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kelly_e's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Title: The Other Valley
Author: Scott Alexander Howard
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: February 27, 2024
T H R E E • W O R D S
Speculative • Thoughtful • Bittersweet
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. On the other side, it’s the same valley, the same town. Except to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.
When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn’t supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future, on a mourning tour, to view their son while he’s still alive in Odile’s present.
Edme—who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly see Odile—is about to die. Sworn to secrecy in order to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate. Yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, imperiling her entire future.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Next up on my quest to complete the 2025 Canada Reads longlist before the debates occur in March: The Other Valley. by Scott Alexander Howard. I was drawn to the concept of parallel lives, and the fact this is his debut novel. It is is one of the 15 books, I thought for sure would ended up on the shortlist - but I was wrong.
Told is two distinct parts, I found them vastly different from one another in both tone and pacing. In Part I, the reader is introduced to 16-year-old Odile, the various valleys, and an incident that will set the stage for the second part. I found this part to be much more engaging with a steady, albeit slow, pacing. I was invested in the developing relationships, particularly Odile's growing friendship with Edme and her journey in the vetting program. Part II begins with a 20 year time jump and the reader seeing what Odile's current life looks like - a complete 180 from what I'd expected. The tone shifts to something more somber and it seems to contain a lot of useless scenes given the readers knows there the story is heading.
Howard's writing is so strong and deliberate, so I was not surprised he has a PhD in philosophy with post doctoral work focusing on the relationship between memory, emotion, and literature. This book explores those topics in various ways. However, he has chosen not to use quotation marks and I was curious as to why. No reasoning is provided on him choosing to forego them and it made for more confusion than was necessary. Or maybe it was just me who was a little lost at times.
The Other Valley is one of those books where there were individual elements I loved, yet there were other aspects I could have easily done without (or done with in the case of quotation marks) or changed. It certainly offers a unique set-up when it comes to the time travelling trope and made me reflect on the intersection of free will and destiny. It is not a book I would have picked up outside of the 2025 Canada Reads longlist, yet I am glad I picked it up. Scott Alexander Howard is a Canadian author to watch, although maybe not one for my tastes.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• contemplating fate versus free will
• discovering new Canadian authors
⚠️ CW: death, death of parent, child death, grief, gun violence, murder, classism, alcohol, alcoholism, misogyny, sexism, bullying, classism, cursing, sexual harassment, blood, domestic abuse, police brutality
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Sometimes what was necessary was also what was natural."
Author: Scott Alexander Howard
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: February 27, 2024
T H R E E • W O R D S
Speculative • Thoughtful • Bittersweet
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. On the other side, it’s the same valley, the same town. Except to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.
When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn’t supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future, on a mourning tour, to view their son while he’s still alive in Odile’s present.
Edme—who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly see Odile—is about to die. Sworn to secrecy in order to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate. Yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, imperiling her entire future.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Next up on my quest to complete the 2025 Canada Reads longlist before the debates occur in March: The Other Valley. by Scott Alexander Howard. I was drawn to the concept of parallel lives, and the fact this is his debut novel. It is is one of the 15 books, I thought for sure would ended up on the shortlist - but I was wrong.
Told is two distinct parts, I found them vastly different from one another in both tone and pacing. In Part I, the reader is introduced to 16-year-old Odile, the various valleys, and an incident that will set the stage for the second part. I found this part to be much more engaging with a steady, albeit slow, pacing. I was invested in the developing relationships, particularly Odile's growing friendship with Edme and her journey in the vetting program. Part II begins with a 20 year time jump and the reader seeing what Odile's current life looks like - a complete 180 from what I'd expected. The tone shifts to something more somber and it seems to contain a lot of useless scenes given the readers knows there the story is heading.
Howard's writing is so strong and deliberate, so I was not surprised he has a PhD in philosophy with post doctoral work focusing on the relationship between memory, emotion, and literature. This book explores those topics in various ways. However, he has chosen not to use quotation marks and I was curious as to why. No reasoning is provided on him choosing to forego them and it made for more confusion than was necessary. Or maybe it was just me who was a little lost at times.
The Other Valley is one of those books where there were individual elements I loved, yet there were other aspects I could have easily done without (or done with in the case of quotation marks) or changed. It certainly offers a unique set-up when it comes to the time travelling trope and made me reflect on the intersection of free will and destiny. It is not a book I would have picked up outside of the 2025 Canada Reads longlist, yet I am glad I picked it up. Scott Alexander Howard is a Canadian author to watch, although maybe not one for my tastes.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• contemplating fate versus free will
• discovering new Canadian authors
⚠️ CW: death, death of parent, child death, grief, gun violence, murder, classism, alcohol, alcoholism, misogyny, sexism, bullying, classism, cursing, sexual harassment, blood, domestic abuse, police brutality
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Sometimes what was necessary was also what was natural."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
cattpurrson's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
bh33's review
adventurous
reflective
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Bullying
jillaay_h's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism
himpersonal's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Time travel books generally make my head hurt, but I got through this one to the end without having any questions, although I admit the circular nature of time travel did get confusing at the very end. But because of that confusion, I’m now wondering a whole lot of new questions regarding the future rather than how-in-the-worlds, which are the normal questions I struggle with when confronted by this circuity. It wasn’t clever. It was even a little sad. But it was redemptive and satisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Classism, and Deportation
michad's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A good book. The frenchisms take a little getting used to and the presence of cars feels so out of place and anachronistic. I was expecting more exploration of the mechanics and secrets of the world, the change in direction of the second half took me by surprise.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
ivi_reads_books's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What an intriguing concept carefully crafted into a story that made me feel like I know this valley and its inhabitants
The book explores themes like isolation, shyness, regret and societal expectations through a coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of a quite classist society.
I'll be sure to read whatever the author decides to read next
The book explores themes like isolation, shyness, regret and societal expectations through a coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of a quite classist society.
I'll be sure to read whatever the author decides to read next
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Classism