Book Review: Deluge

It's one thing to battle for life . . . but what do you do when death itself comes hunting? 

The Bettarinis and Forellis have found rich fulfillment together in medieval Italia. But after fighting off countless enemies, they now must face the worst foe of all. As the Black Death closes in upon them, threatening everything and everyone they hold dear, Lia and Gabi–and the knights they love–must dig deep within to decide how they might remain safe…and if they need to risk it all in order to truly live as they’re called.    Quoted from Goodreads

********************

I'm one of those people who was satisfied with The River of Time series after the original three books.  Sure, the next two shorts were fun, but I really looked at them as extras, and I sort of went into this with the same idea.  I'm still standing by the trilogy here, but this book really can't be called a novella.  I mean, it's somewhere around 400 pages!

So if the first three books are Gabi's story, the last few (they keep changing it, putting two novella's into one and calling it a book, so last two?) are Lia's.  The story's really split into two sections.  The first half we get more Bettarini time travelers to save, plus Lia's wedding. It's not until the second half where you hit the plague.  The novel itself skips something like three years between the first and second half and could have easily been two novellas. I almost wish it would have been.  The first half is happy.  We get new locations and characters (they go to Venice!).  There's the aforementioned wedding, and a separate adventure that is reminiscent of the first few books.

The second half is completely different.  Half of me is glad the author explored the Black Plague. I enjoyed knowing who lived and who died, especially since it's been a point of worry in every preceding book.  But part of me hated it.  She killed of some people I was really sad to see go, so now I can't un-know exactly who died and who survived.  Even the survivors struggle with what's happening, so we get all their depression with watching so many die on top of our own.

At the end of the day, though, if you're a fan of the series, I would absolutely read this book. We get lots of adventure, romance, and all the great characters we've come to love.  I loved the new obstacles, villains, and locations.  We get alternating POV between Gabi and Lia, which means more Marcello and Luca, which is always a plus. 

Besides how sad part of the book is (and really, you can't complain, since you know what this is going into it), my only complaint is the epilogue.  It's told from Gabi and Lia's kids POV, without any reference to their parents at all.  Sure, it's great to know that their kids grew up in relative peace and are close to each other and brave and strong, but I wanted to see more of the characters I loved, and we didn't get any.  Even if Lisa T. Bergren wanted to keep it from the kid's POV (which I'm fine with) I at least wanted them to see their parents, sort of let us know what's been happing in the last 15 years or so, but we don't get any of that.

Still, this is a fun, tragic adventure for characters I've grown to love.  I'm giving it a high 3.5 stars (and rounding it up to 4 on Goodreads).  If you're a fan of the series, you really should read this.  Even if you're not, go check out the first book. Despite the horrible "teenage slang" the author throws in there, it's an exciting, breathtaking, romantic read.

Book Review: Emerald Green

Gwen has a destiny to fulfill, but no one will tell her what it is.

She’s only recently learned that she is the Ruby, the final member of the time-traveling Circle of Twelve, and since then nothing has been going right. She suspects the founder of the Circle, Count Saint-German, is up to something nefarious, but nobody will believe her. And she’s just learned that her charming time-traveling partner, Gideon, has probably been using her all along.

This stunning conclusion picks up where Sapphire Blue left off, reaching new heights of intrigue and romance as Gwen finally uncovers the secrets of the time-traveling society and learns her fate.  Quoted from Goodreads

*******************

I loved this book. Oh, it's not perfect by any means.  Honestly, there were parts that were kind of disappointing and things that bugged me.  Still, whether it's the writing, Gwen's voice, or the whole time-travel/chosen/prophecy aspect, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  This is one of those times when I emphasize that the stars are given based on how much I liked something, not literary merit. And again, I loved it.

First off, this series really is  one that should be read in one sitting.  The first two books don't really build to any sort of climax, they just end, leaving you waiting for the next installment.  So, if you haven't started this series, this is the perfect time.  If you have and were forced to suffer, well, the third book is here!

Basically, if you like the first two books, you'll love this one.  If you didn't, then don't even bother reading it.  Everything wrong with the first two books is still wrong here. There really isn't much more action.  I'm not totally convinced Gwen is even the hero of her own story.  I'm afraid a secondary character may have usurped that role, or at least got to put the last piece of the puzzle together (metaphorically speaking, of course). And the ending, while mostly satisfying, was hardly the climax I expected after three books.

So why do I love this book?  Gwen.  I love her character.  Sure, she cries way too much and wallows in her boy issues, but she's also a genuine sixteen-year-old girl. Her voice is perfect, and for all the training/warning she's been given about what is happening to her, I think she does an amazing job sorting through things and solving mysteries. I love her relationship with her mother and grandfather.  I absolutely adore Leslie.  She's the perfect best friend without falling into the YA stereotype.  As for Gideon, he's frustrating, with plenty of faults, but I still like his and Gwen's relationship.  In so many ways they're perfect for each other. As for the bad guy, well, you hate him from the beginning, but I adored what they did with his character in this book. 

Then there's everything outside Gwen.  I love the prophecies, the secret society that has literally waited for her for hundreds of years.  I adore Lucy and Paul, their opening and closing chapters are some of the most fun in the whole book.  I live time travel, the things from the first book that are wrapped up in the third.  Everything is so well planned, you know that author mapped everything out before tackling the first book.

So that's why I love this book.  Everything is perfectly crafted. The whole idea is just fun and well thought out.  Plus, there are some amazing characters, and maybe that's really what I love so much about this series. Gwen's family, friends, and even enemies are whole, realistic, and oozing personality, so even the minor characters have substance instead of simply being place holders.

So, back to what I said in the beginning, I love this book.  Should you read it? Yes. Is it perfect? No, but I really don't care.  It's one of those fun, delightful reads that I know I'm going to visit again and again, simply because I love the world and the characters so much.  I'm going to overlook the slightly disappointing climax and give it a solid 4.5 stars based on likability alone.   Because, really, the series has that undefinable something abut it that I still haven't quite been able to put my finger on but that makes me love it.  I know that's unfair in a review, so you'll have to read the series yourself and see what you think.

Book Review: All Our Yesterdays

"You have to kill him." Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside. 

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was. All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.   Quoted from Goodreads

********************

Maybe I'm being overly generous because I'm still caught up in the world of All Our Yesterdays, but I love this book.  I mean, did you read that premise?  I was sold on that alone. Add to that the excellent cover, and I was a fan already.  Time travel books, if they're done well, are some of my favorite, and this is no exception.  I love the idea behind it, the contrast and similarities between Em and Marina, and the way the story plays out.

The story starts out with a bang and never really lets up.  We first see Em in prison. Everything is bleak, the world is broken, and  then she gets a message form herself.  From the future.  I mean, great hook right there.  

I loved the contrast between Marina and Em.  Em is dedicated. She's been on the run, tortured, and imprisoned for months.  Marina is the epitome of rich and spoiled, with shallow friends and an unrequited crush on the boy next door. Then something happens, and you get to see from Marina's POV the beginning of Em's world. It makes Marina a little bit harder to connect to than Em at first, but she grows on you.  Plus, her plot line is so interesting, you can't help but be excited when we see the story through her eyes. I won't go into too many details because I don't want to spoil anything, but I loved the duel point of view.

As for the time travel, itself, it's kind of fun.  I love the list.  The crossed out list of fifteen other things Em has tried to change the past besides killing him.  I love the loop. The way she's lived the same four years over and over again, each one a tiny bit different, but ultimately leading to the same place.  Sure, it's kind of convenient the way time itself is a player, healing and preventing catastrophic paradoxes, but it's kind of interesting, too.  It's a fun little spin, you just have to have an open mind.

Besides just time travel, we get lots of different kinds of action. The parts from Marina's POV come across more like a political thriller, full of government conspiracies, assassinations, and the secret service.  Em's is all about the time-travel side of things: watching how things change, her fears of loosing the bits of good that came with the bad, and eventually the end of this version of herself.  Plus, there are a lot of fun reveals.  Some, of course, are pretty easy to guess, but there were a few I wasn't expecting, and with time travel, that's always fun.

As for the romance, it's deceptively complicated and surprisingly sweet.  We get to watch as one relationship begins to fall apart while another one grows. You know where the book is heading, and while your heart sort of breaks for the characters, there's hope there too.  

All in all, I'm going to give this a strong 4 stars, which basically means everyone should read this.  It's an excellent beginning to a new series  and I can't wait to see what happens next.  Everything really does sort of wrap up at the end, but there's a few loose holes I can see leading towards the next book. Still, while I can't wait to see where the author takes this, it's also a satisfying book on its own---so you kind of get the best of both worlds.

Book Review: Infinity Glass

The stakes have risen even higher in this third book in the Hourglass series.

The Hourglass is a secret organization focused on the study of manipulating time, and its members — many of them teenagers -­have uncanny abilities to make time work for them in mysterious ways. Inherent in these powers is a responsibility to take great care, because altering one small moment can have devastating consequences for the past, present, and future. But some time travelers are not exactly honorable, and sometimes unsavory deals must be struck to maintain order.

With the Infinityglass (central to understanding and harnessing the time gene) at large, the hunt is on to find it before someone else does.
But the Hourglass has an advantage. Lily, who has the ability to locate anything lost, has determined that the Infinityglass isn't an object. It's a person. And the Hourglass must find him or her first. But where do you start searching for the very key to time when every second could be the last?  Quoted from Goodreads

********************

Expectations make a big difference.  For example, I didn't know quite what to expect with Hourglass, and ended up really enjoying it.  Then Timepiece came along.  I hadn't bothered to read the back of the book.  I trusted the author, so what was the point? Book two in the series, what else did I need to know? Suddenly it wasn't from Em's POV, which irritated me, and was definitely suffering from sophomore slump.  It wasn't that it was so bad, just not what I expected.  Kaleb's powers weren't nearly as cool as Em and Michael's, and after the ending of the first book, I was hoping for more time traveling.

I didn't quite know what to make of this third book.  From the blurb I couldn't tell who would be narrating, so I wasn't sure quite what to expect.  Honestly, this may be the best book in the series yet, or at least on par with the first one.

What we get is Hallie and Dune, duel POV, and I loved them both.  Dune always cracked me up as the body-building nerd with power over water.  Okay, he's more than that, but that was my impression from the first two books.  Hallie is our delightful new character and the titular infinityglass.  She's strong, sassy, and a strange mix of sheltered and jaded.  She goes after what she wants, and she's confident in herself.  It's an excellent mix, and I loved both of them.

This story is, in some ways, more action-packed than the first two books.  Most of the world-building has already been done (though we do move locations this time around), so there's less explaining and more happening. There were a few twists I wasn't expecting (and not all of them came at the end, either).  Plus, the ending was excellent, perfect even.

We also get to see all our favorite characters from the last two books show up. Everyone helps, though the final showdown is focused around Hallie and Dune (they are our main characters this time around). It's fun to see how everyone works together after their individual happily ever afters at the end of their respective books. Plus, we get the epilogue from Em's POV, bringing the story full circle.

The pacing is good, with plenty of internal and external conflict. There's Hallie's complex relationship with her parents, Dune's transition from thinking of the infinityglass as an object to a person.  Their budding romance, and Hallie's changing abilities.  This book kept me turning pages long after I should have been doing something else (like sleeping or something).

All in all, this is a must read for fans of the series, and if you haven't picked this up before, you really should now that it's over.  I love the way it wrapped everything up and the different ways their abilities came into play.  it's a strong 3.5 stars for me, 4 if I take into account the series as a whole.  Now I can't wait to see what the author comes out with next.

Amanda Monday: Ruby Red

Earlier this month Rachel posted some books coming out in October (click here).  Among these books was Sapphire Blue, book #2 of the Edelstein Trilogy, and sequel to Ruby Red.  I absolutely cannot wait for this book to come out.  If it's anything like Ruby Red, it will be well worth the LONG wait.  So I thought that for this week's "Amanda Monday", I would introduce the first book in the series, in hopes that you would read it just in time for the next book in the installment to come out.  May you all be as addicted as I am!

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.   - Quoted from Goodreads

First of all, let me just say that Goodread's summary does not do the best job of captivating how great this book is.  While it does mention time-travel, mystery, and romance, it leaves out secret societies, a deliciously evil villain, magic, and ghosts.  To quote the movie "The Princess Bride",  this book, "has it all."  

But.  None of this would have been enough for me to love this book if I didn't absolutely love Gwyneth herself.  Gwyneth is so like-able because she is absolutely real.  She is smart (without perfect grades).  She is pretty (without that being her greatest asset).  She has friends (and a few "frenemies").  She has the teenage love/annoyed relationship with her family (loves her mom, tolerates her siblings, dislikes her grandma, and is ignored by her cousin).  But most of all, she is confident and funny.  She is the perfect dose of common sense and normalcy to balance out a world that is anything but.

Author Kersten Gier does a marvelous job of creating characters that are both modern and decidedly less so.  I particularly enjoy how Gwyneth interacts with them.  Her modern sensibilities mixed with old-fashioned values and morals held by so many of the people she meets in the past create plenty of funny moments.  Gier also does a good job with weaving a plot around the ever-tricky time-travel factor.  She sets up rules and parameters within the world of time-travel so that the reader does not feel like the plot is contrived.  And the romance?  The villain?  The action?  All excellent.  

This book earns the prized 5-star rating from me, both for how much I like it and how well it's written.  I don't want to oversell it, but, well, I just love it.  Read it, so that when Oct. 30 rolls around, you will be ready for this:

Happy Monday!

Book Review: Time Between Us

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time.  Text and Image from Goodreads

---------------------

This book could have gone so many ways.  It could have been a time-travel book with a little romance.  It could have been a look into the world of 1995. It could have been a cultural comparison between 1995 and 2012, sort of a timeless vs. trendy. It could have explored the moral dilemma about what, if anything, you should change when you can change history.  Honestly, I kind of wanted a bit more of the above. While it explored all of these a little bit, it is basically a cute romance, with a little bit of everything else thrown in. Don't get me wrong, I like romance. In my opinion, every book should have at least a sprinkling just for fun.  I just wanted a little bit more of the other stuff.

Still, this book is a great read.  First off, I liked visiting 1995 again. I wasn't as old as Anna is, but it was fun to remember life without cell phones or ipods and to revisit the music of the time.  I admit, most of it I didn't recognize because I was a too young, but some of them I did, and others I looked up.  What's the fun of traveling back to 1995 if you can't immerse yourself in the world?  It also made me grateful I wasn't in High School in 1995.  I can hardly imagine planning a trip without the internet.

Yes, this book made me desperately want to travel.  I totally sympathize with Anna, who has her tiny clump of pins stuck in a map on her wall, while she dreams of seeing the world.  Plus, now I want to visit all the places Anna and Bennett visited (basically, Bennett can visit anywhere in the world and take anyone with him. Yes, I am jealous).  They sound amazing. 

Beyond the setting, I really liked all of the characters. I loved Anna's parents, who were always there for her, and her best friends, Emma and Justin.  Then there's Anna and Bennett.  The best part of their relationship and characters is how they complimented each other.  Anna wanted what Bennett always had, and Bennett longs for a life more similar to Anna's. Bennett is the one with the power, so it could have easily been tilted in his favor, but as their relationship progressed, it rarely felt that way. From the beginning he tried to give Anna a choice, and I appreciated that.

What probably frustrated me most about this book was the ending.  Not the ending, ending. that was perfect, but the climax leading up to the ending.  I won't give it away, but it seemed a little contrived to me.  I understand Tamara Ireland Stone wanted Anna to be put in a certain situation and grow from it.  That's great.  I like what she learned and became because of it, and I think it was important. However, I still don't quite buy how it was set up.  No reason was given for why things worked out the way they did, both for good and for bad.  Plus, I felt the story line with the sister needed to be fleshed out a bit more.  It gave Bennett an excuse to be where he was, but it was too easily resolved (dismissed).

All in all, this book was a fun 3 star read. Stone is a good writer, and I look forward to reading more from her.  I loved the time travel aspects and a view into the world of my childhood (wanted more of them).  I liked Anna and Bennett's relationship, and I loved the very end.  Just go into it knowing this book is 3/4 high school romance and 1/4 time traveling adventure, and you'll love it.

Book Review: River of Time Series

Gabriella has never spent a summer in Italy like this one. 

Remaining means giving up all she's known and loved . . . and leaving means forfeiting what she's come to know--and love itself. Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Bentarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives with their parents, famed Etruscan scholars, among the romantic hills. In Book One of the River of Time series, Gabi and Lia are stuck among the rubble of medieval castles in rural Tuscany on yet another hot, boring, and dusty archeological site, until Gabi places her hand atop a hand print in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces. 

There she comes to be rescued by the knight-prince Marcello Falassi, who takes her back to his father's castle--a castle Gabi has seen in ruins in another life. Suddenly Gabi's summer in Italy is much, much more interesting. But what do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world? Quoted from Goodreads

--------------------

Today I'm going to do something different, something I probably won't do very often because, let's face it, I can't really afford to squander 5 books in one review, but here it is.  Today I am reviewing the River of Time series by Lisa T. Bergren.

Okay, first the best part of this series: It is over!  That doesn't sound very nice, and she may write another add on, but the original trilogy is finished, so no waiting, no picking up the third book and trying desperately to remember what happened in the first two.  The trilogy is complete, and you get two novellas that serve as a sort of bonus features/epilogue kind of thing, tying up loose ends and giving us another glance into Gabi's world.

This series is just fun. I love the idea of experiencing the past, of meeting people whose way of life and even way of thinking is vastly different from our own. I liked Gabi and Lia, the way they handle the obsticles put in front of them and their willingness to help those they love. Gabi makes a good narrator because she comes from our time, so the reader learns along with her. She is impulsive, headstrong, caring, and committed, and I enjoyed her as a character.  Plus, she has Marcello, who, let's face it, is sweet, brave, and ridiculously patient with this odd girl from the future.

I'd call this series historical-lite because it reads more like a movie than a lot of historical fiction I've read.  Don't get me wrong, the setting is in place, but the author doesn't focus on the minutia of life back then.  Everything is more plot driven than detail oriented, so if you're looking for a fun adventure, this is it.  If you want to learn more about daily life in fourteenth-centuary Italy, you might want to keep searching.

Personally, I like the battles. There is a lot of great fighting, running, and rescuing, and Gabi and Lia are right in the thick of it.  While that may be stretching believability a little bit, I like a girl who can fight for herself and defend the people she loves.  I also enjoyed how fragile life is in this world. Okay, that sounds morbid, but I don't mean it like that. One of the big themes is to live in the moment, not in an yolo sort of way (and sorry, but I sort of think yolo is the carpe diem for stupid people), but in a don't let your fear of the future stop you from embracing the present sort of way.

Now, were the books perfect?  No.  Honestly, when Gabi uses slang, it sort of makes me cringe.  It reads like a mom trying to sound like a teenager to me---not always, but there were a few really bad moments. The time travel mechanics are kind of weak and never explained very well. Plus, the whole warrior girls from the future who also speak Italian and Latin are kind of stretching incredulity, but suspend your disbelief.  The adventure is absolutely worth it.

I really liked these books.  They are fun, plain and simple.  They have the triumph of good over evil, true love conquers all, and a belief in destiny, all of which are the core of really fun escapes. As far as how much I liked the series, I have to give it 4 stars.  Writing . . . that's probably more of a 2. It's kind of like the movie version of  The Princess Bride (but not a comedy).  You know there are ridiculous problems (and some of the sets are really fake), but you love it so much you just don't care.

Book Review: Erasing Time

In this high-action and romantic futuristic adventure, there is no escape from the future for two contemporary girls pulled out of their own time.

When twins Sheridan and Taylor wake up 400 years in the future, they find a changed world: domed cities, no animals, and a language that’s so different, it barely sounds like English. And the worst news: They can’t go back home.

The twenty-fifth-century government transported the girls to their city hoping to find a famous scientist to help perfect a devastating new weapon. The moblike Dakine fights against the government, and somehow Taylor and Sheridan find themselves in the middle. The only way to elude them all is to trust Echo, a guy with secrets of his own. The trio must put their faith in the unknown to make a harrowing escape into the wilds beyond the city.

Full of adrenaline-injected chases and heartbreaking confessions, Erasing Time explores the strength of the bonds between twins, the risks and rewards of trust, and the hard road to finding the courage to fight for what you believe in. Quoted from Goodreads

--------------------

Ah, I love Janette Rallison . . . I mean C.J. Hill.    I love finding an author that I completely trust, knowing I will like whatever they write, no matter what genra.  It doesn't always happen. Often I'll find a book I love, only to have it be a one hit wonder.  I'm not saying that the author still isn't writing, but that no book comes close to the first one.  I won't give names, but luckily C.J. Hill isn't one of those authors.

Erasing Time was excellent.  Think dystopia, time travel, sci/fi, mistaken identity, and romance all rolled up into one.  How could I not absolutely enjoy this book.

Let's start with the language.  Yes, language, and not the %*@# kind.  Sheridan and Taylor are sucked 400 years into the future, and, shock!, the language has changed.  They speak a kind of garbled/evolved english/spanish hybrid, which, incidentally, is why they meet Echo, a young historian/linguist who specialized in their time period and translates for them.  I really liked this aspect.  Maybe there are tons of books out there that deal with this issue, but most time travel books I've read kind of gloss over it, or they only go back a few decades or centuries, so they are still easily understood, or there is a mystical reason that whoever time travels can speak whatever language they encounter.  

Okay, rant over.  

Basically Erasing Time is one of the most realistic dystopia books I've ever read.  I liked the worldbuilding in this book, and language and symbols are central to that worldbuilding. Not only did the language evolve, but so many phrases that we say today, like "jump the shark" or "out of the frying pan, into the fire" didn't make sense, so Taylor and Sheridan could have entire conversations that no one else understood even if they did understand English.  I thought it was fun.

Then there are the characters.  I loved Sheriddan and her regular girl thrust into crazy circumstances take on what happened.  Taylor, her twin, while being a great contrast, is too smart to be easily relatable if we were seeing the story through her point of view.  Then there's Echo.  I loved how ambiguous his character was, even from his point of view.  He is able to keep secrets from the reader, even though we get to see into his head. Also he has a tragic past and an unstable present. Score.

Now we get to the conflict.  Controling/Orwellian type government?  Check.  Sinister crime family/mob?  Check.  Crazy, one armed killers circling the city?  Check.  I love when there's realistic peril from multiple sources.  Sheridan and Taylor are literally thrown into a world they don't understand, and the more they learn about it, the less they are sure they can trust anyone.  

I'm awarding this book a solid 4 stars and recomending it to just about everyone.  Now go, read, and enjoy. Oh, and there is an excellent plot twist. Let me know if you see it coming, because while I probably should have, I totally didn't.

Quotes I enjoyed:

She saw a stark white room and a dozen peole who looked like clowns who had gone bad.

Well, there you had it.  In the future, people assulted their hair with color but kept their floors pristine.  All those years of civilization were not wasted.

 "You said you wanted to study literature in school.  I should have known that wasn't true.  You expect me to believe colleges gave out degrees for reading novels?"