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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
So this author is genius - to try and write a novel about time travel where the characters are constantly jumping around different time periods and actually make it work. I mean the structuring of the novel is awesome, given that she is trying to build a cohesive story where each character is actually in a different part of the time period was just brilliant. And yet it all seemed so seamless. I am a big believer in reading books before watching the film adaptation, and in this case I have seen the trailer which gave me a reasonable idea of the premise. However there are so many extra layers to the characters and the story that you will never get from a 2 hour film. It is a beautiful story but it’s all heartbreakingly sad.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident
Minor: Death
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Easy enough to read. It is an ambitious work & can appreciate the authors dedication. While I understand it is supposed to be a love story it is missing other aspects of humanity. Characters don’t have their own identities which is disappointing. Writing can fall flat. Some parts and reflections are lovely though. Easy enough if long read.
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I could not put down the Time Traveler's Wife for the first hundred pages, and was nigh certain it would be one of my favorite books I'd read in the last year. By the end, I was begging for it to be over, flipping pages and gathering information haphazardly as a way of getting to the end. I have often had the experience of watching the excruciating death of a character, perhaps never have I had the experience of watching my affinity for a book writhe violently and die in my hands.
Thank you, Niffenegger.
The Time Traveler's Wife is ruined twice by its length: once, for how much the length of the story kills its inherent charm and a second time, what those five hundred pages are actually filled with.
To get the first out of the way, this is a slow, very domestic novel. For the first hundred pages or so the premise has enough charm to keep one engaged, and the achronological framework adds a golden glow to scenes that are otherwise fairly standard, if not for the dynamic between the characters. The first hundred pages of The Time Traveler's Wife make Henry and Clare seem so much more interesting than they are. I loved them so, so much and then as their lives play out you realize nothing novel is ever going to happen with them again. They will have incredibly mundane problems considering the premise. You could honestly substitute in more mundane causes for the latter half and soooo little changes. Please get me back t0-- and I can't believe I'm saying this-- Henry jacking himself off.
Speaking of such, for the second part, I have compiled a list of things that irked me.
-The sex scenes.
These characters have such great sex I wanted to punch them in the face, because the novel really wants to punch us in the face with it. Not that I wanted them to be miserable, but literally they are fucking like rabbits in heat so much they make a point of it. Are these scenes described well? No? Do they add anything? Ever? No? They do not? It's not even hot?
-Stereotypes.
yo the Abshire family has some servants who call the ladies "Mizz" (in 1980something no less) and Kimy speaks in broken english. it's not just that there's one character like this it's that it feels like the author can't write non-white characters who aren't offensive cardboard cutouts
i promise i don't just read books to harp on how outdated they are but on the other hand can authors please get their shit together
-Age dynamics.
You can kind of stomach how creepy Clare and Henry's relationship in her teens is until they give us the eighteen-year-old
-Progressive standpoints.
nothing is ever developed these characters are punk and hip against capitalism but they never really do anything in 500 pages besides their jobs and domestic disputes because this book is fluffier than someone's 100k fanfiction about some side characters who have so little personality in canon that they have to insert nothing but their own interests and biases over a mask of what those people are supposed to be like
yeah that's about how i'd sum up this whole experience
-Ingrid.
oh god what a clusterfuck of things that are literally never resolved
-Gomez.
oh god oh god it gets worse the scene near the end what are you do i n g
-Tonal dissonance.
Is this a light romance or a work of great literary merit? The quotes everywhere evidence this book is trying to be incredibly deep but it is not literary by any stretch of the imagination, it is a romance novel with a nifty premise and extra trimming. It could have been more but the sheer amount of filler and the lack of commitment to the premise to do anything remotely novel (except that scene where he jacks himself off. that is the most novel thing that happens. really.) such as I don't know SHOW HENRY IN ANY TIME PERIOD OR SETTING NOT DIRECTLY INVOLVING CLARE means that it just falls flat. I understand that too much focus on the time travel would have lead to irrelevance.
in that case, this book could have stood to be at least 200 pages shorter.
thank you Time Traveler's Wife for breaking me and my commitment to capitalization in my Goodreads reviews.
Thank you, Niffenegger.
The Time Traveler's Wife is ruined twice by its length: once, for how much the length of the story kills its inherent charm and a second time, what those five hundred pages are actually filled with.
To get the first out of the way, this is a slow, very domestic novel. For the first hundred pages or so the premise has enough charm to keep one engaged, and the achronological framework adds a golden glow to scenes that are otherwise fairly standard, if not for the dynamic between the characters. The first hundred pages of The Time Traveler's Wife make Henry and Clare seem so much more interesting than they are. I loved them so, so much and then as their lives play out you realize nothing novel is ever going to happen with them again. They will have incredibly mundane problems considering the premise. You could honestly substitute in more mundane causes for the latter half and soooo little changes. Please get me back t0-- and I can't believe I'm saying this-- Henry jacking himself off.
Speaking of such, for the second part, I have compiled a list of things that irked me.
-The sex scenes.
These characters have such great sex I wanted to punch them in the face, because the novel really wants to punch us in the face with it. Not that I wanted them to be miserable, but literally they are fucking like rabbits in heat so much they make a point of it. Are these scenes described well? No? Do they add anything? Ever? No? They do not? It's not even hot?
-Stereotypes.
yo the Abshire family has some servants who call the ladies "Mizz" (in 1980something no less) and Kimy speaks in broken english. it's not just that there's one character like this it's that it feels like the author can't write non-white characters who aren't offensive cardboard cutouts
i promise i don't just read books to harp on how outdated they are but on the other hand can authors please get their shit together
-Age dynamics.
You can kind of stomach how creepy Clare and Henry's relationship in her teens is until they give us the eighteen-year-old
Spoiler
sex scene. The more detail we get of their early relationship the more progressively uncomfortable it becomes.-Progressive standpoints.
nothing is ever developed these characters are punk and hip against capitalism but they never really do anything in 500 pages besides their jobs and domestic disputes because this book is fluffier than someone's 100k fanfiction about some side characters who have so little personality in canon that they have to insert nothing but their own interests and biases over a mask of what those people are supposed to be like
yeah that's about how i'd sum up this whole experience
-Ingrid.
oh god what a clusterfuck of things that are literally never resolved
-Gomez.
oh god oh god it gets worse the scene near the end what are you do i n g
-Tonal dissonance.
Is this a light romance or a work of great literary merit? The quotes everywhere evidence this book is trying to be incredibly deep but it is not literary by any stretch of the imagination, it is a romance novel with a nifty premise and extra trimming. It could have been more but the sheer amount of filler and the lack of commitment to the premise to do anything remotely novel (except that scene where he jacks himself off. that is the most novel thing that happens. really.) such as I don't know SHOW HENRY IN ANY TIME PERIOD OR SETTING NOT DIRECTLY INVOLVING CLARE means that it just falls flat. I understand that too much focus on the time travel would have lead to irrelevance.
in that case, this book could have stood to be at least 200 pages shorter.
thank you Time Traveler's Wife for breaking me and my commitment to capitalization in my Goodreads reviews.
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautiful. Poignant. Heartbreaking. Possibly one of my favourite books of all time. One of those books, though, that either hits you or doesn't. I'm not sure there's a middle ground.
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad