Carla Malden

Seventeen-year-old Mari, a self-proclaimed photography nerd yearning to attend Yale, finds herself, and her relationship with her parents, transformed when she time travels to 1967 and falls in love.

Shine Until Tomorrow

Chiara Vitale Zelaia

Sometimes a cute contemporary story is just what one needs to get lost into. I enjoy them from time to time in between fantasy reads, especially the short and sweet kind with a cute romance. SHINE UNTIL TOMORROW is definitely that kind of story, but with a twist: we have time travel!

The story follows high school student Mari. She doesn’t have many friends, her parents are divorced and Mari is determined to escape the unraveling of her personal life by pouring her energy into schoolwork and the prospect of college. After a fight with her mother, Mari has an accident that gives her life an unexpected twist: she finds herself back in time to 1967, where she meets a colorful cast of characters and where the majority of the story is set. This trip back in time changes Mari, but to find out how...you’ll have to read the book!

Shine Until Tomorrow was exactly the kind of story that I would love to see in a movie. The light tone makes for a fun atmosphere, but though this is a very easy and light read, it’s also filled with meaningful lessons for Mari and the reader. The events of the story unfold in a few days, but they were enough to make me fall in love with the characters. Naturally, being me, I was especially invested in the blooming romance between Mari and Jimmy, the leader of the hippie wannabe band she encounters in the past. Jimmy had all the characteristics of the perfect book boyfriend: he’s positive, he’s kind and he’s generous. Though the romance is a bit on the insta-love side, I didn’t mind because I loved the banter and chemistry between him and Mari and how she learned to loosen up and live life not just through the lens of her camera, but in the moment, in the short time they spent together.

This book had all the feels, from the happy ones to the funny ones to the ones that make your eyes glisten with tears. I definitely recommend it to all lovers of contemporary reads and fun romances. Also, time travel. Who doesn’t love that?

Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of the book to review.

Maria Elena Vitale Zelaia

Actual Rating: 4.5

If I had to describe this book in a few words, I’d use “pleasantly surprising”. I had such a fun time reading this that I was sad when it was over. I might have also shed a tear during the epilogue, but I won’t go into too many details because my aim here is not to spoil. 

Let me start by saying that I have the worst memory when it comes to synopses. By the time I actually start reading the book, I have most likely forgotten what the book is about except for very abstract elements, which is what happened with this book. I don’t mind. It makes reading that much more interesting because I’m mostly going in blind. The experience for this book was very entertaining. 

Shine Until Tomorrow begins like your classic high school drama. Nerdy student with not many friends and a No Nonsense attitude who has her eye fixed on the prize: getting to college. Besides that, Mari’s personal life is spiraling out of control. Her parents are divorced, she can’t really stand her mother’s boyfriend and her father is able to make less and less time for her between his work and his new girlfriend. Following an argument with her mother, Mari runs out of the house and has a very Freaky Friday-like accident that drags her back to 1967. 

Time travel? Yes, please!

The majority of the book is set in 1967, though the events take place in a short span of days. Nevertheless, the author does an amazing job at setting the atmosphere and having you connect to the characters. Mari meets a group of young people—a band, no less—who very much embrace the hippie life. Every characters leave an impression, but the one who stands out the most is Jimmy, the band’s leader. Jimmy’s positive attitude, kindness and generosity make him impossible not to love. Mari agrees, because she does fall for him. The short time she gets to spend with Jimmy and the rest of the band changes Mari for the better. She learns to say what she means, to live life and not just stand by and watch it happen through her camera’s lens. To think of more than just the next objective and let herself love. The scenes with Jimmy were my favorites. Their banter is fun and sweet, and everything was all the more dramatic by the knowledge that Mari would have to eventually return to her time.

I recommend this to anyone, especially contemporary readers, who want a quick read and a sweet story. Shine Until Tomorrow is a story that touched me deeply, and it will stay with me for a long time.

Shine Until Tomorrow

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