Seen at Bookish Antics! 
 I couldn't tell you the last time I had this much fun reading a novel, I needed to read a book like Loop. Karen Akins's debut tackles time travel in a manner that is not only engaging and light-hearted, but still complex and intriguing. Akins fills Loop with snarky humor and dialogue without sacrificing any of the gritty, intricate details that are commonly associated with sci-fi novels. I devoured this book with a huge smile on my face and it totally made my day that much better. 
 Bree goes to a school for Shifters (time-travelers) and Transporters (they help time travelers coordinate their destinations). Her school assignments include time traveling to the past and delivering goods to the past, but she doesn't have the ability to change the past. When Bree accidentally kidnaps a boy named Finn, she gets entangled in the past and violates the shifter rules she's sworn to obey. Nothing is turning out like Bree expected and she is not endangering herself, but the lives of Finn and her mother. 
 I absolutely loved Bree, she was such a hilarious and brave main character who refused to let people push her around. When Finn storms into her life, acting like the sun revolves around him, Bree doesn't take his garbage and she refuses his request to protect her. Bree doesn't need a guy to protect her -- heck , she saves Finn a few times throughout the book and still has time to tell him off. Did I mention that she wolfs down french fries and has an irrational fear of squirrels? Bree is such a wonderful heroine and I loved watching her unravel the mysteries surrounding her mother. 
 The romance in Loop was one of my favorite aspects of the book because it had such a magical vibe to it. I loved the strange way that Akins brought our two characters together and how she defied typical romantic conventions when constructing Bree and Finn's romance. I was so happy that Akins didn't make Finn the perfect god-like love interest, she made him flawed and so damn likeable. It doesn't matter how infuriating or clingy Finn is, readers will absolutely love his character (even when they find out that he isn't the best kisser). 
 Loop introduces some extremely epic technology and time-travel concepts that aren't difficult to comprehend. There were so many cool devices in this novel that I just needed in my life and someone needs to get on making the Pods from these books ASAP. The tech here is extremely futuristic and imaginative -- these gadgets aren't the ones you remember from watching The Jetsons. Usually time-travel books are filled with so much timey-wimey concepts that my head starts to spin and everything seems so convoluted, but not in Loop. Sure, Akins does introduce a plethora of explanations to explain time-travel, but they're excellent in that they explain some features of it and leave the rest to the imagination. Explaining something completely just helps take all of the mystery and wonder out of it, plus it makes everything 1000x more complicated and mundane (a computer doesn't seem quite as amazing when you just think of it as wires and circuits). 
 I really had such a pleasant experience reading this novel from start to finish (despite the fact that the villain is slightly cartoonish). If you've already finished the Tempest trilogy, Loop is a perfect book to read as a follow-up because this book also has an irresistible mix of sci-fi and romance elements. I wish I could time-travel into the future so I could read the sequel now, where's a TARDIS when you need one?