Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Just One Damned Thing After Another

I am so confused. The premise of historians and time travel sounded right up my street, which is why I gave this a go. However, I spent the first half of the book in literal agony about how bad the writing was and that the plot was not being executed fully. Ironically, I could not keep up with the jumping of time. One moment she had been at the institute a week and the next it had been years.
One of my biggest problems was the terrible writing, but also the treatment of female characters. The main character is a classic Mary Sue who has all the men at her feet despite being average at best. She immediately clashes with the other female character who also has red hair for no real reason. One of her 'friends' leaves the institute during their training and she is really upset about it, despite having never been seen speaking to her before. In short, I was ready to give up on this book.

But sometime happened just after halfway through.

I believe it was when Leon reveals he is from the future

Suddenly the plot became interesting enough for me to want to continue. I actually even enjoyed the last 50 pages or so.

Overall, this book definitely needs some work, but having realised it is the authors first published novel, I can understand where the writing may fall down. I will be giving the next book a go, but only because my boyfriend already bought it for me. Otherwise, perhaps I would be giving this lengthy series a miss.

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jesswp's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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bebidocrimes's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

With such an incredible set up for time travelling historians, you'd think they would think a bit further out than Europe/Mediterranean. Sure, a good chunk was in dinosaur times, but even history mentioned in passing was limited. Despite that, this was a really fun read! Super fast, fun characters, and some surprisingly realistic heavy moments. Gotta say, I liked the romance because it made sense that those characters were good for one another, BUT (present) time passed so quickly it felt super rushed. Like, yeah they'd get there eventually, but it feels a bit soon, what do you mean it's been 5 years? I'd kill for more focus on the Wardrobe department and the Research & Development team (those mad scientists are gay, change my mind). I couldn't stand that all the women had negative attributes to them (she's a bitch, she's not friendly, she's stuck up), and most of them got better developed throughout, but would it kill the author to give Max some female friends? Or at least give her and Kal more on screen friendship development. Overall, ups and downs for this whole book, but it was exciting and I own the next 3 so I'm sticking around.

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tnociti's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Hilarious but not silly. A wonderfully perfect romp. Loved it.

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is no less enjoyable upon reading it for a second time... though I really, really must move forward in the series. The first time I read this, it made me laugh out loud, which was exceedingly awkward on a cruise ship full of refined patrons. The second time, it still made me laugh out loud, because I'd legit sit just long enough that I'd forgotten some of the funny bits.

It's a quick-paced book, but I think that is to its benefit. There are some high highs and some low lows and it makes you run the entire gamut of emotions for Max. I maintain that St. Mary's is exactly the sort of career I would like. And that this book is just fun enough to be an absolute joy and a comfort read for me. I still wholeheartedly recommend it, and honestly, I may just go order A Symphony of Echoes because zany time travel is exactly my cup of tea.

__________

Original Review: 5 Stars (April 26th, 2018)

St. Mary’s is a historical research facility attached to Thurst college. It’s a small institution, remaining under the radar. The application process is quite rigorous. The training doubly so. These historians aren’t studying archaeological evidence. At least, not in the traditional way. St. Mary’s is in possession of six time machines, and it is the job of the historians to go back in time and observe history, then report their findings back to Thurst in the form of extraordinary presentations supported with technical evidence.

History occasionally disapproves of this process, of course, and there is the odd casualty.

Erm. Okay, the very common fatality. But the historians know what they’re getting into from day one.

This novel absolutely captured my imagination. There’s not many people captivated by history, but those of us who are, are very passionate. Max is a new trainee with St. Mary’s, but she is by no means a green student. She has a doctorate in history with a focus in Ancient Cultures (have I mentioned I love Max? I love Max.) She is a bit of a loner, but not a Rebel Without A Cause. She gets in so many scrapes and tumbles throughout the novel that I spent a lot of time in high angst, scratching my head and wondering how the bloody hell she was going to get out of this one. She’s smart, but horribly unlucky. She trusts too easily and acts a bit rashly.

Have I mentioned the dinosaurs? There are dinosaurs in this book. I won’t discuss that more, because I was *delighted* when I discovered there would be dinosaurs and I don’t want to give too much away. Think all the best of Michael Crichton’s imagination with the charm and spark of a witty British heroine.

One of Jodi Taylor’s strengths is that she follows through on her choices. As a writer, I appreciate the fine line between dictating the direction of your story letting the pieces fall in place. As I listened to this audiobook (small aside, excellent narration on this one), I felt like Max kept leading the story herself and I would imagine Miss Taylor in front of her computer downing glass after glass of robust red wine and violently cursing her headstrong characters as she struggled to make them follow her outline. I *adore* books like that. You feel an internal struggle, and since this book has comedic elements, it was perfect.

Along with that, the writing was shocking and funny. There were moments of great stress, but there were also moments that made me laugh out loud. Which wasn’t awkward at *all* on a bus filled with edgy Americans en route to Paris.... I loved it, even if I felt a bit foolish.

Just One Damned Thing After Another falls within the range of New Adult. Max is just post-doctorate, but the tone is light (a la Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams) and doesn’t feel properly like an adult book. It has a few mature themes - there’s a brief, tasteful sex scene - but nothing too gruesome or graphic for the YA audience.

For what it’s worth, I loved this book. I’m so glad there’s 8 more in the series so far (not including short stories). Also, I’d like to be Max when I grow up. That is all.

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