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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
After I'd finished the last word of this slop that has somehow earned the description of "a novel," I was befuddled. How, I pondered, could such an interesting concept become so completely dull and devoid of anything that might remotely resemble anything interesting?
The answer came quickly enough. A book could have the most interesting premise known to mankind, but if it's carried out by characters who are physically impossible to like or care for, that premise gets driven straight into the ground.
Ultimately I think that is where this book failed. I could harp on many aspects about it - the poor writing, the way plot lines get brought up and then forgotten about, the fact that no kind of explanation is ever given for why they can see their future in the first place - but the chief issue I took with this book was the utter lack of likability in any of the characters. Josh was a moron, plain and simple, whose thoughts seemed to run on two tracks: "GIRLS!" and "SKATEBOARDING!" His moments of turning his focus elsewhere, brief as they were, provided his character with some sorely-needed depth (the scene where he comes across the profile of his now-gay brother comes to mind) but it wasn't enough to save his character or make him in the slightest bit interesting.
Emma was even worse. She was utterly self-absorbed, and disturbingly obsessed with finding out who her future husband was. It was creepy. SHE was creepy. For the life of me I couldn't understand why her character was as desirable in-universe as she apparently was, or why we as readers were supposed to sympathize with her.
It wouldn't have been so bad if the characters were unlikable by design. Some of the best-written characters I have ever come across have been completely deplorable, and were meant to be so. The problem here is that these characters, and the similarly stupid and vapid characters that surrounded them, were clearly designed to be likable, fun and relatable. They weren't. At all. And that fact ruined what could have otherwise been an interesting novel. (Assuming it was written by different people, in a different style, and focused on different things, done by different characters...ah forget it, this book just sucked.)
The answer came quickly enough. A book could have the most interesting premise known to mankind, but if it's carried out by characters who are physically impossible to like or care for, that premise gets driven straight into the ground.
Ultimately I think that is where this book failed. I could harp on many aspects about it - the poor writing, the way plot lines get brought up and then forgotten about, the fact that no kind of explanation is ever given for why they can see their future in the first place - but the chief issue I took with this book was the utter lack of likability in any of the characters. Josh was a moron, plain and simple, whose thoughts seemed to run on two tracks: "GIRLS!" and "SKATEBOARDING!" His moments of turning his focus elsewhere, brief as they were, provided his character with some sorely-needed depth (the scene where he comes across the profile of his now-gay brother comes to mind) but it wasn't enough to save his character or make him in the slightest bit interesting.
Emma was even worse. She was utterly self-absorbed, and disturbingly obsessed with finding out who her future husband was. It was creepy. SHE was creepy. For the life of me I couldn't understand why her character was as desirable in-universe as she apparently was, or why we as readers were supposed to sympathize with her.
It wouldn't have been so bad if the characters were unlikable by design. Some of the best-written characters I have ever come across have been completely deplorable, and were meant to be so. The problem here is that these characters, and the similarly stupid and vapid characters that surrounded them, were clearly designed to be likable, fun and relatable. They weren't. At all. And that fact ruined what could have otherwise been an interesting novel. (Assuming it was written by different people, in a different style, and focused on different things, done by different characters...ah forget it, this book just sucked.)
Actually i can't really say what i thought of this book, cause personally i found it so boring i stopped halfway.
Although it was predictable and I'm normally not a contemporary reader I enjoyed this book.
BEST book I've ever read. I loved how the characters were made and josh was such a cute friend. HM FICTIONAL CHARACTERS RUIN ME : , )))
So many unfinished plot points, wasn’t very many references to the 90s and the character motivations were sloppy. Not saying they have to be solid because they are teenagers but at least have some characters announce things. Time portal element wasn’t all there either.
Super fast read. Read it because I love 90s nostalgia, but even that was done poorly-let's mention discmans and VHS and suddenly it's 1996. Anyway, it had a great premise, not executed well. Emma was irritating, depending her life's happiness on who see was married to.
The FMC in this is insufferable - I really don’t know why the MMC has a thing for her - all she does is be superficial or manipulative, she doesn’t care about anyone else - and she doesn’t particularly grow by the end of the book, she’s just as irritating. She kind of deserved all her “unhappy” futures.
boy oh boy did i read some garbage when i was 12 probably have read this like 30+ times
very much needed after a reading slump
very much needed after a reading slump
Cute, goofy, silly. Nowhere near as good as Asher's other book 'Thirteen Reasons Why'