Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: The Exchange Student
AUTHOR: Mark Allan Gunnells
PUBLISHER: Etopia Press
LENGTH: 327 pages
BLURB:
Sometimes love lives in the past…
In an alternate 2014, time travel is commonplace, regulated by the government. 17-year-old Trevor Bartley has been selected to be an exchange student to the year 1963 to study the civil rights era. The rules: do nothing that could alter the natural flow of time. But when he meets his host family, he finds himself incredibly drawn to 17-year-old Nick Keaton. In his own time, Trevor would have pursued his feelings without a second thought, but in 1963, when an entire race was subjected to violence and hate, pursuing his feelings openly would be dangerous in the extreme. And that was if Nick were even open to the idea.
Until it becomes clear that he is.
But if things aren’t complicated enough, Trevor soon finds himself caught up in a terrorist plot of murder and political intrigue which could send the natural timeline careening off in dangerous directions, and could have life or death consequences—or worse—for everyone.
REVIEW:
I’m a big fan of time-travel. I am not a big fan of YA. So I knew going in that this book was probably going to be a mixed bag for me. But there are not enough time-travel m/m books out there, so I thought I would give it a go–even if this one is plagued by teenagers.
After months of testing and intensive screening, Trevor Bartley has won a place in the Time Travel Exchange Program. He is excited to be visiting 1963, and witnessing a world on the brink of social change. Trevor had prepared himself for six months without his family and being immersed in a world that is both vastly different from home but oddly similar. He was, however, not prepared to fall for Nick Keaton, the son of the couple that would be housing Trevor in 1963.
That year might be the beginning of a social movement that would shape the country for decades, but even Trevor knows that life as a homosexual teenager in ’63 would be very hard. If not downright dangerous. Not to mention the fact that he is going to be going back home in a matter of months. But he cannot fight the attraction…especially when he finds his feelings returned.
Then something goes wrong with the timeline, and Trevor finds himself trying desperately to catch a terrorist and stop a plot that could very well change everything he knows about his home. Because if he can’t he might just end up losing everything, both there and back in 1963.
Despite my general dislike of YA, teenagers, and all the angst that is usually circling around both, I found myself actually liking this story. The characters were great and the story was interesting enough that I was more than willing to put up with all the teenagers in it.
It was interesting how everyone knew about time-travel in this book. Everyone, not just the people from the ‘future.’ I wish this aspect had been gone into a bit more, since I was unsure how this went about happening. Does everyone, in all of the history of humanity, know about it? Was there some big announcement at multiple points in time? If they really wanted to keep the Revisionists from altering major points in history why did they let everyone know about time-travel? Surely the more people that know about it, the more chances there are of people wanting to change things all over the timeline. I just wish it was explained a little bit better. I know it has to be vague on the ‘how’ of time-travel, but a little more clarification of the ‘whys’ might have been nice.
I liked (2/3 of) the Keaton family, and loved how it was not what I think a stereotypical white, middle-class, family would be like in 1963. Granted, there was a lot there that I assumed would be going on, just twisted around nicely to make it new. I did find Mrs. Keaton’s repeated use of the n-word a bit annoying, but that is mainly just my general distaste for the word in general. I loved Mr. Keaton, and loved watching him find his backbone. And that it was not an automatic thing, but a series of events forcing himself to stand up for his son, as well as Trevor and himself, was nice.
I was a little thrown by how quickly Nick threw himself into his relationship with Trevor, though. I am under the assumption that people finding out that they were gay would lead to some pretty nasty ramifications. And yet they act like it is nothing. Maybe it is just that whole ‘I’m invincible’ thing that comes with being a teen, but I found it odd how at ease Nick was with kissing Trevor out in the open, or going on dates with him. I just thought he would be a bit more reticent to show open affection, knowing that that affection could get them both in trouble.
And while I was really enjoying the whole Revisionist plot thing, and loved how it end up, I was with Nick on Trevor’s whole obsession with ‘finding the truth.’ It was a bit over the top. But then again, I think it was supposed to be. I have a general dislike of stories where ‘random dude with no training in detective work at all somehow magically solves all the crime in the world,’ so it was nice to see that this book avoided that.
There is one thing, though, that I didn’t particularly care for: the end. It just…gah. It was not a bad ending. It was a plausible ending that wrapped everything up. It was just so freaking depressing. If you do not like books that are not HEA or HFN, this is not going to be the book for you. I get why it ended like that. I might even like it a bit, but there is a reason I read romance novels, and that is because I like my HEAs.
This book was good. It was easily able to get me over my dislike of YA (at least for the length of the book), and I enjoyed reading it quite a bit. If it had a bit more world building, or even more of the social-change aspect that I expected going into this based on the blurb, I would have rated it a bit higher…but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like what I got. And even if the ending left me running for fluff, I do get why it ended like that. Maybe. Part of me can’t help but hope that we get a sequel and that everyone lives happily ever after and skips off into the sunset.
RATING: 
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