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A review by b00kw0rms0fthew0rldunite
The Leap Year Gene of Kit McKinley by Shelley Wood, Shelley Wood
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
3.5
I found the premise of this book to be really fascinating. I read the blurb and couldn't wait to listen. I had the audio book version of this title.
To say it covered a lot of genres is an understatement. It ranged from romance to history to science fiction to thriller. It starts in 1915 where the baby in question is first known to be growing in utero. It's quickly noted that this pregnancy is considerably longer than most and when Kathryn (Kit) arrives, it takes a while for those around her to realise that she ages at a quarter speed of other humans which ties in to her leap year birthday.
This book covers so many themes and with it, moral compasses, history lessons and character transformations. I was on the edge of my seat with a lot of those Nazi scenes and with stomach in knots, was tense all the way though that part. Through the rest of the long book, I did sometimes find it hard to keep track of her actual age vs her leap year age.
The story after she's a teen just goes from sour relationships to everyone accusing her of making it all about her, to arguments that never get a resolution and a really unremarkable life in the end. I found that apart from Ernest and Dr Gupta, I didn't really like many of the characters or the way they interacted and didn't see many happy moments without strings attached. It was a very long book to get through and I really wish I'd liked it more, but each scene was either sadder or more hopeless than the last.
I appreciate the ARC from Netgalley and the author and publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.
To say it covered a lot of genres is an understatement. It ranged from romance to history to science fiction to thriller. It starts in 1915 where the baby in question is first known to be growing in utero. It's quickly noted that this pregnancy is considerably longer than most and when Kathryn (Kit) arrives, it takes a while for those around her to realise that she ages at a quarter speed of other humans which ties in to her leap year birthday.
This book covers so many themes and with it, moral compasses, history lessons and character transformations. I was on the edge of my seat with a lot of those Nazi scenes and with stomach in knots, was tense all the way though that part. Through the rest of the long book, I did sometimes find it hard to keep track of her actual age vs her leap year age.
The story after she's a teen just goes from sour relationships to everyone accusing her of making it all about her, to arguments that never get a resolution and a really unremarkable life in the end. I found that apart from Ernest and Dr Gupta, I didn't really like many of the characters or the way they interacted and didn't see many happy moments without strings attached. It was a very long book to get through and I really wish I'd liked it more, but each scene was either sadder or more hopeless than the last.
I appreciate the ARC from Netgalley and the author and publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.