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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
This is a review of the audiobook for Come Again by Robert Webb, narrated by Olivia Coleman.
Come Again is the story of Kate, who has lost her husband to cancer and is reeling from mind-numbing grief. Kate's grief is well written here, and well portrayed by Olivia Coleman. There is an honesty that comes out of raw grief, when you say what's on your mind because you know that nothing but truth really matters anyway. This is captured perfectly in the book.
The second part of the book shows Kate, who has attempted suicide, traveling back in time to her 18 year old self. As a time travel fiction buff, I was a little disappointed that the means of time travel was not really shown or discussed. Kate meets her husband all over again. This is a fascinating study of the age old question, "if you could go back again, knowing what you know now, what would you do?"
The third part of the book is a sort of spy/thriller, but it does not come out of nowhere as it was set up in part one.
I enjoyed this book very much and Olivia Coleman did a great job of portraying the emotions throughout: Heart stopping grief in part one, shock, wonder, and confusion in part two, and then danger and terror in part three.
The epilogue was a little confusing and, again, broke some rules of time travel fiction and left some things unexplained.
Overall, this is a well written book. The grief of losing a spouse is especially well portrayed. This is a very British book, so I was surprised and a little annoyed at the American political commentary thrown in for no apparent reason . Olivia Coleman does a fantastic job with the narration and gets 5 stars.
Overall: 4 stars.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from Netgalley. My review is voluntary.
Come Again is the story of Kate, who has lost her husband to cancer and is reeling from mind-numbing grief. Kate's grief is well written here, and well portrayed by Olivia Coleman. There is an honesty that comes out of raw grief, when you say what's on your mind because you know that nothing but truth really matters anyway. This is captured perfectly in the book.
The second part of the book shows Kate, who has attempted suicide, traveling back in time to her 18 year old self. As a time travel fiction buff, I was a little disappointed that the means of time travel was not really shown or discussed. Kate meets her husband all over again. This is a fascinating study of the age old question, "if you could go back again, knowing what you know now, what would you do?"
The third part of the book is a sort of spy/thriller, but it does not come out of nowhere as it was set up in part one.
I enjoyed this book very much and Olivia Coleman did a great job of portraying the emotions throughout: Heart stopping grief in part one, shock, wonder, and confusion in part two, and then danger and terror in part three.
The epilogue was a little confusing and, again, broke some rules of time travel fiction and left some things unexplained.
Overall, this is a well written book. The grief of losing a spouse is especially well portrayed. This is a very British book, so I was surprised and a little annoyed at the American political commentary thrown in for no apparent reason . Olivia Coleman does a fantastic job with the narration and gets 5 stars.
Overall: 4 stars.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from Netgalley. My review is voluntary.
I received this book as a ‘blind date with a book’ and was looking forward to the idea of the story. It’s not what I expected, even after reading the synopsis when I received the book. The time traveling and romantic elements are not as prominent as the blurb suggests... There’s more of an action-comedy movie feel to the story, and the book is nostalgic and amusing in a lot of the scenes. I also wouldn’t really call it suspense since we kind of know who the bad guys are from the start. So, there’s really nothing to be sus about?
I’m not sure if this is because the story was written by a male POV with a female MC, but there is more process than emotion even with Kate’s state of distress. I didn’t feel attached to any of the characters but felt pretty bad for Toby when she made him get out of her house. The action scenes towards the end were a bit out of place. I know there were hints from Kate but maybe they're too subtle. All-in-all, I enjoyed the book and liked how it ended.
I’m not sure if this is because the story was written by a male POV with a female MC, but there is more process than emotion even with Kate’s state of distress. I didn’t feel attached to any of the characters but felt pretty bad for Toby when she made him get out of her house.
Spoiler
I was also totally rooting for Luke’s scene to arise but when it happened, it was anti-climactic? Sigh, and I’m sure Kate felt the same.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thoroughly enjoyable, fast paced, great characters, intriguing story, compellingly written. Much better than expected!
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Can we fall in love again? What would you do differently if you could go back in time? Would you be the same person?
The premise of Come Again is absolutely brilliant. The writing is sharp, hilarious, and full of wisdom. Covering topics from love to politics, Webb handles difficult ideas with equal dashes of hope and humor.
(Minus one star because of some shockingly vulgar language. I'm by no means a prude, but I suppose I'm not quite used to the exhaustingly vast arsenal of British slang.)
The premise of Come Again is absolutely brilliant. The writing is sharp, hilarious, and full of wisdom. Covering topics from love to politics, Webb handles difficult ideas with equal dashes of hope and humor.
(Minus one star because of some shockingly vulgar language. I'm by no means a prude, but I suppose I'm not quite used to the exhaustingly vast arsenal of British slang.)
Despite being well written and full of laugh out loud moments, this just didn't work for me. The book is broken into three parts and they read like different stories, each interesting, but unsatisfying as a whole.
Picking this up, I expected some sad story that will make you cry and make you believe in true love again. Just cause of the whole plot at the back of the book. But what I read is definitely not that. It is a very engaging story line that's action packed, kind of sad and actually had me laughing a lot. Robert Webb still managed to get me believe in love the second time around so I guess there is that. Kate is quite an interesting character and I love how she was written. I feel for her and mad respect to her. It's very well written and a nice, quick and heartfelt read. Overall a
This is like Groundhog Day sandwiched in between two Get Smart slices of surreality. Webb's inexperience as a novelist is clear here as he kind of wafts between tones, lurching from plot point to plot point with an unpracticed hand. But damn is it enjoyable for all that. I raced through it in one go.