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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
A book that refuses to fit into any one genre of fiction and very difficult to rate. The plot kept me on my toes but I found the character development lacking. Very creative but requiring substantial suspension of disbelief. I landed on 3.5 stars overall.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
A fun, quirky, interesting book about time travel, history, and intrigue. Highly recommend for fans for Jasper Fforde and the Thursday Next series.
Audiobook narration was good overall, but she didn’t vary voices between characters or dialogue vs. internal thoughts, so I got lost at times. I’ll probably read the rest of the series instead of listen.
Audiobook narration was good overall, but she didn’t vary voices between characters or dialogue vs. internal thoughts, so I got lost at times. I’ll probably read the rest of the series instead of listen.
At about the 1/3 mark this turns from a fun and cheeky romp to an attempted rape/murder story. I'm sure there's more to it, but it's lost me entirely. 20 pages so far dealing with attempted femicide, and no hope of it getting better. I'm out.
I enjoy time travel fiction, and humor, and this book delivered. The main character, Maxwell, has an amusing perspective, even when things go wrong. And apparently something always goes wrong.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is The Oxford Time Travel series on cocaine. The pacing goes from moderate to fast to whiplash inducing by the last 20% or so, with an added splash of noir by way of a strong but deeply flawed female protag. All this comes at the expense of character development, depth, and, perhaps, reader investment, so pick your poison.
As an audio book, it was hard to keep track of all the ancillary (but still intriguing) characters, which was a bummer. The ending also got confusing and only served to establish the book as one installment of a series. So, if you enjoyed Connie Willis at all but felt like her time travel could use a broken, noir investigator, some brief but gritty sex, a shot of amphetamines, and a great big TO BE CONTINUED, this might be the series for you.
MPAA rated R for some adult themes, language, sex. Violence is at the PG13 level.
Trigger warnings: brief but specific nonconsensual sex acts, very brief assault with intent to rape, miscarriage, brief but graphic sex scene, violent injury, references to animal cruelty, inferred child abuse, murder.
As an audio book, it was hard to keep track of all the ancillary (but still intriguing) characters, which was a bummer. The ending also got confusing and only served to establish the book as one installment of a series. So, if you enjoyed Connie Willis at all but felt like her time travel could use a broken, noir investigator, some brief but gritty sex, a shot of amphetamines, and a great big TO BE CONTINUED, this might be the series for you.
MPAA rated R for some adult themes, language, sex. Violence is at the PG13 level.
Trigger warnings: brief but specific nonconsensual sex acts, very brief assault with intent to rape, miscarriage, brief but graphic sex scene, violent injury, references to animal cruelty, inferred child abuse, murder.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Let me state straight up, this is not an in depth, heart and life changing novel about history. It's light, funny, mad cap action. It reminded me a little of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series. Anyway, if you like a bit of time travel, ridiculous storylines and a have penchant for chaos then this is a great yarn. I listened to it as an audiobook which I think added to the experience.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This is such a fun book. It's a interesting and new take on time travel.
Honestly love this series... and now I'm rereading, after stopping a few years ago, only getting up to book 4. So excited!
Admittedly, we were off to a rocky start, until I finally got Jodi Taylor's sense of humour. If you're ok with "ghostly figures appeared and disappeared like ghosts" or "dreadful inevitability that is so ... dreadfully inevitable", you'll be fine.
I didn't mind the somewhat patchy storytelling, except for the sudden break between "just being recruited" and "having been there for five years". I actually loved that the Tragic Backstory (tm) wasn't fully revealed. I generally really dislike all those usual flashbacks-conveniently-revealing-the-story narrations. I can't wait for more disaster prone historians.
I didn't mind the somewhat patchy storytelling, except for the sudden break between "just being recruited" and "having been there for five years". I actually loved that the Tragic Backstory (tm) wasn't fully revealed. I generally really dislike all those usual flashbacks-conveniently-revealing-the-story narrations. I can't wait for more disaster prone historians.