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fahyhallowell's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Classism
rachelish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
bannedfrombookclub's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
Things I still enjoyed included:
- The characters and world in medieval England
- The time-travel mechanism concept.
- The clueless/self-interested response by people to a plague/pandemic was uncomfortably accurate, now that we all know what that looks like.
Things that really irked on the second read:
- The talking in circles about the same issue (this only gets worse in Book 3, Blackout), characters just spin their wheels (noisily, into your reading eyes) while waiting for word count to tick over to the next plot point.
- Pacing
- The passivity of both main characters. Kivrin never seemed to make a choice that impacted the plot, it would have helped me if she'd had a chance to leave and decided to stay and help/complete her drop for selfish reasons.
- Kivrin never reflects on the madness of her plan to take the priest and try to travel to safety - going against all she knows about spreading disease and her training as a timetravelling historian. I can see her thinking at the time, but the immorality of this is not addressed. Again, this could have been a choice she made - she could have considered it and decided not to. This would have made her a stronger character.
I'm frankly afraid to re-read To Say Nothing of the Dog in case I have the veil once again lifted from my eyes.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Death
autisticmisabel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Vomit, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Infidelity, and Alcohol
silentquercus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Suicide, and Alcohol
rorikae's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
When Kivrin heads back to the Middle Ages using Oxford's time travel technology, she is in for a bit of a shock. Despite studying the time period and getting her necessary injections, the Middle Ages are far different than she expected. As she learns more about where she has landed and gets close to a family in the local town, her professors back in near future Oxford are dealing with their own issues that may effect their ability to retrieve Kivrin from the past.
Willis continues to impress with her stories. She injects just enough technology into the real world to heighten interest, builds a thought provoking and engaging plot out of these elements, and then sets a full cast of characters into this world. One of the strong points of this novel is the dual timelines. Hundreds of years apart but deeply connected, we follow both Kivrin and her professor Mr. Dunworthy as they deal with their own set of problems. Since these problems directly impact the ability for Kivrin to return home to nearfuture Oxford, the timelines are intimately connected and as tension ramps up in one, it impacts your view of the other timeline as well.
The other really standout point of this novel are the characters. Kivrin's blend of frustration and fascination as she visits the Middle Ages and connects with the children of the family who take her in, make her well-rounded and easily relatable. Mr. Dunworthy's deep care for Kivrin and focus on getting her home safe no matter what, makes him a great central character for the near future Oxford timeline. Paired with the supporting characters that fluctuate between frustrating, caring, and obtuse, Willis creates a world that feels fully inhabited.
I will continue to seek more of Willis' work. If you are looking for a great time travel story with engaging tension and empathetic characters, you need to read 'Doomsday Book.'
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Medical trauma
mirificmoxie's review
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child death, Blood, Vomit, and Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Blood
prettiestwhistles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
jessbelsreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death and Child death
acesnsk8s's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death