This is the first of your reviews I've read and it is a great review. Thank you so much for giving me such a good feel for the book WITHOUT SPOILERS! And yes, Doomsday Book is still the best.
It's not rare, but still the majority either, that I can review something without spoilers. It's not because I have an evil desire to spoil people, but I want to talk details, and you often can't do that without spoilers. That said, all of my reviews, spoilers or not, are spoiler-free outside of the cut.
I guess my main complaint is that I felt like the beginning was really choppy and uneven, making it difficult to get into. Once all the characters were back in WWII it got a lot better.
I really wish that Willis would explain a bit more about her idea of time travel, but the concept intrigues me enough that I will enjoy the mystery and hope she gives us some more tidbits. I actually find the idea that time regulates itself kind of cool, but I think Willis is giving us hints that that may not be the case.
Was this your first Willis? Or your first time-travel historian novel?
I agree with you about the beginning. It was a little crazy, and I saw some reviewer comment that it just didn't make sense, with them being in the future, that they were running around instead of calling on cells. Of course, when Willis originally envisioned her future, cell phones didn't exist, so I can't blame her too much for wanting to keep continuity. :)
I read this back when it first came out, so if you're interested, here's my longish review (with a few spoilers, I think), where I do a lot of complaining but still acknowledge that Willis writes some of the best character stuff ever: http://crowinator.livejournal.com/39811.html
Seems like we had a lot of similar complaints. I only wish I had waited to read this until All Clear was out, because I was confused enough with the multiple plot threads left hanging and multiple character viewpoints (each with at least two names!) when I was reading Blackout. I have All Clear from the library but I'm worried I won't be able to ease back into the story without re-reading the first one.
Totally agree that is bad 1st willisnessreaderNovember 4 2010, 10:39:34 UTC
I just finished all clear - crying hard the last couple of pages - and loved the books but feel I missed bits and need to reread later. Plus, the 8month gap in reading left me even more confused than usual.
Anthropomorphising - have I spelled that right? - Time doesn't work for me; I rationalised that that was an idiom or metaphor. The repetitive thing where people rehashed "as you know Jim" things of the story so far, I wish an editor had trimmed that. I can see how CW might put the same thing into a couple of different places in the book over the months or years of compostition, but it was unnecessary to repeat it all. Though, maybe, she did it partly to show Polly's mind going round in circles in a panic. I found myself sucked into Polly's anxiety.
I spent most of book 2 wanting to shake Eileen for her mindless optimism that had everyone else struggling to protect her. But in Blackout I liked her so this may not just be a milage-may-vary issue. Maybe she did get more annoying in 2nd half.
I don't know when I'm going to get to this book! I want to read it soon since I'm holding off on Doomsday Book for TJ's book club. Then again, I don't even have All Clear and really want to read them back to back...
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It's not rare, but still the majority either, that I can review something without spoilers. It's not because I have an evil desire to spoil people, but I want to talk details, and you often can't do that without spoilers. That said, all of my reviews, spoilers or not, are spoiler-free outside of the cut.
I hope that helps!
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I guess my main complaint is that I felt like the beginning was really choppy and uneven, making it difficult to get into. Once all the characters were back in WWII it got a lot better.
I really wish that Willis would explain a bit more about her idea of time travel, but the concept intrigues me enough that I will enjoy the mystery and hope she gives us some more tidbits. I actually find the idea that time regulates itself kind of cool, but I think Willis is giving us hints that that may not be the case.
Can't wait to read All Clear!
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I agree with you about the beginning. It was a little crazy, and I saw some reviewer comment that it just didn't make sense, with them being in the future, that they were running around instead of calling on cells. Of course, when Willis originally envisioned her future, cell phones didn't exist, so I can't blame her too much for wanting to keep continuity. :)
Reply
Seems like we had a lot of similar complaints. I only wish I had waited to read this until All Clear was out, because I was confused enough with the multiple plot threads left hanging and multiple character viewpoints (each with at least two names!) when I was reading Blackout. I have All Clear from the library but I'm worried I won't be able to ease back into the story without re-reading the first one.
Reply
I just finished all clear - crying hard the last couple of pages - and loved the books but feel I missed bits and need to reread later. Plus, the 8month gap in reading left me even more confused than usual.
Anthropomorphising - have I spelled that right? - Time doesn't work for me; I rationalised that that was an idiom or metaphor. The repetitive thing where people rehashed "as you know Jim" things of the story so far, I wish an editor had trimmed that. I can see how CW might put the same thing into a couple of different places in the book over the months or years of compostition, but it was unnecessary to repeat it all. Though, maybe, she did it partly to show Polly's mind going round in circles in a panic. I found myself sucked into Polly's anxiety.
I spent most of book 2 wanting to shake Eileen for her mindless optimism that had everyone else struggling to protect her. But in Blackout I liked her so this may not just be a milage-may-vary issue. Maybe she did get more annoying in 2nd half.
I think there was a ( ... )
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