A review by aradne
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

1.0

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. The story was decent, and the "wife of a time traveler' idea was great; the delivery and characters were rough. Henry (the time traveler) is an amoral criminal, and although he was amoral in order to survive, he did things that were not necessary to survive as well. Clare doesn't have much personality, and there's not much to say about her. All other characters were quite minor and had little impact on the story other than dialogue and excursions in the plot. Basically, Clare knew Henry from a young age and had no real choice in marrying him. The narration of the story is at times confusing (Niffenegger uses frequent dream sequences), and as often as not, she tells the reader what's coming but fails to deliver a gripping description when the event occurs. As a final blow, on at least three occasions the author mentions a "fat person" and insults them causelessly. For example, an opera singer is referred to as a cow, but she sings well. Why does it matter if she's overweight? If it needs to be mentioned, it does not have to be done in such a manner; Niffenegger is perpetuating a negative attitude toward a population of people who don't need extra reasons to feel bad about themselves.