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livinglifeliterary's review against another edition
4.0
Sandra was one of my favorite professors at TNS and this was just as beautifully written and weird as I expected it to be. It wasn’t perfect but I found it extremely sad and somehow also hopeful? Also, the acknowledgment dedicated to Robin literally tore out my soul. (He was another favorite professor that passed away and Ben is very loosely based off of him.)
Overall, I’d say this won’t be for everyone but if you’re into experimental fiction and like alternate timelines and time travel, you’ll love this.
Overall, I’d say this won’t be for everyone but if you’re into experimental fiction and like alternate timelines and time travel, you’ll love this.
chick's review against another edition
28 pages.
Lots of words and a lot of distracting sentence structures with little movement
Lots of words and a lot of distracting sentence structures with little movement
sasmort's review against another edition
3.0
A strange and unusual story of a time travelling New Yorker who visits Elizabethan England in her sleep. Very readable but I wasn’t completely bought into the overall narrative about the climate crisis and the characters role in it.
ari__s's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure I was sold on the overall execution of this - there were certainly a robust handful of moments where the author used language that was just a little too lofty to fit in with the rest. It had the effect of bumping me out of the narrative every few pages.
That being said: I'm not sure I've ever felt so gaslighted (gaslit?) by a book in my entire life. It's entirely possible to read this as a heavy butterfly effect time travel story - OR a wild trip through gentle psychosis. The dissonance in that is both enjoyable and fairly anxiety provoking. I hesitated to attach enjoyment to the experience of gaslighting in any capacity, but this was quite a unique read so I'll go with it.
That being said: I'm not sure I've ever felt so gaslighted (gaslit?) by a book in my entire life. It's entirely possible to read this as a heavy butterfly effect time travel story - OR a wild trip through gentle psychosis. The dissonance in that is both enjoyable and fairly anxiety provoking. I hesitated to attach enjoyment to the experience of gaslighting in any capacity, but this was quite a unique read so I'll go with it.
jessiereads315's review against another edition
3.0
If Kate hadn’t annoyed me so much, I’m sure I would have enjoyed this book more. Too bad.
ailsareads's review against another edition
4.0
This is SO GOOD.
Time travel and alternate realities and histories and futures and romance and adventure.
Time travel and alternate realities and histories and futures and romance and adventure.
mad_eleine_c's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
stephanimichelle's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very strange story. As Kate travels back in time in her sleep constantly, her actions have ripple effects on the current time period, so when she wakes up her life had changed. Sometimes the changes are subtle, Kate doesn’t quite remember meeting some person, or forgets who a celebrity is, but as the story progresses the changes become more extreme, affecting Kate’s own history and actions.
I loved the portrayal of mental illness in this story, as Kate can no longer keep track of what happened in which reality, her family and friends start to turn from away from her. In the beginning Kate is a bit flaky, a bit of a dreamer, but its seen as a bit of fun – that’s just Kate. Her stories of living as an Elizabethan mistress in a parallel life are amusing stories. When Kate’s behaviour gets more erratic, when she starts to need help from people, that’s when her mental illness becomes problematic for her loved ones.
I would not describe this as a love story, I found the character of Ben to be quite weak and disloyal.
There’s also a clear message about the consequences of putting your own success above the greater good.
I’m not sure I agree entirely with the points the author is making, but it is a very interesting novel, which you will be pondering long after you’ve finished reading it.
The writing style is also quite dreamy and evocative. The edition I received was the hardback, which is absolutely stunning, and really gives you a visual clue about the book, with the towering skyscrapers looming over Elizabethan London.
I loved the portrayal of mental illness in this story, as Kate can no longer keep track of what happened in which reality, her family and friends start to turn from away from her. In the beginning Kate is a bit flaky, a bit of a dreamer, but its seen as a bit of fun – that’s just Kate. Her stories of living as an Elizabethan mistress in a parallel life are amusing stories. When Kate’s behaviour gets more erratic, when she starts to need help from people, that’s when her mental illness becomes problematic for her loved ones.
I would not describe this as a love story, I found the character of Ben to be quite weak and disloyal.
There’s also a clear message about the consequences of putting your own success above the greater good.
I’m not sure I agree entirely with the points the author is making, but it is a very interesting novel, which you will be pondering long after you’ve finished reading it.
The writing style is also quite dreamy and evocative. The edition I received was the hardback, which is absolutely stunning, and really gives you a visual clue about the book, with the towering skyscrapers looming over Elizabethan London.
tobesmagobes's review against another edition
5.0
Five billion stars. The exquisite Cassandra Campbell narrates. Kate’s dreams change the world and the people around her grapple with not being able to believe that in a meditation on the “great man” theory of history. There is a shoehorned in historical character which I normally HATE but don’t mind in this because it serves that point. Don’t recommend reading directly after Recursion or Harry August or Replay, if ya know what I mean. But I did, and it’s still five stars. Newman wrote The Country of Ice Cream Star, which is super different from this and yet not really. Highly recommended.
monkeychops's review against another edition
2.0
Gave up 15% of the way in.
(edit). Forgot I'd given up and a year later read another 5% or so and gave up again.
(edit). Forgot I'd given up and a year later read another 5% or so and gave up again.