Reviews

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

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marcmart4080's review

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adventurous challenging inspiring fast-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

4.0

robivy's review

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5.0

This book was fantastic. I'm a sucker for time travel paradox books, but this one takes it to a new level. Awesomeness!

When I read the synopsis for 'All Our Wrong Todays' by Elan Mastai, I knew I wanted to read it. The premise sounded like something right up my alley, but I didn't fall for it right away. It took a bit of time.

The story is narrated by Tom, a guy from the future we should be having right now. An invention from the early 1960s made all the difference. The only problem is that Tom isn't having such a great life. He lost his mom and his dad is kind of a workaholic jerk who is building a time machine to go back and visit the moment that the invention got turned on. Tom is in love with a woman named Penelope who may or may not even he exists.

So, when tragedy hits, Tom steals the time machine and ends up in our timestream. He finds things different here, both better and worse. Should he stay or should he try to go back to where he came from.

It was a slow build for me, and I wasn't sure this was going to be a book I liked. Even though Tom's present is ideal, I found myself a bit bored with it. It's only when he ends up in our time where the book picks up for me. I liked the second act a lot more, but the third act sealed the deal for me. This is a book about some bigger things than an idealized world and cool gadgets. It's also about smaller things as well, and they are just as important. In the end, I absolutely loved this book.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

sterlingisreading's review

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adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

Grabbed this from a used bookstore while I was offloading some old books. The main character, Tom Barren, lives in the futuristic 2016 that the 1950’s dreamed of: flying cars, teleportation, robot maids, space vacations. It’s a future where we’ve solved all of humanity’s problems with technology. Tom is a disappointment to his genius father, who is on the cusp of cracking the code of time travel. Tom meets a woman and it turns his life upside down, so he does what any heartbroken man would do if he had access to a time machine: something stupid.

This book fits in perfectly with the two Matt Haig novels I just finished. Engaging, simply written first person storytelling in a sci-fi world. It’s pretty long, nearly 400 pages, but the way it’s written and the way the chapters are sliced up makes it a quick read. The last chapters kind of lost me, the plot became unwieldy and it felt like the author lost his grip, but overall it was fun. Like the Matt Haig novels I just read, there’s nothing groundbreaking or gut wrenching here, but cozying up with these books makes for a relaxing weekend.

absolutealexandria's review against another edition

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5.0

Definitely not your standard time travel story. Succeeded in surprising me several times, and has lots of points to get you thinking. I listened to it read by author which I highly recommend as it adds to the experience, especially in a few specific chapters.