I'm glad I did. I found the story reasonably compelling and the characters interesting, although often pretentious; their emotional dilemmas were well-drawn, and though plenty of plot-holes abounded, they weren't obvious enough to derail the story for me. The premise was interesting (although not as original as mainstream lit seems to think), and reasonably well-executed.

Basic story intro: Henry is an involuntary time-traveler. His body will reset on a genetic level, and he'll find himself elsewhere in time: naked, sick, and not sure where or when he is until he can find a reference point. He meets Clare when he is 36 and she is 6; they are married when she is 22 and he 30. This book is the story of their lives, together as often as they can be, and trying to make a 'normal' life from one with very little chronological cohesion.

It took me a while to get past the writing style and into the story itself, though. And I don't mean the structure of the story - the flipping around in time didn't bug me, the *writing* did. It's overly simplistic in places, particularly from Clare's point of view; a little sophistication in the sentence structure wouldn't have hurt. And wouldn't have left me struggling through the start while I tried to get over the feeling that I was reading a ten-year-old's english composition homework. Albeit a ten-year-old with a very good vocabulary.

Also, the aforementioned plot-holes? Could've used a decent editor.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read, and well-worth the time, although not exceptional.



samanthanbr (USA: MO) (2008/10/20):
I was much more taken with the book than the previous reviewer. True, the plot is sometimes thin ... but whaddya expect when you're reading a romance that takes place over various points in time? The prose, though; oh, it' s gorgeous. I literally re-read entire paragraphs just to hear the words again. I love this book so much that I'm actually hoarding it for now... I don't want to put it out to be mooched because I'm sure it will be one of those books I return to again and again.



Heidi Hurtado (USA: FL) (2008/11/09):
I learned about this book from Skirt! magazine (wonderful publication!) and I loved this book so much that I immediately started started all over again at page one - I've never done that in my life! I loved it even more the second time. I'm finished with it now and I'm ready to share it with others that will hopefully enjoy it as much as I did.



Joannewh (United Kingdom) (2009/01/13):
I loved this book, I've read it a few times now and each time have cried my eyes out!!
It is one of the best stories I have read in a long time and I can't recommend it enough, if I had to score it out of 10 it would be a 12!!!



Samantha Costanilla (USA: CA) (2011/08/05):
This is the only time I will say this: the movie was so much better than the book. Why? The author sounded so pretentious. Every page was filled with her drivel, thinly veiled in her characters' dialogue and narration. Too much talk about bands that the author must've fawned over when she was in college. Weak plot. I skipped two chapters, and found that it didn't affect the flow of the story at all.



durran (Ireland) (2012/06/22):
A love story that made me cry.