Thank you to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
She Wouldn't Change a Thing by Sarah Adlakha is about a mother who discovers one day that she's been sent back in time and is seventeen again. The beginning of the book reminded me of the plot of The Box, which is a sci-fi "mystery" that has stuck with me for many years after I first watched it. After reading this book, think that I should separate my review by what I thought after reading the first three chapters of the book vs. what I thought of the book as a whole.
My thoughts at the beginning: I was very impressed. The thing that I liked the most was that it was engaging and introduced interesting plot points that aren't mentioned in the synopsis of the book. For example, based on the first three chapters, the main conflict is that Maria, a therapist, has a patient named Sylvia who claims to have come from the future and needs to alter things in the past in order to prevent destruction.
Here's an excerpt from Chapter Two from Maria and Sylvia's conversation:
“I mean I’ve been through all of this before,” Sylvia continued. “I’ve already lived this life, and I was brought back here by God to fulfill a very special purpose.”
It was an unexpected turn, a setback Maria hadn’t anticipated, as Sylvia drove their conversation down a path riddled with religious delusions. “Are you saying that God brought you back from the future?”
“Exactly,” Sylvia replied. “I know this sounds crazy, and you probably think I belong in the hospital, but I need you to hear me out and just try to consider the possibility. You have no idea how
difficult it is to prove that you’ve come back from the future. It seems like it should be easy, right? But no matter what I tell you is going to happen, we’ll have to wait for it to happen before you’ll
believe me.”
Then, something happens to Sylvia, which makes the things that she said to Maria even more mysterious and possible indications of what will happen in the future. This is interesting enough. However, based on the synopsis, Maria will be doing some time traveling of her own. This made it the premise even more interesting, and I couldn't wait to keep reading to find out what happens! It was like reading a thriller with a ton of twists and turns, which is exactly the type of book that I like.
My thoughts after finishing the book: I have no idea how a book with so much potential ended up being so boring. Instead of The Box, which is an exciting sci-fi mystery, She Wouldn't Change a Thing now reminds me of a typical Hallmark movie. Everything that I thought would be interesting, such as the time travel, didn't lead to much. There was very little excitement. There weren't any twists. The explanation of the time travel at the end was not very satisfying. There was an attempt as a minor revelation at the end, but it didn't have much emotional impact on me. This book has a lot of good reviews though, so I think this book was just not my cup of tea. If you're a fan of time travel stories or Hallmark movies, I recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in August!
She Wouldn't Change a Thing by Sarah Adlakha is about a mother who discovers one day that she's been sent back in time and is seventeen again. The beginning of the book reminded me of the plot of The Box, which is a sci-fi "mystery" that has stuck with me for many years after I first watched it. After reading this book, think that I should separate my review by what I thought after reading the first three chapters of the book vs. what I thought of the book as a whole.
My thoughts at the beginning: I was very impressed. The thing that I liked the most was that it was engaging and introduced interesting plot points that aren't mentioned in the synopsis of the book. For example, based on the first three chapters, the main conflict is that Maria, a therapist, has a patient named Sylvia who claims to have come from the future and needs to alter things in the past in order to prevent destruction.
Here's an excerpt from Chapter Two from Maria and Sylvia's conversation:
“I mean I’ve been through all of this before,” Sylvia continued. “I’ve already lived this life, and I was brought back here by God to fulfill a very special purpose.”
It was an unexpected turn, a setback Maria hadn’t anticipated, as Sylvia drove their conversation down a path riddled with religious delusions. “Are you saying that God brought you back from the future?”
“Exactly,” Sylvia replied. “I know this sounds crazy, and you probably think I belong in the hospital, but I need you to hear me out and just try to consider the possibility. You have no idea how
difficult it is to prove that you’ve come back from the future. It seems like it should be easy, right? But no matter what I tell you is going to happen, we’ll have to wait for it to happen before you’ll
believe me.”
Then, something happens to Sylvia, which makes the things that she said to Maria even more mysterious and possible indications of what will happen in the future. This is interesting enough. However, based on the synopsis, Maria will be doing some time traveling of her own. This made it the premise even more interesting, and I couldn't wait to keep reading to find out what happens! It was like reading a thriller with a ton of twists and turns, which is exactly the type of book that I like.
My thoughts after finishing the book: I have no idea how a book with so much potential ended up being so boring. Instead of The Box, which is an exciting sci-fi mystery, She Wouldn't Change a Thing now reminds me of a typical Hallmark movie. Everything that I thought would be interesting, such as the time travel, didn't lead to much. There was very little excitement. There weren't any twists. The explanation of the time travel at the end was not very satisfying. There was an attempt as a minor revelation at the end, but it didn't have much emotional impact on me. This book has a lot of good reviews though, so I think this book was just not my cup of tea. If you're a fan of time travel stories or Hallmark movies, I recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in August!