Reviews

Q: A Novel by Evan Mandery, James Fouhey

punkrockingnerd's review against another edition

This felt like someone saw New Girl, wanted to make their own Jess, but didn't realize that Jess is a canon dork, not a cool manic-pixie-dreamgirl

niskasteele's review against another edition

2.0

Way too many pages for what could have been a good read. It waffled on way to much in some parts then ended very suddenly. Didnt enjoy as much as im sure I believed I would from the discription on the back.

chronologically_charlie's review against another edition

3.25

sometimes I recommend "girly" books to my guys friends and they can't connect with it - which I get. Not every book is meant for every one. this book, however, felt like...the opposite? it was a guy's book. this wasn't meant for me? To be perfectly honest, I don't enjoy time travel nor do I enjoy reading about couples that already exist (I prefer the chase!) so I did not set myself up for success. 

Other reviews have already mentioned it but the mini golf scene??? Why???

sandeestarlite's review against another edition

3.0

What's the guy version of chick lit? That's what this is. True to the format, the main character doesn't learn the 'lesson' until the end. The time travel aspect kept me reading though I was somewhat impatient at the guy's denseness.

eclectictales's review against another edition

5.0

I was surprised how quickly I read this book; I was not expecting to finish it so soon but I just could not put it down! I highly enjoyed this novel and all of the themes and questions that were posed throughout. I didn't expect such a novel containing a mesh of academic inquiry, philosophical musing and pop culture references to work but in the case of Q it did. You can read my full review of the novel on my blog (contains some spoilers!): http://www.rulethewaves.net/blog/?p=3764

katylv's review against another edition

2.0

I remember seeing this book as a hardback cover when it first came out a few years ago, and I was instantly interested in it. For reasons unbeknownst to me, it took me a very long time to get round to reading it. It's a very easy read, taking me only about 7 hours to read it all, and Q is a very likeable character, but that is where my praise for this book ends I'm afraid. Despite being in the title of the story, Q only features very briefly in the novel, at the beginning and end. The rest is most certainly, a story of time travel, and love rarely features in it. I thought this would interest me, but I found myself becoming more and more annoyed by the protagonist's choices involving the time travel. For one, he does not seem at all perplexed when he realises he is seeing his future self for lunch - I for one would be perplexed at this. What irritated me the most however, was the protagonist's complete belief in his future self, regardless of the form it took. Every time one came and told him to do something, he did it. Meaning that, often, he was told to do something, only to be told to do the opposite not too long after! One would think that he would realise he should choose his own path after a while, but that doesn't appear to occur to him. As well as this, I was immensely bored by his historical chapters, which presumably are meant to be the protagonist's own writing. Towards the end of the book, one of his many incarnations tells him his writing is and always will be
terrible, so why oh why does the author feel the necessity to inflict his writing onto us?! I also thought the ending was a cop out, as a writer, I felt incredibly let down by the lackluster last chapter.

k_lee_reads_it's review against another edition

1.0

Q: A Novel

Somehow when I read that I imagine a basic contemporary love story. What I got was a sci fi time travel book filled with esoteric story lines of a guy who liked being a pinball. A pinball since his future selves kept showing up and telling him a direction to go and with little thought, off he careened along a new path.

If you read the first and last chapters you'll have a love story, unfortunately to understand you have to plow through all the middle.

jenniegarcian's review against another edition

1.0

The concept is good, time travel and love. But the truth is that the book has very little about Q and love. He has this tendency to over describe scenes, like the mini golf game. Why the f*** do I need all those pointless details?! He never explains the obsession to give his characters gastritis or the lime/lemon debate. I hate that at first the I-60 and I-50 appear with a bit of space in the middle and at the second half he jams lots of "I's" together. The books the character was writing also suck! This guy is not funny at all! Plain bad writing, took a good concept and crapped on it.

I hate the ending, sorry. It's nice but it falls short.

busymorning's review against another edition

5.0

This was fantastic. I can't wait to read it again. It encouraged me to think about many different things, those being factual to emotional. I found it very similar to the way I perceive love's encounter. I don't know why others have reviewed it like they have. I guess we all just have different tastes.

I always find a book to be notable when it opens my mind to new ideas and spins old ones and new vocabulary. The tempo was pretty consistent to me too, although I can admit some of the time travel towards the end was a tad much. But the ending was unexpected, yet fulfilling at the same time.

I will read this again in the future.

5280reader's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0