Skipshock shocked me. I don’t know what I was expecting. I knew I had to read it because I love everything time related, but wow. This is immersive and heart wrenching all at once. Keep reading this book review of Skipshock for my full thoughts.
Summary
Margo is a troubled schoolgirl. After the death of her father, she’s on her way to a new boarding school in a new city.
Moon is a salesman. He makes his living traveling through a series of interconnected worlds on a network of barely used train lines.
They never should have met. But when Margo suddenly appears one day on Moon’s train, their fates become inextricably linked. If Margo wants to survive, she has to pass as a traveling salesman, too—except it’s not that easy.
Move north on the train line and time speeds up, a day passing in mere hours. Move south and time slows down—a day can last several weeks. Slow worlds are the richest you live longer, your youth lasting decades. Fast worlds are sharp, cruel, and don’t have time for pleasantries. Death is frequent. Salesmen die young of skipshock. That is, if they’re not shot down by the Southern Guard first.
As Margo moves between worlds and her attachment to Moon intensifies, she feels her youth start to slip between her fingers. But is Moon everything he seems? Is Margo?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I am always here for a time manipulation story and Skipshock delivers. It’s my latest timeywimey obsession. The premise of this one is explosive. Not only is it a world where time moves quickly and slowly, but it also has societal politics and classes built into the fabric of the time. It asks us what we would do with a world that could move like that and how greed, corruption, and power would impact this ecosystem. Skipshock is, in many ways, a story about rebellion, hope, and injustice. But it’s also a story about love, self-discovery, and adventure.
Skipshock made my heart swoon, yearn, and break. It starts off this story about burn out, about the chance one person might have to break free, and becomes a story about love and friendship. About a cause, a people, and friends that find you even when you’re not expecting it. Then it becomes a story about trying to go home, to go back to the life we think we want, but knowing we’ve been irrevocably changed. And then it settles into a story about the unfair treatment and the fear, the lives lost and the cause which still burns.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
It’s dual POV which is a perfect choice to illustrate the character arc of Margo and Moon. Both characters who, for different reasons, ripped my heart out. Skipshock explores the violence against a people for what they can do, the loss of a parent, and the erasure which breaks people. Blending fantasy, mystery, and adventure, Skipshock may be one of my favorite books all year. Find Skipshock on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.