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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. This was a very different book, it had a number of different elements but it was compelling and I didn’t want it to end. I will be recommending this book to my friends.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me a while to get into this book but then I raced through the last half, which seems a bit opposite to other reviewers. I loved the beautiful prose and descriptions of Bath. A great heartwarming novel with an interesting science fiction bend along the lines of The Midnight Library.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The ending didn't make sense. Not in an 'I didn't understand it way, just in an internal logic way. I really struggled with the pacing of this book, which is something that often happens when a book has multiple povs or timelines, it just felt slow and didn't engage me at all. I only stuck all the way through this because it was a book group read. Overall meh and I will undoubtedly forget this book by next year.
I saw a review of this book on the lovely Nicki’s (aka Secret Library Book Blog) blog site. Since then I have been patiently waiting to get an approval from NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group. When I finally got the approval I decided to do this as a buddy read with my good friends Meg Readz and Clare.
I love a good mystery and throwing in some romance I knew this would be right up my street. When I first started reading I fell in love with Will. He was your typical elderly gentleman who wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion and was stuck in his ways. I loved revisiting his past with Elsa and their courtship, it reminded me a lot of how my grandparents met and their story. I’m often envious of the traditions and would love to be a fly on the wall of the 1930/40’s.
Laura was a character that I felt went on the biggest journey. She started off as this insecure, quiet, anxiety riddled young woman which made her very relatable but from the moment she met Will I knew not only would she solve the mystery but he would help her. I hadn’t quite envisaged just how much though. Laura was a very well developed character and right up until the last chapter I felt the author had done her journey justice. I could see a lot of similarities between Laura and Elsa which was probably what drew Will to her in the first place.
Laura’s father was another interesting character. At the start I thought that he was just a character that would be mentioned from time to time as someone that had contributed to Laura’s anxiety, I hadn’t foreseen how his story would end. Whilst I don’t condone his treatment of Laura I could see he was just another soul struggling to find his place. His story was the one that touched me most.
The whole mystery surrounding Elsa kept me intrigued throughout. Where we flipped between current and past events I kept asking myself was she real? I’d convince myself that she was and then something would happen to make me doubt myself, god knows how Will carried on for so long! There was a point in the book where I had the ‘did I just read that right’ moment and I had to reread to make sure, from then on I couldn’t stop myself from reading and had to know what had happened to Elsa. I thought the final solution was well delivered and in my opinion it was the only way the story could of ended.
Once my fellow buddies and I had finished reading we were all in agreement that we loved the story and the characters. They were flawed, relatable and certainly memorable. We also had a big discussion about the final conclusion and felt it was a very thought provoking ending, definitely one that will cause a lot of discussions. Everything about this book screamed nostalgia and we loved learning about radio transmissions and getting a glimpse of Bath during WW2. We have also added Keith Stuart’s other books to our reading list!
I love a good mystery and throwing in some romance I knew this would be right up my street. When I first started reading I fell in love with Will. He was your typical elderly gentleman who wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion and was stuck in his ways. I loved revisiting his past with Elsa and their courtship, it reminded me a lot of how my grandparents met and their story. I’m often envious of the traditions and would love to be a fly on the wall of the 1930/40’s.
Laura was a character that I felt went on the biggest journey. She started off as this insecure, quiet, anxiety riddled young woman which made her very relatable but from the moment she met Will I knew not only would she solve the mystery but he would help her. I hadn’t quite envisaged just how much though. Laura was a very well developed character and right up until the last chapter I felt the author had done her journey justice. I could see a lot of similarities between Laura and Elsa which was probably what drew Will to her in the first place.
Laura’s father was another interesting character. At the start I thought that he was just a character that would be mentioned from time to time as someone that had contributed to Laura’s anxiety, I hadn’t foreseen how his story would end. Whilst I don’t condone his treatment of Laura I could see he was just another soul struggling to find his place. His story was the one that touched me most.
The whole mystery surrounding Elsa kept me intrigued throughout. Where we flipped between current and past events I kept asking myself was she real? I’d convince myself that she was and then something would happen to make me doubt myself, god knows how Will carried on for so long! There was a point in the book where I had the ‘did I just read that right’ moment and I had to reread to make sure, from then on I couldn’t stop myself from reading and had to know what had happened to Elsa. I thought the final solution was well delivered and in my opinion it was the only way the story could of ended.
Once my fellow buddies and I had finished reading we were all in agreement that we loved the story and the characters. They were flawed, relatable and certainly memorable. We also had a big discussion about the final conclusion and felt it was a very thought provoking ending, definitely one that will cause a lot of discussions. Everything about this book screamed nostalgia and we loved learning about radio transmissions and getting a glimpse of Bath during WW2. We have also added Keith Stuart’s other books to our reading list!
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a love story, history, and soft wishy washy science fiction. The sci-fi was barely hinted at, vaguely explained and felt like it was rushed so there was no real understanding. For so long the author builds up parts of the world as being important and then just blows it all to the side and it’s no longer important to our solution. I’d rather it not have been there or have actually been of use. It’s difficult with books like this to not spoil the story in a review so I’ll say it was a nice read and the ideas were great, but it could have been so much more. I’d say the first 90% was amazing and would have had 4.5 stars, but the last 10% felt rushed, confused, clumsy and like it missed so many opportunities.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’d like to take a minute to thank the publishers and netgalley for a copy of this in exchange of an honest review.
TW: anxiety and panic attacks
Frequency follows the story of Will and Laura. Seventy years ago wills wife went missing, and now no one believes him that she ever existed. Laura suffers with terrible anxiety and panic attacks and is tasked with assessing if Will is mentally unwell or telling the truth. She becomes determined to help him.
I’m going to give some trigger warnings because if you also have terrible anxiety like me, though these scenes are very well written it did also make ME super anxious as a result. I sometimes had to put the book down.
Ultimately it’s a very slow book and didn’t really hold my attention enough to want to continue with it. While elements of a mystery are awesome it just didn’t hook me enough. I also kind of expected radios to play a bigger part but it seemed almost secondary.
TW: anxiety and panic attacks
Frequency follows the story of Will and Laura. Seventy years ago wills wife went missing, and now no one believes him that she ever existed. Laura suffers with terrible anxiety and panic attacks and is tasked with assessing if Will is mentally unwell or telling the truth. She becomes determined to help him.
I’m going to give some trigger warnings because if you also have terrible anxiety like me, though these scenes are very well written it did also make ME super anxious as a result. I sometimes had to put the book down.
Ultimately it’s a very slow book and didn’t really hold my attention enough to want to continue with it. While elements of a mystery are awesome it just didn’t hook me enough. I also kind of expected radios to play a bigger part but it seemed almost secondary.