A review by kitrook
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
4.5
This was really good, but it would have been perfect if two things had been done differently.
1. The main romance felt SO out of the blue. I don't care that it didn't feel terribly romantic as yes- it is an atypical relationship, but there was no significant build up for anything that happened which lead to me feeling no emotional connection to that plot
2. I feel as if the story could have been wrapped up a bit better. I fear Ginger didn't get a proper ending, and the end felt imperfect.
With that out of the way, here are the things I loved
- The idea of this book. The title speaks to what it is: the trials and tribulations of time travel on mental health. Such an interesting concept I haven't seen done before and I really enjoyed how it was interwoven with mystery.
- The interweaving of all the stories is so so so! interesting! Many unpredictable moments of revelation that make you want to keep going deeper into the book
- There are quite a few characters in this book, but I never once felt confused about who was who, as I often do in books with many characters. It's not confusing, which is something a lot of authors fail hard at doing.
- No one ever questions the women in this book for doing what they do based on their gender, their roles in science, or their roles in power. It's just not there in the book. It's refreshing.
- Lesbian calls herself a lesbian. Nice!
- The way time travel works here is fabulous. Theres no hang ups on paradoxes, such as the baby hitler paradox/grandfather paradox which was definitely the right choice as any hang ups on that would have taken away from the novel, in my opinion. I liked that it was just a norm to time travel, and the fact that you could not change the future or past no matter how hard you tried, as it was all pre-determined. The way people would walk around at certain ages certainly bends your brain when you think about it at first, but in the end its a relatively easy concept for the reader to grasp. 10/10 time travel universe rules
1. The main romance felt SO out of the blue. I don't care that it didn't feel terribly romantic as yes- it is an atypical relationship, but there was no significant build up for anything that happened which lead to me feeling no emotional connection to that plot
2. I feel as if the story could have been wrapped up a bit better. I fear Ginger didn't get a proper ending, and the end felt imperfect.
With that out of the way, here are the things I loved
- The idea of this book. The title speaks to what it is: the trials and tribulations of time travel on mental health. Such an interesting concept I haven't seen done before and I really enjoyed how it was interwoven with mystery.
- The interweaving of all the stories is so so so! interesting! Many unpredictable moments of revelation that make you want to keep going deeper into the book
- There are quite a few characters in this book, but I never once felt confused about who was who, as I often do in books with many characters. It's not confusing, which is something a lot of authors fail hard at doing.
- No one ever questions the women in this book for doing what they do based on their gender, their roles in science, or their roles in power. It's just not there in the book. It's refreshing.
- Lesbian calls herself a lesbian. Nice!
- The way time travel works here is fabulous. Theres no hang ups on paradoxes, such as the baby hitler paradox/grandfather paradox which was definitely the right choice as any hang ups on that would have taken away from the novel, in my opinion. I liked that it was just a norm to time travel, and the fact that you could not change the future or past no matter how hard you tried, as it was all pre-determined. The way people would walk around at certain ages certainly bends your brain when you think about it at first, but in the end its a relatively easy concept for the reader to grasp. 10/10 time travel universe rules
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent and Infidelity
Minor: Self harm and Eating disorder