REVIEW: A Tale of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris

Official Synopsis: 

Alessandra D’Angeli is in need of an adventure. Tired of her sixteenth-century life in Italy and homesick for her time-traveling cousin, Cat, who visited her for a magical week and dazzled her with tales of the future, Alessandra is lost. Until the stars hear her plea. 

One mystical spell later, Alessandra appears on Cat’s Beverly Hills doorstep five hundred years in the future. Surrounded by confusing gadgets, scary transportation, and scandalous clothing, Less is hesitant to live the life of a twenty-first century teen…until she meets the infuriating—and infuriatingly handsome—surfer Austin Michaels. Austin challenges everything she believes in…and introduces her to a world filled with possibility. With the clock ticking, Less knows she must live every moment of her modern life while she still can. But how will she return to the drab life of her past when the future is what holds everything she’s come to love?

Pages: 320

Published by: Entangled Teen (August 6th, 2013)

Genre: YA romance

My rating for A Tale of Two Centuries:

This story was so cute! I loved it! Super sweet and funny! I loved Alessandra and loved seeing 21st century America from her 16th century Italian eyes and upbringing. I also love a character who changes, becomes a stronger and more developed person, so that was wonderful to see. The situations she had to face, the different words she had to learn made for some giggle-inducing scenes.

A few things that made me drop a star off of this seemingly, perfectly sweet book:

I'm not sure if I was overlooking things or if the descriptions were messing with my head, but there were times when I thought so much time had past and it turned out to be more or less time than I had thought. Also, Alessandra had only been in America for about a week before she appeared comfortable with 21 century customs. (SPOILERS) I found it particularly odd that she told her cousin that she would not wear sleeves that exposed her elbows, and then just a few days later she gained the confidence to wear a bikini in front of a boy. It was really anxious with the idea at first, and it was a cute scene that I actually really liked, but even I'm nervous to wear a bikini in the presence of a guy and Alessandra got over her nerves (and 16th century customs) rather quickly...Concerning Austin, I liked him, but he was a bit fluffy to me. And I thought his feelings developed reeeeally fast and deeply for Alessandra. It didn't seem the most natural to me.

Apart from those few things, I really enjoyed this story and the writing itself. It was a very cute and humorous read!

Recommended for readers who like: cute, YA romances.