From a concerning content standpoint, your decision on this book is likely going to come down to one primary topic. By far, the largest potential concern here revolves around the relationship of the main 2 characters, a boy and girl named Elliot and Regan. When these two interact with each other they are constantly fighting, calling each other names, being rude, thinking the worst of one another, and so on. She calls him a jerk, moron, know-it-all, brown-noser, creep, jerk, idiot. She rolls her eyes and says things like “I can picture the look on his stupid face” and “don’t be dumb”. He calls her a stuck-up brat, dead-weight, royal pain. He says she is “too dumb for her own good”, annoying, obnoxious and calls her “dumb as a rock”. Elliot is also self-centered, far too focused on success and jealous. There is plenty more we could list because this goes on mostly unchecked for about 75% of the book. This could obviously be a deal-breaker, but it is meant to be overcome and redeemed when their relationship does completely turn and they do repent of their part and become close friends. The ending state is very good. Leading up to that each character is not very likable. Our suggestion would be to let a child read this, but ensure they make it through to the end and talk to them ahead of time and again afterward about this relationship. — It should also probably be mentioned that there is an interesting moral aspect in the overall setup of the book that should probably be talked through with a child reading this book. The group exists to prevent anyone from altering the past, but this means that the characters cannot do anything to prevent horrible events of the past. — As the story builds there are a few times the characters “have to” sneak out of a house or their room. Some parents may not want to plant this idea into certain children’s minds. There is also a rule of the facility that the kids know, but say it is ok to break because no one follows it. This is confirmed when they are caught and the teacher doesn’t do anything about it.
