjoyed the plot a lot. I liked how the handbook was at the start of every chapter and also the theme of time. Like you can’t add more time to what you have. This was my first book by this author but I’d like to read more it was very good.

I first came across sinead ohart as an author in lockdown (2020) when I read the star spun web, which is still to this day one of my favourite books, as it had such a unique concept and this book was exactly the same! I loved every minute of it, from the characters to the unique concept and storyline. A definite must read!

Mara and her dad have lived in their van for as long as she can remember. Whatever her father does to scrape a living has kept them constantly moving and Mara has never questioned it. That is until she uncovers a collection of notes addressed to ‘the Tider’, an individual responsible for harvesting lost time from people whose lives were cut short.

But before Mara can question her father he is taken by a dangerous group who want to use his power for evil. With the very fabric of time and space at stake, it’s down to Mara and her new friend Jan to find him before it’s too late...

An exciting story full of suspense and adventure. It wasn’t long before I was rooting for Mara and eager to see her story unfold. I would recommend for upper ks2 and above.

This is a great read for the older children. An interesting problem; a man with a duty to save the world from danger and a daughter with no clue what's going on. Mara has to learn fast when her dad goes missing and people are chasing her. She discovers her dad collects free time. Time that others can use that to extend their lives and all the problems that can cause. Can she find her dad and stop those who would use time for ill?
What a cracker!

The children and I were very much looking forward to reading this book as we have thoroughly enjoyed Sinead O'Harts previous books. This was certainly another to add to our bookshelf. A classic in the making.

The Time Tider is a ferociously fast-paced, thrilling and intriguing contemporary fantasy that transported me into an enthralling adventure where the phrase ‘just one more chapter’ has never been so apt.
Twelve-year-old Mara lives with her dad, Gabriel, in their worse-for-wear, old van. They never settle anywhere, and travel from place to place, meaning that Mara has never attended school or had the opportunity to make friends. Although she is curious about the work that takes so much of her father’s time, she does not know what his mysterious job entails beyond that he works with watches and keeps colourful liquid in jars. When Mara sees her father selling some of this liquid to a stranger, she witnesses something that should be impossible.
Determined to discover the truth behind the secrets her dad is keeping from her, she begins a search and finds The Time Tider’s Handbook, a collection of notes held by the Time Tider: her father! He is responsible for slipping through time to harvest lost Time from those who die before they are supposed to, and storing it safely and securely so that dangerous time warps, capable of ripping the fabric of Time and endangering human existence, can be eradicated.
After confronting her father, he promises to tell Mara the truth but, before he can do so, Gabriel is kidnapped by a group intent on usurping his abilities, and so begins a heart-pounding, action-packed adventure as Mara and her new friend Jan race to find the Time Tider before his abilities, and harvested time, are used for nefarious purposes. Oh my goodness! This is a story that kept me on the edge of my seat, desperately turning pages (those cliffhanger chapter endings!) as I was completely captivated by the intricate and fascinating plot; caught up in the danger, tension and chase; and left breathless by the unexpected twists and revelations. Just wow!
I’m used to stuff not being safe. I’ve never been safe. Not ever.
Mara is an incredibly sympathetic young girl and one who I have definitely taken into my heart. Her mother died when she was two years old and she has spent her young life travelling from place to place with her father who is obsessed with his mysterious job and often doesn’t give her the time and attention she needs. She is courageous, resilient and determined as she learns more about her father’s abilities, his motives and her family history whilst at the same time finding her own truths. I adored the close friendship that forms between Jan and Mara as they face their fears, overcome dangerous situations and learn to trust each other.
I found the exploration of the role of a Time Tider absolutely fascinating and incredibly thought-provoking. I loved the extracts from The Time Tider’s Handbook which preceded each chapter, giving a tantalising insight for the chapter. Themes of power, betrayal, temptation and loss were brilliantly intertwined into the story alongside those of family, trust and friendship. I really enjoyed the ‘greyness’ of motives, choices and decisions which made this such an intriguing, exceptional read.
The Time Tider is an exhilarating, irresistible page-turner: a heart-warming, intricate story of family and friendship woven into the most brilliant time-twisty plot that is guaranteed to bring hours of reading delight.

The Time Tider is a fast paced adventure story. Mara lives in a van with her dad, moving from place to place, as he goes about his ‘work’. Mara has no idea what that is, until her dad is kidnapped and she has to go on the run.

This is an unusual twist on the time travel genre, with time itself being what the protagonists are searching for and harvesting.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Difficult to put this gripping read down so I finished it in one sitting! As the reader, I found myself constantly asking myself the same kinds of questions that intrigued Mara too. What does happen to the time of those who depart early? This is absolutely a thriller of an adventure that I can't wait to recommend to my children at school.
What a brilliant concept for a children's book.

This book is everything that I’ve come to expect from Sinead’s books: a fabulous storyline, dynamic characters and the importance of family and friends. When Mara discovers that her father is the Time Tider just before he is kidnapped, she is confused. She goes in search of answers, making friends , and enemies, along the way. Her love for her father is evident throughout, keeping her going in her quest to find him. The story is fast paced and well written. Brilliant!

THE TIME TIDER is the second book by Sinéad O'Hart and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The story is action packed and full of fun with this engaging take on time magic. I liked that there were real consequences to not sorting out the duties of a time tider, but that solving that potential end of the world situation wasn't what this book was about. Instead, it's a far more personal story about a girl trying to discover her father's secrets - and find him when he goes missing. There are larger stakes at play, but they are far from the focus.

This is a contemporary fantasy standalone about shadowy organisations and the harvesting of time for good and ill. I liked how the book explored all the possibilities of the magic, from the good (not letting everything be sucked into a void when time goes wrong) to the bad (selling to others), and also the role that organisations could have in that setting. What sort of oversight should there be? Can oversight of (magically) powerful individuals work without their cooperation (so what do you do if the powerful people don't want to cooperate?)

It is hard out who to trust in this book. The entire society of those who know about the magic are secretive by nature, and Mara's dad is secretive to the point of paranoia. Plus Mara's dad's paranoia has rubbed off onto her, so she has to unravel those truth and lies to work out what's happening before she can decide who to trust. It makes for a mysterious feel and need to think hard about everything.

While the book wraps up and is (so far as I can tell) a standalone, there definitely is space for another book or so, and I would not object to another!

A gloriously imaginative and spooky story about what happens to the time that is lost when a person dies earlier than intended. Mara is a strong character who has spent her life moving around with her father, but when he is kidnapped by those wanting his powers as a 'Tider' she finds herself having to take up the challenge and save the day. This is a fantastic and fast paced story that will have readers on the edge of their seat. Great for the MG reader.

Really enjoyed this fast-paced adventure with a fantastic speculative fiction element. When people die before their time (presumably by accident, murder, or warfare), their unused time must be collected by the Time Tider. Otherwise it is in danger of forming time warps. Time warps lead to problems, enough time warps not dealt with could lead to a catastrophic event. So the role of the Time Tider (and I really like that title) is desperately important. Especially as unscrupulous people want the ability to harvest the time for their purposes. Which makes it very difficult for Mara when her father (the current Time Tider) goes missing as he has kept his work from her.
I love the premise for this story. The writing and pacing are excellent but it was the speculative fiction elements that drew me from the start. I am always happy to see magical objects appear in books, so of course I loved the tools of the Time Tider – the stitch, the hourglass and the pocket watch. I also enjoyed the excerpts from the Time Tider’s notebook that prefaced each chapter, drip feeding information about the responsibilities of the Time Tider and also hinting at events to come. The ‘soft place’ that Mara hides in at the start also intrigued me. I would have liked the speculative element developed more (I loved the premise a lot) but ultimately I was left with questions about how it all hung together. But that won’t matter to most readers. The story follows Mara as she tries to discover what is going on, find her Dad, and protect the Time Tider, his tools and the time warps from those who would misuse them. Temptations of those who have power and those corrupted by it are also touched upon. All in all, a satisfying adventure with enough fantastical elements for a gripping and entertaining read.

This was an odd one for me. Overall, I enjoyed it. I was grabbed by the story and wanted to know what happened. But I never fully connected with the characters, especially Mara. So I found that, although I was interested in what happened, i wasn't that interested in the characters themselves.
the premise is good, and what i liked was that the lore of the world (present day earth but with some interesting time magic) wasn't through at you all at once (which i've found several books i've read recently have done and it's very offputting as too much information at once), instead it introduces you to it in little parts, as Mara discovers the truth about her father and what it is he actually does for a living.
It was still a good read, just not one of my favourites and I dont feel like i'd read any follow up books that might be published (from the ending, i feel like it's hinting at future books).

My first read by the author and what an absolute pleasure it was!

A truly fantastic work by Sinéad O'Hart with a richly structured plot and a range of characters.

There is always a thread of intrigue and adventure running through the book.

Would love to buy a copy of the work upon publication, and to search up on other works by Ms Sinéad.

Thanks, as always to NetGalley and Little Tiger, London for approving the request to read and review.

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Reviewed on NetGalley in India.
NetGalley ISBN: 9781788953306
Publisher: Little Tiger, London
Publication date (as mentioned on NetGalley): 2nd February, 2023

What words best describe a book by Sinéad O'Hart? Stupendous, thrilling, page turner, heart stopper, immersive, brilliant? Well Time Tider is all of these and more.
In Time Tider, we join Mara, who lives in a van with her dad. They get by but they are constantly on the move. Mara discovers something about Time Tiders. Her and dad are in danger but before she can learn more, they are discovered and chased. In his final words before leaving Mara so she can escape those that pursue them, Dad tells her to find Lenny and then he's gone. Mara continues on her own in search of Lenny. She meets Jan. He has heard of the Tiders and he is going to help.
This is a brilliantly conceived idea - and wonderfully delivered by Sinéad. An absolute first rate 5 star read.
There are going to be some stonkingly excellent reads this year and this is one such read. Publishing on the 02/02/23.
Huge thanks to Little Tiger Press and NetGalley for the early read.

This was my first Sinead O’Hart book and won’t be the last.
My favourite genre is time-travel, and I thought perhaps I’d be getting a little of it in this book. Even though I didn’t get my ‘fix’ here, I thoroughly enjoyed the unique take on time that Sinead has offered up. My older brain got a little befuddled, especially in the beginning, but I think that’s only because I was trying to wrangle the author’s ideas into something logical. Children will not have this problem I’m sure, as they’re quicker to suspend belief and logic and they’ll be rewarded by being taken on a fabulous, imaginative journey exploring a different way of looking at something as ordinary (but precious) as time.

Mara is such a great character! Her solitary, nomadic life in a van with just her distant father, pulls at your heartstrings instantly. And when disaster strikes, well I felt like crying.

I thoroughly recommend this contemporary fantasy for children 8-12.

“Time and Tide May Wait for None; But They Will Wait for You.”

Twelve year old Mara and her father live their life on the road. Mara doesn’t know what her father’s job is, only that it keeps him perpetually busy. When she sees her father disappear before her very eyes, Mara’s casual curiosity about what her father’s work entails becomes more urgent.

“People don’t just vanish, do they?”

What she discovers will cause her to reevaluate everything she thought she knew about her father and the way they live. She’ll also gain a greater understanding of the soft places she’s been able to find for as long as she can remember.

When her father is kidnapped, Mara will need to learn his secrets in order to find him. Time and the fate of the world depend on it.

Because Mara has grown up isolated with a father whose paranoia may or may not be warranted, she doesn’t know who she can trust. This makes the introduction of new characters unsettling as Mara’s distrust is contagious.

I loved Mara. She’s feisty, intelligent and brave. She also broke my heart.

“I’m used to stuff not being safe. I’ve never been safe. Not ever.”

This book explores how fear can isolate you and grief can be all encompassing, causing you to spend so much time focusing on what you’ve lost that you don’t pay attention to what you still have. There are a lot of moral questions raised, primarily about power and its ability to corrupt, and the lengths you’d go to for someone you love.

I’m not the hugest fan of characters being able to use their abilities flawlessly the first time they try. I much prefer to anticipate the payoff that comes when heroes persevere despite their initial struggles. Because I liked Mara so much, I was able to cheer her on even as I bristled at her ability to do what seemed impossible straight away. I doubt the target audience will have any problems with her innate talent.

I loved the excerpts from The Time Tider’s Handbook at the beginning of each chapter. They gave information about how Warps work and the role of the Time Tider, and oftentimes they gave clues as to where the chapters were heading.

“A Time Tider’s work is secretive, unsung and solitary, but know this to be true: they are all that stand between humanity and its destruction.”

Content warnings include gun violence.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Little Tiger, an imprint of Little Tiger Group, for the opportunity to read this book.

An incredibly inventive story, honestly original.
Maara and her father live in a van travelling, living life on the road. Her father’s job is a mystery and he will not talk about it. One day her father disappears and Marra’s life is suddenly in danger.

I absolutely loved this, and now my 12 year old son is loving it too

Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

I am always drawn to stories that play with the concept of time. This book asks some big questions – what happens if a person dies before they use up their allotment of time? Can it be harvested, stored, added to another life time? Is it ethical to sell and consume time that came from others, and what lengths will the living go to in order to buy a little more time for themselves?
But don’t be misled by the big philosophical questions this story tackles. It is packed with action from beginning to end. Mara and her father live on the outskirts of society, always on the move, always looking over their shoulders. After years of Dad shielding her from his mysterious and dangerous work, he is ripped away from her. Mara is forced to fend for herself, uncover her family’s secrets and navigate the treacherous world of Warps and Clockwatchers. She’s a tough and resourceful heroine, and the allies and enemies she meets along the way are complex, morally grey characters with their own agendas.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story from beginning to end. Immersive, exciting and thought-provoking. Fantastic.

The Plot

Set in Ireland, our book opens with Mara collecting food from a City Homeless Outreach point. She pockets extra food when she can, then goes to leave. But being a solitary child, she's caught the eye of the staff. They give chase when she won't stop and discuss being out alone. Mara has a gift and can see what she calls a 'soft place' in time, bubbles if you will, that she can duck into and elude capture, which she does. A short while later, she returns home to the rickety van she has grown up in. Here her dad, Gabriel, is busy with sealed glass jars and strange, gas-like substances within.

Mara's life since her mother died has been one long journey. Travelling by backroads and often by night, she and her father crisscross the country. Eluding the people, he says, are chasing them and meaning them harm. What he does when he goes off to see people and conduct business, she doesn't know. At least that was until waking up one morning in an empty van, she goes to explore. Hearing voices, she watches Gabriel conduct a deal. He passes over one of the glass jars for money. The buyer drinks what's within, and Mara thinks her father momentarily vanishes. 

12-year-old Mara is of the age when she needs to know. She wonders what it's like to live an ordinary life, have friends and go to school. To be in one place. And to learn more about her mother. She also wants to know more about what Gabriel's up to. 

The Discovery of rolled-up papers in a sealed bottle, entitled The Time Tiders Handbook, heralds the beginning of the adventure. More discoveries follow, including a picture of her mother. But before she can glean much information from her father, their pursuers catch up. In the ensuing frantic escape, with Mara at the van's wheel, her father says he will give himself up. All Mara has to do is keep going and find someone called Lenny. Thrusting his precious and unique watch and notebook into her lap, he jumps out and is captured. 

But who is Lenny? Mara has distant recollections and an idea of his location. And what does he have to do with her father being a Time Tider? Indeed, what is a Time Tider? If she is going to get her father back and get the information she needs, she has no choice but to find Lenny. 

Who is chasing them and why will soon be revealed to her. But as she gets more involved, her search becomes far more deadly than any 12-year-old and her newfound friend, Jan, should be involved in. You see, the Time Tider, Gabriel, harvests unused time from the dead. It can also be taken from the living, which is something that he should never do but does to make money. The bad people want what only her father can give – extra life. They want the bottled life he has stashed away, all of it, and to take his skill. To get it, they'll risk everything, including the collapse of time and the destruction of the world.

What did I think?

The premise of the Time Tider is that time itself needs to be balanced and the extra time from those that die too early collected and stored safely. The more time left uncollected, the greater the risk of cataclysmic results. This is not one I have read before, nor for that matter, seen in the movies. So like so many great books, it instantly appealed, and I needed to know more.

How would the writer deal with such a potentially complex Sci-Fi style subject? Would it be another out-of-this-world, and sadly, beyond-belief Marvel-Esque adventure? The only way was to ask to do a review. And I am so pleased Little Tiger obliged me with the copy. 

Over a couple of nights, we became engrossed in Sinéad's storytelling and adventure. 

The story is delightfully grounded in the here and now, atmospheric, plausible, at times heartfelt, never short on pace and utterly engaging. 

The cast grows with the adventure, never pushy or unlikely for the plot. Nothing is ever too much for the reader, which reflects some clearly serious story plotting. The final chapters were addictive, demanding to be read. The conclusion, well, I can't spoil that, though it wasn't what I expected, which is always lovely.  

Sat here now, Mrs H says it is an adventure that lingers in the mind and poses some ethical dilemmas that are not easy to answer. This adds so well to the story's credibility. 

So . . . . 
Crunch time.

A perfect middle-grade read with a delightful cover that I think will appeal greatly. Mara is a Brilliant protagonist with hard decisions and a van full of trouble chasing and snapping at her heels. What's not to love?!