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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
I think all I have to say is that I read this on holiday a couple of years ago and I actually had to find a quiet spot to finish the last few pages as I was sobbing.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
sci-fi, romance, and controversy all in one book! what more can you ask for.
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of my favourite ever books
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
The first half or two-thirds of this book was a beautiful, unique, exciting love story, of a sort. The way time is used cyclically here kind of blew my mind. I had to keep re-explaining the characters' past, present and future to myself, because accepting the idea of there being no beginning did not come naturally to me. I didn't find it difficult to keep track of the story, but some people I have spoken to about the book did have trouble with that.
I was so excited about this book when I first started it that I had a series of very late nights trying to finish it. As it was, I finished it in about 5 days. I wasn't nearly as excited about the second half of the book, though. Some of the story lines were tedious to get through, and didn't have the freshness or excitement of the beginning. However, that also mirrors the progression of life and relationships.
I was left feeling somewhat unsatisfied with the explanation of the time travel, and with the outcomes of some of the characters. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Niffenegger writes a sequel. This book is packed with so much fresh storytelling and excellent writing that I think it needed to stand on its own, as a whole and solitary work. That's why I'm disappointed with the ending and will be unlikely to read a sequel if one is written.
I was so excited about this book when I first started it that I had a series of very late nights trying to finish it. As it was, I finished it in about 5 days. I wasn't nearly as excited about the second half of the book, though. Some of the story lines were tedious to get through, and didn't have the freshness or excitement of the beginning. However, that also mirrors the progression of life and relationships.
I was left feeling somewhat unsatisfied with the explanation of the time travel, and with the outcomes of some of the characters. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Niffenegger writes a sequel. This book is packed with so much fresh storytelling and excellent writing that I think it needed to stand on its own, as a whole and solitary work. That's why I'm disappointed with the ending and will be unlikely to read a sequel if one is written.
I don't know, there were things that I liked and things I didn't like about this. I liked the time travelling aspect, and how the story moves across different times. It took a little getting used to at first, especially when you don't know how it all works, but it ends up making sense. I just did not at all like the romance part of the novel (which, like, is the main theme lol). Maybe because part of me kept thinking that the relationship between Clare and Henry is kind of dysfunctional, and they have really poor communication. Like SPEAK to each other for god's sake!
Mild spoilers ahead.
On that note about the romance the part where Clare is obsessed with having a biological baby and Henry unilaterally deciding to get a vasectomy is like ughhhh just break up, you clearly have different aspirations in life. It was all soooooooooo long and dragged out and I just didn't care for it.
Anyway, another thing that for me didn't work at all is that somehow we get a lot of details about some inane stuff, like a pool game where we get paragraph after paragraph of where each of the players knocks the billiards, and which ball goes in which sinkhole... Or like the long lists of "cool" rock bands or whatever and paragraphs in German or French (or both I don't remember). That would be fine but like, why not dedicate all that space to explaining why Henry and Gomez get along together? At the beginning we are told that Gomez gets Henry out of many legal pickles, but somehow we never get any accounts of those at all. Werk. Also we get told that Henry is a womanizer and addicted to god knows what, but we never see that either.
Do you understand my frustration?? We know Alicia sunk the 5 ball in the top left sinkhole, but we don't know these plot elements that would actually be interesting. The plot is just so tenuous throughout. And the ending with the amputation felt so sudden, perhaps if we had seen Henry be in similar life-or-death situations before it wouldn't be such a surprise, but it just comes out of the blue.
Also the really random sex scenes made me feel like I was reading fan fic. Like wow Herny is so perfect and he's essentially a tireless fuck machine. *eyeroll*
It's such a shame because I really think it could be a fun and engaging book, and I had expected it would be, since so many people seem to love it (including you, Tina) but I just can't say I liked it. It was fine to pass time, but ultimately disappointing.
Mild spoilers ahead.
On that note about the romance the part where Clare is obsessed with having a biological baby and Henry unilaterally deciding to get a vasectomy is like ughhhh just break up, you clearly have different aspirations in life. It was all soooooooooo long and dragged out and I just didn't care for it.
Anyway, another thing that for me didn't work at all is that somehow we get a lot of details about some inane stuff, like a pool game where we get paragraph after paragraph of where each of the players knocks the billiards, and which ball goes in which sinkhole... Or like the long lists of "cool" rock bands or whatever and paragraphs in German or French (or both I don't remember). That would be fine but like, why not dedicate all that space to explaining why Henry and Gomez get along together? At the beginning we are told that Gomez gets Henry out of many legal pickles, but somehow we never get any accounts of those at all. Werk. Also we get told that Henry is a womanizer and addicted to god knows what, but we never see that either.
Do you understand my frustration?? We know Alicia sunk the 5 ball in the top left sinkhole, but we don't know these plot elements that would actually be interesting. The plot is just so tenuous throughout. And the ending with the amputation felt so sudden, perhaps if we had seen Henry be in similar life-or-death situations before it wouldn't be such a surprise, but it just comes out of the blue.
Also the really random sex scenes made me feel like I was reading fan fic. Like wow Herny is so perfect and he's essentially a tireless fuck machine. *eyeroll*
It's such a shame because I really think it could be a fun and engaging book, and I had expected it would be, since so many people seem to love it (including you, Tina) but I just can't say I liked it. It was fine to pass time, but ultimately disappointing.
First 100 pages were very interesting, because all the time traveling was explained, the writing was great too.
After all science fiction was explained the book turned into a drag, till page 220 it's about the main characters meeting friends and family. Even though it's still well written, nothing happens. Realizing there are 300 pages left of probably the same, I quit reading.
After all science fiction was explained the book turned into a drag, till page 220 it's about the main characters meeting friends and family. Even though it's still well written, nothing happens. Realizing there are 300 pages left of probably the same, I quit reading.
What an amazing book. I haven't been that emotionally invested in a book in years!
