Picking up directly after the ending of Oddily, Maxim dives right into the action with Oddily and Maxim returning to Stafford Estate and finding intruders on the property. Kip and Starla have followed Nexa, Nero has arrived for some mysterious purpose of his own and a dark haired stranger has shown up claiming to be a friend of Maxim's.

Like the first book this is a quirky young adult science fiction novel with a lot of potential. But the second book of the series is even more of a mess than the first and desperately needs a good editor. The main plot was interesting but was bogged down by unnecessary side plots that just confused everything. Decent editing would make this a much better read by streamlining the existing plot and putting everything in the proper place. There was just too much going on and not enough detail for any one thing.

The world building in this one is a lot more intricate than the first book. The hints of technology that were present in the first have been expanded into experimental bred insects and animals, parallel universe domes and rooms that can simulate weather conditions. The science fiction theme is also more prominent.

Oddily was fiercer in this book. Having confronted her bullies at the end of the last book she's more willing to speak up for herself and has cultivated a group of friends that include Pepper, Carrie, Paul, Nexa and Maxim. That said, she annoyed the crap out of me. Her obliviousness in this one was insane. She seems to exist in a dreamlike state and while it was endearing in the first book when she was being bullied and had no one - in this one it was just irritating. She has no curiosity or interest in finding out anything and seems to just accept everything at face value - even when it makes no sense. She doesn't ask questions about her new home or Nexa or Maxim and just seems content to ignore it all. It drove me nuts. But she wasn't the only one guilty of it. Nexa and Maxim both seem to ignore the fact Paul can hear and communicate with them telepathically. I'd be asking a lot more questions about who he is, where's he from, how can he possibly be the same as them. They've never met anyone else like them besides their father - how come they don't have any curiosity? Plus Paul seems surprised by it but then comes out with he can travel the timeslips? It just wasn't consistent or plausible.

Maxim was about as frustrating as Oddily. He claims he loves her and wants to spend his life with but refuses to just tell her about him and Nexa. Half the problems could've been solved by these people having a bloody conversation. The romance between them was painful.

There was a lot more thoughts and discussion about sex in this one but it was at odds with the innocence of Oddily and it made it weird and awkward to read. Maxim mentions his urges more than once and it bothered me. He's moved Oddily into his room and is planning forever and Oddily can barely look at him fully clothed or consider undressing and having a shower in the next room. The dissonance between their emotional and sexual maturity didn't work for me. Either keep it as a fairytale innocent type love or make it modern but pick one and stick with it. Plus if Maxim is so "advanced" then he should've been clear with Oddily and discussed what he was thinking.

The rest of the book struggled with too many ideas and not enough clarity. There's apparently a High Council who governs stuff, betrothal promises for both of the twins, mysterious experiments conducted on Zaylyn and through her, Oddily, forays into parallel universes by accident, time travel with no clear rules, etc. It was just too much and it started to fall apart.

An admirable effort but one which would benefit from a good editor. 2.5 stars, rounded to 3 stars. ( )