A review by heathercottledillon
Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen

3.0

I tend to dislike time travel stories because there are always plot holes and things that can't be explained (i.e. the grandfather paradox: If you went back in time and killed your grandfather before he had children, would you blink out of existence? But then you wouldn't be there to kill him...). I think this book handles it better than many. It offers enough explanation to lend credibility but doesn't get too crazy.

I was bothered by the characters' reactions in many cases. I felt like they didn't seem adequately affected by the crazy situation they were in.

Spoiler

For instance, when Kin is pulled back to the future, he is bummed but isn't freaking out nearly as much as you'd think someone would be if he had suddenly been separated from his wife and daughter forever. And when Penny, his fiancee, discovers that time travel is real and that Kin was stranded in the previous century with another wife and daughter for 18 years, all in what felt like a week or so to her, she just sort of accepts it, again with minimal freaking out. When they go back in time to find Miranda and tell her that her absent father is actually a time traveler and that she has to leave her life behind behind people from the future want to kill her, she puts up a small fight but goes alone with it way too easily. All of these reactions didn't ring true and were distracting to me.

I also thought that the ending wrapped up way too neatly and was a bit cheesy.

Despite the things I've complained about, I really got sucked into this book, and there were enough plot twists to keep me interested. A fun and interesting sci-fi read.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.