Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Just One Damned Thing After Another

With such an incredible set up for time travelling historians, you'd think they would think a bit further out than Europe/Mediterranean. Sure, a good chunk was in dinosaur times, but even history mentioned in passing was limited. Despite that, this was a really fun read! Super fast, fun characters, and some surprisingly realistic heavy moments. Gotta say, I liked the romance because it made sense that those characters were good for one another, BUT (present) time passed so quickly it felt super rushed. Like, yeah they'd get there eventually, but it feels a bit soon, what do you mean it's been 5 years? I'd kill for more focus on the Wardrobe department and the Research & Development team (those mad scientists are gay, change my mind). I couldn't stand that all the women had negative attributes to them (she's a bitch, she's not friendly, she's stuck up), and most of them got better developed throughout, but would it kill the author to give Max some female friends? Or at least give her and Kal more on screen friendship development. Overall, ups and downs for this whole book, but it was exciting and I own the next 3 so I'm sticking around.

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leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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grace_bunty's review

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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_haggis_'s review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

The title is apt! It really did feel like one thing after another.

I feel rather mixed about the book. The first half was really enjoyable - fast paced, interesting characters, quirky plot - and I devoured it in hours. The concept - time travelling historians - was really fun and the book seemed the perfect light-read entertainment novel.

BUT. About midway it just ---- flopped? I dunno. Max is a fun character and had good comradery with the others and then there was this wonderful tease of a romance (I'm a sucker for slowburn) and then suddenly BAM! They're randomly having graphic sex on the bonnet of a car. Like comeon. really? It felt lazy writing and a bit of a betrayal as the goofy-clumsy characters were inexplicably sex-crazed and horny. I didn't think it fit with the story at all....

This was a weird but forgivable change in the book's development but I do wish I had stopped reading at that point because it just got worse. I mean true - we got to hang out with dinosaurs - but this gets side-lined by a lazy, boring (and frankly upsetting) plot twist. At this point I put the book down and refused to pick it up for days

The attempted rape scene and sexual assault left a nasty taste in my mouth and it was really difficult reading it. There was nothing on the back cover to suggest that the content might be triggering/18+ and I definitely wasn't expecting it. Which I think was half of the problem. Not only do I believe that rape-scenes-as-a-woman's-moment-of-empowerment is a sexist (and profoundly problematic) cliche but it didn't feel like that strong of a plot point either - Taylor could quite easily have written the 'villain reveal' and betrayal without the sexual assault and it seemed to function only as a lazy way to demonstrate the man's unlikable-ness.

There's a distinct lack of character development and promises/foreshadowing hinted at earlier in the text never fully come to fruition.

Ultimately I thought the premise was very cool and so 1.5 stars were given for the first half but it was just so disappointing. I will not be reading the rest of the series.

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emjrey's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The book spans a few years and sometimes the pacing doesn't reflect the time that's passed well. But then again,it's a time travel series.. It's a great concept and it's lighthearted in places.

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