Nevyn said:
Edit: FicusFan I noticed that you have listed The Time Travelers Wife , this book does interest me somewhat but I was put off by some rather negative reviews . Can you tell me if it is primarily a love story with sff thrown in or vice versa .
Brad .
It is a love story but not a romance if that helps. The problem is that some people, especially critics seem to think that if there is positive emotional feelings between characters that the story is somehow unworthy. But very few complain about too much hate or violence. I didn't find it drippy or cloying.
The story has two main characters Henry and Claire, the chapters have one or the other as the POV. Henry suffers from Chrono-displacement, a disease that makes him time travel without warning and for no real reason. The story is told from the intersection of their meetings. Often Henry's chapters are when he is time travelling. They are sometimes aging in different directions. Claire is growing up, and Henry is getting younger. At some point they meet in the middle and they live together and both grow older together, though Henry continues to time travel.
The story is about two issues: Is it worth risking everything for a great love, even if only for a short time, or should you live your life 'safely'. The book not only touches on that, but examines the fallout for the bystander loved ones of those who prefer to risk it all. The other issue is how love shapes who you are and who you become. Not because of demands or nagging, but the desire to appear better than you are, and the fear of disappointing your love - which motivates change. The story shows how people change for the ones they love, slowly and with a lot of work, not the result of some happy fairytale.
The story is well written and amazingly constructed. It is like onion skins, the chapters all nest together and are pulled off sometimes chronologically backwards, but it all hangs together and the story makes sense. The characters are also interesting. I enjoyed it very much.
