Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Wrong Place Wrong Time

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Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

9 reviews

earofthedog's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

kelly_e's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Title: Wrong Place Wrong Time
Author: Gillian McAllister
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: August 2, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Intriguing • Creative • Anticlimactic

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened?

Late October. After midnight. You’re waiting up for your seventeen-year-old son. He’s late. As you watch from the window, he emerges, and you realize he isn’t alone: he’s walking toward a man, and he’s armed.

You can’t believe it when you see him do it: your funny, happy teenage son, he kills a stranger, right there on the street outside your house. You don’t know who. You don’t know why. You only know your son is now in custody. His future shattered.

That night you fall asleep in despair. All is lost. Until you wake...

... and it is yesterday.

And then you wake again...

... and it is the day before yesterday.

Every morning you wake up a day earlier, another day before the murder. With another chance to stop it. Somewhere in the past lies an answer. The trigger for this crime—and you don’t have a choice but to find it...

💭 T H O U G H T S

Wrong Place Wrong Time is a book I probably wouldn't have picked on my own, but when it was selected as the February book for my in-person book club I knew I would give it a shot. I was interested in the time travel aspect, but was definitely hesitant about the rest of the premise.

I was deeply invested in the unique narrative at the start and could not put it down. The time travel aspect was intriguing, but the middle was an absolute slog and I found myself just wanting it to end. Eventually the pace would pick back up, but it was too late, my interest had already waned. In fact, the ending was a little anticlimactic for me. I understand the slow pacing is due to the way in which it is written - backwards through time - yet there wasn't the tension I carved.

There were several themes I appreciated. Firstly, I liked how this novel explore how what may seem like small choices and actions at the time, can have huge impacts on our future lives. And how if you change one thing, it can change everything. It's an interesting concept that leads to a lot of contemplation. Second, I thought it was a very realistic depiction of motherhood and the impact of mom guilt.

Gillian McAllister gets my praise simply for the creativity of the plot, and for all of the planning I imagine went into putting it into words. It's certainly unlike any thriller I've read and that deserves credit. I just wish it could have been executed a little more smoothly with more tension and quicker pace.

Overall, Wrong Place Wrong Time didn't do it for me. I know I am in the minority, as this is beloved by so many, but the pace didn't pick up until the final 25% and by then it was too late. I did really like the concept, but the execution faltered and I had to push myself to get through. I don't think I will be reading anything else by this author in the future, but I can understand why she's a favourite author of many readers.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• time-travel enthusiasts
• readers looking for unique thriller

⚠️ CW: murder, gun violence, blood, injury/injury detail, death, death of parent, grief, stalking, kidnapping, cursing, mental illness, suicide, addiction, drug use, drug abuse, fatphobia, sexual content, pregnancy, gaslighting

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"But knowing the future is worse than not knowing."

Content Warnings

throwback682's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I thought this book was really inventive and unique. I’m impressed by all the things the author must’ve had to keep track of to avoid plot holes in this format.

It was maybe a bit long or dragging at times but I think everything was also necessary? And it still kept my interest. I actually stayed up late because I had to know how it ended.

What I didn’t really like:

1) I feel like this book was copaganda. The police are criticized for a large portion of the book but Surprise! in the end they were the good guys all along. 2) I didn’t love the way it focused a lot on “mom guilt”. (But that eventually resolved.)

I definitely didn’t expect the Ending (plot resolution) [well, part of it became clear over the course of the book, but part of it was a complete surprise to me at least] or the ending (epilogue).

(Which was kind of a cliffhanger)

I thought it was kind of neat that she forgets everything in the end.

Random silly observation: I love how the narrator did the American accent of the physicist lol.

If you don’t mind following a complicated Memento-like plot, this is a really great book.

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crystal689's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

celestialg's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A time-travel, wish fulfillment book that didn’t suck?! Unprecedented. I feel like I can’t write anything else without spoiling it so just trust me.

Content Warnings

arthur_ant18's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

beckyyreadss's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Thank you, Michael Joseph Penguin Publishing, for sending this book in exchange for an honest review.

Late October. After Midnight Jen is waiting up for her seventeen-year-old son Todd to arrive home, he’s late. As Jen watches from the window, he emerges, and Jen sees he’s not alone. He is walking toward a man, and he’s armed. Jen cannot believe what she sees him do – her funny, happy teenage soon has just killed a stranger, right there on the street outside her house. She doesn’t know who or why. She only knows that Todd is now in custody and his future is gone. That night Jen goes to sleep feel despair. She is feeling lost. Until she wakes up . . . and it’s yesterday. And when she wakes again . . . it’s the day before yesterday. Every morning when Jen wakes it’s a day earlier, another day before the murder. With another chance to stop it. Somewhere in the past lies an answer. The trigger for this crime – and she doesn’t have a choice but to find it.

This book has a really interesting concept and I was a little sceptical on how it was going to work, but Gillian McAllister managed to pull it off. I really enjoyed seeing the additional POVs from Ryan who is a cop who is working undercover and how his story played out. I did struggle with this book at the beginning, I was wondering where it was going to go, by the end I was completely hooked and wondering if Jen was going to be able to stop this murder. Also, I liked the fact that we were also equally confused about why she was at what date until Jen figured it out – it made it seem like we were in Jen’s shoes. I really enjoyed this book once I finally managed to get into it. I would have loved to see POVs from Todd like how he got the knife, why he’s going to do it, how he met Clio etc.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a crime/thriller mystery book.

Content Warnings

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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