Skipshock

Set in a universe where time is a resource – coveted and exploited, the key to power and privilege – comes a dazzlingly inventive sci-fi fantasy romance by a bestselling Irish author.

"Skipshock isn’t just a book. It is, literally, a new world to dive into, and one so exquisitely conjured that you feel you live there for a while. A suspenseful, romantic, charming and really unique tale." – Matt Haig

Margo is on a train to a new boarding school when she slips into another dimension, passing from the height of Irish summer into the chill of an alien winter, from a 24-hour day to one that begins and ends in just six hours. From a stranger on the train – a travelling salesman by the name of Moon – she learns that New Davia is part of a world scarred by uprisings, travel bans and world sealings. Power is determined by time – who has it, who doesn’t, and who has the freedom to travel between time zones.

Can Margo find a way to get back home – or will she choose to stay in a world where her teenagehood is slipping away faster than ever before, but where she may have found the only person with whom she would choose to spend eternity?

Review

Skipshock isn’t just a book. It is, literally, a new world to dive into, and one so exquisitely conjured that you feel you live there for a while. A suspenseful, romantic, charming and really unique tale. Will make you hungry for the next one. Strongly recommended. -- Matt Haig

Putting a new spin on the phrase ‘a race against time’, Skipshock is like no other book I have read. . . Layered, inventive, and expansive, what appears to be a complicated sci-fantasy across various worlds, time zones, and dimensions will effortlessly envelope readers imaginations and swallow them whole. A stunning read. ― The Irish Examiner

A thought-provoking look at inequality, time and borders, wrapped up in a delicious romantic adventure. . . O’Donoghue is careful not to sacrifice story, or to reduce complex situations to simple binaries. Thoroughly enjoyable and intelligent. ― The Irish Times

In Skipshock she [Caroline O'Donoghue] has created a magical world with detailed architecture, geography, races and climate. ― The Sunday Times

Skipshock is so clever and novel. . . Brilliantly detailed, packed with peril and fraught with first love, it’s young adult fiction at its best. The world building is superb, the pacing lively and the themes – of migration made illegal, communities obliterated, families separated and life being cut short – draw on news headlines without being preachy. Book two can’t come soon enough. ― Press Association