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cloudbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The good:
The concept of time travel as a condition rather than a power was really, really interesting.
Getting to know the two main characters was such a big part of the experience!
I absolutely loved Alba. I think this story would have been better had it followed her.
The bad:
When you think about it, the characters grow more and more flat. They have characteristics and interests but not really personalities. Outside of Henry, we're never told what Clare is like. Her whole existence is to love him and to want him.
Henry is a bit more fledged out. He has interests beyond Clare and a work life as well. But if he didn't have time travel as a condition, he'd be a rather boring character.
Their relationships to other people are built around experiences we're not told about. Henry's best friend dislikes him the first time he meets him, then carries on being his best friend afterwards for no apparent reason. The same for Henry's father. We're never told how he makes it out of his grief, let alone how Henry manages to repair his relationship to him.
The book, in the end, seems to try to handle too many issues at once which prevents it from going into detail about anything. I'd have loved to hear more about Henry's genetic disease, about Clare's relationship to her mother, about Alba's childhood. Instead we get excessive descriptions of music, art and books that somehow define the characters but don't give much in terms of who they are and what their life is like.
I'm glad I listened to it. I probably won't read it again though.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Car accident, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Terminal illness, Cursing, Pregnancy, Grief, Medical content, and Death of parent
taylormadespines's review against another edition
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Vomit, Death, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence
ejoymiller11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
1. This story (in my opinion) was told backwards, and would last the test of time better had it been told the other way around. Being about time travel, the story bounces around quite a bit. However, I would argue the story more closely follows Clare’s linear timeline. Before we actually get to know the two main characters as a couple, the first half of the book is about how Clare knew Henry as a child and teenager. We learn about Henry’s lustful thoughts about her even when she is underage, even when she is prepubescent, which made me very uncomfortable. In my opinion, had we learned about their adult relationship first by strictly following Henry’s timeline, and had Henry just straight up not had inappropriate thoughts about a CHILD, I think the relationship would seem less creepy (but let’s be honest, some of what happened would be creepy, inappropriate, and sick regardless).
2. About 200 pages of the 536 pages I read weren’t relevant. I don’t understand why certain scenes were necessary as they didn’t contribute to the plot, character development, or context of the story. The whole infidelity thing? For what.
3. INCONSISTENCIES. And inaccuracies. Some of this book just straight up didn’t make sense. I found myself wondering SO many times, “did the author do literally ANY research??” Yes, probably with certain art pieces and music mentioned in the story, but certainly not how pregnancy, miscarriage, birth, hypothermia, and other medical things work. Furthermore, so many times the book would mention something like “they decided to leave the kids at home!” And on the next page, “the kids were playing quietly in the corner.” Like did no one proofread this? I’m lost.
4. Sometimes it was really hard to understand who was speaking. The book bounces between Henry’s and Clare’s perspectives, but in sections of the dialogue there are long stretches with no indication of who is speaking. Several times I had to go back and reread to understand the context of what was happening and what the characters were feeling.
I felt like this was a great concept that was so poorly executed. This could be a fantastic, timeless love story, but it just fell flat for me. The writing combined with the characters who weren’t just flawed, but horrible people, ruined it for me.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Infidelity, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Drug use, Chronic illness, and Cancer
fishgulper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Child death, Alcohol, Gun violence, Medical content, Drug abuse, Death, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
nothlit's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Car accident
Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
Minor: Blood
delvie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
If not for some unfortunate stereotypes and slurs used and the gratuitous sex, it would have been a slam dunk five stars- the audiobook specifically. I think I would have hated this book in print.
Check TW's; I would not recommend this book if you use reading to escape.
The last 40 minutes hit so hard, I had to take my headphones out because I was on the threshold of tears.
I get why it's been adapted twice; I imagine you could do some pretty cool stuff via film with this premise.
I'm not gonna get over this for a while. Sheesh.
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Abandonment, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Drug abuse, Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Murder
Minor: Abortion, Cancer, and Confinement
ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
There is a moment when Clare is in distress and asks Henry to tell her something nice. He tells her about a time when they were swimming and Clare was wearing this bikini (that he describes in detail) and back then she told him about getting her period. The problem? She was 12. I know that they were going to be married in the future, but they weren’t at that moment. AND THAT IS THE MEMORY HE THINKS OF???
A nurse that is literally only in one small sentence in this entire novel is described as “a fat blond nurse”. Why? Why is that the way we have to describe her?
I hated Gomez. He NEEDED to be cut out of Clare’s life. What a skunk.
When Clare was growing up and Henry kept time traveling back to her he says that he was often aroused- again, she was young and he wasn’t and it just made me cringe.
Their relationship had a lot of buildup when Clare was young and then the moment she turns 18 I feel like their relationship was built upon sex and the fact that they were always supposed to be married. I was just expecting more from a book that is touted as some magnificent love story.
Graphic: Blood, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Sexual content
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
kadtide's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident, Death, and Infidelity
Minor: Homophobia and Eating disorder
anoelle896's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Cursing, Classism, and Adult/minor relationship
readintherain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Death
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy