Skipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue

STAFF REVIEW

I really enjoyed the quirky world O’Donoghue has built in this pacey, funny and very readable teen novel. A series of interconnected worlds, where wealth is defined by the number of hours in a day in your world – “Because a day is a day is a day and you will only live for so many…so a 10 hour day is a better life than a 2 hour day”. Margot has slipped through a gap between worlds and found herself on the run and scrambling to catch up. With a romantic arc between the two main characters, this is firmly in the 14+ age bracket, though there is nothing overly explicit included. The first in a duology, with book 2 out in 2026.

Reviewed by Kate

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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?

About the Author: Caroline O’Donoghue is the author of the New York Times bestselling YA fantasy series All Our Hidden Gifts as well as several highly-acclaimed novels for adults, including her most recent The Rachel Incident. She has written for The Times and The Guardian, and is the host of an award-winning podcast, Sentimental Garbage. She was born in Ireland and lives in London.

02 Jul 2025

Skipshock: A genre-blending sci-fi romance from the bestselling author of ALL OUR HIDDEN GIFTS and THE RACHEL INCIDENT by Caroline O’Donoghue ISBN 9781529520927