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alongapath's review against another edition
5.0
Jen Brotherhood witnesses a crime - a crime that will change her family forever. But when she wakes the next day, it is one day before the crime. At first she is distressed (obviously!) but soon she realizes that she has a rare opportunity to figure out what led to the crime and perhaps even stop it preemptively. But each time that she wakes up, she is further in the past, waking up on a day that will have some significance to the crime.
Despite the premise being slightly confusing with its suspension of disbelief, McAllister does an amazing job. She drops clues throughout and lets her reader piece them together. It feels like we are time travelling with Jen, looking for daily clues to solve this mysterious time loop.
As Jen circles back through her own life, I loved how she is able to see the stresses that had dominated her past - the mundaneness of parenthood, the inability to observe what was right in front of her, the meaningless passage of time - but this time around she is able to be present and appreciate the beauty of what she had, making the crime all the more important to solve so that her family can continue their idyllic lives.
I listened to the audio which was excellent except for the robotic time stamp included for each chapter. I never did figure out why McAllister chose to include the time of day (in military 24 hour clock) for each day.
Despite the premise being slightly confusing with its suspension of disbelief, McAllister does an amazing job. She drops clues throughout and lets her reader piece them together. It feels like we are time travelling with Jen, looking for daily clues to solve this mysterious time loop.
As Jen circles back through her own life, I loved how she is able to see the stresses that had dominated her past - the mundaneness of parenthood, the inability to observe what was right in front of her, the meaningless passage of time - but this time around she is able to be present and appreciate the beauty of what she had, making the crime all the more important to solve so that her family can continue their idyllic lives.
I listened to the audio which was excellent except for the robotic time stamp included for each chapter. I never did figure out why McAllister chose to include the time of day (in military 24 hour clock) for each day.
annacarly13's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars - enjoyed the time loop and how it worked but also kind of wish it ended slightly different
cvcbk's review against another edition
3.0
interesting beginning and ending, but the middle got repetitive and and lost my attention
abbypar11's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this one! Really interesting take on time travel, a mystery in reverse! Totally worth my time!
bahopkins's review against another edition
5.0
Twisty, time-loop that isn't a "traditional" time-loop mystery that kept me guessing! It's a mystery about a murder, but it's also more than that because it's about the lies, half-truths, and self-doubt that surround Jen as she tries to figure out why her teenage son would kill a man. The story is non-linear (sort-of?) but I had no issue following it and honestly, it really held my attention. So glad I picked this one up, thanks to hearing about it on the Writers with Wrinkles podcast.
kkmortier's review against another edition
5.0
Super twisty mystery with a great narrator. 4.5 stars rounded up just because at one point I started thinking it was a little long.
bridget_in_md's review against another edition
5.0
5 Stars for Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister. "How sinister it is to relive your life backward. To see things you hadn’t at the time. To realize the horrible significance of events you had no idea were playing out around you."
I usually HATE time travel/altering the past for the future type stories, but this book was fascinating. Jen sees her son Todd murder someone. The next morning, when she wakes up, it's the day before the crime... and every night she goes to sleep, she wakes up in previous time. I didn't know how McAllister was going to do it, but it was brilliant to see her work backwards and Jen put the pieces together.
I usually HATE time travel/altering the past for the future type stories, but this book was fascinating. Jen sees her son Todd murder someone. The next morning, when she wakes up, it's the day before the crime... and every night she goes to sleep, she wakes up in previous time. I didn't know how McAllister was going to do it, but it was brilliant to see her work backwards and Jen put the pieces together.
sdefelice's review against another edition
5.0
Love it! Kept me guessing and had a few nuggets in there for good perspective.
obrienh717's review against another edition
1.0
I feel like i have so much to say about this book but also nothing? the twists were boring and predictable, there were so many commas.. i really almost marked this a DNF.
how many times in one book can a character say they love their child? or that their husband lied? this honestly could have been a short story. so many of the details are exactly the same every day. we get it, you think you were a horrible mom. we get it, your husband lied to you and you’ve been married for 20 years. there also seems to be so many plot points that were there just to take up space. pauline and connor? you won’t hear about them again until the end of the book and it just feels thrown in. towards the end, it was so repetitive that i was just scanning the pages for something i havent already read 35 times and i still understood the ending.
the concept is interesting enough, but there was absolutely nothing holding my attention, it just droned on and on with pointless descriptions and dialogue that felt so unnatural. there is absolutely nothing thrilling about this book, once she figures out why she is jumping back in time (which she does pretty early on but you never get an actual answer to the how) each new day is just her stumbling onto some answer that she had missed before because she knows what she is looking for, and it’s always so obvious what she’s going to find out that day.
it almost felt like the first half was a way to shame moms for having careers they’re committed to while their husband stays home?? like, all this woman talks about is how much she neglected her son’s life and interests because she’s a lawyer who works so much. i really don’t know, this book was a waste of my time.
how many times in one book can a character say they love their child? or that their husband lied? this honestly could have been a short story. so many of the details are exactly the same every day. we get it, you think you were a horrible mom. we get it, your husband lied to you and you’ve been married for 20 years. there also seems to be so many plot points that were there just to take up space. pauline and connor? you won’t hear about them again until the end of the book and it just feels thrown in. towards the end, it was so repetitive that i was just scanning the pages for something i havent already read 35 times and i still understood the ending.
the concept is interesting enough, but there was absolutely nothing holding my attention, it just droned on and on with pointless descriptions and dialogue that felt so unnatural. there is absolutely nothing thrilling about this book, once she figures out why she is jumping back in time (which she does pretty early on but you never get an actual answer to the how) each new day is just her stumbling onto some answer that she had missed before because she knows what she is looking for, and it’s always so obvious what she’s going to find out that day.
it almost felt like the first half was a way to shame moms for having careers they’re committed to while their husband stays home?? like, all this woman talks about is how much she neglected her son’s life and interests because she’s a lawyer who works so much. i really don’t know, this book was a waste of my time.