I’ve already reviewed Moonless and Soulless, the first two books in the Maiden of Time trilogy by Crystal Collier, and now it’s time to discuss the third book, Timeless. Timeless is by far the best book in the trilogy, but before I explain why, I’ll let the blurb tell you about the story:
Time is the enemy. In 1771, Alexia had everything: the man of her dreams, reconciliation with her father, even a child on the way. But she was never meant to stay. It broke her heart, but Alexia heeded destiny and traveled five hundred years back to stop the Soulless from becoming. In the thirteenth century, the Holy Roman Church has ordered the Knights Templar to exterminate the Passionate, her bloodline. As Alexia fights this new threat—along with an unfathomable evil, and her own heart—the Soulless genesis nears. But none of her hard-won battles may matter if she dies in childbirth before completing her mission. Can Alexia escape her own clock?
Spoiler-Free Review
I liked the second book better than the first, and Timeless is an even better book than Soulless was. Alexia has grown from a rather frustrating teenager into a woman I have the utmost respect for, and throughout the book her character grows even stronger and more impressive. She is faced with enormous challenges and overcomes them all with grace, despite also being rather pregnant.
The vivid visual details of every battle scene are exquisite, forming a movie in your head. The emotional turmoil Alexia goes through is deep and confounding. The things you–and Alexia–learn about the Passionate and the Soulless are both fascinating and disturbing.
Timeless is not the kind of book you devour in a single sitting, at least not if you want to understand its nuances. It is the kind of book that makes you stop every few chapters to run through a series of questions in your head. All of these questions are answered in the final chapters of the book, along with many questions from the previous books.
All in all, I loved this book and I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars.
You can purchase a copy of Timeless here.
Spoiler-Ful Review
I’m going to do my best to not be too spoiler-y because I want things to surprise you, but I do want to talk in a bit more detail about the story of Timeless. The most interesting thing about this book is that in many ways it is a direct reverse of the stories in the past two books. The Passionate are a rather long lived race, and in Timeless Alexia mentors many of the characters who mentored her in her own time. She helps them grow the way they helped her grow.
When I reviewed Soulless I discussed the often questionable nature of her relationship with her lover and eventual husband. Many of his behaviours seemed manipulative and kind of creepy, but in Timeless all of these behaviours are explained when he meets her in the thirteenth century: he couldn’t tell her anything about knowing her before without creating massive problems with the timeline. This was a masterful piece of writing that left me quite happy with both the character himself and his relationship with Alexia.
So once again, I would like to give Timeless a 4 out of 5 stars.
Purchase your copy of Timeless today!
*All Amazon links in this post are affiliate links and I received a free review copy of Timeless from Crystal Collier