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hannahreanie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
_carolcabrita's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, I liked it. The first third of the book was really good, even thought it would make a nice episode, but by the half of it some parts felt too long and some actions kinda out of character.
ireadthatmovie's review against another edition
1.0
I read this book mostly because I was out of reading materiel. I also figured that I do like Doctor Who so maybe I would enjoy it. I didn’t. I really didn’t.
It’s written in multiple POVs. One of them is a little girl’s letters to her mother and another one is a man’s diary. The others are typical first-person. At first it’s just three, the little girl, the man, and Amy. Then randomly Rory is added in. Then there are some letters from another extremely minor character. Then the Doctor had a couple very short chapters. It was just really confused, I thought. But what really bothered me about it were the little girl’s letters and the man’s journal. At first it made sense but then as the book reaches the climax and all this crazy stuff is happening they’re apparently pausing to write it down. I don’t know. It just didn’t make sense to me.
And the writing itself was a bit painful to me. It really felt like something a fourteen-year-old fangirl would write. It just hurt to read it. Everything about this book hurt.
The story itself wasn’t at all interesting to me and was just was confusing as the jumbled narratives. About halfway through the book you find out that the whole time, I’m sorry, but what?
And that brings me to my biggest issue. Rory and The Doctor. Now, for about the first half of the book I felt like Rory was unusually grumpy. He was constantly being described in the multiple POVs as being unpleasant and unhappy. That’s not Rory. Then after it’s revealed that I was like, ”Oh, okay. So it wasn’t ” but it still made no sense. I don’t think that The Doctor or Rory are as grumpy as all that. And the way they treated each other! Oh, they were spiteful! It was like every word they said to one another had venom inside it. This made no sense to me! When as it ever been that way between them? I get that Rory is jealous of The Doctor but I feel like that was mostly before he married Amy and this book takes place after that. But even then, he was never that bitter towards The Doctor. And why was The Doctor treating him the same way? The whole book, The Doctor seemed to feel that Rory was stupid and a waste of space. I never really got that vibe in the show, even before the wedding. And this is after the whole Last Centurion thing! And that’s another thing. For the entire book people keep talking about how Rory’s not a big hero like The Doctor but then in the end there’s this big “wow, he’s actually really brave” thing. What? Did the author just miss everything Rory ever did on the show? And Amy kept being all conflicted about her feelings towards Rory and The Doctor. I know that she did feel that way for a while on the show but I really feel like that stopped when they were married. I know Rory still felt like she liked the Doctor sometimes but I really don’t think she did. Maybe I’m wrong about that but I don’t think so. And Amy wasn’t portrayed very well either. She just didn’t feel like Amy. She felt like someone who was trying too hard to be Amy. I just really don’t think the author knows these characters very well.
Negatives
Everything I just said plus a bit of language. I think that’s about it… I don’t know. Some people died.
Why did I even bother to finish this book? Partially it was because I hate not finishing a book. But mostly it was because I wanted to count it for my Reading Challenge.
It’s written in multiple POVs. One of them is a little girl’s letters to her mother and another one is a man’s diary. The others are typical first-person. At first it’s just three, the little girl, the man, and Amy. Then randomly Rory is added in. Then there are some letters from another extremely minor character. Then the Doctor had a couple very short chapters. It was just really confused, I thought. But what really bothered me about it were the little girl’s letters and the man’s journal. At first it made sense but then as the book reaches the climax and all this crazy stuff is happening they’re apparently pausing to write it down. I don’t know. It just didn’t make sense to me.
And the writing itself was a bit painful to me. It really felt like something a fourteen-year-old fangirl would write. It just hurt to read it. Everything about this book hurt.
The story itself wasn’t at all interesting to me and was just was confusing as the jumbled narratives. About halfway through the book you find out that the whole time,
Spoiler
The Doctor was Rory and Rory was The Doctor.And that brings me to my biggest issue. Rory and The Doctor. Now, for about the first half of the book I felt like Rory was unusually grumpy. He was constantly being described in the multiple POVs as being unpleasant and unhappy. That’s not Rory. Then after it’s revealed that
Spoiler
he was actually The DoctorSpoiler
really Rory at allNegatives
Everything I just said plus a bit of language. I think that’s about it… I don’t know. Some people died.
Why did I even bother to finish this book? Partially it was because I hate not finishing a book. But mostly it was because I wanted to count it for my Reading Challenge.
imchoosingfiction's review against another edition
4.0
Starts out slow but picks up really well in the middle and has you hooked. The tone for each character was accurate (enough) and it definitely has the heart and moral ambiguity that you come to expect from a good Dr. Who story. I do recommend this one. I enjoyed it and even teared up a bit near the end.
sydneypearl94's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
pixieprose's review against another edition
4.0
A little bit confusing and kinda makes you HATE the Doctor for a bit. More than a bit. At least if you like Rory.
punchofwishes's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating 3.5 stars
This was an alright story, but who was real and who was fake was very confusing, plus the ending was a bit meh. Didn’t need the extra plot twist really.
This was an alright story, but who was real and who was fake was very confusing, plus the ending was a bit meh. Didn’t need the extra plot twist really.
desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Gestrandet in der Vergangenheit, am Strand einer Tuberkulose-Klinik. Kein Ausweg, irgendetwas Unheimliches geht vor sich und dein Gehirn erinnert sich einfach nicht daran, was passiert ist und wer du bist. Keine besonders angenehme Vorstellung.
Eine ganz gute Handlung, wobei ich die Art der Erzählung mit einem Wechsel von Briefen, Tagebucheinträgen und Gedanken zu Teilen fragwürdig finde. Leichte Plotholes dabei also. Die Darstellung der Charaktere ist definitiv besser, hier fokussiert auf die Imperfektion der Personen im Gegensatz dazu wie sie wahrgenommen werden, schon spannend, aber sehr negativ. Möglicherweise bin ich einfach nicht so ein Fan der geschriebenen DW stories? 🤔
Eine ganz gute Handlung, wobei ich die Art der Erzählung mit einem Wechsel von Briefen, Tagebucheinträgen und Gedanken zu Teilen fragwürdig finde. Leichte Plotholes dabei also. Die Darstellung der Charaktere ist definitiv besser, hier fokussiert auf die Imperfektion der Personen im Gegensatz dazu wie sie wahrgenommen werden, schon spannend, aber sehr negativ. Möglicherweise bin ich einfach nicht so ein Fan der geschriebenen DW stories? 🤔
thegeekproblem's review against another edition
1.0
First Person writing is a turn off for me.
Now, don’t get me wrong, that is not the only reason why I didn’t enjoy this novel; there were a lot of things that annoyed the hell out of me and other things which I thought were incredibly interesting and then just weren’t touched upon. So, yeah.
The plot was interesting enough, and was treated in a way that the mystery was complicated enough as to not solve it easily. The Doctor, Amy and Rory, arrive at a clinic treating TB at the end of the 18th century, but for a reason we don’t know yet, they’re unable to remember who they are and what they’re doing in the place. They discover that the patients are treated with staying at the beach even though it’s the middle of winter, and when a mysterious mist arrives, the sick are seen dancing with ghosts. Since the TARDIS trio don’t remember who they are the mystery takes second place to getting their heads in order.
In the novel we have three main POVs, Amy’s, a little girl who’s a patient, and the doctor of the clinic. It is mainly written in diary entries or letters.
The things I liked, I really liked. The Doctor and Rory swap memories, so they believe to be the other person. You can see how Rory just doesn’t like the Doctor that much at that point. He’s dangerous and he’s unpredictable and he’s going to get them killed, and I really loved that. And the plot was really interesting, the other characters were really cool, and the fact that there’s no true villain and no true monster makes it more compelling.
But the things I didn’t like kind of ruined the whole book for me. When Rory gets his memories we get this weird self loathing and this is after he waited 2000 years for Amy, so it feels weird. We also get this awful reasoning behind why Amy chose to date and marry Rory, because he reminded her of the Doctor. You could sometimes feel in the series how Amy loved the Doctor more than Rory, and to read it so bluntly in one of the novels just felt awful, especially because of how much I love Amy and Rory together. Sometimes I think Rory deserved better. And then Rory gets into trouble and the Doctor refuses to save him until Amy begs him, and he says he’s only doing it for her and not because Rory is also his friend. Like, why?
I would recommend the novel only for the plot, because the rest was unpleasant to say the least.
Now, don’t get me wrong, that is not the only reason why I didn’t enjoy this novel; there were a lot of things that annoyed the hell out of me and other things which I thought were incredibly interesting and then just weren’t touched upon. So, yeah.
The plot was interesting enough, and was treated in a way that the mystery was complicated enough as to not solve it easily. The Doctor, Amy and Rory, arrive at a clinic treating TB at the end of the 18th century, but for a reason we don’t know yet, they’re unable to remember who they are and what they’re doing in the place. They discover that the patients are treated with staying at the beach even though it’s the middle of winter, and when a mysterious mist arrives, the sick are seen dancing with ghosts. Since the TARDIS trio don’t remember who they are the mystery takes second place to getting their heads in order.
In the novel we have three main POVs, Amy’s, a little girl who’s a patient, and the doctor of the clinic. It is mainly written in diary entries or letters.
The things I liked, I really liked. The Doctor and Rory swap memories, so they believe to be the other person. You can see how Rory just doesn’t like the Doctor that much at that point. He’s dangerous and he’s unpredictable and he’s going to get them killed, and I really loved that. And the plot was really interesting, the other characters were really cool, and the fact that there’s no true villain and no true monster makes it more compelling.
But the things I didn’t like kind of ruined the whole book for me. When Rory gets his memories we get this weird self loathing and this is after he waited 2000 years for Amy, so it feels weird. We also get this awful reasoning behind why Amy chose to date and marry Rory, because he reminded her of the Doctor. You could sometimes feel in the series how Amy loved the Doctor more than Rory, and to read it so bluntly in one of the novels just felt awful, especially because of how much I love Amy and Rory together. Sometimes I think Rory deserved better. And then Rory gets into trouble and the Doctor refuses to save him until Amy begs him, and he says he’s only doing it for her and not because Rory is also his friend. Like, why?
I would recommend the novel only for the plot, because the rest was unpleasant to say the least.
wayward's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75