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I did not see many of the twists coming. There were plenty of theories I had but none of them turned out to be true. I also didn’t expect it to be such a love story. And even halfway through if you told me it was, I wouldn’t have been able to guess.
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Slavery
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Homophobia, Slavery
Minor: Biphobia
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Slavery, Vomit
If you’re into “time travel theories,” you may enjoy the explanation of how it works at the end — a new concept for me. I rather liked the conceits attached with this premise, but don’t want to mention it here as it edges on spoilers.
I would say this read is more fun and interesting than profound, which is why I hated the ending — the last two paragraphs really should have been left off, or done differently. It did not need a saccharine moral message to tie it off, but the sentiment was nice.
My biggest issue with the book is the same as with many modern novels - all the women in it are at odds with each other, except for one eccentric that gets along with everyone. Why women always have to be at each other’s throats in media is frankly just tiresome and boring, given how common it is. I would have appreciated more the balance toward more women main characters if they all didn’t immediately hate something about the other.
That said, the character definitions were one of best parts of the novel. Each character was unique, clearly defined, and consistent. Some might find them a little over done, but something about that really fit the tone of the book for me. The characters were larger than life, outside of time.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Suicide
Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Slavery, Alcohol
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Infidelity, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexual content, Alcohol, War
Minor: Medical trauma
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War
Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Lesbophobia, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic
I was also bored throughout most of this, in a way that I feel that the book was falsely advertised. There's very little sci-fi to be seen in this with little regard to how the time travel works in this world, I didn't find it humorous enough to be considered comedic, the spy elements felt tacked on last minute and the romance simply did nothing for me.
I kinda wish that this book could have just focused more on the characters that are out of time. My favourite parts of the book were Graham, Arthur and Maggie hanging out and experiencing the 21st century together(I would also be totally down for reading a book solely focused on Maggie, love the idea of a lesbian from the 17th century being able to exist as herself in modern times).
I also found the narrator to be rather dislikable and I was rather irritated with how obtuse and manipulative she was to other characters and how she really doesn't experience much growth or consequences for her actions
I did find the exploration of her hertitage of being British-Cambodian and the child of a refugee interesting, but with how much this book tried to cover I would have prefered to have a whole book to focus solely on that. Also I must say the way the narrator and the plot treat Simellia, the only black character in the book, felt really off to me both in how the narrator dismisses Simellia's challenges with racism as one of the only black employees at the ministry and especially how it turns out
I especially wasn't fond of the romance between her and Graham Gore, there was a very apparent imbalance in the relationship where she felt rather controlling about him, almost trying to mold him into the type of person she would date that just put me off the idea of it. It made the ending where
There's also something about writing an explicit romance with an historical figure who died horribly that just gives me the ick. It comes off as in poor taste. I kept thinking throughout how I wish Graham could have been the main character instead, as the small chapters we see from his perspective are very introspective.
In all, this is a book that tries so many things and yet fails at being an engaging narrative.
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Murder, Lesbophobia
Minor: Genocide, Slavery, War