As Time Unfolds by Barbara Zerfoss | ARC Review

"The heavenly-painted leaves won’t remain long. Might we enjoy them so much if they did?"

Synopsis : 

A young girl disappears.

Can secrets inside a three centuries-old journal save her life in time?

Advertising agency owner, Bethany Miller, inherits an ancestral home from the biological mother she never knew. Inside a grandfather clock named The Timekeeper, she discovers a treasured family journal. Generations of first daughters each wrote one entry, sharing family secrets, chronicling courageous acts, the freeing power of forgiveness and more. 

Reading the women’s stories and timeless wisdom, Bethany begins to reassess her busy life and contemplates taking a chance on romance, but she can’t forget an alarming encounter with a girl’s soul-piercing eyes.  They shot her a dire warning … right before she disappeared. Those eyes cause Bethany’s past, present and future to collide.

Is history right on time to save a girl’s life?

Review : 

As Time Unfolds had a promising premise and the idea of a mystery unfolding over the span of centuries through a journal is really intriguing. Also the extent of information and effort put into the historical aspects of the book are another pleasant factor.

Barbara Zerfoss has attempted to deliver us an exciting story that only a few of her contemporaries can replicate. 

Unfortunately, there were a quite a few aspects of this book that just did not sit right with me.  

For one, the writing style seemed quite clunky and stilted, with odd phrasing and dialogue that didn't seem natural. There were scenes thrown in randomly and many chapters were just fillers. 

Also, there was a lot more telling rather than showing. For example, this is Bethany, she's passionate about her work, these things are happening, these characters feel this way, etc. As a result, I never got to experience any emotions or really connect to the characters or plot because I was just being told things about them and I couldn't see any complexity or depth.

The major part of book focuses on the primary character finding herself and embarking on a journey of self-discovery. The mystery part was revealed and wrapped up abruptly, as if in a rush, in the last twelve chapters only! There just wasn't enough suspense in this novel to attract the average crime and mystery novel follower.

More than anything else though, I did not like the way the more sensitive topics in the novel were handled. Human trafficking in Costa Rica is an incredibly horrible, real thing and I can see how the author might have been trying to highlight that, but in my opinion, it was done poorly.

My heart breaks having to rate As Time Unfolds so low. I honestly wanted to love this debut novel. 

Obviously, I'm in the minority when it comes to my opinion on this book, at least compared to other reviewers who received the ARC. However, I couldn't bring myself to give a higher rating than a 2.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Morgan James and Barbara Zerfoss for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Audience : 

15+

Trigger Warnings : 

Slave trade, Fire accident, Human trafficking