I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, especially since the beginning kind of dragged a bit for me. Once we got into the meat of the story, however, I found that I couldn't put the book down, and the last 160 pages of the book were read in one sitting. 

I really love the idea of this premise - someone who was supposed to be put into cryogenic stasis for a certain period of time -- usually for a long trip in space -- either wakes up far too early or far too late, then has to figure out what happened and what is going on in the society around them. Unfortunately, I don't actually tend to enjoy the execution of these kinds of stories. I have to say this one definitely tops the list. 

I loved the twists and turns as Andra tries to navigate her way through the strangeness of a futuristic society and all of the political machinations surrounding her. There are several reveals that I was not expecting at all, which I always appreciate in a story like this. There were some things I'd predicted that were not accurate. I love when a story surprises me.

There is one element to this story that I didn't really care for, and that is the way the author tried to create a language that was evolved from the English that exists today. I don't hate the idea of it. After all, language is ever-changing. If someone from a thousand years ago suddenly turned up in 2021, there is almost zero chance they would understand anything we were trying to say, and vice versa. 

However, I did find the execution lacking. Certain things made sense. But there were inconsistencies with the way words were changed, and it made Zhade's chapters difficult, especially in the beginning of the book. I did get used to it a little more as we went on, but I still kept finding myself noticing things here and there that didn't quite feel organic. 

As far as the plot goes, I was engaged throughout. I wanted to find out what was going on and where the story was going to take us. And the ending definitely threw me for a loop. I'm really excited to read the follow up and see what happens next. 

This is such a tough book to figure out my feelings about. For people who are looking for a fun and lighthearted multiverse romance, this is not the book for you. This is not a romance. There are romantic elements, but at its core this is a book about grief and working your way through the death of a loved one. There were moments that made me angry at Lydia, our protagonist, moments that made me angry for her, moments that broke my heart, and moments that were ultimately hopeful and uplifting.

While I appreciate what this book was trying to do and how it did it (I don't often cry at books and I had three separate moments where I had to stop reading because I was crying) it feels a little repetitive. And I think there's a discussion that was completely ignored by the author of dependency on controlled substances. Our protagonist uses prescribed sleeping medication to visit her dead fiance in an alternate dimension, and it seems quite obvious that it becomes something of an addiction, but she never seems to suffer any sort of withdrawal symptoms in the stretches where she's not taking them.

then at the end she just gives them up, no problem whatsoever. Just didn't quite sit right with me.

I also thought her fiance was kind of a  selfish jerk. From the very beginning, there was very little thought given to Lydia and no anticipation of her wants/needs. For crying out loud, he invites his friend to come out with them for her birthday dinner without seeing if she was cool with it. And there was something about the way Lydia bent over backwards to make sure he was kept content that just irked me. One example is Lydia's hair. She'd kept it long throughout their entire relationship because 'Freddy preferred her with long hair.' Things like that just give me controlling asshole vibes. 

That said, I do think that the way Lydia's grief is depicted is actually very authentic, despite the fact that she is seemingly able to universe-hop in her sleep.😂 This was, for me, the best aspect of the story. While I found moments repetitive, I do appreciate that she didn't just lose her fiance, feel sad for a couple months, then bounce back and get on with her life. It can take months, even years to work through a loss.

I really enjoyed One Day in December, and appreciated quite a bit about this book as well. Josie Silver is an author I'm really interested to read more from in the future.

I began this a couple of years ago right around Halloween. I was kind of enjoying it, but got to a point where the slow pace began to grate on me and the book started feeling like a slog. I just felt like nothing happened. Then after Halloween I just wasn't in the mood to read creepy books anymore, and I never came back to it. I doubt that I will in the futures

I'm so glad this was my first read of 2021. Had I read this as a young person, it would've been an all-time favorite that I re-read all of the time. As it was, I can't wait to pass this along to my son so he can read it. I loved the atmosphere of this book. The nostalgia of a small town where everyone seemingly knows everyone else's business but under the surface there are many untold secrets and stories just waiting to be uncovered. I loved Abilene and her friends. I loved the past storyline as well, and definitely found myself very moved by the ending.