This is the 6th book on time travel I’ve read this year. I haven’t been intentionally seeking books on the subject - maybe subconsciously I am trying to get back to the correct timeline, I don’t know. Anyway, out of the 6 books I would say this is the best one.
If this had been explicitly marketed as sci-fi for the "YA" (young adult) market, maybe I would've gone in with more measured expectations. But I read this because it was selected by my book club and if that hadn't been the case, I don't think I could have struggled through to the end. First of all, the plot rests partly on a very teenage notion of "soulmates" that's eye roll-inducing. Secondly, every plot point is repeated 3 or 4 times in case you haven't really been paying attention. Third, it's a time-travel novel, so it contains all the irritating and predictable tropes that are included in every time-travel novel, including the author's incorrect notion that he's creating a "twist" on the typical time-travel novel. Fourth, I really dislike the author's (and main character's) voice, and the dialogue is just very unnatural (I was not surprised when I learned the author …
If this had been explicitly marketed as sci-fi for the "YA" (young adult) market, maybe I would've gone in with more measured expectations. But I read this because it was selected by my book club and if that hadn't been the case, I don't think I could have struggled through to the end. First of all, the plot rests partly on a very teenage notion of "soulmates" that's eye roll-inducing. Secondly, every plot point is repeated 3 or 4 times in case you haven't really been paying attention. Third, it's a time-travel novel, so it contains all the irritating and predictable tropes that are included in every time-travel novel, including the author's incorrect notion that he's creating a "twist" on the typical time-travel novel. Fourth, I really dislike the author's (and main character's) voice, and the dialogue is just very unnatural (I was not surprised when I learned the author was a screenwriter). Don't even get me started on the schmaltzy ending which reveals (no spoilers) that Whitney Houston was right all along: The children are our future!
