Your Time is Up
Sarah Naughton
The book covers a very short time between a party for A level students and the sitting of a maths paper 3 at A levels. It centres around a friend, Chanelle, who was at the party but missing from the exam, despite the result being important for uni grades and the maths cup for best student. Zaina, the main character, is friendly with Nero, betrayal between friends, misjudged moments and the tension of sitting an exam. Nero, also sitting the exam, cannot settle not knowing what happened to Chanelle as he witnessed her attempting to find the answer paper the day before. He leaves early, Zaina ends up leaving the exam early too despite needing an A* for her uni choice. The tension builds all the time, the reader wanting both to finish the exam but also to know what happened to Chanelle! Chanelle is found, bleeding badly in the art room. He’s unconscious in the science lab when Zaina finds him and then she is hit on the head in a gas filled science lab by the evil teacher…….! Good triumphs over evil, the injured recover, the teacher gets his just ending and the young people re-access life.
I did not instantly like this book. Its format flicks between a party before the paper 3 maths exam and the exam itself. I found some of the plot implausible but after suspending that thought I managed to enjoy the way the plot was woven, no matter how implausible I felt it to be. Another story where good triumphs over evil and the right result is reached.
Published by Scholastic, 2024
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