Author: Casey McQuinston
Printed Edition, St.Martin’s Griffin
August has just recently moved to NY to finish her undergraduate degree. This is one of her many transfers, as she is restless. She’s trying to get away from her weird life. She comes from a very peculiar childhood. Her mom, completely obsessed with the disappearance of her older brother, has distanced herself from their family. August was basically raised as an assistant PI, helping her mother in her quest.
When she gets to NY, she finds herself sharing an apartment with a group of very unique individuals. She also gets a job at a pancake house to pay the bills. On her commute to work, she sees a very attractive girl, Jane, on the subway, who helps her when she accidentally spills coffee all over herself. They keep meeting on the train every day and strike up a friendship, and they’re obviously attracted to each other. But there is something peculiar about Jane: she’s always wearing the same clothes, she carries a walkman with cassette tapes and she seems a little “off”. Well, the reason for that is that, unbeknownst to her, Jane has been stuck in the Q train since the summer of 1977! How can this relationship develop if she can’t even get off the train?
I loved the story and, most of all, I loved the characters. It gave me a Tales of The City vibe, but in this case with Brooklyn and NYC. We get very invested in the romance and the time-traveling conundrum: they do want to free Jane, but she may go back to 1977 never to be seen again.
I really enjoyed the book but I think there was a little bit of a drag (I swear this is not a pun!) around the last third of the story that lasted too long. Maybe there were too many loose ends that needed to be tied and it got a little too much. At the same, when it gets to the end, I felt things got a little rushed. There were things (I won’t say what here, so as to not spoil anyone) that I wish were showed and not told, especially in relation to Jane’s fate and her past.
All in all a great read, with a delightful cast of characters!
Possible triggers: mentions of homophobia, toxic relationships with parents, mentions of traumatic events
