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A review by wrentheblurry
All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
5.0
4.5 stars.
I received a digital preview of this title from NetGalley.
Scoring this one proved difficult for me. If I like a title more than 4 stars, I'll give it 5 stars and then note in the review, as I've done here, that it's 4.5 stars. But was it 4 stars for me, or 4.5?
Stuff I liked:
* The time travel theme. I'm a sucker for a good time travel book, especially one with some love/sex involved (as long as that part doesn't get gaggy).
* The writing. Mastai nailed the first person narration! I also enjoyed the self-aware parts when Tom would reference 'his' book and speak directly to the reader.
* The characters. Memorable, intriguing characters only exist when the writing brings them to life. So, we're back to the writing. I spent some time describing the first 60% of the book to a couple of friends. While I spoke, I thought 'man, does this ever sound hokey!'. But when I was reading it, I completely missed the cheese/hokey/whacked factor. It flows and feels natural, and I got fully into it.
* The descriptions of the cool gadgets in the alternate 2016.
Stuff I didn't care for:
* The long descriptions of sciency stuff. I get it, though. They are necessary to help set the story and to explain certain things. If the writing sucked, I wouldn't have read past them. Bonus points for Tom noting that yeah, none of this makes any sense to him either.
* The multiple personalities (souls? minds?) in one body got confusing, and the various realities and timeline jumping did as well. Again, a crappy writer would've utterly failed here.
* The ending.
In the end, the things I liked moved me positively more than the things I didn't moved me in the other direction. Also, it's been a long time since I highlighted more than one quote from a book in my Kindle, and I think I've got at least five from this one saved. Well done!
I received a digital preview of this title from NetGalley.
Scoring this one proved difficult for me. If I like a title more than 4 stars, I'll give it 5 stars and then note in the review, as I've done here, that it's 4.5 stars. But was it 4 stars for me, or 4.5?
Stuff I liked:
* The time travel theme. I'm a sucker for a good time travel book, especially one with some love/sex involved (as long as that part doesn't get gaggy).
* The writing. Mastai nailed the first person narration! I also enjoyed the self-aware parts when Tom would reference 'his' book and speak directly to the reader.
* The characters. Memorable, intriguing characters only exist when the writing brings them to life. So, we're back to the writing. I spent some time describing the first 60% of the book to a couple of friends. While I spoke, I thought 'man, does this ever sound hokey!'. But when I was reading it, I completely missed the cheese/hokey/whacked factor. It flows and feels natural, and I got fully into it.
* The descriptions of the cool gadgets in the alternate 2016.
Stuff I didn't care for:
* The long descriptions of sciency stuff. I get it, though. They are necessary to help set the story and to explain certain things. If the writing sucked, I wouldn't have read past them. Bonus points for Tom noting that yeah, none of this makes any sense to him either.
* The multiple personalities (souls? minds?) in one body got confusing, and the various realities and timeline jumping did as well. Again, a crappy writer would've utterly failed here.
* The ending.
Spoiler
I'm okay with a happy ending. That's fine, really. But how we got there felt a bit rushed and weirdly thrown together. Also, and I suspect this is just me missing something obvious, but when I first saw that the kid was named Tom, I got super confused. Is THAT the Tom Barren we've been reading about, and his father wrote this book? Is Penny his mother? Then I figured nah, that's just Tom junior, though there is some mention of the son understanding now why they named him that. Maybe I'm looking into too much? Meh.In the end, the things I liked moved me positively more than the things I didn't moved me in the other direction. Also, it's been a long time since I highlighted more than one quote from a book in my Kindle, and I think I've got at least five from this one saved. Well done!