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siobhanward's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Reese's Book Club Pick Reese's Book Club Pick 69/70
Honestly, I ended up rating this higher than I'd planned for most of the book because McAllister didn't mess around with the ending. I think that if I'd gone through all that (and frankly, that JEN had gone through all that), just for nothing to have changed, I would have been so angry. Not only because I hate books where things are just lost causes no matter what, but also because I feel like you can't change that much in the past without drastically impacting the future. So I'm glad McAllister ended it the way she did.
I struggled to get into this book - backwards timelines are just not really my thing. I struggle to keep up with what's happening and honestly even just to stay engaged. It's not a style that really works for me. Anyway, McAllister did it fairly well, and I appreciated that there were some moments that shocked me.
Honestly, I ended up rating this higher than I'd planned for most of the book because
I struggled to get into this book - backwards timelines are just not really my thing. I struggle to keep up with what's happening and honestly even just to stay engaged. It's not a style that really works for me. Anyway, McAllister did it fairly well, and I appreciated that there were some moments that shocked me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death, and Death of parent
amberjackonski's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent
crystal689's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Car accident and Pregnancy
catinseas's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Death, and Kidnapping
Minor: Drug use
edgaranjapoe's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Kidnapping
Minor: Drug abuse, Stalking, Vomit, Infidelity, Grief, Cancer, Abandonment, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Car accident, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Cursing, and Mental illness
podanotherjessi's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
This book just bored me from start to finish. I found it predictable, and worse I found it dull. I just couldn't have cared much less about Jen and her family. I didn't care about her insecurities as a mother, I didn't care about what her husband was hiding, and I certainly didn't care why her son stabbed somebody. At no point in the story was I given any real reason to be invested other than that Jen was invested, and I just wasn't nearly interested in her enough for that to work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent
sharebear431's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent and Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
coeurloyal's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Drug abuse
mollysbooklist's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
I’m always hesitant with time travel books. This was so well done though. I definitely recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Murder
jenibus's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Firstly, minor semantic quibble here, but this book is not a "time loop." It is not Groundhog Day, it is not Russian Doll, we are not reliving the same day over and over trying to fix things, we are going backwards in time to meaningful days to try to avert the murder from occurring.
There are so many themes within this book that I wholeheartedly disagree with. The idea that people who are in love are destined to fall for each other and that no matter what the universe will put them together. The idea that lying for decades is justified if the intention was averting hurt. The idea that a mother's love is this magical transcendent concept that will literally bend time and space to fix things if it means keeping her child safe. The last point I might admittedly disagree with in part because I am not a mother and have not experienced that overwhelming sense of ultimate adoration for a person you helped give life to. But a lot of Jen's motherly narration regarding how she feels about her son and how wonderful and perfect he is rubbed me the wrong way. It didn't get into Freud "Boy Mom TM" levels ever, but I did find it rather difficult to understand or relate to. I do suspect that mothers might feel differently.
I wish we had kept this plot smaller, focused on a smaller time scale to try to stop Todd (the son) from stabbing a seemingly random man on his 18th birthday. Instead the book turns into this decades long family drama of lies and betrayal. The time travel aspect is wholly under utilized in my opinion. That might sound strange since literally the whole book is Jen living in reverse to find out what lies have been told and how it affects the present, but it was less time travel shenanigans and moreso looking back at one's memories and noticing things you didn't before. The beginning of the book did more with Jen trying to figure out the time travel stuff, sorting out what exactly she could do and how she could gain information, but after we start getting further and further out, she stops pushing the boundaries and lives each day pretty much as normal until she can figure out why that day was important. Did that strategy make logical sense? Yeah, but it was also slow and somewhat boring for me as a reader.
I am going to end the review here because I don't want this to be a rant, I can do that in my own time to my husband. Needless to say, I very much did not like this book and would not recommend it to others, even though I'm in the minority of readers by disliking it.
There are so many themes within this book that I wholeheartedly disagree with. The idea that people who are in love are destined to fall for each other and that no matter what the universe will put them together. The idea that lying for decades is justified if the intention was averting hurt. The idea that a mother's love is this magical transcendent concept that will literally bend time and space to fix things if it means keeping her child safe. The last point I might admittedly disagree with in part because I am not a mother and have not experienced that overwhelming sense of ultimate adoration for a person you helped give life to. But a lot of Jen's motherly narration regarding how she feels about her son and how wonderful and perfect he is rubbed me the wrong way. It didn't get into Freud "Boy Mom TM" levels ever, but I did find it rather difficult to understand or relate to. I do suspect that mothers might feel differently.
I wish we had kept this plot smaller, focused on a smaller time scale to try to stop Todd (the son) from stabbing a seemingly random man on his 18th birthday. Instead the book turns into this decades long family drama of lies and betrayal. The time travel aspect is wholly under utilized in my opinion. That might sound strange since literally the whole book is Jen living in reverse to find out what lies have been told and how it affects the present, but it was less time travel shenanigans and moreso looking back at one's memories and noticing things you didn't before. The beginning of the book did more with Jen trying to figure out the time travel stuff, sorting out what exactly she could do and how she could gain information, but after we start getting further and further out, she stops pushing the boundaries and lives each day pretty much as normal until she can figure out why that day was important. Did that strategy make logical sense? Yeah, but it was also slow and somewhat boring for me as a reader.
I am going to end the review here because I don't want this to be a rant, I can do that in my own time to my husband. Needless to say, I very much did not like this book and would not recommend it to others, even though I'm in the minority of readers by disliking it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent