The Time Traveler's Wife

FGMAMTC Blog Review

I read hundreds of books a year, but I will never forget this one. There's romance, and then there's epic romance. The Time Traveler's Wife is definitely an epic romance.

Henry is a time traveler. He has no control over when or where it will happen. Sometimes something lovely happens. Other times it's horrible. When Henry time travels, nothing material goes with him. He shows up with just his body. He meets Clare one day when he is a man, and she is a little girl. This starts a tradition of him coming to their spot where clothes are waiting for him. She also feeds him, and they share many talks and experiences. When he comes to her, he is leaving the grown up Clare, his wife. He is jerked in and out of different show more times his entire life, never knowing what conditions he's entering.

This is one of my favorite novels ever, and it wrecked me, touching me so deeply. I cried while reading it and continued to cry after, not just a few tears, but streaming tears with gasps and whimpers. I broke down several times while out in public. I can't move on from it to pick up another book, biggest hangover ever. I feel like I will never get over it.

The storyline is told in flashes of present and past tense for both characters. Sometimes they haven't met yet. Sometimes they're young and others old. It's a very twisted web, but it all connects beautifully. Most parts start off telling the ages of the characters so the reader will know which version of the cast we are getting. Occasionally bits learned in one meeting come to light in another. The details are important.

The love and sacrifice between Henry and Clare is indescribable. And my love for this book is boundless. I highly recommend it. P.S. I have not watched the movie, but I've heard it's very different, so if the movie didn't sweep you off your feet, you may still fall for the novel.






toni


FangirlMoments and My Two Cents

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3.5 stars

The good:
Somehow, despite the twists & turns in time this story takes, it's not at all hard to follow the chronology.
Also, despite some big spoilers scattered throughout the book, there are still some big surprises in store.

The not-as-good:
First & foremost, it's too long. An editor probably could have trimmed 100 pages.
Going hand in hand with that, the dream sequences, the time spent on Clare describing how she creates... I just found most of it really boring & distracting. I feel like it was a literary exercise for the author, a chance to test her powers of description. It was all written finely, but only about 5% really contributed to the story.

It's a great modern romance, if that's what you're looking for.

I'm a time travelling librarian and I think this book might be about me.

Update: time travel is weird