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jaina8851's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
Where do I even begin with this book. I had no intention of ever reading this, because I have seen the basic gist in way too much of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who writing (derogatory). My book club picked it for this month and I decided to slog my way through.
Reader, it was just as bad as I imagined. Reading interviews with the author somehow made it worse. She says in a modern interview regarding Steven Moffat's own TV series version of this book (you'd think he'd get tired of creating the same story over and over again) that the reader is *supposed* to be uncomfortable with the idea of adult Henry visiting child Clare repeatedly, but then in other interviews describes Henry as "there's not going to be some fabulous perfect soulmate out there for me, so I'll just make him up", so which is it, Audrey?
My biggest issue with this book is that I didn't care a single bit about either of our main characters. Clare is effectively a cardboard cut-out that has a trauma porn life journey but we never see any of the consequences. Imagine basically any of the big-T traumas that a wealthy beautiful woman in Chicago might undergo, and Clare lives it. Are we ever inside her head long enough to feel her grapple with these things? No. Because the entire focus of this book is about the time travel schtick. We are instead shown scenes that are gruesome and difficult for the reader to read, but that seem to just be par for the course for Clare, because she always just seems to be fine and solely focused on Henry at the expense of literally anything else. Henry's internal monologue is absolutely insufferable. I nearly threw my phone across the room and quit when he described his erection as "tall enough to ride an amusement park ride without a parent" in the first thirty pages of the book. I couldn't find myself caring about Henry or his struggles at any point because I was too busy making increasingly horrified grimaces at the things that he was thinking, often about an actual child.
And then there's the time travel schtick itself. I *LOVE* time travel stories. I've read gobs of Doctor Who/Torchwood fanfiction that incorporate timey-wimey stuff, ranging from silly nonsense to deeply thoughtful explorations of the concepts that I still think about. But I kept getting so caught up on the inconsistencies and the "y tho" about the way the author constructed this. Did she only make it that he time travels naked so that there was the creepy ick factor of child Clare finding him that way? The hand-wavey in universe explanation for why he consistently goes back and visits child Clare just didn't make sense to me. There's a running joke in Doctor Who about the fact that of all the places on planet Earth, and the broader solar system and universe, why is the crisis ALWAYS in London, and this felt like an even more egregious and nonsensical version of that. They talk about the danger of him driving a car or flying in a plane but then have him walking around with a baby on his shoulders. Life is so dangerous for him when he travels that he has to know how to pick locks and fight, but somehow he isn't WELL KNOWN in the city of Chicago? How would it not be a news story the FIRST time this happens that a man disappears in public before people's very eyes leaving a pile of clothes behind, or that a man appears on the middle of a sidewalk out of nowhere completely naked? If he keeps time traveling in and out of the same places and times, why does he not do a better job taking care of himself with caches of supplies and hidden keys than just trusting a six year old to keep clothes for him? Nothing about this story makes sense actually.
All in all I hated this book just as much as I expected to. I don't normally make myself read 500+ page/16+ hour books that I hate, but you can't leave ratings on a DNF, so I finished the whole thing out of spite.
Reader, it was just as bad as I imagined. Reading interviews with the author somehow made it worse. She says in a modern interview regarding Steven Moffat's own TV series version of this book (you'd think he'd get tired of creating the same story over and over again) that the reader is *supposed* to be uncomfortable with the idea of adult Henry visiting child Clare repeatedly, but then in other interviews describes Henry as "there's not going to be some fabulous perfect soulmate out there for me, so I'll just make him up", so which is it, Audrey?
My biggest issue with this book is that I didn't care a single bit about either of our main characters. Clare is effectively a cardboard cut-out that has a trauma porn life journey but we never see any of the consequences. Imagine basically any of the big-T traumas that a wealthy beautiful woman in Chicago might undergo, and Clare lives it. Are we ever inside her head long enough to feel her grapple with these things? No. Because the entire focus of this book is about the time travel schtick. We are instead shown scenes that are gruesome and difficult for the reader to read, but that seem to just be par for the course for Clare, because she always just seems to be fine and solely focused on Henry at the expense of literally anything else. Henry's internal monologue is absolutely insufferable. I nearly threw my phone across the room and quit when he described his erection as "tall enough to ride an amusement park ride without a parent" in the first thirty pages of the book. I couldn't find myself caring about Henry or his struggles at any point because I was too busy making increasingly horrified grimaces at the things that he was thinking, often about an actual child.
And then there's the time travel schtick itself. I *LOVE* time travel stories. I've read gobs of Doctor Who/Torchwood fanfiction that incorporate timey-wimey stuff, ranging from silly nonsense to deeply thoughtful explorations of the concepts that I still think about. But I kept getting so caught up on the inconsistencies and the "y tho" about the way the author constructed this. Did she only make it that he time travels naked so that there was the creepy ick factor of child Clare finding him that way? The hand-wavey in universe explanation for why he consistently goes back and visits child Clare just didn't make sense to me. There's a running joke in Doctor Who about the fact that of all the places on planet Earth, and the broader solar system and universe, why is the crisis ALWAYS in London, and this felt like an even more egregious and nonsensical version of that. They talk about the danger of him driving a car or flying in a plane but then have him walking around with a baby on his shoulders. Life is so dangerous for him when he travels that he has to know how to pick locks and fight, but somehow he isn't WELL KNOWN in the city of Chicago? How would it not be a news story the FIRST time this happens that a man disappears in public before people's very eyes leaving a pile of clothes behind, or that a man appears on the middle of a sidewalk out of nowhere completely naked? If he keeps time traveling in and out of the same places and times, why does he not do a better job taking care of himself with caches of supplies and hidden keys than just trusting a six year old to keep clothes for him? Nothing about this story makes sense actually.
All in all I hated this book just as much as I expected to. I don't normally make myself read 500+ page/16+ hour books that I hate, but you can't leave ratings on a DNF, so I finished the whole thing out of spite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Medical trauma
hjb_128's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Racism
theelliad's review against another edition
1.0
Well, that was a journey and a half. Did I actually dislike this as much as some of the course books of the same rating…probably not. However, I really really didn’t like this and for several reasons.
1. I wanted to like it so much. Miss Butt I would trust you with my life but evidently not with book taste. My high expectations definitely resulted in this falling so short
2. This book refuses to accept the creepy and paedophilic nature of its own existence. It is so uncomfortable at so many points and yet it’s weirdness is apparently ignored in favour of the plot.
3. It’s approach to many of the themes it touches on is so insulting. From its use of derogatory language towards disabled people and the queer community to its non chalante approach to the concept of rape (a word used as a synonym for eagerness in many cases and then not addressed in cases where consent is actually not confirmed). This adds to the uncomfy nature of the book and honestly made me want to DNF it throughout
4. The concept is so good, the execution is awful- I wanted so badly to love this idea of spontaneous time travel but the way it is used, and the sexual focus of the story just made it fall short
5. There is no character development. Literally how? you are focusing on the same group of people across all of there lives- why are they so boring?
1. I wanted to like it so much. Miss Butt I would trust you with my life but evidently not with book taste. My high expectations definitely resulted in this falling so short
2. This book refuses to accept the creepy and paedophilic nature of its own existence. It is so uncomfortable at so many points and yet it’s weirdness is apparently ignored in favour of the plot.
3. It’s approach to many of the themes it touches on is so insulting. From its use of derogatory language towards disabled people and the queer community to its non chalante approach to the concept of rape (a word used as a synonym for eagerness in many cases and then not addressed in cases where consent is actually not confirmed). This adds to the uncomfy nature of the book and honestly made me want to DNF it throughout
4. The concept is so good, the execution is awful- I wanted so badly to love this idea of spontaneous time travel but the way it is used, and the sexual focus of the story just made it fall short
5. There is no character development. Literally how? you are focusing on the same group of people across all of there lives- why are they so boring?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
brindy's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide
Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, and Abortion
Minor spoiler related to ableism:daisdu's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This took me a frustrating number of tries to actually finish, but once I got through it I was really glad for it. It’s really devastating and made me sob like a little baby and that was mostly good! But a little bit of the end just felt like an unnecessary downer. The book is really just a lot to think about, it really makes you think a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
riverofhorton's review against another edition
I had to take a couple of days to cool off after deciding to stop reading this book, I just found there to be too much homophobia, racism, and misogyny to continue.
The final straw for me was getting jumpscared by an utterly needless homophobic slur (as it was until very recently) less than 100 pages in. Given the 'past' parts of the book are set in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, I could have deal with some casual prejudice, so as the world was at that time, especially if it were there to make a point and/or portray that character as being a negative person. But these prejudices are not only blatant, but could have been removed from the story without it losing anything.
And there is also the moral weirdness surrounding the relationship between itself. From Claire's perspective, she first met Henry at the age of ~5 years old, when he was in his 40s. He visited her regularly growing up, even waiting for her to turn 18 so he could have sex with her on her birthday. Sounds creepy, right? From his perspective though, he first her in his late 20s, her being early 20s, and the relationship proceeded somewhat normally to begin with, only a couple of mentions of how long she has known a future version of him. It's just kind of a mess, and considering he could time travel as a child as well, I don't quite understand why he couldn't have been a child of a similar age, or even have the whole thing contain within their respective adulthoods.
It's such a shame, the basic premise of two people falling in love out of sync because of time travel has the potential to be incredible, but this was just a disappointment. It's the first book I've ever DNFed, and it saddens me that it's a Sci-Fi book (one of my favourite genres) that can claim that title.
The final straw for me was getting jumpscared by an utterly needless homophobic slur (as it was until very recently) less than 100 pages in. Given the 'past' parts of the book are set in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, I could have deal with some casual prejudice, so as the world was at that time, especially if it were there to make a point and/or portray that character as being a negative person. But these prejudices are not only blatant, but could have been removed from the story without it losing anything.
And there is also the moral weirdness surrounding the relationship between itself. From Claire's perspective, she first met Henry at the age of ~5 years old, when he was in his 40s. He visited her regularly growing up, even waiting for her to turn 18 so he could have sex with her on her birthday. Sounds creepy, right? From his perspective though, he first her in his late 20s, her being early 20s, and the relationship proceeded somewhat normally to begin with, only a couple of mentions of how long she has known a future version of him. It's just kind of a mess, and considering he could time travel as a child as well, I don't quite understand why he couldn't have been a child of a similar age, or even have the whole thing contain within their respective adulthoods.
It's such a shame, the basic premise of two people falling in love out of sync because of time travel has the potential to be incredible, but this was just a disappointment. It's the first book I've ever DNFed, and it saddens me that it's a Sci-Fi book (one of my favourite genres) that can claim that title.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
delvie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I went in blind, and I wasn't ready.
If not for some unfortunate stereotypes and slurs used and the gratuitous sex, it would have been a slam dunk five stars- the audiobook specifically. I think I would have hated this book in print.
Check TW's; I would not recommend this book if you use reading to escape.
The last 40 minutes hit so hard, I had to take my headphones out because I was on the threshold of tears.
I get why it's been adapted twice; I imagine you could do some pretty cool stuff via film with this premise.
I'm not gonna get over this for a while. Sheesh.
If not for some unfortunate stereotypes and slurs used and the gratuitous sex, it would have been a slam dunk five stars- the audiobook specifically. I think I would have hated this book in print.
Check TW's; I would not recommend this book if you use reading to escape.
The last 40 minutes hit so hard, I had to take my headphones out because I was on the threshold of tears.
I get why it's been adapted twice; I imagine you could do some pretty cool stuff via film with this premise.
I'm not gonna get over this for a while. Sheesh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Cancer, Confinement, and Abortion
emilyjulia's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
good concept but very poor execution. boring, and could not bring myself to like any of the central characters.
also some very questionable aspects - why does a 41 yr old man want to get with his 13 yr old wife ???
also some very questionable aspects -
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
daysanchez's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Suicide, and Death of parent
onion's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Sexism, and Violence
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