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forestfloor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The plot and world building are what really won me over: a time travel plot with multiple timelines and character perspectives is had to keep all together and yet this book had a strong plot concept which it executed really well. It's a really original take on time travel as well. It focuses less on the impacts of the alternative technology, culture and aesthetic etc. of different time periods on the characters, and does away with common tropes around paradoxes. Instead, you're left with a fascinating look into the culture and mental state time travellers acquire simply by being time travellers.
Where the book lost me a little bit is in characterisation - the characters were really well developed as far as their motivations and personality were relevant to the plot, but not outside of this. That missing layer of enriching but not necessarily relevant description would have let them feel more like fully developed people.
First, I think that wrapping up the story with Ginger and her husband was missing, because we left them on a very tense note.
Second, while Ruby is by no means painted as an aggressor, she is considered to be Margret's murderer. I feel that actually, Angharad holds that position, and I think that the discovery of this was missing, or not quite concrete enough, in the book.
Graphic: Mental illness and Murder
Minor: Racism
bookwyrm242's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation
Minor: Bullying and Cursing
daniellekat's review against another edition
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Blood
Minor: Racism
disnelyse'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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Mental illness
Moderate: Eating disorder, Self harm, and Grief
Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, and Racism
lailaspacekate'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt
readwithria'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
3.75
Kate Mascarenhas somehow wrote a book about a mystery that gives you all of the information you would typically get in a trial without the trial. She also writes an incredibly tight time travel system with a closed loop (my favorite kind!) and clear rules for what is and isn’t possible. The passage of information from different versions of the same person is also done very well, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the time travel aspects of the book!
What I didn’t like as much was the Ruby timeline, specifically toward the end of the book
All in all this book was really well written, but I don’t know if I was the target reader. The first half was really hard for me to get through, but once I did I flew through the second half. I think that because there was so much set up, and so many different chronologies to follow, it made it difficult for me to get invested in the book. I think this would make a really interesting miniseries, and that the visual medium would help convey where in time we are more easily than the chapter headings do.
Unrelated to anything that’s actually related to the writing or story, but all of the characters in the book were women and seeing a STEM field full of women made me so happy!
Would I recommend this book? Yes. Will I read it again? Probably not. 3.75 stars.
Graphic: Death and Gun violence
Moderate: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer and Car accident
mandkips'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Murder
Moderate: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Self harm, and Grief
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Racism
towardinfinitybooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Gore, and Self harm
Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, and Racism
aardwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Dialogue is rather strangely arranged, with paragraph breaks in all the wrong places. Stylistically, this works to make the act of reading a sort of constant time travel itself. You're forever tracking back and forth to figure out who's talking. While it works on a meta level, the affectation does make reading kind of a weird mechanical experience.
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
norwegianforestreader'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
5.0
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Alcohol