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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
Do like reading about academics being a bunch of weirdoes
adventurous
fast-paced
I loved the idea and it was a fun story. I loved the quirky humor. There were a few moments that I really didn’t like, mostly about the main character forgiving shitty men being shitty. I’ll probably read the next book.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Violence, Excrement, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
I did like the start of this.
I did not need the very detailed (and rather cringe worthy) sex scene and the page of where else they did it and how often after that.
In the second half I noticed more and more that the characters didn't really grow or change or even just get more depth over time, but they do stay the same, and are rather blank at times. It felt a bit too easy all around at times.
I liked the fun in the book, but the few things that didn't really make much sense were not balanced out by it. (Like not being allowed to change the past or "time" will find ways to kill you, but then saving plenty of people anyway and there being no consequences at all).
It was a nice blend of humour and rather graphic violence and gore at times.
I'll end with 3,5* and won't continue the series.
I did not need the very detailed (and rather cringe worthy) sex scene and the page of where else they did it and how often after that.
In the second half I noticed more and more that the characters didn't really grow or change or even just get more depth over time, but they do stay the same, and are rather blank at times. It felt a bit too easy all around at times.
I liked the fun in the book, but the few things that didn't really make much sense were not balanced out by it. (Like not being allowed to change the past or "time" will find ways to kill you, but then saving plenty of people anyway and there being no consequences at all).
It was a nice blend of humour and rather graphic violence and gore at times.
I'll end with 3,5* and won't continue the series.
I really thought this sounded good and like it should be right up my street but I just didn't enjoy it. It felt like the writing didn't really have emotion in it and it felt more like reading a list about things that happened rather than a story. It felt like things didn't develop, I was just told this is happening now or this person feels this way now. There were times when I was told characters felt certain ways but it didn't feel like emotion was actually written in to the story (to me at least). I think there were too many characters and most of them blended together. I was confused about the timeline which seemed to jump about quite a bit and then sometimes something important seemed to be building just to be dropped to background noise. I think it felt like everything was surface and things were glossed over constantly.
Some of my issues may have been conscious choices made by the writer because of the institute in the book and the main character which is fair enough but I have to say that for me it just didn't work, no matter how much I wanted to enjoy this.
I suppose the good news for me now is that I don't need to buy all the other books in the series.
Some of my issues may have been conscious choices made by the writer because of the institute in the book and the main character which is fair enough but I have to say that for me it just didn't work, no matter how much I wanted to enjoy this.
I suppose the good news for me now is that I don't need to buy all the other books in the series.
This was not good, and I’m sad because in theory it sounds exactly like something I’d love. I read The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal by the same author, which is like a standalone spin-off about some side characters introduced in this series—and I loved it! So I was v excited to dive into St Mary’s and see the origin of this world.
Sadly this book is not written very well. I can only assume the author has improved between the publication of this novel in 2013 vs. The Ballad of Smallhope & Pennyroyal in 2024.
The writing style was very grating. It was very fanfiction-y, to the point that I started to wonder if this maybe started out life as a fanfic. It read like a time travel AU of another property, which would explain the lack of decent world building, character development, and relationship arcs. The pacing is also off, at one point the MC says she’s been at St Mary’s for 4 years but it felt like she’d only been there for like a couple of months at most. The writing just kept skipping past scenes, telling us vaguely what happening instead of letting us experience them, which affected my ability to buy into the characters and their rships.
The romance was also very underwhelming. There’s a moment early on in the book where Max hears two side characters gossiping about how her LI (Leon) was interested in her — yet they had only had about two very minor collegial conversations at this point. You’re telling me that he likes her sooooo much, and is soooo obvious about it that multiple colleagues know about it, after knowing her like a week and having two work-related convos? Plus, he says some AWFUL things to Max later on in the book after he finds out she kept something from him. Like, unforgivably vile, misogynistic things. And you want me to root for this man???? I don’t think.
Also, characters would just suddenly know things without the author explaining how they learnt that info. Max tells someone she thinks a colleague orchestrated something nefarious and this is the very first time that we, as the reader, have been told about this thing or even had it hinted at. Another example is that everyone at St Mary’s somehow knows that Max was pregnant and had a miscarriage after she got fired, despite her being away from the campus and completely cut off from all of them for a full 3 months and her not telling anyone at all. Like??? How do these people know any of this? Why hasn’t the author like, bothered to do any foreshadowing? Or write some internal monologue for our MC to show how she came to X conclusion???
It was bizarre. I’m so sad bc I really wanted to like this after enjoying TBoSaP so much.
Sadly this book is not written very well. I can only assume the author has improved between the publication of this novel in 2013 vs. The Ballad of Smallhope & Pennyroyal in 2024.
The writing style was very grating. It was very fanfiction-y, to the point that I started to wonder if this maybe started out life as a fanfic. It read like a time travel AU of another property, which would explain the lack of decent world building, character development, and relationship arcs. The pacing is also off, at one point the MC says she’s been at St Mary’s for 4 years but it felt like she’d only been there for like a couple of months at most. The writing just kept skipping past scenes, telling us vaguely what happening instead of letting us experience them, which affected my ability to buy into the characters and their rships.
The romance was also very underwhelming. There’s a moment early on in the book where Max hears two side characters gossiping about how her LI (Leon) was interested in her — yet they had only had about two very minor collegial conversations at this point. You’re telling me that he likes her sooooo much, and is soooo obvious about it that multiple colleagues know about it, after knowing her like a week and having two work-related convos? Plus, he says some AWFUL things to Max later on in the book after he finds out she kept something from him. Like, unforgivably vile, misogynistic things. And you want me to root for this man???? I don’t think.
Also, characters would just suddenly know things without the author explaining how they learnt that info. Max tells someone she thinks a colleague orchestrated something nefarious and this is the very first time that we, as the reader, have been told about this thing or even had it hinted at. Another example is that everyone at St Mary’s somehow knows that Max was pregnant and had a miscarriage after she got fired, despite her being away from the campus and completely cut off from all of them for a full 3 months and her not telling anyone at all. Like??? How do these people know any of this? Why hasn’t the author like, bothered to do any foreshadowing? Or write some internal monologue for our MC to show how she came to X conclusion???
It was bizarre. I’m so sad bc I really wanted to like this after enjoying TBoSaP so much.
Very enjoyable and speedy read. The voice of the narrator really makes the book as the concept of time-travelling historians has been done before. The story got unexpectedly dark despite the general lightness of the narration and went in a direction I really wasn't anticipating. At times it wasn't altogether clear what was going on and I felt as if I'd blinked and missed four years, but overall I enjoyed it very much.
I liked the concept of this book. The characters were funny. I also found the issues they ran into amusing; literally, one damn thing after another. However, I felt it was kind of all over the place at times. I think it needed a more linear plot, especially with the time jumps. It would have been more organized.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes