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prupell's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It definitely kept me interested. I did find the timeline a little confusing, and there are some things I'm still working out in my head. But if you like books that play with time, and are looking for a page turner, this is definitely worth the read.
helloashluna's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
novelvisits's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the beginning of this book and the whole set up of why and how 39-year old Maria wakes up in her own bed, but her 17-year old bed. The confusion and frustration she felt were well depicted initially, but then I just felt like that just kept going on and on with just slight variations in what was happening. I liked the ending a lot, but the middle really dragged for me!
thebookhaze's review
2.0
Pros: The writing style is really good and it kept me reading long after I started feeling doubtful about the story. The story is also intriguing enough that it kept me curious to see what would happen. I kept hoping it would be worth it in the end.
Cons: It wasn't really worth it in the end. I wanted to like it, I really did, but there seems to be no point to the story? It's just...weird. There was absolutely no connection to the characters at all, not just as a reader relating to the characters, but there was no connection *between* the characters to make what happens between them all make sense.
Cons: It wasn't really worth it in the end. I wanted to like it, I really did, but there seems to be no point to the story? It's just...weird. There was absolutely no connection to the characters at all, not just as a reader relating to the characters, but there was no connection *between* the characters to make what happens between them all make sense.
Spoiler
Also, the title, She Wouldn't Change a Thing. But she did though. She changed everything. Not a criticism on the title, but rather, I think I would've liked it better if she didn't change a thing, because the fact that she did, in the way that the story was told, only made me feel more disconnected to the story, because it felt like the connection wasn't strong enough to make her future with her husband and three kids happen. And then having Henry/Hank randomly come into her life and become her husband in her new reality, when I didn't even like Hank as a person in Jenny's story. It seems more of a convenient way of tying up the story than an actual necessary plot point. I don't even think his presence in her story was necessary at all.poplartrees_'s review
5.0
six stars. oh my gosh.
this book blew my mind. i finished it and i wanted to scream or to sob but i could only sit there, staring out my window.
i may not agree with all the morals of this, but the connections Sarah Adlakha made, and the way she intertwined the characters...
from the first reveal to the LITERAL LAST LINE (oh my goodnessss), i was hooked.
wow.
this book blew my mind. i finished it and i wanted to scream or to sob but i could only sit there, staring out my window.
i may not agree with all the morals of this, but the connections Sarah Adlakha made, and the way she intertwined the characters...
from the first reveal to the LITERAL LAST LINE (oh my goodnessss), i was hooked.
wow.
samanthabooks19's review
DNFed at page 174
I was highly anticipating this book but I ended up having general apathy towards the story. I wasn't loving it as much as I wished. Then, the book started to change from a science fiction tone to having spiritism and religious themes. Not a fan and won't continue with the book.
I was highly anticipating this book but I ended up having general apathy towards the story. I wasn't loving it as much as I wished. Then, the book started to change from a science fiction tone to having spiritism and religious themes. Not a fan and won't continue with the book.
lisawreading's review
2.0
In She Wouldn’t Change a Thing, time travel is less a fantasy element and more of a nightmarish trap that sends a person back into their own earlier life.
Maria is close to her due date for her third child, married mostly happily but also incredibly frazzled, mother to two adorable daughters, and a successful psychiatrist, when a strange new patient shows up in her office. Sylvia comes with disjointed warnings and rambles on about having a purpose. She gives Maria a warning about her own life, and tries to gain Maria’s understanding — but Maria naturally sees Sylvia as delusional and offers medication and follow-up visits.
Later, Maria learns that Sylvia has killed herself, and has left a note for Maria. She can’t shake Sylvia’s words, and despite knowing she should ignore the warning, follows up. I won’t go into details on what happens next, but after a terrible encounter, Maria wakes to find that she’s back in her childhood home, in her 17-year-old body.
Completely frantic, Maria’s parents believe she’s having a breakdown, and Maria soon finds herself confined to a psych ward. Maria knows that she’s not schizophrenic, but who would believe a teen girl who claims to be a pregnant 39-year-old needing to return to her husband and children?
Time travel in this book, as we learn, is typically triggered by a death or a violent event which propels the person back to an earlier point in their lives — with a purpose. There’s something they have to accomplish, and it’s typically at great cost. For Maria, once she realizes her purpose, there’s an understanding that accomplishing her purpose will change events so completely that she and her husband will never meet. And while she thinks she may have a way to get back to her own life, it would mean ignoring this purpose, and ignoring the chance to save an innocent life. She has to decide — does she give up her “real” life to do the right thing, or put her need to be back with her family above everything else?
I’m a fan of well-conceived time travel plots, and can even accept far-fetched scenarios — but something about this concept of being sent back with a purpose really set my nerves on edge. I suppose if you believe in higher beings and deities and predestination, maybe this might be more appealing, but for me, it just smacks of quasi-religious mumbo jumbo.
There’s no good “why” to all of this. Okay, fine, there’s a purpose… but why these people and not others? Why doesn’t every unfair death get deleted and reversed? Why isn’t the world overrun with people from the future?
In Maria’s story, there are overlaps and revisions in her life, and we see characters from her own time transformed and changed by the actions she takes once she goes back. Some of the convergences are interesting, but for the most part, most of this plot felt forced and illogical to me.
As I said, I love a good time travel story. Sure, I can buy the idea of a woman wandering into a stone circle and being transported 200 years back in time (as happens in a certain favorite series…), but in She Wouldn’t Change a Thing, the mechanics and reasons and the higher purpose elements of the story just didn’t work for me at all.
Beyond the plot falling flat for me, the writing style is often awkward and clunky, and certain lines and stylistic choices took me right out of the plot. Overall, not a great reading experience for me… your mileage may vary.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
Maria is close to her due date for her third child, married mostly happily but also incredibly frazzled, mother to two adorable daughters, and a successful psychiatrist, when a strange new patient shows up in her office. Sylvia comes with disjointed warnings and rambles on about having a purpose. She gives Maria a warning about her own life, and tries to gain Maria’s understanding — but Maria naturally sees Sylvia as delusional and offers medication and follow-up visits.
Later, Maria learns that Sylvia has killed herself, and has left a note for Maria. She can’t shake Sylvia’s words, and despite knowing she should ignore the warning, follows up. I won’t go into details on what happens next, but after a terrible encounter, Maria wakes to find that she’s back in her childhood home, in her 17-year-old body.
Completely frantic, Maria’s parents believe she’s having a breakdown, and Maria soon finds herself confined to a psych ward. Maria knows that she’s not schizophrenic, but who would believe a teen girl who claims to be a pregnant 39-year-old needing to return to her husband and children?
Time travel in this book, as we learn, is typically triggered by a death or a violent event which propels the person back to an earlier point in their lives — with a purpose. There’s something they have to accomplish, and it’s typically at great cost. For Maria, once she realizes her purpose, there’s an understanding that accomplishing her purpose will change events so completely that she and her husband will never meet. And while she thinks she may have a way to get back to her own life, it would mean ignoring this purpose, and ignoring the chance to save an innocent life. She has to decide — does she give up her “real” life to do the right thing, or put her need to be back with her family above everything else?
I’m a fan of well-conceived time travel plots, and can even accept far-fetched scenarios — but something about this concept of being sent back with a purpose really set my nerves on edge. I suppose if you believe in higher beings and deities and predestination, maybe this might be more appealing, but for me, it just smacks of quasi-religious mumbo jumbo.
There’s no good “why” to all of this. Okay, fine, there’s a purpose… but why these people and not others? Why doesn’t every unfair death get deleted and reversed? Why isn’t the world overrun with people from the future?
In Maria’s story, there are overlaps and revisions in her life, and we see characters from her own time transformed and changed by the actions she takes once she goes back. Some of the convergences are interesting, but for the most part, most of this plot felt forced and illogical to me.
As I said, I love a good time travel story. Sure, I can buy the idea of a woman wandering into a stone circle and being transported 200 years back in time (as happens in a certain favorite series…), but in She Wouldn’t Change a Thing, the mechanics and reasons and the higher purpose elements of the story just didn’t work for me at all.
Beyond the plot falling flat for me, the writing style is often awkward and clunky, and certain lines and stylistic choices took me right out of the plot. Overall, not a great reading experience for me… your mileage may vary.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
smalltownbookmom's review
4.0
3.5 rounded up
Who doesn't love a good "what if" story?? I was excited for this debut about second chances and different possible lives but while it started off strong for me it ended up falling a little flat towards the middle/end. Maria is a 39 year old mother of two girls with a new baby boy on the way any day. When she meets Jenny, a patient in her psychiatry practice who says she's from the future and warns her to watch out for her secretary things get really intriguing.
Maria isn't able to keep from looking into the mystery Jenny presents. Is she just crazy or could her warnings be valid? Jenny told her to wait until her son was born before doing anything but of course Maria doesn't listen. A confrontation leads to Maria waking up in her 17 year old body and wanting nothing more but to get back to her real life. Unfortunately everyone thinks she's crazy and it takes meeting another 'time traveller' for Maria to figure out she has a 'purpose' to fulfill.
I don't want to spoil anything beyond this point but I had a hard time enjoying that Maria was forced to give up the life she was loving in order to help save her husband from a painful event in his past that would mean he never met her in the future and Maria would essentially erase her past life. I felt this was a LOT to ask of someone and I just didn't enjoy it. The story was very well written though and I loved listening to Cassandra Campbell as narrator for the audio copy. If you enjoy stories about complex life changing decisions along the lines of Life after life (a book I actually did love), this might be more your thing than it was mine. Much thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for my ALC.
Who doesn't love a good "what if" story?? I was excited for this debut about second chances and different possible lives but while it started off strong for me it ended up falling a little flat towards the middle/end. Maria is a 39 year old mother of two girls with a new baby boy on the way any day. When she meets Jenny, a patient in her psychiatry practice who says she's from the future and warns her to watch out for her secretary things get really intriguing.
Maria isn't able to keep from looking into the mystery Jenny presents. Is she just crazy or could her warnings be valid? Jenny told her to wait until her son was born before doing anything but of course Maria doesn't listen. A confrontation leads to Maria waking up in her 17 year old body and wanting nothing more but to get back to her real life. Unfortunately everyone thinks she's crazy and it takes meeting another 'time traveller' for Maria to figure out she has a 'purpose' to fulfill.
I don't want to spoil anything beyond this point but I had a hard time enjoying that Maria was forced to give up the life she was loving in order to help save her husband from a painful event in his past that would mean he never met her in the future and Maria would essentially erase her past life. I felt this was a LOT to ask of someone and I just didn't enjoy it. The story was very well written though and I loved listening to Cassandra Campbell as narrator for the audio copy. If you enjoy stories about complex life changing decisions along the lines of Life after life (a book I actually did love), this might be more your thing than it was mine. Much thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for my ALC.
marilynw's review
4.0
She Wouldn't Change a Thing by Sarah Adlakha
Thirty-nine year old Maria Forssmann lives an extremely busy life and she's always running behind, leaving things undone, knowing she will never be able to catch up with all she has to do. She is a psychiatrist, wife, mother of two girls, and nine months pregnant. Then something happens and she wakes as a seventeen year old again. Now, the things that a patient said to her before the patient committed suicide seem to have meaning. Maria wants her old life back, to be with her husband, daughters and her soon to be born son.
We also follow Jenny and Hank who are interconnected with Maria in ways that are hard to understand. I had to just go with the flow and not overthink this story because it's too complicated to figure out at times. Maria is forced choose what she is going to do in her new seventeen year old timeline and no matter what choice she makes it will have lasting ramifications that will affect people, not only in her present timeline but in her old timeline. Color me confused but I did enjoy the story.
Published August 10th 2021
Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for this ARC.
Thirty-nine year old Maria Forssmann lives an extremely busy life and she's always running behind, leaving things undone, knowing she will never be able to catch up with all she has to do. She is a psychiatrist, wife, mother of two girls, and nine months pregnant. Then something happens and she wakes as a seventeen year old again. Now, the things that a patient said to her before the patient committed suicide seem to have meaning. Maria wants her old life back, to be with her husband, daughters and her soon to be born son.
We also follow Jenny and Hank who are interconnected with Maria in ways that are hard to understand. I had to just go with the flow and not overthink this story because it's too complicated to figure out at times. Maria is forced choose what she is going to do in her new seventeen year old timeline and no matter what choice she makes it will have lasting ramifications that will affect people, not only in her present timeline but in her old timeline. Color me confused but I did enjoy the story.
Published August 10th 2021
Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for this ARC.
debraellice's review
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0