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riverofhorton's review against another edition
The final straw for me was getting jumpscared by an utterly needless homophobic slur (as it was until very recently) less than 100 pages in. Given the 'past' parts of the book are set in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, I could have deal with some casual prejudice, so as the world was at that time, especially if it were there to make a point and/or portray that character as being a negative person. But these prejudices are not only blatant, but could have been removed from the story without it losing anything.
And there is also the moral weirdness surrounding the relationship between itself. From Claire's perspective, she first met Henry at the age of ~5 years old, when he was in his 40s. He visited her regularly growing up, even waiting for her to turn 18 so he could have sex with her on her birthday. Sounds creepy, right? From his perspective though, he first her in his late 20s, her being early 20s, and the relationship proceeded somewhat normally to begin with, only a couple of mentions of how long she has known a future version of him. It's just kind of a mess, and considering he could time travel as a child as well, I don't quite understand why he couldn't have been a child of a similar age, or even have the whole thing contain within their respective adulthoods.
It's such a shame, the basic premise of two people falling in love out of sync because of time travel has the potential to be incredible, but this was just a disappointment. It's the first book I've ever DNFed, and it saddens me that it's a Sci-Fi book (one of my favourite genres) that can claim that title.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexism, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Torture, Classism, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Abortion, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Bullying, Racism, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Ableism, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Rape, Stalking, and Violence
valeria_balzan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I feel like the author had great opportunities to push the limits of time travelling and how it can impact a person's Henry's life but he is just boring and hates this ability.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Infertility, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Bullying, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Blood and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Abandonment and Mental illness
val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Cancer, Infidelity, Suicide, Medical content, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Death, Infertility, and Pregnancy
lizzye33's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Blood, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Car accident, and Murder
_stephbroom_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Miscarriage
ejoymiller11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
1. This story (in my opinion) was told backwards, and would last the test of time better had it been told the other way around. Being about time travel, the story bounces around quite a bit. However, I would argue the story more closely follows Clare’s linear timeline. Before we actually get to know the two main characters as a couple, the first half of the book is about how Clare knew Henry as a child and teenager. We learn about Henry’s lustful thoughts about her even when she is underage, even when she is prepubescent, which made me very uncomfortable. In my opinion, had we learned about their adult relationship first by strictly following Henry’s timeline, and had Henry just straight up not had inappropriate thoughts about a CHILD, I think the relationship would seem less creepy (but let’s be honest, some of what happened would be creepy, inappropriate, and sick regardless).
2. About 200 pages of the 536 pages I read weren’t relevant. I don’t understand why certain scenes were necessary as they didn’t contribute to the plot, character development, or context of the story. The whole infidelity thing? For what.
3. INCONSISTENCIES. And inaccuracies. Some of this book just straight up didn’t make sense. I found myself wondering SO many times, “did the author do literally ANY research??” Yes, probably with certain art pieces and music mentioned in the story, but certainly not how pregnancy, miscarriage, birth, hypothermia, and other medical things work. Furthermore, so many times the book would mention something like “they decided to leave the kids at home!” And on the next page, “the kids were playing quietly in the corner.” Like did no one proofread this? I’m lost.
4. Sometimes it was really hard to understand who was speaking. The book bounces between Henry’s and Clare’s perspectives, but in sections of the dialogue there are long stretches with no indication of who is speaking. Several times I had to go back and reread to understand the context of what was happening and what the characters were feeling.
I felt like this was a great concept that was so poorly executed. This could be a fantastic, timeless love story, but it just fell flat for me. The writing combined with the characters who weren’t just flawed, but horrible people, ruined it for me.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Infidelity, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Drug use, Chronic illness, and Cancer
vannahcabana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Suicide and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Death of parent, Death, Miscarriage, and Alcoholism
stracciastela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
the main parts i had an issue with were the age-gap scenes which sometimes made me really uncomfortable while reading. also i felt like it slogged through a bit towards the middle but then really picked up the pace at the end and had a very sad but satisfying ending
ps there are some parts of the book where there are certain derogatory words that are used in a very early 2000s way
Graphic: Suicide and Injury/Injury detail
kadtide's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident, Death, and Infidelity
Minor: Homophobia and Eating disorder
anoelle896's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Cursing, Classism, and Adult/minor relationship