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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
While not my favorite time travel story (romance), there were some interesting moments that kept me reading until the end. :)
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I normally love Mike Chen's writing, but for whatever reasons this ended up just being "fine" to me. I enjoyed the back half of the novel much more than the first half and I feel the "romance" of it was a bit of a miss. I think the biggest issue with this novel is that one half of the duo at its heart is much weaker than the other - that half being Carter Cho. We learn almost nothing about his personality through much of the book, which is fascinating considering he is a solid half of the front half of the novel.
It isn't bad. But it just didn't land solidly for me. 3.5 stars, but rounding down for GR because it just misses the cut for a real 4 star book.
It isn't bad. But it just didn't land solidly for me. 3.5 stars, but rounding down for GR because it just misses the cut for a real 4 star book.
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ugh this book was so cute. An interesting scenario and story that was supplemented by sweet love story.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Uhh... I'm confused what rating to give this book, and what review to give. Not sure whether I'm satisfied by this ir disappointed.
This book advertises as a time-loop romance. And, (being stereotypical here but,) considering it's written by a male author, I didn't expect a good romance. However, what I also didn't expect - was zero romance. It's just a male and a female trapped in a time loop, working together towards the same goal. Seriously, just working together. Besides working together, there is - the female acknowledging that the male with his live-life-attitude has changed her perspective on life too, a five second impromptu kiss that the male forgets immediately after, and that is never mentioned again ( besides the female dwelling over it), and the first interaction of the male and the female repeated again at the ending.
So I ask you, where is the romance???
The second thing, assuming that this isn't a romance. It's just a time-loop/travel science fiction. Okay, it might be satisfactory as that. Satisfactory only. First of all it was too much science. Now I'm not sure if that much quantum mech just went over my head, or it wasn't written more comprehensively. Because you're writing a fiction novel, not a science book. And it's not that the science used in the book was all real. Which drives to the conclusion that it should be understandable? Because reading this whole book, I just got the gist of the logics being used. Like Point A leads to point B to Point C. I have no idea how these characters reached from Point A to B and so on, just that they did somehow.
Next issue. This book is set in the future. 2094 to be exact, then there are some references to a few past dates. Still current future. But we don't get explained about much of that future world. Why this year specifically. What all technologies developed in these 70 years. We get nothing except an extra smart handheld AI ( which please, almost exists today), a smart home which turns on the TV, makes coffee, and brightens the windows (like seriously?), and a particle accelerator company or whatever (which is the main focus on the books. So, what is the significance of this future timeline?
Another thing unexplained is - there are some anomalies happening in the time loop. Things from millions of years ago suddenly appear in the present, and there is nothing discussed about them except people have gathered around it and scientists are doing DNA tests and studies on it. No further discussion or explanation. Another anomaly - the guy, who apparently has an eidetic memory starts to have memory lapses, soon after the girl kisses him (for 5 secs) - 20-25 loops into the story. These memory lapses lead to total memory loss, to him not being aware that he's in a time loop, like all the other people. The question is - why? Why the lapses, why at that moment after all the time, how is it related to solving the time-loop thing - because it should be related, or what's the reason for mentioning it in the book, just to create a tragedy in the heroine's life? Unexplained.
Also, the book started with the man's POV, then it switched to the woman's POV. It did some back and forth for a couple chapters, and suddenly it was all the woman's POV. Why? If it was dual POV, it should have been so properly.
And I have very very much problem with ending! This story - it's not realistic, right? It can't be, because it's time loop, futuristic, time-travelling, and unexplained science. So then, there could have been wonders, surprises, good events? Not the only solution to exiting the time loop being the heroine going 20 years into past, to repair the cause of the problem, in order to stop the loop. And the woman, actually agreeing to leave the timeline, leave the people she loves here, the man she is falling in love with, and going into past, AND living for 20 years in isolation so that she doesn't causes a paradox. And then after living 20 years without disturbing the timeline, she sends herself into the present (which again is not to comprehensible), and we know nothing about this. She did all the science that she had to do and poof! She dissappears and we don't know anything else.
Aaaand.... that's my opinion of the book. So, do I like it, or do I not?
This book advertises as a time-loop romance. And, (being stereotypical here but,) considering it's written by a male author, I didn't expect a good romance. However, what I also didn't expect - was zero romance. It's just a male and a female trapped in a time loop, working together towards the same goal. Seriously, just working together. Besides working together, there is - the female acknowledging that the male with his live-life-attitude has changed her perspective on life too, a five second impromptu kiss that the male forgets immediately after, and that is never mentioned again ( besides the female dwelling over it), and the first interaction of the male and the female repeated again at the ending.
So I ask you, where is the romance???
The second thing, assuming that this isn't a romance. It's just a time-loop/travel science fiction. Okay, it might be satisfactory as that. Satisfactory only. First of all it was too much science. Now I'm not sure if that much quantum mech just went over my head, or it wasn't written more comprehensively. Because you're writing a fiction novel, not a science book. And it's not that the science used in the book was all real. Which drives to the conclusion that it should be understandable? Because reading this whole book, I just got the gist of the logics being used. Like Point A leads to point B to Point C. I have no idea how these characters reached from Point A to B and so on, just that they did somehow.
Next issue. This book is set in the future. 2094 to be exact, then there are some references to a few past dates. Still current future. But we don't get explained about much of that future world. Why this year specifically. What all technologies developed in these 70 years. We get nothing except an extra smart handheld AI ( which please, almost exists today), a smart home which turns on the TV, makes coffee, and brightens the windows (like seriously?), and a particle accelerator company or whatever (which is the main focus on the books. So, what is the significance of this future timeline?
Another thing unexplained is - there are some anomalies happening in the time loop. Things from millions of years ago suddenly appear in the present, and there is nothing discussed about them except people have gathered around it and scientists are doing DNA tests and studies on it. No further discussion or explanation. Another anomaly - the guy, who apparently has an eidetic memory starts to have memory lapses, soon after the girl kisses him (for 5 secs) - 20-25 loops into the story. These memory lapses lead to total memory loss, to him not being aware that he's in a time loop, like all the other people. The question is - why? Why the lapses, why at that moment after all the time, how is it related to solving the time-loop thing - because it should be related, or what's the reason for mentioning it in the book, just to create a tragedy in the heroine's life? Unexplained.
Also, the book started with the man's POV, then it switched to the woman's POV. It did some back and forth for a couple chapters, and suddenly it was all the woman's POV. Why? If it was dual POV, it should have been so properly.
And I have very very much problem with ending! This story - it's not realistic, right? It can't be, because it's time loop, futuristic, time-travelling, and unexplained science. So then, there could have been wonders, surprises, good events? Not the only solution to exiting the time loop being the heroine going 20 years into past, to repair the cause of the problem, in order to stop the loop. And the woman, actually agreeing to leave the timeline, leave the people she loves here, the man she is falling in love with, and going into past, AND living for 20 years in isolation so that she doesn't causes a paradox. And then after living 20 years without disturbing the timeline, she sends herself into the present (which again is not to comprehensible), and we know nothing about this. She did all the science that she had to do and poof! She dissappears and we don't know anything else.
Aaaand.... that's my opinion of the book. So, do I like it, or do I not?
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-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:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-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
This book was ALMOST perfect. I loved it, but I was really frustrated with the resolution 😔. I think some small tweaks would have made it feel better for me.Specifically, I would have liked for older Mariana to discover an older Carter who had also jumped time and was also trying to get them together; it would have made the disappearing feel less bad and Mariana’s sacrifice reciprocated. Overall, worth the read, but it could have hit a dreamier, more romantic conclusion and missed the mark just a bit.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Death
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol