Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Les Oiseaux du temps

Characters: 10/10
Relationships: 10/10
Atmosphere/Setting: 9.5/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Plot/Intrigue: 9.5/10
Internal Logic: 10/10
Entertainment: 10/10
Overall: 68/70, 5*

I love epistolary novels, quantum time travel plots, and messy star crossed sapphic romances, so I figured from the get that I'd be really into this. and I was! I especially loved the ways the characters spoke with one another across timelines, and gave context for themselves as individuals, within their respective collective experiences, and within their shared relationship over time(s). the writing about writing was also really fun! there are definitely moments that delve into disturbing themes and events, but for the most part I found the tone stayed hopeful in belief for better circumstances.

it's definitely something I need to relisten to (I feel like I missed a lot in my first run thru due to the narrative bouncing around quite a lot), but I'm so excited to revisit it!

Content Warnings

thecrimsoncorsair's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Okay, so there's a very real possibility that I'm just dumb as fuck, and that's why I didn't understand this book. But I can typically follow an audiobook with no issues. Get into it like I'm reading a physical book. And be able to enjoy it. This book though... I was reeling from the very beginning. The author just kinda dumps you into the story without any kind of explanation as to what is going on or who these characters are. The book is pretty short as well. So I was a good chunk into it by the time I was even able to figure out what the plot was, and who the characters were. I was genuinely so lost. But I finished the story in one sitting because I was desperate to try to see if I could understand it more as it went along. And I never did. I was confused throughout. I have genuinely never been this bewildered by a book experience before. And I feel like I might need to re-read this physically to actually understand what I just listened to.

Content Warnings

gabriella_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.5

I’m gonna be honest I found this book kinda pretentious. I don’t like a “learn on the job” approach to lore/world building when I barely have time to get a sense of what the actual setting is - and the mental mindfuck of added details made me feel even more lost at sea.

I loved the letters and the main characters’ dynamic. Some scenes had prose-writing so beautiful it read like poetry. The final quarter of the book had me in its grasp.

This book had a dreamlike quality to it, like a fairy tale. It feels like if 1984 meets Snow White meets Revolutionary Girl Utena meets Camus’ The Stranger.

Content Warnings

lenz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-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? Yes

3.5

Short and sweet and impossibly romantic. Though I don’t personally enjoy romance stories like this, I appreciate that this story is told with little distraction so it was easier to get through. This story is a

series of love letters, and the ending was happy.

Content Warnings

offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

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