Reviews with content warning for Suicide - All Our Wrong Todays

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

12 reviews

drjoannehill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Bought for me last birthday - I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, because the cover looks like a romantic comedy bestseller sort of thing and the title is verging on ungrammatical which is something I dislike. Not something I would usually pick up without knowing about it first. In reality, I found the first 20% quite difficult or not really me - it was slow going and the main character Tom (by his own admission as this is written in first person as a memoir) is a self-centred, failing, unliked person. However, it then picked up as the main part of the story kicked in - which boils down to time travel that sets off a major change to the timeline and Tom finds himself in a different present day. Cue lots of philosophical discussion, quantum physics, and an adventure. It's not a romance at all but speculative fiction / sci fi.

Name checking The Time Machine and drawing from a bit of the story, and also drawing from a bit of Back to the Future 2 ... For regular time travel fans I can't say if this is a decent read or not. But I found it entertaining and I read about half of the 390 pages in one day. There's some parts that could do with more detail to be convincing, but I'll leave those to other readers to find rather than picking holes in it. Close enough to 4 stars to get the 4.

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sgoldstine's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.75

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dalek_caan's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a wild ride. Overall I enjoyed it, and the time travel aspects were entertaining. I was definitely thinking this book would be a lot lighter than it was, but was pleased and surprised by the direction it ended up going.

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jmanning's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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sarahelyse's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

What a fascinating combination of science, science fiction, philosophy, and the human spirit, packaged seamlessly into a memoir of the most important human of whom you've never heard.

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mnmlrvws's review against another edition

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Terrible book. Gross characters and written like a clickbait article, never getting to the point and the main character is abusive and a POS (not in a fun way).

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shoshin's review against another edition

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hopeful sad fast-paced

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

3.0

I had to think about this one for a while before rating it. I almost gave up on it pretty early because the protagonist was terrible and the sexism was awful, but I'm surprised to say that I'm glad I stuck with it. The protagonist grew a lot, I was surprised by some of the things that happened, and I appreciated the resolution more than I thought I would. I was walking through the grocery store with a slightly dopey grin listening to the end, which confused my fellow shoppers but made me feel pretty good about the book in the end.

My biggest complaint, which even the satisfying resolution couldn't fix, was

the protagonist's irrational attachment to, and inaccurate statements about, a fertilized egg. The fertilized egg in Penelope's fallopian tube would not have been detectable, and no physiological changes occur, so far as I'm aware, until implantation. I could attribute it to future magic medicine, but I think it more likely that the author has an anti-choice agenda. The sexism generally ran through the book and just wouldn't stop, even when the author tried to have the protagonist call himself out. This review covers most of it and says it well, so I'll direct you to it: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/fe29fe2a-19ba-43f1-8c64-ca46ee249a29

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brianareads's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced

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

1.0

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magneticmemory's review against another edition

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2.5

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kari_f's review against another edition

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3.0

“I’m sorry this isn’t a time-travel romp. I was expecting causal loops and reality fluctuations and branching dimensions and scientifically questionable solutions to ornate space-time paradoxes. I wasn’t expecting actual human pain. I didn’t ask to question the foundations of my sanity.”

I’ll be honest that I’m conflicted on this book! I thought the plot was really fun and interesting, but I didn’t find the main character even remotely likable for the first 2/3, so my feelings are all over the place about the book as a whole.

Things I enjoyed:

✨ There are some very intriguing ideas brought up in the book, including the pitfalls of manipulating time, dreams as glimpses into alternate realities, and space being an important aspect of time travel.

✨ The side characters were interesting, and I really enjoyed seeing the difference between the protagonist’s world and our world. I especially enjoyed the family dynamics.

✨ The sci-fi elements were mixed with a lot of complicated human emotions and relationships.

Things I didn’t love:

✨ The protagonist is petty, selfish, and kind of an ass. I didn’t like him for most of the book, and this impacted my enjoyment of the book quite a bit. He’s one of those people who knows he’s often a self-centered jerk with low self esteem, but he doesn’t put any work into making himself a better person. Instead, he wallows in self-pity. This is one of my biggest pet peeves in people, so this character rubbed me the wrong way.

✨ Some of the elements in the book felt like overused rom com tropes, with the nerdy but attractive bookshop owner and the man who couldn’t hold a steady relationship suddenly becoming a better man for knowing her.

Check the trigger warnings for this one, as there is SA and suicide.

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