It Wasn't Always Like This

Name: It Wasn't Always Like This
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Author: Joy Preble
ISBN: 9781501919152

Author: Joy Preble

Narrator: Jennifer Grace

Unabridged: 8 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 05/17/2016

Categories: Children's Fiction, Fairy Tales, Children's Suspense, Children's Love & Romance

Synopsis

In 1916, Emma O Neill is frozen in time. After sampling an experimental polio vaccine brewed on a remote island off St. Augustine, Florida, she and her family stop aging as do the Ryans, her family's business partners. In a way, this suits Emma fine because she's in love with Charlie Ryan. Being seventeen forever with him is a dream. But soon a group of religious fanatics, the Church of Light, takes note. Drinking the elixir has made the O Neills and Ryans impervious to aging, but not to murder. When their families are massacred, Emma and Charlie are the only ones who escape with their lives. On the run, Emma is tragically separated from Charlie. For the next hundred years, she plays a cat-and-mouse game with the Church of Light and their descendants. She becomes a private investigator when a series of murders whose victims all bear more than a passing resemblance to her indicate that her enemies are closing in. Yet as the danger grows, so does Emma s hope for finding the boy she s certain is still out there . .

About Joy Preble

Joy Preble is the author of the popular and highly acclaimed Dreaming Anastasia series. A former English teacher, Joy grew up in Chicago and is a graduate of Northwestern University. She is now a full-time writer and lives with her family in Texas, where she has learned to say â€œyâ€™allâ€ without any hint of irony. A tireless advocate for literacy and great books, she is at the center of the all-important Texas YA scene.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sasha

3.7/5 stars Good story line but I wish there was more of a complete ending!......more

Goodreads review by jv

Before I even begin to address what this book is about, I must mention how it is presented. Emma shares her saga by keeping the reader with her for the present and reminiscing about the past. As a person who has been keeping secrets for a century or so, the deliberation and consideration with what a......more

Goodreads review by Aj the Ravenous Reader

Certainly not something you read every day. It Wasn’t Always Like This is a captivating YA novel that complexly reads like contemporary, mystery, fantasy and even historical. I was quite impressed and a bit sad that the book is underrated here on GR. The main premise has something to do with eternal......more

Goodreads review by Izzy

Emma O'Neill had done many things over many decades. Sometimes she felt she could barely remember it all. Much of it had been sad. An equal amount hadn't. At the beggining of the 20th century, two families in Florida drink a tea that is promised to protect them from polio—and not only it does tha......more

Goodreads review by Emma

I received a free copy of this book from Soho Teen. I had no obligation to review this book and all opinions are my own.......more