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A review by grimdreadful
The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
3.5 stars
The story follows 16 year old Odile being vetted for a seat on the conseil, if she gets the position she will decide who can cross the towns borders, on either side is the same valley and the same town. Except to the east the town is 20 years ahead in time and to the west its 20 years behind. The towns repeat endlessly. One Day Odile recognizes 2 visitors she wasn't meant to see, she realizes they are her friend Edmes parents from the future visiting on a mourning tour to view their son while he's still alive. This means Edme is about to die and Odile is faced with difficult decisions. preserve the timeline because she is sworn to secrecy as a conseil candidate or save her friend.
This was such a unique premise, I'm coming to realize that I really enjoy books that play with time. I think this would make for an awesome movie.
I enjoyed part one of the book, in part two I got a little bit of whiplash with a time jump like that and was a little bit confused but after a little bit of reading things fell into place. This is where things began to get more dystopian and where I really got invested in the story. it was though provoking and mysterious.
Overall I enjoyed it and think this is a great debut book. Although I wish it was a little more fast paced at times because a few parts just seemed to drag and felt unnecessarily long which made me pull back from the story. Also, there are no quotation marks within the book, it's not a total deal breaker for me but it did make for difficult reading at times so I wish it included them.
Read this if you enjoy: character driven stories, coming of age, speculative fiction, slow burns, play with timelines/time travel, Canadian authors.
Many thanks to Simon Schuster Canada and Atria Books for sending me a copy to read. As always opinions are my own.
The story follows 16 year old Odile being vetted for a seat on the conseil, if she gets the position she will decide who can cross the towns borders, on either side is the same valley and the same town. Except to the east the town is 20 years ahead in time and to the west its 20 years behind. The towns repeat endlessly. One Day Odile recognizes 2 visitors she wasn't meant to see, she realizes they are her friend Edmes parents from the future visiting on a mourning tour to view their son while he's still alive. This means Edme is about to die and Odile is faced with difficult decisions. preserve the timeline because she is sworn to secrecy as a conseil candidate or save her friend.
This was such a unique premise, I'm coming to realize that I really enjoy books that play with time. I think this would make for an awesome movie.
I enjoyed part one of the book, in part two I got a little bit of whiplash with a time jump like that and was a little bit confused but after a little bit of reading things fell into place. This is where things began to get more dystopian and where I really got invested in the story. it was though provoking and mysterious.
Overall I enjoyed it and think this is a great debut book. Although I wish it was a little more fast paced at times because a few parts just seemed to drag and felt unnecessarily long which made me pull back from the story. Also, there are no quotation marks within the book, it's not a total deal breaker for me but it did make for difficult reading at times so I wish it included them.
Read this if you enjoy: character driven stories, coming of age, speculative fiction, slow burns, play with timelines/time travel, Canadian authors.
Many thanks to Simon Schuster Canada and Atria Books for sending me a copy to read. As always opinions are my own.