The Girl With The Red Balloon((The Balloonmakers, #1)

☆☆☆☆☆

the girl with the red balloon.

The  Balloonmakers,#1

katherine locke.

Publisher  Albert Whitman Company.

Publication Date: September 1,2017.

Genre: YA Fantasy|Romance.

Format|Pages: Paperback|256.

 Source:  Goodreads|Bought.

 CONTAINS SPOILERS

When sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum accidentally time-travels via red balloon to 1988 East Berlin, she’s caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. She meets members of an underground guild in East Berlin who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the Wall—but even to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery.



When it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history, Ellie must risk everything—including her only way home—to stop the process. 

 ☂

A magical, emotional, thrilling ride.



I love novels with historical fiction, time travel themes. Those are the types of stories that capture my attention fast. THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON had both of those, historical and time travel put together, and maybe that’s what made it more realistic than other time travel novels that I have read before. THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON I was hooked from first sentence. Time travel by balloon? How can you not wonder how is that even possible? That is what made the story different from other time travel books, it was unique. I love the idea of time traveling, by balloon and not just any balloon, a red balloon which happens to be one of my favorite colors. For while, I wondered how they managed to accomplish that. Like everyone else, I wondered how Ellie ended up one getting the balloon. If it was actually an accident. When passengers started showing up dead, my curiosity turned to suspicion, I had a feeling that something wasn’t right.



I loved reading from different point of views. Ellie, Kai and Ellie’s grandfather, Benna and the different years. It felt as I was reading two different stories, going back into time. There were parts that were emotional, hard to read in this book. I teared up few times during this book. I can’t even imagine how it must been for Ellie, to be so far away from home and at first barely know any German, being in completely different time. I would been terrified. I am pretty sure that Ellie was also, and having Kai and Mitzi helped her get adjusted to it. I think it was a bit easier to have someone there. It was not long before I could see the attraction between Ellie and Kai, the way he cared her, and looked at her even if he barely knew her. There might been something there from moment that the two of them met. I can’t imagine how it must been for him to have say goodbye at her towards the end. You meet someone from another time, fall in love. How can you say goodbye? I know that I wouldn’t be able to. That would be heartbreaking.




That ending. It made my heart break for both Kai and Ellie. I was thinking about once I reached the end, and there was a part of me that wished there were more pages. I couldn’t help but wonder, what’s next? I wanted to find out what happens once she got back home, if she would remember and if Kai and Ellie would see each other again. THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON was the first book that I read by KATHERINE LOCKE and I was lucky to have met her at signing. I was blown away by this novel. I think it might be my favorite time travel book. I am already eager to see what other adventures she comes up with next. You will be on edge of your seat until the end.