TIME-TRIPPING OVER YOU

Two time travelers fall for each other as they search for answers and a cure to stop themselves from falling into the past.

Aspiring astrophysicist Silas Turner lives at the whims of the universe. One moment, he’s a college student at the start of his STEM degree, and the next he’s thrust through time, forced to relive hours or sometimes days from his childhood, before he came out as transgender, with no control over when he returns to the present day. The time-traveling episodes started when he was 13, and ever since, Silas has kept everyone at a distance as he tracks the data, seeking a pattern that never emerges. Like Silas, Jude Forrester is trans, and while he can’t control his sudden trips to the past, he longs to return to the night he ruined everything, hoping to fix a mistake and set his life back on course. The boys’ lives intertwine when a Jude in the past meets a Silas from the future who promises that together they’ll find a cure. This time-bending romance alternates between the voices of Silas, a biracial (Black and white) boy with ADHD, and Jude, a biracial (Filipino and white) boy with depression. Although the portrayal of university-level science classes and Silas’ time-travel research stretches the limits of plausibility, the suspense and strong pacing keep the story engaging. The romance offers affirming aro-ace representation and an appealing, high-tension, prickly sweet dynamic.

A diverting and endearing debut.