Review: The Girl & the Machine by Beth Revis

Title: The Girl & the Machine

Author: Beth Revis

Publisher: Scripturient Books

Publishing Date: January 7, 2015

Pages/Format: 26, eBook
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Franklin can travel through time--but his abilities are limited. He can only go into his own past, never further back and never the future. 

Then Heather shows up. She says she's met the future him--and she can help him access his full potential in time travel, going anywhere in history or the future. 

But there's something ominous about her time machine... 

Book in One Word: SOGOOD.

For something so short, this took an awfully long time to read. Part of it may have been that I just wasn't in the mood or was worn out from school, but still. I should've been able to read this in one sitting.

"The Girl & the Machine" is a short story that's part of Beth Revis's The Future Collection, which is a compilation of some sci-fi stories. This story was...okay. I liked it at first, but then I lost interest. I think this would do much better as a longer story. I was really interested by the concept--Franklin's a time traveler, and a girl shows up saying she's met Future Franklin, and that she can help him out with some things. I thought that was pretty cool, but with the story being less than thirty pages it just wasn't enough. It needed more time for the story to progress.

As is, I found Franklin way too gullible and quick to believe, and some story twists didn't have enough buildup to give them any oomph. But as a longer story, maybe even a novella? This has more potential. We can actually see Franklin time traveling and see what he does and how he does it and how it makes him feel. He and Heather can spend more than a couple hours together too, which would be nice. It's kind of like I've seen the movie trailer, and I'm intrigued, but now I want the full length film.

This review is shorter because, well, this is a very short story. "The Girl & the Machine" definitely has its potential, but as a short story, it needs more time to create a story and keep the reader interested. The idea is good, the execution, not so much. Back to the time machine!

Did I like it? Eh.

Did I love it? No.

Would I reread it? No.

Would I purchase it? No.

Who would I recommend it to? Fans of Beth Revis, and people who like science fiction and time travel with some twists.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review, and that in no way sways my opinion of the book.