From Where You Are: A Review of When the World Was Flat (And We Were in Love) by Ingrid Jonach

Buy on Amazon:  When the World was Flat (and we were in love)

(Goodreads Blurb)

Looking back, I wonder if I had an inkling that my life was about to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.

But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in love.

When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again. 

An epic and deeply original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.

Ok.  So, I had planned on loving this.  

I did not.

It started out well.  Sixteen year old Lillie Hart meets Tom Windsor-Smith and she falls deep.  Unfortunately, he doesn't.  While Lillie's  skin tingles and her heart pounds at the thought of him, Tom seems unfazed and indifferent to her.

Lillie's nights are busy with recurring nightmares where someone familiar is trying to kill her.  Odd shadows and hallucinations haunt Lillie during the day.

As Lillie gets to know Tom, she it constantly kept off kilter by his mood swings.  At times they seem to share special glances or "moments", and other times he tells her straight out that he doesn't want to be with her.

All of this is good and mysterious, but then you get to the part where you realize what the title means.  And that's where things fell apart for real for me.  The things that were happening and the mysterious visions were now explained, but to me they make even less sense.

Also, I don't think this author is American, but set her story in small town Nebraska.  Which wouldn't be a problem, but her language kept giving her away.  At one point, there were two ladies in a store pushing "prams".  While that may be the correct word in the author's country of origin, it gives her away and creates inconsistencies.  I think if you are going to set your story in a different country, then learn the language to make the story believable.  This wasn't the only time the language didn't match up, but its just an example.

The writing is good, and while I wasn't a fan of this story, I will probably take another chance on the author.