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tessa52's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
souvraya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Now for the problems. The second and third part of the book get increasingly depressing in a way that felt like traumatising events were being being piled on for no reason. The characters barely have time to react to each of these events so they don't feel fully developed, just added in for shock value.
It was very disappointing how little agency and personality the titular wife had. Clare was interesting to read about as a child, then she became much more bland as an adult. It was really all about Henry, so naming the book after Clare is not representative of the role she takes.
Another disappointment was that a lot of characters' shitty behaviour has no repercussions whatsoever, Gomez and Celia especially rubbed me the wrong way. It doesn't get called out, nobody reacts to it, and it often doesn't cause any problems. When that happens too often, it feels very unsatisfying to me and when it happens with the main characters it calls their romance into question.
Even worse, there was a major part of the story later on, that consumed some of the characters completely for a long time, and then it suddenly turned into an afterthought. It seems that the author didn't know what to do with Alba as a character, so she was simply turned into a Mary Sue that's somehow immune to all of the aforementioned trauma. It's very unrealistic to think of what she goes through, yet no one seems to care about her and she continues to be quite happy-go-lucky.
Some of the time traveling concepts fell apart towards the end, with several aspects that should have been relevant being swept under the table. There's no real or implied resolution to what might be causing it, whether there will be more time travelers in the future, how society treats them, etc. With these topics ignored, it only barely fits into the sci-fi genre. It's really more a romance with a quirky setting.
Finally, there was some really out-of-touch racism and social commentary at times. POC, queer and disabled characters were handled terribly and I was especially weirded out by the term "Auschwitz thin" and a character's insistence that an adopted child wouldn't really be theirs, especially because nobody offered an alternative opinion on that statement. The book really needed more editing to cut out all of that.
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Sexual violence
val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
lizzye33's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol
potsnpots's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Alcoholism
Minor: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
taylormadespines's review against another edition
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
flowers_and_cows's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Miscarriage, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
ejoymiller11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
1. This story (in my opinion) was told backwards, and would last the test of time better had it been told the other way around. Being about time travel, the story bounces around quite a bit. However, I would argue the story more closely follows Clare’s linear timeline. Before we actually get to know the two main characters as a couple, the first half of the book is about how Clare knew Henry as a child and teenager. We learn about Henry’s lustful thoughts about her even when she is underage, even when she is prepubescent, which made me very uncomfortable. In my opinion, had we learned about their adult relationship first by strictly following Henry’s timeline, and had Henry just straight up not had inappropriate thoughts about a CHILD, I think the relationship would seem less creepy (but let’s be honest, some of what happened would be creepy, inappropriate, and sick regardless).
2. About 200 pages of the 536 pages I read weren’t relevant. I don’t understand why certain scenes were necessary as they didn’t contribute to the plot, character development, or context of the story. The whole infidelity thing? For what.
3. INCONSISTENCIES. And inaccuracies. Some of this book just straight up didn’t make sense. I found myself wondering SO many times, “did the author do literally ANY research??” Yes, probably with certain art pieces and music mentioned in the story, but certainly not how pregnancy, miscarriage, birth, hypothermia, and other medical things work. Furthermore, so many times the book would mention something like “they decided to leave the kids at home!” And on the next page, “the kids were playing quietly in the corner.” Like did no one proofread this? I’m lost.
4. Sometimes it was really hard to understand who was speaking. The book bounces between Henry’s and Clare’s perspectives, but in sections of the dialogue there are long stretches with no indication of who is speaking. Several times I had to go back and reread to understand the context of what was happening and what the characters were feeling.
I felt like this was a great concept that was so poorly executed. This could be a fantastic, timeless love story, but it just fell flat for me. The writing combined with the characters who weren’t just flawed, but horrible people, ruined it for me.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Car accident
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
vannahcabana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
There is a moment when Clare is in distress and asks Henry to tell her something nice. He tells her about a time when they were swimming and Clare was wearing this bikini (that he describes in detail) and back then she told him about getting her period. The problem? She was 12. I know that they were going to be married in the future, but they weren’t at that moment. AND THAT IS THE MEMORY HE THINKS OF???
A nurse that is literally only in one small sentence in this entire novel is described as “a fat blond nurse”. Why? Why is that the way we have to describe her?
I hated Gomez. He NEEDED to be cut out of Clare’s life. What a skunk.
When Clare was growing up and Henry kept time traveling back to her he says that he was often aroused- again, she was young and he wasn’t and it just made me cringe.
Their relationship had a lot of buildup when Clare was young and then the moment she turns 18 I feel like their relationship was built upon sex and the fact that they were always supposed to be married. I was just expecting more from a book that is touted as some magnificent love story.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia