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novella42's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
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? No
5.0
I blasted through this book in a single day! A word of advice: go into Mike Chen's work looking for "sci-fi with feelings" and let go of expectations around world-building--his specialty is really getting into the relationships of his characters, delving into the impact of sci-fi elements on their lives and hearts, and he does it with such compassion. The emotional resonance of this book practically vibrated off the page. I cried several times in a beautiful catharsis.
I'm amazed I enjoyed this as much as I did, because I usually get really annoyed with all the "timey-wimey" paradox tropes of most time travel fiction. But this was so grounded in the people, in what it all meant to their human connections, that I didn't really mind.
I discovered Mike Chen through the Worldbuilding for Masochists podcast, episode 34, The Reluctant Worldbuilder, and hearing Chen describe his writing priorities and strategies for reverse-engineering his worlds may have made this book more enjoyable for me. I can't wait to read more!
BRB, gonna go put all of Mike Chen's books on my library hold list!!
I'm amazed I enjoyed this as much as I did, because I usually get really annoyed with all the "timey-wimey" paradox tropes of most time travel fiction. But this was so grounded in the people, in what it all meant to their human connections, that I didn't really mind.
I discovered Mike Chen through the Worldbuilding for Masochists podcast, episode 34, The Reluctant Worldbuilder, and hearing Chen describe his writing priorities and strategies for reverse-engineering his worlds may have made this book more enjoyable for me. I can't wait to read more!
BRB, gonna go put all of Mike Chen's books on my library hold list!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Gore, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Blood
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Grief, Car accident, Animal death, Gun violence, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Gaslighting, and Ableism
Minor: Terminal illness, Cancer, and Toxic relationship
Spoiler for three content warnings that aren't in the drop-down list, related to migraines, memories, and age:thebowandthebook's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, and Death
Minor: Medical content, Car accident, and Murder
emmajuned's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Intricate time travel, solid all the way through. Loved it. Every time travel cliche is here but we go through them into the emotional drama that drives the scene. Totally satisfying Even when the plot took a turn I didn’t want.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Car accident
Minor: Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
azrah786's review
4.5
CW: death of parent, grief, car accident, abandonment, terminal illness
--
I am a sucker for time travel stories and I’ve been wanting to read a Mike Chen book for ages so I was super excited to find this book in my library’s audiobook collection!
The synopsis and the prologue gave me the vibe that this story was going to follow a secret agent in action, jumping through time on missions which included saving his daughter but this book took a different direction and you know what it was pretty great!
Don’t get me wrong there is still a handful of action in this one and the concept of time travel was really interestingly handled, and all the accompanying science and technology in the story is pretty cool. However, this book has more of a literary edge to it than your usual sci-fi that focuses on the people, their relationships and their emotions. It is all about family and I really enjoyed it.
I will say the audiobook, though read pretty well had its issues.. one thing being the narrator’s accent kept slipping into sounding a little Australian when he was attempting British accents but I did get a good laugh out of how he pronounced Tottenham Hotspur 😂 😂
Anyways I’ve added all of Mike Chen’s other books to my tbr because if they have more of this sort of thing (which by the looks of it they do) then I know I’m going to love them!
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars
--
I am a sucker for time travel stories and I’ve been wanting to read a Mike Chen book for ages so I was super excited to find this book in my library’s audiobook collection!
The synopsis and the prologue gave me the vibe that this story was going to follow a secret agent in action, jumping through time on missions which included saving his daughter but this book took a different direction and you know what it was pretty great!
Don’t get me wrong there is still a handful of action in this one and the concept of time travel was really interestingly handled, and all the accompanying science and technology in the story is pretty cool. However, this book has more of a literary edge to it than your usual sci-fi that focuses on the people, their relationships and their emotions. It is all about family and I really enjoyed it.
I will say the audiobook, though read pretty well had its issues.. one thing being the narrator’s accent kept slipping into sounding a little Australian when he was attempting British accents but I did get a good laugh out of how he pronounced Tottenham Hotspur 😂 😂
Anyways I’ve added all of Mike Chen’s other books to my tbr because if they have more of this sort of thing (which by the looks of it they do) then I know I’m going to love them!
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness, Grief, Abandonment, Death of parent, Car accident, and Violence
bel017's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
I really enjoyed this meditation on the frustrations of being a small cog in an overwhelmingly large machine.
I love that I read an entire book where the main character'sname is Quinoa. That made me laugh :) . While I noticed the devices used to plug holes in the time-travelling story, I felt they were sufficiently well woven in. The world building was excellent - every time I had to stop reading I found it hard to get my head back in the real world. So saying, I did find I could put the book down, as it was predictable and not too tense. Which was great for me, but the tag line of 'anywhere and any-when' makes it sound like it's going to be more of a fast paced adventure all over the timeline, so I think that tag line sets readers up for disappointment. This isn't Timeless. It's a story about frustration and family and compassion and compromise. The time travel is a device to facilitate the story, rather than the point of it.
I love that I read an entire book where the main character's
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Medical content, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Car accident
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