sarahfrances52 's review for:

Given Our History by Kristyn J. Miller

2.5

hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I really wanted to like this book. As a historian myself, I was excited to see historians Clara and Teddy fall in love. However, while I loved the idea of a “right person wrong time” plot, I found the execution clunky. I was confused as we hopped back and forth through time, chapter to chapter and I found myself frustrated with the lack of context in the “present” chapters while I waited for the “past” chapters to catch up and explain the events Clara kept referring to. I also found the hoops Clara jumped through for tenure a little distracting. I’ve admittedly never applied to tenure, but I find it hard to imagine that professors would be peddling local businesses for donations to fund scholarships. I’m pretty certain there’s whole development teams within the administration of a university dedicated to that task. Ultimately, this example (and a couple others) did take me out of the story a little bit, which was annoying. But I will say that overall, the actual love story between Clara and Teddy is actually very very sweet was totally worth the wait. The story itself is a fantastic one, I just wish it was executed a little differently. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent