Reviews - Big Time | The StoryGraph

142 reviews for:

Big Time

Ben H. Winters

3.43 AVERAGE

stephanyeddy's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars / thriller , science fiction
library book

satisfying, fun read
page turner
a few plot holes for me decreased star rating

i would recommend!

kristinabrune_author's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 from me, but rounding up because in general, this is the type of book that people will talk about and debate about and have a ton of fun discussing. I love a good time travel book and this one has a plot that keeps you turning pages and characters I enjoyed. The "science" (and obviously I'm using that word liberally) fell off a bit for me, which took me out of the story a bit, but that could be my own preference for writers like Blake Crouch and Andy Weir who some say give us too much science background. All in all, this is a fun thriller I think most people will enjoy. And props for a great title and a fabulous last line.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

wurh's review against another edition

3.25

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

gabs_loc's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

I liked this, surprisingly. I'm really not much of a sci-fi person, but this one had a really interesting concept and unique premise and I had a pretty good time listening to it. The pacing was pretty fast and kept me entertained the whole way through.

kellenk's review against another edition

2.0

This is a quick read, the Kathy character is funny and interesting and those are about the only two nice things I can say about this painfully middling book.

The title, the synopsis and everything else wants you to believe this is a sci-fi thriller a’la Blake Crouch. But that’s a TERRIBLE comparison. Crouch is a great sci-fi writer. The extent of the sci-fi in this book is “there’s a girl on the run who had the time removed from her body and it’s making her feel like she’s two different people” that’s literally it, there is some mumbo jumbo bullshit in there about metaphysics and such, but it does absolutely nothing to explore the sci-fi concepts of the premise.

It’s also not a very interesting thriller book either. It’s propulsive sure, the plot events move and move quickly, but I did not at any point care for what happened to Ana/Allie past the first chapter.

Much better versions of this book by writers who are willing to put the effort into exploring their sci-fi concepts exist (Recursion does something similar and far better). You’re better off reading one of those.

ursulamonarch's review against another edition

Great premise and I really like this author in general, but this one was a miss for me - probably 2 stars. I loved the idea of "time extraction" and I also adored the FDA employee as the protagonist, but not much else worked for me. I was hoping for a science fiction focus and instead the majority of the book was a chase sequence. The character of Desiree struck me as robotic and the whole Allie/Ana duality was too drawn out for me. And I found the character of Kathy totally unnecessary. As with much of the author's writing, I liked the inclusion/emphasis on people who are not male as actual humans and central characters.

_pauldenil's review against another edition

5.0

I love a concise, fast-paced speculative fiction story. Shifting between the three point-of-view characters (a reluctant heroine, a morally ambiguous courier, and the human equivalent of a question mark) was an absolute treat.