Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz

49 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Creating a believable time travel story is bound to be difficult because it never makes sense once you start to analyze it. This story is so good that it was believable throughout - I wasn’t even tempted to try to analyze it because the plot fit together so perfectly. 

This book is topical, having been published in 2019, three years before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. It describes a 1993 and a 2022 where abortion has never been legalized, and time travelers work to edit the timeline in favor of women’s rights. Of course, the people who deny rights to women are just as busy trying to edit the timeline to crush women and turn them into breeders. (It feels all too real in that sense.)

Engaging story, valiant characters, salient topic - an excellent book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Abortion, Murder, and Alcohol

glitterdyke's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Murder

rafaelsampaio's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Racism

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

This was a very enjoyable read. The research done for this novel was insane: the character, setting and plot writing were incredible. I loved the alternating points of view and the interweaving timelines, and the stakes were real, tangible and exhilarating. The effortless inclusion of diverse ethnicities and queer identities was fantastic to read too.

However, where this book falls short is I’m not sure the vision of the fundamental aspect, the time travel and its mechanics, were as defined and clear as they should have been. I did have to suspend belief and go along with it at certain points because it did seem like they flouted their own predefined rules in order for the plot to continue. By the end, although it was satisfying and a satisfactory end, there were still so many questions left unanswered - the characters and I were both left asking ‘who knows?’. In certain ways it made it more convoluted than it already was trying to justify some of the plot points.

Overall this book was good and definitely worth a read. A powerful feminist sci-fi novel, full of historical context and loveable characters, with an overarching plot-line we can all feel impassioned about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

my_forest_library's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Antisemitism

thepermageek's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

*Phew* I feel like I need to catch my breath after reading this wild ride of a book! 

If yr looking for a fast-paced, feminist/riot grrrl-themed novel about needing to fight the time-travelling patriarchy than look no further! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Blood, Abortion, and Murder

Minor: Transphobia

hannahbailey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Fans of This is how you lose the time war would enjoy this one!

It was an interesting concept but sometimes the pace was slow. I felt like it was building up to a big moment that never happened. It had a good plot twist, however I felt more connected to Beth than Tess -- there should've been more from her emotionally. 

An opportunity was missed to flesh out the characters/plot/world-building which was a shame. I feel like we could've learned more from the future, although the fact that we didn't could be the author's very warning against time travel and meddling with time. 

TW: murder, sexual violence, child abuse (incest), abortion, transphobia, suicide

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Suicide, Transphobia, Abortion, and Murder

kerriw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Not a strong start to this book but I am glad I stuck with it. I loved the exploration of collective vs individual action and I always love the wonkiness of time traveling in a story. The whole punk scene is not my vibe so I wouldn’t say I enjoyed those parts, but it made sense in the context. I felt like the ending was clean and clear, nothing vague and confusing. 

Overall, I enjoyed it! Though I did the audiobook and the narrator’s voice was not my favorite.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Medical trauma, and Abortion

Minor: Mental illness, Racism, Transphobia, and Vomit

aardwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

Oof. So it's nothing against the book, but it's a weird time to read this one (July of 22).

The bit where they discuss shock at the idea of abortions being illegal in 2022 is a doozy.

It's not a flaw of the text, but of the moment, which is sort of the point of the text, so bravo, really. 

The book does a good job of juggling time travel and changing realities, slipping in needful details and surprises. Plot is really its strongest point. There's some occasional clunky dialogue; character speak out loud the same way they internally monologue, and infodump their emotions once in a while. But the worst this'll do is throw you out of the text a minute. It's an intensely, deliberately political book, which may not be everyone's choice, but it's an effective, well balanced time thriller, too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ineffablebob's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

The Future of Another Timeline feels to me like two books mashed together. One is a time travel novel, and the other is personal stories of women in the 1890s and 1990s. I didn't think the time travel book was very good. This is mainly because I have a hard time suspending my disbelief over largely-unlimited time travel that allows all kinds of interventions to affect both the overall timeline and individuals. Such a world would devolve quickly into either paradoxes created by the uncontrolled mass of travelers, or some group would take strict control of time jumps and keep it secret. This world is neither and just seemed incredibly unreal to me. But the good news is that the other side of the story, the personal stories of women in two different times, is really good. Both Tess and Beth are very well-developed characters, and so are many of their friends. Read this one for the people aspect, and put up with the not-terribly-impressive science fiction side.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicidal thoughts