English language
Published July 9, 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers.
This is a really original book, with an awesome premise. The constant re-discovering of the story as the main character moves through time is super fun to read and also clearly involved a lot of craft to set up. As a mother myself the main character resonated with me while not feeling overdone.
I like when stories employ sci-fi elements while remaining otherwise ordinary. Here, a mother keeps traveling backwards in time, trying to prevent her son from murdering. Her identity as a mother anchors the narrative, giving it an emotional heft, albeit, sometimes cloyingly. But I skimmed it immediately after to admire the craft of cause & effect. The explanation at the end for time travel was corny.
This was fun! I appreciate a thriller where the narrator takes the situation seriously and asks the same questions I would ask. There were times when I knew more than Jen, but it was because I was getting Ryan's POV and because I knew I was reading a thriller (which leads me to expect certain story beats). So that all worked well for me.
I also enjoyed the unique way this story was told, going backward in time with Jen. It made for a fresh thriller experience. Maybe more of a mystery, honestly, since the intensity of any given scene was never that high.
Some cons for me - perhaps because I'm not a mother and don't have any interest in being one, I was not interested in the sentimental bits about Todd. I also don't love when crime ring, gang type stuff is a major part of a story. …
This was fun! I appreciate a thriller where the narrator takes the situation seriously and asks the same questions I would ask. There were times when I knew more than Jen, but it was because I was getting Ryan's POV and because I knew I was reading a thriller (which leads me to expect certain story beats). So that all worked well for me.
I also enjoyed the unique way this story was told, going backward in time with Jen. It made for a fresh thriller experience. Maybe more of a mystery, honestly, since the intensity of any given scene was never that high.
Some cons for me - perhaps because I'm not a mother and don't have any interest in being one, I was not interested in the sentimental bits about Todd. I also don't love when crime ring, gang type stuff is a major part of a story.
But I liked how Jen had to reassess her relationships with Todd, Kelly, and her dad as she learned more. She saw herself and them in a new light, saw new reasons for behavior. I enjoyed the way that that played out.
There was one piece of the ending I didn't like which was when Cleo is revealed to be Eve. I guessed that pretty early on because I assumed we would learn who Eve is, and there was only one option in the story. But I think it's very unnecessary, especially when you add in that she and Todd still meet and date after Jen "fixes" things. That felt silly.
I did like the epilogue with Pauline and her son. I thought that was a clever way to end the book that really calls into question whether everything Jen did is going to be undone by what Pauline might have to do.
Well-deserved popularity with this one!
The book is a little too long in my opinion. It felt like the solution was dragged out.
But it was a new take on the time loop trope which was refreshing.
