A chance encounter leads Thora and Santi to meet beneath the clock tower in the city of Cologne. Then it happens again in another life, and another. A story that looks at the ideas of reincarnation and repeated lives, this should have been a book I loved. However, I almost didn’t finish it several times.
“He made us the kind of people who would choose to climb a ruined tower just to see the stars.”
The Writing
The prose is great. It is poetic and beautifully written, with a strong familiarity to How to lose the time war. The problem is that it gets in the way.
I said before how much I love the concept and I genuinely do. Any bits of the book that spend time on it are amazing and had me hooked. They were just far and few between. Instead of exploring the reasons and ramifications, we’re met with a series of rambling short stories. We get vignettes of each life, snippets of their alternate paths, but these go on for too long.
Like all short story collections, some hit whilst some miss. A few are poignant and hard hitting insights into our characters, but most just feel like the author just needed to include some more examples. Even the good ones suffer from the fact I was promised a story about reincarnation, and we don’t actually see the characters grow.
I imagine this is the bit that makes others fall in love with the book. If this aspect is what you read this for, you’ll be happy, but it wasn’t for me.
“That’s probably not enough for you, is it?”
Judging Books by their Blurb
I feel like my next complaint is more the fault of the marketing than the writing, though the writing didn’t help. We’re introduced to Santi and Thora as two fresh eyed teenagers who flirt with each other one night. Some of the lives show us the romance between them or their other partners. This book promises romance and doesn’t deliver.
Sure we get some, but it’s not enough. Instead we need to see how else they could know each other. Part of me wouldn’t have been too disappointed to see how a platonic relationship could take its place and the effect on their lives. However the author makes decision to give them large age disparities in a number of lives.
There is a good in book reason for that, but it creates a problematic element. In these short stories we whiplash from them flirting to one being a fifty year old teacher of the seven year old student. Then we get a greater feeling of discomfort as we go from them meeting and having wild sex, to now one is the parent of the other, and then adoptive sibling.
Whilst the logic of reincarnation technically makes this less of an issue, it still leaves me feeling uncomfortable. Even the in world reason, once you dial down into it, doesn’t lessen this feeling. It’s rare with a book to think it would always have been a better written a different way, but I feel like keeping them similar ages would have helped solve both this and the misselling of romance.
“You can’t ever know someone completely. You have to be everything to them and that’s impossible.”
Reveals
Talking of in world reasons (and don’t worry I won’t spoil anything), but I do have to acknowledge that everything behind this reincarnation fits. Once we do get past the short stories and the inevitable drama of the characters beginning to remember, their investigation and ultimate discovery ties the book rather nicely.
The seeds were sown well, and whilst I’m not the greatest at preempting plot points, I found everything satisfying. Though like most twist endings, I can see how some wouldn’t. The constant issue with books that defy traditional genres.
“I promise, if there’s anything after, I’ll try to come back and tell you about it.”
Development
Ultimately, the biggest issue with this book, and the one that almost prevented me away from finishing it, is that it’s too long. The initial lives linger beyond the point of interest. Thora and Santis eternal argument just drags on, rarely developing. Even at the end, I found myself skipping segments as they retread the same old ground.
I don’t like Thora, and only just like Santi, so I’m not going to enjoy their discussions as much as others. If they had just grown, or changed, or developed, it might have kept me hooked. Each life retreads the same ground, with a character arc only coming in the last quarter of the book.
The only thing that changes their argument is the realisation that it’s a redundant one. At which point I feel as if I was tricked into listening to six hours of it for no reason. (I listened to the audiobook and as a side note, the narrator Kristin Atherton was amazing and I’ll be seeking out other books read by her.)
“Don’t go raking through broken glass looking for diamonds.”
In Summary
This book was mis-sold to me. Firstly by the marketing, and secondly by the writing. What I thought was a time shenanigan book was actually preceded by short stories that didn’t hook me. What I thought was a romance was wider and shallower than that. I’m sad to say I don’t recommend.
Beyond The Spine Reviews 