Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was fun to read, but it didn't keep me too engrossed either. It was somewhere in the middle, which I actually found really comfortable.
The way time travel was tackled was the most interesting part to me (the time travel aspect and what humans might do with it is more fleshed out - the only thing I was confused about was why the future can't be altered and everything is set in stone).
Things I was not so much on board with were that the ending was a little predictable, that I feel like Rubys' thoughts behind her actions towards the end should have been explained (felt a bit like a sudden character/ moral change like this), and a personal dislike: a cliché fairytale ending.
The way time travel was tackled was the most interesting part to me (the time travel aspect and what humans might do with it is more fleshed out - the only thing I was confused about was why the future can't be altered and everything is set in stone).
Things I was not so much on board with were that the ending was a little predictable, that I feel like Rubys' thoughts behind her actions towards the end should have been explained (felt a bit like a sudden character/ moral change like this), and a personal dislike: a cliché fairytale ending.
This was an enjoyable book, though it was confusing at times. In 1967, four British scientists (all women) invent a machine for time travel. After their first journeys through time, one of the women (Barbara) has a breakdown and embarrasses the group at their first press conference, putting the whole program in jeopardy. The other women exile her from the team, and the rest of the story follows a lot of different people at different times as time travel becomes big business. It was hard to keep track of all the characters, relationships, and timelines , even though each chapter was clearly labeled with the character’s name and the current date.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thank you to crooked lane books for the opportunity to read this. I received a copy from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating of a strong 3.5
Where do I even begin? Let me start with, this book has a LOT going on, and at times gets a bit tangled and a little confusing, however, this doesn't take away from the fact that there was a great story somewhere in there. This is a decent effort on a debut novel, and I applaud the author's efforts. There was a mix of genres which I found interesting, mystery, science fiction, romance, drama, I believe it worked well and made the story more interesting.
Our story opens in the year 1967, under the narration of Barbara, one of four female pioneers involved in the invention of time travel. Actual time travel. Our other pioneers are Margaret, Lucille and Grace, these characters are revisited throughout the story. The narration jumps between timelines, the most prevalent being 2017, 2018 and 1967, however more timelines are visited as well, the POV also jumps between many characters. I found the most interesting side of the story to be from Odette and Bee/Barbara (2017 version), and also Fay. Some of the other characters offered unique insight into particular events, but sometimes I felt it was unnecessary.
So, in 1967 four women create time travel, one of them, Barbara, has a mental break on public broadcast which casts a doubt over whether time travel is really safe to explore. This humiliates Margaret, and Barbara is then removed from the team, never to be welcomed back. Switch to 2017 and we are introduced to Ruby, Barbara's grand daughter, who is a psychologist, and doesn't know much at all about her grandmother's amazing early life as a time traveler. After a knock at the door, Ruby finds an origami rabbit addressed to Barbara, it's a notice of inquest about a death that happens in 2018, an elderly woman in her 80's. Ruby instantly fears the worst, that this is an inquest into Barbara's death. This sparks off the main plot point of the story, in my opinion, who is the woman, and who killed her? Along with this plot line, we have the evolution of the conclave from three women into hundreds across time, we learn more about different places in time and how time travel is used. One thing that I noticed straight off the bat, time travelers can interact with their older or younger selves, with no consequence. I found this strange as I've never encountered this in any story pertaining to time travel. Usually if one interacts with another self, the whole kit and caboodle comes crashing down. So this was definitely and interesting take.
I've been thinking about the point of so many POVs in this story, and I believe, in my opinion, that the author was also aiming for a grander point. What I noticed about the other characters and their small bit of story, was that the common theme seemed to be, no matter what, you can't change fate. If something is meant to happen, then it will happen.
Overall, this was an interesting story, I'm still torn on how I feel about it to be honest. I really enjoyed Odette and Barbara's story arcs as stated earlier, and I feel like some of the other arcs added opinion and a different take on the main story I was enjoying. I do think that the story may have been made a little less complicated if some of these extra POVs were taken out. Some of them I feel didn't really add much, they would, however, make for a revisit to this world. I would love to see an expansion on some things, and I believe that there is so much potential for further exploration into this world and its characters.
Actual rating of a strong 3.5
Where do I even begin? Let me start with, this book has a LOT going on, and at times gets a bit tangled and a little confusing, however, this doesn't take away from the fact that there was a great story somewhere in there. This is a decent effort on a debut novel, and I applaud the author's efforts. There was a mix of genres which I found interesting, mystery, science fiction, romance, drama, I believe it worked well and made the story more interesting.
Our story opens in the year 1967, under the narration of Barbara, one of four female pioneers involved in the invention of time travel. Actual time travel. Our other pioneers are Margaret, Lucille and Grace, these characters are revisited throughout the story. The narration jumps between timelines, the most prevalent being 2017, 2018 and 1967, however more timelines are visited as well, the POV also jumps between many characters. I found the most interesting side of the story to be from Odette and Bee/Barbara (2017 version), and also Fay. Some of the other characters offered unique insight into particular events, but sometimes I felt it was unnecessary.
So, in 1967 four women create time travel, one of them, Barbara, has a mental break on public broadcast which casts a doubt over whether time travel is really safe to explore. This humiliates Margaret, and Barbara is then removed from the team, never to be welcomed back. Switch to 2017 and we are introduced to Ruby, Barbara's grand daughter, who is a psychologist, and doesn't know much at all about her grandmother's amazing early life as a time traveler. After a knock at the door, Ruby finds an origami rabbit addressed to Barbara, it's a notice of inquest about a death that happens in 2018, an elderly woman in her 80's. Ruby instantly fears the worst, that this is an inquest into Barbara's death. This sparks off the main plot point of the story, in my opinion, who is the woman, and who killed her? Along with this plot line, we have the evolution of the conclave from three women into hundreds across time, we learn more about different places in time and how time travel is used. One thing that I noticed straight off the bat, time travelers can interact with their older or younger selves, with no consequence. I found this strange as I've never encountered this in any story pertaining to time travel. Usually if one interacts with another self, the whole kit and caboodle comes crashing down. So this was definitely and interesting take.
I've been thinking about the point of so many POVs in this story, and I believe, in my opinion, that the author was also aiming for a grander point. What I noticed about the other characters and their small bit of story, was that the common theme seemed to be, no matter what, you can't change fate. If something is meant to happen, then it will happen.
Overall, this was an interesting story, I'm still torn on how I feel about it to be honest. I really enjoyed Odette and Barbara's story arcs as stated earlier, and I feel like some of the other arcs added opinion and a different take on the main story I was enjoying. I do think that the story may have been made a little less complicated if some of these extra POVs were taken out. Some of them I feel didn't really add much, they would, however, make for a revisit to this world. I would love to see an expansion on some things, and I believe that there is so much potential for further exploration into this world and its characters.
The Psychology of Time Travel is one of those books whose effect on me seems to grow over time after I’ve read it, rather than affecting me for a few days or weeks in a diminishing fashion. It’s been months since I finished it, and I find myself idly thinking about parts of it more days than not. Its weaving of timelines and plots and characters with divergent and overlapping motives is complicated — usually in a good way — and unravelling it is almost unsatisfying, because it’s the whole picture considered together that makes it so compelling.
At its most simplified, this is a novel about the fallout of four women inventing time travel in the 1960s. The effects of their decisions are not constrained to themselves, obviously, but the story remains tightly focused on the individual effects on a broad cast of (almost entirely female) characters. As a worldbuilding geek, I would have lamented the lack of consideration for the broader society-level effects if the tight frame hadn’t served the author’s style and purpose so well. It’s readily apparent that the author understands people as a trained psychologist and brings that perspective to bear on writing her characters. Her characters lie to themselves constantly, building their reality out of tightly woven falsehoods they’ve told themselves over and over. It builds a potent picture of narrative, and narrative’s role in our perception of history itself — a very fitting theme for a sci fi book.
I’d also like to reiterate that most characters in this novel are women. This fact casually handled and intensely refreshing, as were the romances between several of them. Calling it “casually handled” is not to say that the heavily-female cast served no narrative purpose, however — women experience unique challenges related to mental health and how it is viewed within society. This book reflects a number of those challenges, as well as less specifically gendered ones.
The Psychology of Time Travel is an ambitious, refreshing addition to the time travel sci fi canon.
Rating: 4/5
At its most simplified, this is a novel about the fallout of four women inventing time travel in the 1960s. The effects of their decisions are not constrained to themselves, obviously, but the story remains tightly focused on the individual effects on a broad cast of (almost entirely female) characters. As a worldbuilding geek, I would have lamented the lack of consideration for the broader society-level effects if the tight frame hadn’t served the author’s style and purpose so well. It’s readily apparent that the author understands people as a trained psychologist and brings that perspective to bear on writing her characters. Her characters lie to themselves constantly, building their reality out of tightly woven falsehoods they’ve told themselves over and over. It builds a potent picture of narrative, and narrative’s role in our perception of history itself — a very fitting theme for a sci fi book.
I’d also like to reiterate that most characters in this novel are women. This fact casually handled and intensely refreshing, as were the romances between several of them. Calling it “casually handled” is not to say that the heavily-female cast served no narrative purpose, however — women experience unique challenges related to mental health and how it is viewed within society. This book reflects a number of those challenges, as well as less specifically gendered ones.
The Psychology of Time Travel is an ambitious, refreshing addition to the time travel sci fi canon.
Rating: 4/5
I love a good sci-fi book with time travel and I'm very interested in human psychology so this book was right up my alley. It introduced some very interesting time travel concepts and the mystery kept me reading quickly. I loved that time travel was created by four women and it was interesting how they ceased contact with one of their own to save face after sweet Barbara lost her mind while time traveling. It was such a lovely book, I enjoyed everything about it EXCEPT for all of the point of view changes, which did make this book confusing at times.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated