Time's Mirror

I’ll admit, I side-eyed the ‘teen time travel’ label at first—been there, done that. But *Time’s Mirror* gutted me in the best way. Walker’s opening is a masterclass in disorientation: one second, Pru’s in a car with her dad; the next, she’s choking on 23rd-century dust, her ribs screaming. The audiobook *thrives* on this immediacy, especially with Kate Rudd’s performance. She doesn’t just *read* Pru’s terror—she *embodies* it, her voice cracking on lines like, *“I blinked. That’s all. Just a blink.”* The production team deserves credit too; the sound mixing during the CHRONOS ruins scene is *unsettling* in the right way, all hollow echoes and distant, unplaceable machinery. Where the book stumbles slightly is in its mid-section pacing. The lull between Pru’s initial survival and the bigger reveals drags just enough to make you glance at the time remaining. And while the time-jump mechanics are clever, a few explanations feel rushed—like Walker trusted readers to connect dots that might’ve benefited from an extra sentence. But these are quibbles. The final act *delivers*, with a twist that reframes everything and a climax that had me gripping my headphones. Rudd’s narration shines brightest here, her delivery of the last line—*“Some mirrors show you the past. Others show you the future.”*—giving me chills. If you’re tired of YA sci-fi that softens its edges, this is your antidote. Just don’t blame me if you start eyeing every reflective surface with suspicion afterward.