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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
An entertaining read!! I couldn't put this book down until I finished it. Robert Webb does an incredible job of mixing humour with sorrow, romance, and action. The protagonist, Kate, constantly encounters situations where she must choose to either interfere with a possibility of a positive outcome or to leave things alone to avoid making things worse than they already are. After her husband Luke's death she has lost her will to live, clean her home, or even shower, but somehow she is determined to revolt against her boss to go public with a file that will jeopardize the reputation of the PR company she works for and their petrifying Russian client. If this wasn't stressful enough, Kate ends up waking up in 1992 in her college dorm on the day she first met and fell in love with Luke. Knowing what happens to her husband Luke she might be able to save his life, but can she fall in love with him again?
Come Again is a story about grief, love, and the choices we make. Divided into three parts, this story begins in the present with Kate losing her husband Luke. Then the second part is what intrigued me to read this one: Kate travels back in time to when she met her husband as a teenager and has to battle with whether or not she can save him (and doing so in the early 90s with no Internet or cellphones!). A solid read from a new-to-me author that I'd definitely read from again.
(Thank you to Goodreads & the publisher for the giveaway copy!)
(Thank you to Goodreads & the publisher for the giveaway copy!)
Parts 1 and 2 were splendid. Part 3 was a complete change of tone and pace and felt rather like a different story entirely, but was still enjoyable. I love Webb's writing.
This audiobook was pretty wonderful, the combination of Robert Webb's superb comic writing, and Olivia Colman's impeccable narration. After all, how can you go wrong with an Oscar-winning actress?
I've been a big fan of Robert Webb for a while; he is a British actor, comedian, and he recently published a beautiful memoir, How Not to be a Boy. His work with Colman goes back years, as they were both actors together on shows such as Peep Show, and That Mitchell and Webb Show/Sound. Colman's obvious admiration for Webb's work comes through in this audiobook, and she lovingly tells this wonderful story of heartbreak, loss, time-travel, and hacking.
Recently widowed Kate Marsden is in a bad way. Her husband Luke has suddenly died from cancer, and Kate is beating herself up for not noticing it sooner. On the night she intends to commit suicide, she seemingly travels back to her college days, and attempts to change history by prematurely saving Luke's life. As she assesses her old/new college friends from the perspective of an older woman in a young woman's body, she reassess her opinions of them, and relationships alter.
Present-day Kate has other issues to contend with, such as her high-risk hacking job for an awful boss, and said boss's relationships with incredibly dodgy characters.
Come Again contains two major sections. The first being Kate's present day life, dealing with her grief, career, parents, and everything else. The second is her time-traveling exploits to her college days. The latter is a lot more enjoyable than the former, and I can't help but wish Webb had spent more time on this than the former. Although the novel is enjoyable as a whole, and the aforementioned sections definitely link together, there was a chase section of the novel that went on a tad too long for my liking.
Nevertheless, it is always a pleasure to listen to the gorgeous voice of Olivia Colman. She creates superb characters with her voice, and she always exudes a sense of warmth, even in Webb's most heartless creations. And she delivers the more explicit lines like a trooper. Her sense of comic timing has been honed through many years of performing comedic roles.
For a debut novel, this is very impressive. There are clear Nick Hornby influences, but this work is truly Webb's own. Come Again is a novel about grief, heartache, friendship, and that it is never too late to "Come again".
I've been a big fan of Robert Webb for a while; he is a British actor, comedian, and he recently published a beautiful memoir, How Not to be a Boy. His work with Colman goes back years, as they were both actors together on shows such as Peep Show, and That Mitchell and Webb Show/Sound. Colman's obvious admiration for Webb's work comes through in this audiobook, and she lovingly tells this wonderful story of heartbreak, loss, time-travel, and hacking.
Recently widowed Kate Marsden is in a bad way. Her husband Luke has suddenly died from cancer, and Kate is beating herself up for not noticing it sooner. On the night she intends to commit suicide, she seemingly travels back to her college days, and attempts to change history by prematurely saving Luke's life. As she assesses her old/new college friends from the perspective of an older woman in a young woman's body, she reassess her opinions of them, and relationships alter.
Present-day Kate has other issues to contend with, such as her high-risk hacking job for an awful boss, and said boss's relationships with incredibly dodgy characters.
Come Again contains two major sections. The first being Kate's present day life, dealing with her grief, career, parents, and everything else. The second is her time-traveling exploits to her college days. The latter is a lot more enjoyable than the former, and I can't help but wish Webb had spent more time on this than the former. Although the novel is enjoyable as a whole, and the aforementioned sections definitely link together, there was a chase section of the novel that went on a tad too long for my liking.
Nevertheless, it is always a pleasure to listen to the gorgeous voice of Olivia Colman. She creates superb characters with her voice, and she always exudes a sense of warmth, even in Webb's most heartless creations. And she delivers the more explicit lines like a trooper. Her sense of comic timing has been honed through many years of performing comedic roles.
For a debut novel, this is very impressive. There are clear Nick Hornby influences, but this work is truly Webb's own. Come Again is a novel about grief, heartache, friendship, and that it is never too late to "Come again".
DNF. I was bored. I made it to 30% and I still felt no connection to the characters. The layout of the chapters was all over the place and not explained at all, you had to just figure out where you were as you went and what time line you were suddenly dropped into. I wanted so badly to sympathize with Kate, but I had a hard time doing so when the tragedy was played out the way it was. I had high hopes but it sadly didn’t come close.
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
I really enjoyed the three different parts. I thought the final part was unexpected but enjoyable. I liked the characters by and large and did root for them throughout. Also found myself laughing out loud at parts, which I loved!
Kate is trying desperately to cope after the sudden death of her husband Luke. All she wants is another chance to set things right and warn him of the terrible sickness destroying his body Luckily it seems some greater power is listening to her and she wakes up in her eighteen year old body on the first day of University, the first day she met Luke.
Thank you to Tandem Collective for including me in the readalong for the new release! I've been trying to read more romance and this certainly seemed to fit the bill! I wanted to cry within the few few pages of this novel, Kate is so emotional and Webb beautifully captures the raw feelings that spill from her character. It isn't difficult to see who Kate is as she is written so clearly and her characteristics are carefully layered up through the first few chapters instead of bombarding the reader in the first pages. Other characters didn't feel as well rounded as Kate did, I appreciate she was the main character but her friends that surround her felt very two-dimensional. Her progression through the novel felt natural eventually. I was a little frustrated by the ending at first but looking back I can now understand how it completed that part of her life and the fact it left me thinking was a positive.
Time travel romance stories are not unheard of but I was interested to see how a well-known comedian would approach the subject. The humour was definitely there and in parts beautifully mirrored the negative subject of conversation however at other times it felt very forced. Webb is potentially expected to have a 'funny ha-ha' aspect to his novels but it could have been left out and been a perfectly good story. The romance of the story didn't become a massive part of the story, it was more a self-realisation novel for Kate and she did get a wonderful conclusion in my eyes although to get to that point there was a difficult few chapters of reading.
Webb incorporates a Russian mob/spy story line into this novel and it felt so disjointed and unnaturally dropped in that it knocked this down from a four star to a three, nearly a two. It was such a strange addition that didn't match the narrative we'd previously made in Kate's story. Along with that the timeline that changes as a result of Kate's time travelling really confused me. *SPOILER* Luke was saved, Kate warned him with enough time to sort him slow-growing cancer and she returns to present-time to carry on with her life. Once she returns she still lives in the same house, her Luke had still died but the Luke she saved was alive living in America, but they're the same Luke? At one point was there two Luke's running around? One in America and one in the UK with Kate? #Confused
The romance part of the novel was definitely worthwhile reading, Kate's story was so heartwarming to read and see her realise that letting go is sometimes the healthiest thing for us. Unfortunately I couldn't love this book for the above reasons and I really hope Webb's future novels have a bit more blending with the intertwining story lines.
Thank you to Tandem Collective for including me in the readalong for the new release! I've been trying to read more romance and this certainly seemed to fit the bill! I wanted to cry within the few few pages of this novel, Kate is so emotional and Webb beautifully captures the raw feelings that spill from her character. It isn't difficult to see who Kate is as she is written so clearly and her characteristics are carefully layered up through the first few chapters instead of bombarding the reader in the first pages. Other characters didn't feel as well rounded as Kate did, I appreciate she was the main character but her friends that surround her felt very two-dimensional. Her progression through the novel felt natural eventually. I was a little frustrated by the ending at first but looking back I can now understand how it completed that part of her life and the fact it left me thinking was a positive.
Time travel romance stories are not unheard of but I was interested to see how a well-known comedian would approach the subject. The humour was definitely there and in parts beautifully mirrored the negative subject of conversation however at other times it felt very forced. Webb is potentially expected to have a 'funny ha-ha' aspect to his novels but it could have been left out and been a perfectly good story. The romance of the story didn't become a massive part of the story, it was more a self-realisation novel for Kate and she did get a wonderful conclusion in my eyes although to get to that point there was a difficult few chapters of reading.
Webb incorporates a Russian mob/spy story line into this novel and it felt so disjointed and unnaturally dropped in that it knocked this down from a four star to a three, nearly a two. It was such a strange addition that didn't match the narrative we'd previously made in Kate's story. Along with that the timeline that changes as a result of Kate's time travelling really confused me. *SPOILER* Luke was saved, Kate warned him with enough time to sort him slow-growing cancer and she returns to present-time to carry on with her life. Once she returns she still lives in the same house, her Luke had still died but the Luke she saved was alive living in America, but they're the same Luke? At one point was there two Luke's running around? One in America and one in the UK with Kate? #Confused
The romance part of the novel was definitely worthwhile reading, Kate's story was so heartwarming to read and see her realise that letting go is sometimes the healthiest thing for us. Unfortunately I couldn't love this book for the above reasons and I really hope Webb's future novels have a bit more blending with the intertwining story lines.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated