kxbski's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
peterongcook's review against another edition
4.0
I was prepared to dislike this book. The ending made up for what I felt like was a meandering beginning and middle. All of those threads do come together at the end in a wholesome way.
This book is about reconciling youth with adulthood, and what it means to be an adult. There’s a lot about dealing with baggage and how you maybe need to. Which works in this story about time travel where an aging former rock star discovers a time travel wormhole in his closet and uses it to watch old rock concerts.
I like this book more than I thought I would. I think it deals with some serious topics a little too flippantly; often the book starts to get deep, but kind of puts too much wry commentary and observation around it, then again that’s how we deal with our problems sometimes.
This book is about reconciling youth with adulthood, and what it means to be an adult. There’s a lot about dealing with baggage and how you maybe need to. Which works in this story about time travel where an aging former rock star discovers a time travel wormhole in his closet and uses it to watch old rock concerts.
I like this book more than I thought I would. I think it deals with some serious topics a little too flippantly; often the book starts to get deep, but kind of puts too much wry commentary and observation around it, then again that’s how we deal with our problems sometimes.
mschlat's review against another edition
4.0
What if you found a time wormhole in your closet and used it, not to kill Hitler or right some other wrong, but to visit rock concerts you always wanted to see? What if you stranded your best friend back in 980 CE Manhattan and couldn’t get him back? What if you fell in love with the astrophysics grad student you hired to get back your best friend? What if you and she started using the time machine to visit dead relatives and old girlfriends? How much could you resist fixing the broken parts of your life?
Every Anxious Wave isn’t so much a science fiction novel as it is a relationship novel that heavily depends on time travel. Our protagonists (Karl Bender --- the ex-guitarist for a mildly successful indie band who finds the wormhole, Wayne ---the best friend who gets lost in time, and Lena ---the grad student who, at the start of the novel, has decided to live her life as an emotional zombie) are troubled people who have all shut down some portion of themselves until they get involved with time travel.
Now, one big note. Even if this isn’t a science fiction novel in the classical sense (it is at times radically unclear how anyone determines to travel to a specific point in time), it uses time travel a ton. The protagonists travel forwards and backwards in time, we get time traveling emails and texts, and a huge part of the novel is the creation of alternate timelines and questions of causality.
At the same time, the focus is still the relationships and how people change (with and without the help of time travel). And that brings me to the problem I had with the novel. Our main character, Karl Bender, does change throughout the story (especially with regards to how to use the wormhole responsibly), but most of the time he just yearns for Lena. And yearns. And yearns. Combining that with some of the inevitabilty you see in events (thanks to a future perspective), there isn’t a lot of meaningful plot points. I mean, a lot happens --- it’s a dense book --- but I didn’t really see an arc in Karl’s life so much as an sequence of predestined events. There are changes in the other characters (with Lena taking a much more proactive stance on self improvement through time travel), but since we follow Karl all the time, the plot feels a bit hollow at times.
Still, it’s a fascinating read, especially in the first part of the novel (where we get discussions between Karl and Lena on both the physics of time travel and whether or not appreciation of Morrissey is necessary for a full life). I don’t think I’ve ever read such an indie/punk influenced time travel story (although I think of Dan Clowe’s [b:Patience|25652706|Patience|Daniel Clowes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1434480981s/25652706.jpg|45472855] as a distant cousin).
Every Anxious Wave isn’t so much a science fiction novel as it is a relationship novel that heavily depends on time travel. Our protagonists (Karl Bender --- the ex-guitarist for a mildly successful indie band who finds the wormhole, Wayne ---the best friend who gets lost in time, and Lena ---the grad student who, at the start of the novel, has decided to live her life as an emotional zombie) are troubled people who have all shut down some portion of themselves until they get involved with time travel.
Now, one big note. Even if this isn’t a science fiction novel in the classical sense (it is at times radically unclear how anyone determines to travel to a specific point in time), it uses time travel a ton. The protagonists travel forwards and backwards in time, we get time traveling emails and texts, and a huge part of the novel is the creation of alternate timelines and questions of causality.
At the same time, the focus is still the relationships and how people change (with and without the help of time travel). And that brings me to the problem I had with the novel. Our main character, Karl Bender, does change throughout the story (especially with regards to how to use the wormhole responsibly), but most of the time he just yearns for Lena. And yearns. And yearns. Combining that with some of the inevitabilty you see in events (thanks to a future perspective), there isn’t a lot of meaningful plot points. I mean, a lot happens --- it’s a dense book --- but I didn’t really see an arc in Karl’s life so much as an sequence of predestined events. There are changes in the other characters (with Lena taking a much more proactive stance on self improvement through time travel), but since we follow Karl all the time, the plot feels a bit hollow at times.
Still, it’s a fascinating read, especially in the first part of the novel (where we get discussions between Karl and Lena on both the physics of time travel and whether or not appreciation of Morrissey is necessary for a full life). I don’t think I’ve ever read such an indie/punk influenced time travel story (although I think of Dan Clowe’s [b:Patience|25652706|Patience|Daniel Clowes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1434480981s/25652706.jpg|45472855] as a distant cousin).
blevins's review against another edition
3.0
Daviau's main idea of this novel--that characters use a time travel portal to go back in time to watch rock shows--is a unbelievably great idea. Unfortunately, she doesn't really pull it off as the lead characters only want to watch 1990s indie rock and the story gets bogged down with an unrelenting over-the-top emotional quality to it that was tiring and a bit annoying. The self-negativity of the characters gets old quick--okay, the girl is overweight and the guy is also past his prime...we are told that over and over again. Enough.
Another thing that bugged me about this one. All they want to see is indie rock bands? In the history of music, they want indie rock? Okay, I get it, Daviau probably dug all those bands, but my goodness, she could have had a ton of fun with being a little more diverse in the listening habits to the lead characters. I did pull out my Sebadoh "Bakesale"/Pavement "Slanted & Enchanted"/Unrest "Perfect Teeth" and Stereolab "Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements" after reading this, so I guess I shouldn't be too harsh on Daviau as those are all great albums from that era.
Another thing that bugged me about this one. All they want to see is indie rock bands? In the history of music, they want indie rock? Okay, I get it, Daviau probably dug all those bands, but my goodness, she could have had a ton of fun with being a little more diverse in the listening habits to the lead characters. I did pull out my Sebadoh "Bakesale"/Pavement "Slanted & Enchanted"/Unrest "Perfect Teeth" and Stereolab "Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements" after reading this, so I guess I shouldn't be too harsh on Daviau as those are all great albums from that era.
bonhomiebooks's review against another edition
4.0
Quick read that's lightly entertaining. I love books that feel like an ode to music. The progression of the story was good. I felt kinda lost at times with Karl. He seemed to be everywhere and a walking contradiction at times but, his heart was in the right place every time.
And then, Wayne. Oh, Wayne. You made me laugh the most.
And then, Wayne. Oh, Wayne. You made me laugh the most.
tabandvelcro's review against another edition
4.0
though this book was by no means perfect, I really really enjoyed it. of COURSE you have to suspend your disbelief a bit where time travel is concerned - and that's really not a problem for me. To me this had the perfect blend of fun plot, good character development, and EMO NOSTALGIC YEARNINGS (MY FAVE). It kind of reminded me of ready player one in how readable & fun it was, w/ some high fidelity and back to the future mixed in.
dahliaist's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
really great book, i loved how vibrant karl’s voice was and i loved his narration. near the end the plot got a little lost on me, and the ending didn’t feel as satisfying as i wanted it to be, but still, it was a really good read!
theredqueen444's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning was slow, but was ok after that. What's the word for not really liking a book, but yet still wanting to find out what happens? That. I didn't really buy into the love storyline. I would have loved to see narration switch to more than one character, it would have given it that other dimension I was looking for. I enjoyed it, just didn't love it.
eluse9's review against another edition
3.0
A lot of potential in the idea - time travel to past rock concerts. Most of the references were Indie bands, so I did not relate. However, the spoke of Elliot Smith, whom I did not know, I listened and really liked him, so that was positive. Most days I was at least somewhat looking forward to reading. The story does go off the tracks a few times, and it has one of my pet peeves where people are "in love" and acting like an established couple within days of meeting each other for the convenience of the story.
jenc5309's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not sure what I expected from this book, but it was disappointing to me. I never engaged with the characters and the premise was a lot more interesting to me than the actual execution.