hwillustrator's review against another edition
3.0
On the whole this was fun and easily readable, but lacked the depth and nuance I hope for in feminist sci-fi. Although at first I was pleasantly surprised by the casual inclusion of a non-binary character, a trans character and many characters of colour, it later felt like they were added for inclusivity bonus points, rather than as well fleshed-out characters with their own narrative arcs. I felt like the novel needed more room to expand on this, but also the timelines - I'd have loved to have seen more apparently disconnected threads coming together. The timeline with Beth and Lizzy was by far my favourite, in part because of all the riot grrrl references, but also because we spend more time with these characters it is felt much easier to get attached to them.
onioons's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.25
allisonfortier18's review
2.0
okay. the premise of this book sounds so empowering and fantastical, i was so excited. a feminist story about regaining women's rights by editing key political and social movements throughout time in order to change the future. i got all the way through and i felt disappointed by the end.
in terms of world-building, the way time travel works in this book was fascinating and very unique. traveling through time using ancient rock formations completely fossilizes the idea of time travel, which has been previously seen as a feature of a futuristic society.
where the story fell completely flat:
the story lacked intersectionality in its plot, which made it feel very white-centric and painted the men vs women narrative. there are many women of color featured in this novel, and i am stressing the word 'featured' because that's all that happened. the story centered around two white and cis female characters and their personalities and arcs were explored, which left all the supporting BIPOC and non-cis characters to serve as devices to push the plot forward and comfort the main two girls. the author missed a great opportunity to paint a picture of how gender, race, and sexuality are all intertwined and she just didnt take it. while the topic of abortion is very important and hints to a larger idea of women having control over their own bodies, this came at the expense of dismissing intersectionality between women of all races and sexualities.
i also find it ironic that out of all the women's rights issues to focus on, the author chooses one that specializes in women who can reproduce. the women's rights movement in this book would have been more all inclusive if she picked literally any other topic, like maybe a women's right to vote? right to hold positions of power? right to an equal opportunity of education? the list can go on and on. additionally, the only trans character in the story was carefully placed to be murdered by a transphobic serial killer in the current timeline, brought back after changing that time line, making a single feature in a single scene, then disappearing off the map. its like the author included a hate crime/act of discrimination just to say it was included, then never expand on that issue after it being mentioned.
i also didn't like how even the historical time periods the characters visited felt modern and futuristic. this probably came as a price of having people of the future revealing themselves as from the future, but i find it so hard to believe that people living in 13 BCE have the accent of an "american southern belle". it takes the context out of history and in a science fiction novel, it didnt feel right.
what made me so frustrated was the fact that tess spent her whole adult life trying to grow from her teenage habit of killing men in revenge preying on other women, only for her to become an assassin and live the rest of her life killing people in another time. in my opinion, thoughtless and impulsive violence as a means of "justice" is never the right call to make. her growth literally went down the toilet and it felt so ridiculous by the time i finished the book. the girl took revenge and called it justice.
i wanted to enjoy this, but in the end i was just angry.
in terms of world-building, the way time travel works in this book was fascinating and very unique. traveling through time using ancient rock formations completely fossilizes the idea of time travel, which has been previously seen as a feature of a futuristic society.
where the story fell completely flat:
the story lacked intersectionality in its plot, which made it feel very white-centric and painted the men vs women narrative. there are many women of color featured in this novel, and i am stressing the word 'featured' because that's all that happened. the story centered around two white and cis female characters and their personalities and arcs were explored, which left all the supporting BIPOC and non-cis characters to serve as devices to push the plot forward and comfort the main two girls. the author missed a great opportunity to paint a picture of how gender, race, and sexuality are all intertwined and she just didnt take it. while the topic of abortion is very important and hints to a larger idea of women having control over their own bodies, this came at the expense of dismissing intersectionality between women of all races and sexualities.
i also find it ironic that out of all the women's rights issues to focus on, the author chooses one that specializes in women who can reproduce. the women's rights movement in this book would have been more all inclusive if she picked literally any other topic, like maybe a women's right to vote? right to hold positions of power? right to an equal opportunity of education? the list can go on and on. additionally, the only trans character in the story was carefully placed to be murdered by a transphobic serial killer in the current timeline, brought back after changing that time line, making a single feature in a single scene, then disappearing off the map. its like the author included a hate crime/act of discrimination just to say it was included, then never expand on that issue after it being mentioned.
i also didn't like how even the historical time periods the characters visited felt modern and futuristic. this probably came as a price of having people of the future revealing themselves as from the future, but i find it so hard to believe that people living in 13 BCE have the accent of an "american southern belle". it takes the context out of history and in a science fiction novel, it didnt feel right.
what made me so frustrated was the fact that tess spent her whole adult life trying to grow from her teenage habit of killing men in revenge preying on other women, only for her to become an assassin and live the rest of her life killing people in another time. in my opinion, thoughtless and impulsive violence as a means of "justice" is never the right call to make. her growth literally went down the toilet and it felt so ridiculous by the time i finished the book. the girl took revenge and called it justice.
i wanted to enjoy this, but in the end i was just angry.
puzzleguzzler's review
4.0
I really got into this book: the methodology of time travel had an appealing geological and natural aspect to it vs being overly technological, appreciated the references to Irvine, and the writing style was easy to get into. But while I was on board with the feminist premise, I agree with other reviewers that the "villains" of the story were underwritten. They reminded me of Taylor Swift's "You need to calm down" video - caricatures with cringe-y dialogue like, "Men should have pride. Women serve. Snatural." Overall though, I'd recommend it and kinda hope it becomes a movie or mini-series.
carolynf's review
4.0
Gen-X, punk, time traveling, intersectionalist feminists! A fun read, and a good companion book to "The Power."
The present is 2022, and since history began humanity has known about time traveling machines made of stone that date back to prehistoric times. You are supposed to use the to watch and observe past events, but a group of women called the Daughters of Harriet are determined to secretly edit the current timeline - in which abortion continues to be illegal and misogyny is rampant.
The main characters are Beth and Tess, who have alternating chapters. Beth is a teenager in 1992, with abusive parents and dubious friends. Tess was also a teenager in 1992, and makes pitstops there as she travels back from 2022 to 1893 to fight mens rights activists and Comstock supporters at the Chicago exposition.
The present is 2022, and since history began humanity has known about time traveling machines made of stone that date back to prehistoric times. You are supposed to use the to watch and observe past events, but a group of women called the Daughters of Harriet are determined to secretly edit the current timeline - in which abortion continues to be illegal and misogyny is rampant.
The main characters are Beth and Tess, who have alternating chapters. Beth is a teenager in 1992, with abusive parents and dubious friends. Tess was also a teenager in 1992, and makes pitstops there as she travels back from 2022 to 1893 to fight mens rights activists and Comstock supporters at the Chicago exposition.
hannahreadslotsofbooks's review
2.0
I really wanted to like this book because it had a really cool premise with time travel and preventing certain events from happening, but for me, it was really difficult to follow.
oanh_1's review
4.0
Really interesting ideas about time travel and how hard won progressive change is.