When the World Was Flat (and we were in Love) By Ingrid Jonach

When the World Was Flat (and we were in Love) By Ingrid Jonach 4 STARS

Synopsis:
When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.
But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in love.
When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again. 
An epic and deeply original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.

* I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review 

Overall- WOW. I dont even know what to think. Im still processing. This book took me by surprise. After reading the synopsis I was hooked. I had to read this book. At about 10% I was intrigued but I little confused as to where the story was going. At 30% I was getting involved but still a little skeptic. By 50% I was HOOKED. No way did I see these curveballs. I am so impressed by the authors imagination and ability to put this down on paper, creating such a great world and amazing characters. This book reminds me a little of Grasping at Eternity, and a little of the butterfly effect. And if you like the Unraveling, this has that aspect to it as well. 

Ill be honest though, there is a great deal of world and character building through the first half of the book, and very little science fiction. HOWEVER, stick it out! You will not be disappointed. This is one of those books, where after Ive read it, and know the ending, I want to re-read it, so I can see all the hints the author has magnificently crafted and placed throughout the novel, unbeknownst to the reader until everything comes together in the end. This story was not only beautifully written but woven together with great care and imagination. Surely will stay with me for a while! 

Cover: Dark and Intriguing 
Rating: PG or PG-13
Overall: Pretty good! 
Characters: Jo, Sylv, Jackson, Tom and Lillie 
Page Turner: halfway through YES
Series Cont.? No
Recommend: Yes
Book Boyfriend: Tom
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Sex Scenes: NO
Setting: Nebraska high school 

Plot--When the World was Flat is an interesting take of high school drama and love. And I mean REALLY interesting. It is very difficult for me to put into words what this book did to me. I wouldnt say the book is Epic. But it was captivating and monumental. What makes this book great though is the development and interweaving of the purpose and premise of the book through out the book as a whole without giving away the ending. While reading the novel its easy to recognize some of these points in retrospect, but at the time, Im feeling like the main character, Im sensing what she sense and feeling her feelings. It isnt until we get towards the end of the book, that I realize, holy crap the author wove all that into the whole book and THATS the ENDING. WOAH. I needed time for everything to sink in. 

When I originally read the book, I thought to myself, wow, this is a lot of background. This is kind of immature, boring, blah...but then there always these moments that kept me going. And looking back, after knowing the ending and the purpose. Im in awe. The author's pace was perfect. The style (for this age group) was also great. Ah I want to unknow the ending so I can re-read it!!!   

Characters

Elise Gatien as Lillie

Lillie --Ah my Lillie. I liked her. I liked that over time her character developed in so many ways. In some ways its hard to explain without giving anything away, but overall her character truly developed over the course of the book from a young girl just living, to a young woman falling in love and then dealing with the backlash of that love and the consequences of her actions. A coming of age novel with a sci-fi twist. I appreciated her juvenile behavior, beacuse it reminds the reader that she is a teenager, and will make mistakes, and learn as she goes. Shes naive but does attempt to become less so. 

Steven McQueen as Tom

Oh Tom--Tom is so handsome, and loyal. Getting to know him was so frustrating at times, which is of course explained, finally. But it all makes sense. His loyalty and devotion is charming, and beautiful, I think he is quite the gentlemen and friend. I found his development different from the norm, he progressed as a character to Lillie, as she was interested, I was interested, as she was intrigued, or mad, or in love, I felt it too, without actually knowing or falling in love with Tom, all the while I fell in love with Lillie loving him and his undying devotion and love. It was such a timeless story, my heart goes out to Tom. **swoons**

Supporting Cast--

AnnaLynn McCord as Sylv 

Jo and Sylv--I found these two girls to be really interesting. The dynamic that they created was what took this book to that next level. The interactions between the three and the changes the group and girls as individuals go through throughout the book are not only coming of age related but were so interesting when you through in the sci fi aspect. Once you begin to use the knowledge from the last half of the book to rethink the first half their roles and development become more interesting.  

Shay Mitchell as Jo 

Jackson- I found Jackson to be a good additional character (same with Melissa) these are characters that I enjoy because they are necessary to propel the novel and move forward with not only the plot point but also the character development for the main characters.

Jackson