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bernie_e2001's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5⭐️ rounded up. For me, I think I would’ve enjoyed this more if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook. My rule is that it’s not a good sign if I feel the need to speed up the audiobook and I had to do that with this book. It’s a shame because I found the ideas explored in this book really interesting and there was a lot of elements that I enjoyed but the audiobook affected my engagement with it which affects my rating.
obell98's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
kirstenrose22's review against another edition
4.0
I mostly really liked this. The switches between the two timelines were well paced and I liked both the present and the past (which is rare).
kristenelizabeth's review against another edition
3.5
The book as a whole didn't do it for me, because I so badly wanted to care more about the characters and the plot but just couldn't. But I did really love some of the lines—a few of my favorite parts:
"That's the thing with time, isn't it? It's not all the same. Some days - some years - some decades - are empty. There is nothing to them. It's just flat water. And then you come across a year, or even a day, or an afternoon. And it is everything. It is the whole thing."
"The longer you live, the harder it becomes. To grab them. Each little moment as it arrives. To be living in something other than the past or the future. To be actually here. Forever, Emily Dickinson said, is composed of nows. But how do you inhabit the now you are in? How do you stop the ghosts of all the other nows from getting in?"
"Maybe that is what it takes to love someone. Finding a happy mystery you would like to unravel for ever."
"There is only the present. Just as every object on earth contains similar and interchanging atoms, so every fragment of time contains aspects of every other. In those monents that burst alive the present lasts for ever, and I know there are many more presents to live. I understand you can be free. I understand that the way you stop time is by stopping being ruled by it. I am no longer drowning in my past, or fearful of my future. How can I be? The future is you."
"This is so often the way with life. You spend so much time waiting for something – a person, a feeling, a piece of information – that you can’t quite absorb it when it is in front of you. The hole is so used to being a hole it doesn’t know how to close itself."
"I loved someone once. A woman. I loved her madly. Do you understand? We were together, in secret, for nearly twenty years. And we were told we couldn't talk about that love...because it was dangerous. It was dangerous to love," Mary said. "There comes a time when the only way to start living is to tell the truth. To be who you really are, even if it is dangerous."
ross_emm's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.0
I don't know how to encapsulate my feelings for this book other than this hits both my fear of death and living forever
ledr0811's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
empananada's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
edgarallanfoe's review against another edition
4.0
It’s a 4.5. The only parts that broke my immersion was the undeveloped secret society bit and our main character meeting a ton of important historical figures, all of which may not be an issue for a lot of people and I respect that. I highly recommend this to anybody looking for a love story that meditates on grief and the struggle of being present.
alexrosecandle's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
amiemarisa's review against another edition
4.0
The end was a bit rushed, but I loved the middle of this book. The time travel element of it kept the narrative always moving. The themes it explores of memory, love and letting go are really touching. The sub plot of finding his long lost daughter did seem like an afterthought here though, thrown in at the end.