It seems as though I am not having the best of luck when it comes to the YA releases of 2016. INTO THE DIM was yet another anticipated read of mine but I thought it was lacking in some areas, and frustrating in others. 
 I wanted to enjoy INTO THE DIM so much, and I have to admit it had a pretty good start. That quickly went downhill as we get to know our protagonist, Hope. In the first few pages, I liked Hope because her thought process was unique and she showed her vulnerability. But then the slut-shaming started. 
 This is made worse by the fact Hope is yet another beautiful girl who has no idea she is pretty. I put this one down at around 30% and there were already three mentions of Hope pretty much going, "Pretty? Who? Me? No wayyyyy." 
 Hope also doesn't make the brightest decisions, she becomes infatuated with strange boys taking her picture and agrees to go out with them after one meeting. It's no secret this book involves time travel, and when Hope finally discovers this, one of her first worries is whether or not she will still see the random picture-taking boy she met. Not, you know, time travel. 
 Effort was made in trying to set up the history and explain the possibility of time travel, which was nice, but also felt like an info-dump. There was also some time spent trying to develop the side characters, so in the beginning not a whole lot happens. Combine this with the random bits of history sprinkled in, and I found myself skimming. 
 When it comes to the time travel aspect itself, Hope's convenient photographic memory lets her know many languages, although it seems like the people back in the 1100's apparently speak in relatively the same way(?) Not entirely realistic. 
 If the time travel aspects of INTO THE DIM appeal to you, I would suggest PASSENGER by Alexandra Bracken or THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE by Heidi Heilig instead.