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Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
59 reviews
ejoymiller11's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
I am not usually a tough critic, but I did not love this for several reasons.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
mouwuol's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia
crashiebang's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Grief, Suicide, Gore, and Adult/minor relationship
khh's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
I was expecting something more… straightforward? There’s a truly staggering number of pages dedicated to the main characters’ efforts to conceive (arguably the central conflict of the novel)— really, really strange choice for this kind of story. Such a bizarre book; I’m surprised it became so popular.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Miscarriage
bertrandlm's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
minimaliterature's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
georgiatheresa's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
1.5
Yikes. The author sure is good with words, but otherwise this is awful. A pretentious, cliche, and boring man travels through time to groom and rape his future wife. Just yuck.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, and Rape
Moderate: Misogyny, Child death, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Infertility
morgankopanski's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Kidnapping
ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
The actual writing of this book was beautiful. The content…was pretty uncomfortable at times.
There is a moment when Clare is in distress and asks Henry to tell her something nice. He tells her about a time when they were swimming and Clare was wearing this bikini (that he describes in detail) and back then she told him about getting her period. The problem? She was 12. I know that they were going to be married in the future, but they weren’t at that moment. AND THAT IS THE MEMORY HE THINKS OF???
A nurse that is literally only in one small sentence in this entire novel is described as “a fat blond nurse”. Why? Why is that the way we have to describe her?
I hated Gomez. He NEEDED to be cut out of Clare’s life. What a skunk.
When Clare was growing up and Henry kept time traveling back to her he says that he was often aroused- again, she was young and he wasn’t and it just made me cringe.
Their relationship had a lot of buildup when Clare was young and then the moment she turns 18 I feel like their relationship was built upon sex and the fact that they were always supposed to be married. I was just expecting more from a book that is touted as some magnificent love story.
There is a moment when Clare is in distress and asks Henry to tell her something nice. He tells her about a time when they were swimming and Clare was wearing this bikini (that he describes in detail) and back then she told him about getting her period. The problem? She was 12. I know that they were going to be married in the future, but they weren’t at that moment. AND THAT IS THE MEMORY HE THINKS OF???
A nurse that is literally only in one small sentence in this entire novel is described as “a fat blond nurse”. Why? Why is that the way we have to describe her?
I hated Gomez. He NEEDED to be cut out of Clare’s life. What a skunk.
When Clare was growing up and Henry kept time traveling back to her he says that he was often aroused- again, she was young and he wasn’t and it just made me cringe.
Their relationship had a lot of buildup when Clare was young and then the moment she turns 18 I feel like their relationship was built upon sex and the fact that they were always supposed to be married. I was just expecting more from a book that is touted as some magnificent love story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Sexual content
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
thomas_ryan04's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
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? Yes
3.75
This novel has a storyline with so much potential - a science-fiction/romance crossover following the love story of time traveller, Henry DeTamble and his wife, Clare Abshire, who Henry met when she was just six (the moral issues here are vast, granted). However, I feel like the potential the storyline harnesses isn't exercised to its maximum potential.
There are some really good points about the book, and the last one hundred or so pages, in particular, had me gripped. Once you get your head around the complex concept of time travelling, it becomes easy to track when Henry is off time travelling and when he's in the 'present'. The dual first-person narration from Henry and Clare is enjoyable - it's interesting to see both their views towards their relationship, which is characterised by long periods apart in their early days as well as desire and passion throughout. The development of the novel is at its best in the early days of Henry's time travelling and towards the end of the book - there is where I was gripped the most and where I felt most connected to the characters.
This leads me onto some of the problems: ultimately, the middle of the book lacked much character development at all. As soon as Clare and Henry meet "in the present", they seem to click straight away despite the fact Henry said he wouldn't remember her when they met. For a 520-page book (which is way too long, and could easily have been shortened to 400 pages), you'd expect better character development and no massive gaping holes in the plotline. Another gripe of mine is the sex - the GRAPHIC sex which left nothing to the imagination. I understand desire and passion was at the centre of the couple's relationships and a few sex scenes dotted throughout would have done no harm - but Niffenegger seemed obsessed with giving every detail, of every sexual encounter, from start to finish. I also had to check the publication date of the book sometimes - 2003?! - there's definitely a few too many characters who seem to have been crafted in the 20th century when authors 'got away' with cultural stereotypes a bit more (Kimy's broken phonetic speech, anyone?!).
Overall, the concept was great - yet it could have been executed better. There was some good points, but also some bad points. Yet, the last 100 pages had me gripped - which makes me question what rating is best for this book. An (above) average 3.75 stars for The Time Traveler's Wife.
There are some really good points about the book, and the last one hundred or so pages, in particular, had me gripped. Once you get your head around the complex concept of time travelling, it becomes easy to track when Henry is off time travelling and when he's in the 'present'. The dual first-person narration from Henry and Clare is enjoyable - it's interesting to see both their views towards their relationship, which is characterised by long periods apart in their early days as well as desire and passion throughout. The development of the novel is at its best in the early days of Henry's time travelling and towards the end of the book - there is where I was gripped the most and where I felt most connected to the characters.
This leads me onto some of the problems: ultimately, the middle of the book lacked much character development at all. As soon as Clare and Henry meet "in the present", they seem to click straight away despite the fact Henry said he wouldn't remember her when they met. For a 520-page book (which is way too long, and could easily have been shortened to 400 pages), you'd expect better character development and no massive gaping holes in the plotline. Another gripe of mine is the sex - the GRAPHIC sex which left nothing to the imagination. I understand desire and passion was at the centre of the couple's relationships and a few sex scenes dotted throughout would have done no harm - but Niffenegger seemed obsessed with giving every detail, of every sexual encounter, from start to finish. I also had to check the publication date of the book sometimes - 2003?! - there's definitely a few too many characters who seem to have been crafted in the 20th century when authors 'got away' with cultural stereotypes a bit more (Kimy's broken phonetic speech, anyone?!).
Overall, the concept was great - yet it could have been executed better. There was some good points, but also some bad points. Yet, the last 100 pages had me gripped - which makes me question what rating is best for this book. An (above) average 3.75 stars for The Time Traveler's Wife.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence