Reviews

Having read over fourty of these now, I like to find things that make each book stand out from the rest. This one definitely has this quality by its storytelling method of letters, diaries and accounts from those found at the retreat as well as the befuddled time-travelling companions. What's more, this method worked remarkably well for this story and gave it a good flavour of the era in which it was sent. The post-resolution reveal is also heavily tied into this format, which was another nice touch.
The plot itself was pretty average for Doctor Who (or completely amazing compared to the awful 2018 TV series, but don't get me started on that...), but there were some very compelling characters, good twists and reveals as well as a resolution that differs from the norm. The setting was very traditional Doctor Who with the big rambling 'house' and the foggy exterior shots which gives it that charm of nostalgia for the older Doctor Who fans.

postmodernblues's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I'm seriously not sure Amy Pond's character could pass a Bechdel test to save her life. In any medium.

zoeb2101's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

hannahreanie's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

_carolcabrita's review against another edition

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3.0

Overall, I liked it. The first third of the book was really good, even thought it would make a nice episode, but by the half of it some parts felt too long and some actions kinda out of character.

ireadthatmovie's review against another edition

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1.0

I read this book mostly because I was out of reading materiel. I also figured that I do like Doctor Who so maybe I would enjoy it. I didn’t. I really didn’t.

It’s written in multiple POVs. One of them is a little girl’s letters to her mother and another one is a man’s diary. The others are typical first-person. At first it’s just three, the little girl, the man, and Amy. Then randomly Rory is added in. Then there are some letters from another extremely minor character. Then the Doctor had a couple very short chapters. It was just really confused, I thought. But what really bothered me about it were the little girl’s letters and the man’s journal. At first it made sense but then as the book reaches the climax and all this crazy stuff is happening they’re apparently pausing to write it down. I don’t know. It just didn’t make sense to me.

And the writing itself was a bit painful to me. It really felt like something a fourteen-year-old fangirl would write. It just hurt to read it. Everything about this book hurt.

The story itself wasn’t at all interesting to me and was just was confusing as the jumbled narratives. About halfway through the book you find out that the whole time,

Spoiler

The Doctor was Rory and Rory was The Doctor.

I’m sorry, but what?

And that brings me to my biggest issue. Rory and The Doctor. Now, for about the first half of the book I felt like Rory was unusually grumpy. He was constantly being described in the multiple POVs as being unpleasant and unhappy. That’s not Rory. Then after it’s revealed that

Spoiler

he was actually The Doctor

I was like, ”Oh, okay. So it wasn’t

Spoiler

really Rory at all

” but it still made no sense. I don’t think that The Doctor or Rory are as grumpy as all that. And the way they treated each other! Oh, they were spiteful! It was like every word they said to one another had venom inside it. This made no sense to me! When as it ever been that way between them? I get that Rory is jealous of The Doctor but I feel like that was mostly before he married Amy and this book takes place after that. But even then, he was never that bitter towards The Doctor. And why was The Doctor treating him the same way? The whole book, The Doctor seemed to feel that Rory was stupid and a waste of space. I never really got that vibe in the show, even before the wedding. And this is after the whole Last Centurion thing! And that’s another thing. For the entire book people keep talking about how Rory’s not a big hero like The Doctor but then in the end there’s this big “wow, he’s actually really brave” thing. What? Did the author just miss everything Rory ever did on the show? And Amy kept being all conflicted about her feelings towards Rory and The Doctor. I know that she did feel that way for a while on the show but I really feel like that stopped when they were married. I know Rory still felt like she liked the Doctor sometimes but I really don’t think she did. Maybe I’m wrong about that but I don’t think so. And Amy wasn’t portrayed very well either. She just didn’t feel like Amy. She felt like someone who was trying too hard to be Amy. I just really don’t think the author knows these characters very well.

Negatives

Everything I just said plus a bit of language. I think that’s about it… I don’t know. Some people died.

Why did I even bother to finish this book? Partially it was because I hate not finishing a book. But mostly it was because I wanted to count it for my Reading Challenge.

imchoosingfiction's review against another edition

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4.0

Starts out slow but picks up really well in the middle and has you hooked. The tone for each character was accurate (enough) and it definitely has the heart and moral ambiguity that you come to expect from a good Dr. Who story. I do recommend this one. I enjoyed it and even teared up a bit near the end.

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