Welcome to Litsy!

Perhaps he‘ll die this time.
#firstlineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

In London ‘in the near future‘
#whereareyouMonday #timetravel
@Cupcake12

There are flaws in this debut novel, notably the wackiness of the fast paced “all is revealed” ending. Its power lies in the forceful condemnation of colonialism that Britain cannot free itself from, even in a time traveling future. A clever premise, worth reading.

“In this sense, the predicament of the expats was unique. But the rhythms of loss and asylum, exodus and loss and loneliness, toll like floods across human history.” p. 271

I pushed through and ended up liking parts. The tempo was weird, it was fun at times and slow at others. I felt like the mystery was introduced very late in the book so I wasn‘t even looking for clues until the end and I‘m not sure I would have been able to see them anyway. Sometimes the MC would ask a question I wanted to understand and the author wouldn‘t answer it which was super annoying. Overall an interesting read but not a home run for me.

Halfway through and debating whether or not to finish. I loved the start of the book where she was getting to know the time travel “expats” but I felt like it started to slow down when the mystery element was introduced. Did anyone else who read this feel that dip in the middle? Should I push through? Or if I‘m not feeling it at this point it‘s a sign to quit?

I do love a good time traveler book, and this had a slight spy/military edge. It was good, but the ending was a bit forced for me. The second part had a quicker pace, which it did need. Overall, good but not great.

Enjoyable!!! Not sure if it‘s bc I got the audio book that some parts felt clunky. And don‘t even get me started on the 🌶️ feeling awk. Overall, I loved the creative plot but it was a bit confusing. Actually enjoyed the writing style, very Donna Tart in its wordiness

Time travel without a DeLorean? We‘ll see about that. 😉

This has a lot of everything I like- it even gets me with the mushy bits- who knew I was waiting for something so spy/betrayal/intrigue/time-travelly?!? Well I was and I loved it. Five stars past, present, and future!

I enjoyed this novel for its super interesting concept (time travel tested by bringing a handful of people from the past into the present) and its depth of characterisation. It has been described as a combination of romance & sci fi mystery/thriller. For me the romance/introspection portion got a bit bogged down and the thriller plot happened too quickly with not enough detail. But there is such good material here ⬇️

A time travel-romance, a spy thriller and a look into workplace dynamic.

I was really enjoying this novel until the last 60-50p and then she lost me. Still a pick, but not as strong as it could have been.

Meh. First 1/2 was a super slow burn for me, setting up characters, back stories. About the halfway mark, the plot picks up a little. Someone gets killed, but the response is lackluster.

The last 1/4 of the book was more what I was expecting, but just too little too late for my tastes. Shame because the themes Bradley explored in that last 1/4 were definitely thought-provoking. Wanted more of that, less ponderous back stories.

#10BeforeTheEnd

😂 Not going to argue with this observation.

🙋🏻‍♀️Yep. Done this.

I don‘t feel this so much in my 50s, but I definitely felt this way often in my 20s and 30s. Now if time travel were introduced to my life, I‘m guessing I‘d start feeling this door slamming again. Makes me think time travel might be a pass at this point in my life🤔

November was a strong reading month (13 total books, my record so far in 2024), but the quality was only average. Hoping to continue this momentum in December; I am currently on track to hit 100 books for the year, so I hope I can still hit that!

The best book I read in November also happened to be my #Doublespin! I had a strong reading month, but did not finish too many off of my owned TBR, which are the books I use for #BookspinBingo.

This book was, honestly, not what I expected. However, overall, that was a good thing. I liked exploration of the characters through time and the impacts of climate change and time travel.

10-3 Nov 24 (audiobook)
In some near future the British government‘s Ministry of Time somehow finds a door to time travel and use it to rescue a handful of people from past eras to train them to live in our time. It sounds even sillier when I write it down!
The premise didn‘t make much sense to me but there were aspects of the book I enjoyed, particularly the difficulties the historical characters have adjusting to modern life, which were amusing.

The futuristic British Ministry of Time discovers time travel and brings expats from the past into the present.

Assimilation ✨ Complicity ✨ Alienation

For fans of Loki

I‘m excited for this month‘s TBR. I am trying in November and December to catch up on my BOTM backlog (which is very long lol). Really looking forward to to both my #Bookspin (Thistlefoot) and #Doublespin (tagged). I hope I can ride my reading momentum in October through the rest of the year!

I found this romance/science fiction novel both confusing and dull. It did not work for me. 2 🌟

Loved! Such a good romance story! Great combo of intrigue and history and love and drama. The true historical elements were fascinating.

Meh

DNFing this one. The entire premise makes no sense, why would anyone bring people from the past to the future and attempt to integrate them into society? It just seems cruel and I can‘t get behind the book‘s story. Also the audiobook narration is strange and stilted.
#hailthebail!

I was recommended this book because it was supposed to be similar in vibes to Natasha Pulley's The Kingdoms, which it's NOT.
I reckon there are two types of target audience: The Terror girlies and time travel fans. I'm the latter, and was disappointed, as it's 75% romance, 15% government thriller and 10% time travel nerdery, and I was firmly uninvested in the romance. There were about three really interesting sentences about diverging timelines.

Overall, this one‘s decent, yet the stages of reading went something like:
1) Ah yes, this is very good and will surely be engaging 2) Margaret is a feminist icon 3) Perhaps a bit heavy on the “filler episodes” in the middle here, boss 4) WILFRED OWEN 5) You really should‘ve told me this sooner… 6) The lady is the lady. Swell.

I love time travel and this book is great! Let‘s bring people from the past and maybe the future to fix what we have goofed up all ready in our time…everyone in every timeline is flawed. Love story in a time travel book.. I‘m here for it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A nameless young woman gets a job at the Ministry minding "expats" from other times and helping them assimilate. Hers is Lt. Graham Gore, lost during Franklin's lost expedition seeking the Northwest Passage.
The narrative touches on colonialism, bureaucracy, climate change. But then we got sex scenes which didn't work for me, and I went from very invested to having lost almost all interest.
And Why did we have the scenes from the Terror at all?

Someone in the book world referred to this as “the book of her career,” so naturally I had really high hopes. This just… wasn‘t very good. I agree with @jlhammar that the writing itself was clunky, and the characters didn‘t feel genuine in their emotions. Then the last 10% became outrageously sci fi, but not in a “that‘s so clever I never saw it coming” way. More like “that‘s impossible and I don‘t buy it, this is stupid” way. Bummer!

I wanted to love this. I read 30%. I have a difficult time knowing when I'm not really enjoying a book. When I start to avoid reading is about the only indicator. This was super funny in spots, but not often enough to hold my interest. #DNF

My family lived inside proof of ourselves like crabs in shells. It could be suffocating - literally: the dust, the dry rustle in the summer heat. But no one was going to tell us what we weren't entitled to or had failed to file. Not with duplicates, 'your supervisor in copy'.

Mixed feelings. Probably between so-so and a pick for me. I wonder if I‘ll lean more one way or the other after our book club discussion this evening. I was mostly enjoying the first half (the fish out of water stuff was fun), but the romance not so much. And the writing was a bit off-putting—lots of odd/clunky similes and metaphors.

I‘m hoping it was worth reading just for the fact that it led me to these two other books! #BOTM

Great simile. Fits the plot line.

I enjoyed this…until it became more romantic suspense with a sci-fi twist. For me, the romance elements came out of nowhere and didn‘t flow well. There‘s a good idea of a novel here, but not well executed imo.

The British government has discovered a time machine. They bring people who would‘ve died in the past to them and assign officers to watch over them and help with their assimilation. However, some officials are hiding even more secrets!

The premise was better than the execution. The time travel didn‘t quite make sense, the romance wasn‘t that romantic, and the spy stuff was not particularly thrilling. I found the lead character too dull and gullible to be believable at the center of the drama. Interesting elements - race, sexuality, the change of social norms - were winked at but left mostly unexplored. The writing was beautiful at times, but the book bored me a bit.

Perhaps he‘ll die this time.

#firstlinefridays
#currentlyreading
@ShyBookOwl

In a near future London plagued by devastating heatwaves and floods, an unnamed narrator accepts a position as a "bridge," tasked with monitoring a person abducted from their own time by way of a mysterious time door. The narrator, increasingly obsessed with 19th century Arctic explorer Graham Gore, is willfully obtuse in a way that really bothered me. I have mixed feelings about this one mainly because I disliked her so much. Still, worth reading

Entertaining and even though it spanned many genres, it didn‘t feel messy or not fleshed out. It‘s definitely sci-fi light, but that works well for me. Great characters, and I especially loved Graham.

3.25 ⭐️

#botm

I ended up liking this more than I expected. I thought the time travel presented in this book was unique. I really liked the expats and wanted them to succeed and be happy. Other things in this book really made me think about things to come.

Described as “A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy,” this was all three, but unevenly so. I still enjoyed it.

The pacing was uneven, with a slow build in the first 75%, then fast-paced action at the end. Similarly the genre elements were uneven. It began as a fairly realistic depiction of individuals from the past attempting to understand & integrate into the modern world, with coworker/roommate drama & humor along the way⤵️

Unique and creative time travel story. Took me places I didn‘t expect to go. Greatly enjoyed.

Time for #5JoysFriday! Things that brought me joy this week:

1. Time with family! (On the left: my sister with her grandbaby, who is smiling at my dad)
2. Big band jazz concert on Saturday—that‘s my husband on the right, playing sax
3. Successfully figuring out the streaming setup at church to broadcast my husband‘s piano service on Tuesday
4. Finishing the last book from my most recent too-large library haul (tagged) ⤵️

I‘ve had a bit of a marinate on this one and I think it falls firmly into the wanted to like it more than I did like it camp. It‘s an immensely compelling conceptually, and tickled a lot of my niche interests. But unfortunately for me the way that I was executed neglected or underdeveloped some of the more compelling facets of the concept in favour of a romance I wasn‘t convinced by (or convinced that the story needed).

I really enjoyed this! It is a unique time travel book, our narrator (do we ever get her name?) is a civil servant who is assigned a very charming man from 1845. There is a group of time travelers, some we get to know well, each of the ones we get to know are charming and fun characters. I liked the references to cats throughout the author must love them 🐱
There is action, drama, intrigue, some sadness and a bit of romance a well balanced story.