Friday Feature: Extracted

Welcome to the war. The Tesla Institute is a premier academy that trains young time travelers called Rifters. Created by Nicola Tesla, the Institute seeks special individuals who can help preserve the time stream against those who try to alter it. The Hollows is a rogue band of Rifters who tear through time with little care for the consequences. Armed with their own group of lost teens--their only desire to find Tesla and put an end to his corruption of the time stream. Torn between them are Lex and Ember, two Rifters with no memories of their life before joining the time war. When Lex's girlfriend dies during a mission, the only way he can save her is to retrieve the Dox, a piece of tech which allows Rifters to re-enter their own timeline without collapsing the time stream. But the Dox is hidden deep within the Telsa Institute, which means Lex must go into the enemy camp. It's there he meets Ember, and the past that was stolen from them both comes flooding back. Now armed with the truth of who they are, Lex and Ember must work together to save the future before the battle for time destroys them both again.

My thoughts:
I can't decide who I liked better, Lex or Ember. Both characters come alive and while they are essentially on opposite sides of this war, I couldn't choose between them. Not that I had to because Lex and Ember wind up working on the same side anyway. I loved how Ficklin and Jolley combined the concept of time travel with the way Lex and Ember are trying to remember their pasts. The two story lines overlapped perfectly and made it difficult to put the book down.

I also loved how the Tesla Institute rifters and the Hollows used different methods of time travel. It kept things interesting for both the reader and the characters who were trying to learn more about the people they were fighting with. But like I mentioned earlier, what made it impossible for me to get enough of this book was the way I was cheering along both sides. With the exception of one character who I could truly see as a villain, I fell for just about everyone in the story. I can't remember the last time a book made me care about so many characters at once.

This is a fast-paced read filled with adventure and emotion. Ficklin and Jolley are definitely two authors to watch.