Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Future of Another Timeline, by Annalee Newitz

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

glitterdyke's review

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

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

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

my_forest_library's review

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

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

petermhoward's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

this book is very deliberately challenging and very of its time — it’s almost on the nose when folks near the end are

Spoiler

thankful abortion is legal in America in 2022…

but it’s a reminder that rights are hard fought and never stable

i’d enjoyed the pacing of Autonomous but found the characterisation a little empty — here Newitz nails both. even when their writing is a manifesto it’s entertaining and you really get to know the characters

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

leweylibrarian's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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

4.75

I enjoyed the bejeezus out of this book and really mostly only regret that I couldn't read it in bigger chunks.

I want to point out that this is a rare book in which there are queer and gender nonconforming people and it doesn't revolve around romance at all, just them existing and doing badass time travel stuff which is dope. 

It's really cool that this alternate history does incorporate so much real history. I really enjoyed the social commentary parts about reproductive rights, gender roles, the patriarchy, etc., and the murder and serial killer parts were also really enjoyable.

I think the only struggle I had, and some of this may have been because I had to read it in smaller chunks over more time that I would've liked, but I had a hard time keeping track of characters and storylines sometimes. The settings changing so much in time and place could be a bit unsettling to adjust to, and the how of this time traveling is never really explained, so that was a bit confusing. Also, I know we did officially find out very clearly that

Spoiler

Beth is NOT Tess but Tess is actually Lizzy,

but man did my brain have a hard time accepting and retaining that lol

Overall, I can't fault this book too much in my mind because it was truly really fun, and that last line in the acknowledgements is going to stick with me.

Quotes:

• Nothing is inevitable, and you always have to go back farther than you expect. (282)
• ...I don't tell them everything about the timeline I remember. I don't want them to know how close we are to that other version of history. I want them to have hope. (282)
• It wasn't that I didn't believe in great men anymore. But now I could see that every great man was actually a tiny piece of something much larger: A movement, an institution, or possibly a set of loosely interconnected people. Maybe the only real difference between the Great Man perspective and the Collective Action one was that great man had followers instead of communities. (309)
• Collective action means that when someone does something small or personal, their actions can change history too. Even if the only thing that person ever does is study ancient rocks, or listen to a friend. (309)
• I remember a world where abortion was legal in my country. I hope you do too. (347)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

hannahbailey's review

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

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

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

Minor: Mental illness, Racism, Transphobia, and Vomit

lain_darko's review

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Abortion, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Racism, Antisemitism, Suicide, Blood, and Deadnaming

Minor: Alcohol and Vomit