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caterina_1212's review against another edition
5.0
A very sweet twisty-turny book. I expected to be gutted but it was instead it was only middling sad. I liked the dry humor, the vivid descriptions, the crazy grammar when he tries to explain actions set loose from time. I would definitely read another book by him.
sincere_mammoth's review against another edition
2.0
How dare you allure me with a story of queer romance and then waste my time with a dumb straight romance, one filled with dumb, sexist troupes?
books_and_fairy_lights's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
It was good. It had some really nice writing. I was expecting something a little more like "This is how you lose the time war", to see more of Tom and Ben's love directly through their letters. But it was nice nonetheless and to have a sort of puzzle to piece back together was cool too.
The ending was less good - not necessarily storywise but because the author tries to explain some quantum theories etc and it's either too much or not enough, but not satisfying in any case.
I also believe the last bit of the book wasn't proofread because it contained some spelling/grammar mistakes and at some point the names were wrong and that did sadly diminish the book's/story's quality.
The ending was less good - not necessarily storywise but because the author tries to explain some quantum theories etc and it's either too much or not enough, but not satisfying in any case.
I also believe the last bit of the book wasn't proofread because it contained some spelling/grammar mistakes and at some point the names were wrong and that did sadly diminish the book's/story's quality.
iamnotyourally's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
natlight's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? No
4.0
oleksandr's review against another edition
3.0
This is a novella that was nominated for 2019 Philip K. Dick Award and can be short-listed for Hugo and Nebula Awards.
A London’s book-dealer, who specializes in WW2 history finds a rare poetry book, titled Time was. The book is nothing special but there is a love letter, written during the war, from Tom to Ben. The WW2 aficionado, our protagonist starts to dig deeper to find more about the pair and soon gets a photo. That would be the end, but another photo of presumable the same men of the same age is found, dated with the WW1. The book-dealer tries to find out what the matter.
The second story line is given from the POV of Tom in the 1940.
Good literary fiction, nothing ground-breaking but pleasant to read.
A London’s book-dealer, who specializes in WW2 history finds a rare poetry book, titled Time was. The book is nothing special but there is a love letter, written during the war, from Tom to Ben. The WW2 aficionado, our protagonist starts to dig deeper to find more about the pair and soon gets a photo. That would be the end, but another photo of presumable the same men of the same age is found, dated with the WW1. The book-dealer tries to find out what the matter.
The second story line is given from the POV of Tom in the 1940.
Good literary fiction, nothing ground-breaking but pleasant to read.
sapphicsolace's review against another edition
3.0
Review also on my blog • Twitter • Bookstagram
Rep: m/m romance
Content warnings: war
Arc sent to me by publisher in exchange for a free and honest review
This was is... complicated, that's one way to put it.
Here's my main problem with the book, it somehow made this incredibly gay premise far less gay. If the premise is a perfect 10, then this was a 3 at best. If you've read The Great Gatsby you'd know one of the worst parts of it was that it was told from the pov of some random dude who didn't experience, he just observed. That was this book. And it was also really goddamn confusing. I can't say for sure if this was told in multiple perspectives because not even the book really makes that clear, because it's told in first person. I don't like the kind of books that makes perspectives so confusing it doesn't make sense until you're like half way through the book.
And again, I can't even say for sure it was multiple perspectives, it not being that wouldn't make much sense though. So I was left in utter confusion for most of the book.
The writing I can say was strong. I did like it for the most part, and maybe I'll reread the book and it'll make more sense to me. The plot was just executed strangely, partially because of a misleading premise and partially because of how it's written. If you're a big fan of surrealism, I'd suggest picking it up if you're okay with outside perspective books.
crowyhead's review against another edition
5.0
This is just so lovely, such a wonderful novella about love and time travel. I usually am not a huge fan of time travel stories, which tend to spend excessive amounts of time on their own cleverness. This is a different beast, beautifully written and poignant.
cavernism's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
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? No
4.0
This is so beautifully written! Since it's a novella you don't get much in the way of character development, but the prose carried me through, as did the timelines- I love some time travel confusion and add some queer love in there and I'm sold. Wish there had been more of the latter, but I don't want to ask for too much within 140 pages!