Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Wrong Place Wrong Time

Title: Wrong Place Wrong Time
Author: Gillian McAllister
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: August 2, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Intriguing • Creative • Anticlimactic

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened?

Late October. After midnight. You’re waiting up for your seventeen-year-old son. He’s late. As you watch from the window, he emerges, and you realize he isn’t alone: he’s walking toward a man, and he’s armed.

You can’t believe it when you see him do it: your funny, happy teenage son, he kills a stranger, right there on the street outside your house. You don’t know who. You don’t know why. You only know your son is now in custody. His future shattered.

That night you fall asleep in despair. All is lost. Until you wake...

... and it is yesterday.

And then you wake again...

... and it is the day before yesterday.

Every morning you wake up a day earlier, another day before the murder. With another chance to stop it. Somewhere in the past lies an answer. The trigger for this crime—and you don’t have a choice but to find it...

💭 T H O U G H T S

Wrong Place Wrong Time is a book I probably wouldn't have picked on my own, but when it was selected as the February book for my in-person book club I knew I would give it a shot. I was interested in the time travel aspect, but was definitely hesitant about the rest of the premise.

I was deeply invested in the unique narrative at the start and could not put it down. The time travel aspect was intriguing, but the middle was an absolute slog and I found myself just wanting it to end. Eventually the pace would pick back up, but it was too late, my interest had already waned. In fact, the ending was a little anticlimactic for me. I understand the slow pacing is due to the way in which it is written - backwards through time - yet there wasn't the tension I carved.

There were several themes I appreciated. Firstly, I liked how this novel explore how what may seem like small choices and actions at the time, can have huge impacts on our future lives. And how if you change one thing, it can change everything. It's an interesting concept that leads to a lot of contemplation. Second, I thought it was a very realistic depiction of motherhood and the impact of mom guilt.

Gillian McAllister gets my praise simply for the creativity of the plot, and for all of the planning I imagine went into putting it into words. It's certainly unlike any thriller I've read and that deserves credit. I just wish it could have been executed a little more smoothly with more tension and quicker pace.

Overall, Wrong Place Wrong Time didn't do it for me. I know I am in the minority, as this is beloved by so many, but the pace didn't pick up until the final 25% and by then it was too late. I did really like the concept, but the execution faltered and I had to push myself to get through. I don't think I will be reading anything else by this author in the future, but I can understand why she's a favourite author of many readers.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• time-travel enthusiasts
• readers looking for unique thriller

⚠️ CW: murder, gun violence, blood, injury/injury detail, death, death of parent, grief, stalking, kidnapping, cursing, mental illness, suicide, addiction, drug use, drug abuse, fatphobia, sexual content, pregnancy, gaslighting

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"But knowing the future is worse than not knowing."

Content Warnings

bookishchaos's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I liked it! It was very different from other thrillers I've read. I enjoyed the time travel aspect and the switching narratives. This book was like a puzzle and it was quite fun to read, but it started to drag in the middle, which is why I didn't rate it five stars.

Content Warnings

abicaro17's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

HoLY SHIT! Damm. This book doesn't miss. Every time you think you have something figured out: you don't. While most of the characters don't develop beyond their box, Kelly and Jen become something else entirely. They start off in the box but evolve into their own complex characters with backstories you'd never think of. Truly a time travel story thats both new and exciting! My only qualm (which doesn't effect the actual story which is why it doesn't effect the score) is that a lot of the book throws in British slang and as an American its hard to understand.

Content Warnings

cerilouisereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

sydneyjn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A great murder mystery told backwards. The plot twists were almost what I expected, but the author kept subverting my expectations. Well done, and I’ll be reading more from Gillian McAllister!

Content Warnings

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

3.75

I was grasping between a 3.75 and a 4 stars for this book, but I finally settled on a 3.75/5 stars. I'm not going to lie for the first 90 or so pages I was STRUGGLING! Her writing and just the way she chose to portray the story wasn't working for me. I was really bored (close to dnfing bored), what made me continue was due to how much people liked this book online. And funny enough after the 90 or so pages it picked up for me that was until the 200 page mark. Then it got slowed again, but then picked up again (I was a rollercoaster when it came to this book, my goodness😅).

Once the story picked up, I found myself enjoying it overall, however, I do think it did drag on for many parts. I guessed some twists, but there were many times where I was shocked and it's been a while since a thriller shocked me. I really enjoyed the various depictions of Jen's love for her son. It was so endearing to read how much she cared for him. I also enjoyed the various interactions Jen has with Andy. Those were always so funny to read. The time travel stuff was also very interesting and fun to read about. Ultimately once you've finished this book you find out that it's low-key a love story.

Now although Ryan/Kelly ended up being a good guy in the end I still can't behind the fact that he lied to her for twenty years no matter what the reason was. And when she confronts him for the first time he completely gaslights her. I understand his reasoning but I still can't get behind it.

The ending was pretty anti-climatic to me and pretty unsatisfying.

Like the fact that she literally doesn't even remember her time travelling in the end annoyed me soooo much! And the fact she had to sacrifice the kidnapping versus convicting Joseph was odd to me. I thought the story was leading to the justification and figuring out why Todd kills him, but we can that explained within a few sentences. I would've preferred that honestly rather than the direction the author chose to take because now Joseph is alive and never put in prison which causes another time loop. Like what?! Then what was the point?

The book might as well have ended with "it was all a dream". Very annoying! Was not fond of the ending at all.

Content Warnings

More...