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Time Squared
"I’ll dive right in and tell you that the novel, Time Squared by Lesley Krueger, which I’ve loved more than I’ve loved than any book I’ve read in ages, could be billed as Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life meets Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, if we wanted to underline just how badly you really ought to read it. And oh, you really do." -- Kerry Clare.
In this literary novel, Robin and Eleanor meet in 1811 at the British estate of Eleanor’s rich aunt Clara. Robin is about to leave to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, and Aunt Clara rules out a marriage between her niece and the handsome young soldier.
Everyone Eleanor knows, including Robin, believe they’ve always lived in the early 19th century, in the Regency era that Jane Austen so vividly portrayed.
Yet in this time-jumping, genre-bending, challenging novel, Eleanor keeps finding herself in different times, living lives that are both similar and different to the life she lived in Regency England. Whether she finds herself in 1811, 1941 or 2010, she always lives with her aunt, she's invariably accompanied by her best friend Catherine, and her evolving romance with Robin leaves her both tense and joyful as he fights in yet another war.
Meanwhile, carriages change to trains, the telegraph arrives, bicycles come into vogue, then motorcars, and suddenly Robin is fighting in the First World War when he started out fighting Napoleon in 1811. Yet both Robin and Eleanor remain in their twenties a century after their love affair began.
No one but Eleanor notices the time jumps, and she struggles on her own to figure out what’s going on. Is she feverish? Hallucinating? Losing her mind? Only when she reaches the 21st century does Eleanor understand that she and Robin are being manipulated through time.
But who is doing this and why? Desperate, Eleanor sets off to confront the ones she finally discovers are behind this — chessmasters who are playing her like a pawn. Eleanor’s goal? To free herself from this quantum experiment to live out her life on her own terms, with Robin by her side.
Neither sci fi nor romance, but a critically-acclaimed literary mash-up, Time Squared reveals the roles women are forced to play in different centuries, the power they’re allowed, the stresses they face — and what this does to their relationships. Shakespeare famously wrote, "Love alters not when it alteration finds."
Or does it?
In this literary novel, Robin and Eleanor meet in 1811 at the British estate of Eleanor’s rich aunt Clara. Robin is about to leave to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, and Aunt Clara rules out a marriage between her niece and the handsome young soldier.
Everyone Eleanor knows, including Robin, believe they’ve always lived in the early 19th century, in the Regency era that Jane Austen so vividly portrayed.
Yet in this time-jumping, genre-bending, challenging novel, Eleanor keeps finding herself in different times, living lives that are both similar and different to the life she lived in Regency England. Whether she finds herself in 1811, 1941 or 2010, she always lives with her aunt, she's invariably accompanied by her best friend Catherine, and her evolving romance with Robin leaves her both tense and joyful as he fights in yet another war.
Meanwhile, carriages change to trains, the telegraph arrives, bicycles come into vogue, then motorcars, and suddenly Robin is fighting in the First World War when he started out fighting Napoleon in 1811. Yet both Robin and Eleanor remain in their twenties a century after their love affair began.
No one but Eleanor notices the time jumps, and she struggles on her own to figure out what’s going on. Is she feverish? Hallucinating? Losing her mind? Only when she reaches the 21st century does Eleanor understand that she and Robin are being manipulated through time.
But who is doing this and why? Desperate, Eleanor sets off to confront the ones she finally discovers are behind this — chessmasters who are playing her like a pawn. Eleanor’s goal? To free herself from this quantum experiment to live out her life on her own terms, with Robin by her side.
Neither sci fi nor romance, but a critically-acclaimed literary mash-up, Time Squared reveals the roles women are forced to play in different centuries, the power they’re allowed, the stresses they face — and what this does to their relationships. Shakespeare famously wrote, "Love alters not when it alteration finds."
Or does it?
315 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 2021
44 people are currently reading
2390 people want to read
About the author
Lesley Krueger
15 books49 followersLesley Krueger's latest novel, Far Creek Road, is now out from ECW Press. Sheila Murray, author of Finding Edward, calls it "masterful."
According to a starred review in the Mirimachi Reader, "Far Creek Road is a wonderfully written novel, with full and rich characters, a delightful narrator, and very much the adult version of those Judy Blume stories we loved as kids. I was sucked into this novel right away, and Krueger’s ability to immerse me inside of Tink’s mind was impressive."
Lesley's previous novel, Time Squared, was published in September 2021 -- a time travelling look at the role of women through the ages. Says critic Kerry Clare, "I’ll dive right in and tell you that the novel, Time Squared by Lesley Krueger, which I’ve loved more than I’ve loved than any book I’ve read in ages."
Lesley is the author of four previous novels, a travel memoir and two books of short stories, as well as a novel for children aged ten and up. She lives in Toronto with her husband and their elderly cat, Archie.
According to a starred review in the Mirimachi Reader, "Far Creek Road is a wonderfully written novel, with full and rich characters, a delightful narrator, and very much the adult version of those Judy Blume stories we loved as kids. I was sucked into this novel right away, and Krueger’s ability to immerse me inside of Tink’s mind was impressive."
Lesley's previous novel, Time Squared, was published in September 2021 -- a time travelling look at the role of women through the ages. Says critic Kerry Clare, "I’ll dive right in and tell you that the novel, Time Squared by Lesley Krueger, which I’ve loved more than I’ve loved than any book I’ve read in ages."
Lesley is the author of four previous novels, a travel memoir and two books of short stories, as well as a novel for children aged ten and up. She lives in Toronto with her husband and their elderly cat, Archie.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 335 reviews
May 2, 2021
Underneath the hood of this story of lovers meeting (and being mostly thwarted) throughout time there is a secret, but until it is revealed in the end there is something almost too clever, too tightly plotted about the rest of the book.
If you read it thinking you will enjoy a great romance you’ll wind up disappointed, because this book isn’t that story, not really. It’s one of those books that attempts a large-scale surprise that just comes off hokey and takes away from everything else that came beforehand.
The writing reminds me of old-fashioned stories critiquing society and class customs, but it seems to want to be a more modern-feeling book than that; yet the dialogue is pedestrian and the descriptions adequate, but not distinctive. Overall, an interesting idea executed blandly, and a bit confusingly, with a grand reveal that feels unsatisfying.
#Netgalley
If you read it thinking you will enjoy a great romance you’ll wind up disappointed, because this book isn’t that story, not really. It’s one of those books that attempts a large-scale surprise that just comes off hokey and takes away from everything else that came beforehand.
The writing reminds me of old-fashioned stories critiquing society and class customs, but it seems to want to be a more modern-feeling book than that; yet the dialogue is pedestrian and the descriptions adequate, but not distinctive. Overall, an interesting idea executed blandly, and a bit confusingly, with a grand reveal that feels unsatisfying.
#Netgalley
February 22, 2023
I was really enjoying the storyline in the 1800s and was a bit disappointed when it jumped through time. I found the time travel/vision stuff out of place and not necessary.
I think if the author would have stuck with the original timeline it had more than enough merit to stand on its own.
I did enjoy the author's cadences and flow, so I will definitely be looking into her back catalogue.
Thank you ECW Press and Goodreads for my paperback.
I think if the author would have stuck with the original timeline it had more than enough merit to stand on its own.
I did enjoy the author's cadences and flow, so I will definitely be looking into her back catalogue.
Thank you ECW Press and Goodreads for my paperback.
October 3, 2021
This was a DNF for me. I was excited about the premise, true love over numerous lives, but the execution just wasn’t there. We meet the characters, Eleanor and Robin, and the story progresses through various eras, mostly discernible by what war Robin is fighting in. The hard part was that there is no segue from one time period to the Next so it’s rather jarring. The characters don’t seem to notice, or have dreams or strange feelings or anything either, so it’s more like the author is experimenting with which time she wants the story to take part in. And the worst is that the dialog is dull. Dull, dull, dull. It was like watching paint dry. I slogged through 60% of this and decided I needed to move on. Sorry.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
May 7, 2023
This book felt like it was trying to be 18 different things and failed at all of them. The writing itself was pleasant enough. Even the first half of the novel was fine. But the time traveling was incredibly confusing, and I only sort of understood who all the characters were. Not to mention the chemistry between Eleanor and Robin, which started to build early on, but fizzled as the book grew more muddled.
I was hoping the ending would tie it all up in a happy little bow and make it all make sense. I guess it did to a degree, but the ending also felt lazy and contrived.
It was a good enough concept, but the execution fell incredibly short.
I was hoping the ending would tie it all up in a happy little bow and make it all make sense. I guess it did to a degree, but the ending also felt lazy and contrived.
It was a good enough concept, but the execution fell incredibly short.
March 2, 2022
The blurb sounded good. Part way in I had to check the blurb again. Yes it is about time travel. Where is the time travel? Is the MC going to have something more than a migraine? I did finish the book but two days later can not remember the ending.
August 24, 2021
This book starts like you’re in a Jane Austen novel and finishes like a Margaret Atwood one. I started off wondering where it was going and getting myself a bit confused as it didn’t seem anything like I thought it was going to be but then I realised I was actually just enjoying the story for itself and went with the flow, and I’m glad I did. It really is a book that you can’t fully understand until you’ve read it to the end, and you then appreciate the book as a whole. It is definitely a book that makes you think particularly about the roles of men and women through history and how times have changed. I love the way the atmosphere changes as the story progresses as you go from one of joviality to a darker and more intense tone. This is a great good book that takes you on a journey like no other through time.
October 19, 2021
Time Squared by Lesley Krueger is so incredible. I honestly loved it so much. It was surprising and intricate, and compelling. It's like a puzzle but also a remarkable story with wonderful characters at its core. I loved the threads of feminism, the futility of war, the love story, and the repetition of life. And the reveals! Oh my god! I wouldn't even know to describe the plot without giving anything away. So I'd rather tell people just to read it. This was one of those novels that I resented having to go to work because I wanted to keep reading it. But I also savoured it because I didn't want it to end. I am recommending this novel big time.
June 18, 2023
I should’ve known something was wrong when I found this on Libby’s “available now” tab. Nothing good is ever available in my library system.
June 23, 2024
This one is more about my journey and less about the review, but we can do both.
Time Squared works to explore women's agency across different eras. Eleanor and Robin meet in 1811, but Eleanor begins experiencing memories of other lives, revealing a mental time-jumping she calls 'glimpses.' As Robin fights in various wars, Eleanor lives through different struggles of her own. The novel delves into the roles, power, and stresses women face throughout history and their impact on relationships.
When I randomly started this audiobook from Everand, Time Squared was sporting a baffling (at the time) rating of 2.62, averaged from 1,785 ratings. When I took note of this, I said on my Instagram story: I'm enjoying it so far (at 25%), and this would have to take a sharp left turn into Crazytown at this point to warrant such a low rating on Goodreads.
Then I went through some of the reviews. Most of the 1-star reviews I ran across were DNFs, which...I guess that's a personal decision, but I don't rate my DNFs...so those are ignorable — for the most part — to me. The 'for most part' element being that as I neared the halfway point, I could see the reasoning for abandoning the book as a DNF.
This is a marketing issue on top of issues with the book itself. Let's dive in.
The author blurb likens this book to Life After Life meets Never Let Me Go, and while I can definitely see hints of the former in loose terms, the latter is a stretch. Now, the name and the title itself play roles here. And basically, most people are going into this expecting some element of sci-fi or sc-fi-adjacent time travel. That's not this book.
Over more than the first half of the book is set in the 1800s. Granted, as I looked into this by reviewing the audiobook, it must be noted that it is hard to pull apart the 1800s periods as separate and stand alone from the others, especially with the audiobook. My thoughts while listening were that the 1800s periods were one full and complete setting, two at the most. Because Eleanor is almost always surrounded by the same people and interested in the same man, and they all have the nearly the exact same name every time, it is incredibly hard to decipher the lives as distinct and detached. Time Squared hits about 13 different time 'Eleanor eras,' ranging from as early as 61 AD and as late as 2019.
In the end, I found this one to suffer from some pretty heavy identity, marketing, and structural issues. The themes covered were pretty evident as we went along, but even those became messy and confused with the romance element stirred in through various angles at different times. I was pretty invested in finding out the root of Eleanor's glimpses until it started becoming clearer what these were, and as the end rolled neared I grew rightly suspicious that this would use an element I have come to loathe — in film and books. It did.
Audiobook, as narrated by Helen Taylor: Taylor did a great job — this was a confusingly anchored book for audio format, and any issues I had were not related to Taylor's narration.
Time Squared works to explore women's agency across different eras. Eleanor and Robin meet in 1811, but Eleanor begins experiencing memories of other lives, revealing a mental time-jumping she calls 'glimpses.' As Robin fights in various wars, Eleanor lives through different struggles of her own. The novel delves into the roles, power, and stresses women face throughout history and their impact on relationships.
When I randomly started this audiobook from Everand, Time Squared was sporting a baffling (at the time) rating of 2.62, averaged from 1,785 ratings. When I took note of this, I said on my Instagram story: I'm enjoying it so far (at 25%), and this would have to take a sharp left turn into Crazytown at this point to warrant such a low rating on Goodreads.
Then I went through some of the reviews. Most of the 1-star reviews I ran across were DNFs, which...I guess that's a personal decision, but I don't rate my DNFs...so those are ignorable — for the most part — to me. The 'for most part' element being that as I neared the halfway point, I could see the reasoning for abandoning the book as a DNF.
This is a marketing issue on top of issues with the book itself. Let's dive in.
The author blurb likens this book to Life After Life meets Never Let Me Go, and while I can definitely see hints of the former in loose terms, the latter is a stretch. Now, the name and the title itself play roles here. And basically, most people are going into this expecting some element of sci-fi or sc-fi-adjacent time travel. That's not this book.
Over more than the first half of the book is set in the 1800s. Granted, as I looked into this by reviewing the audiobook, it must be noted that it is hard to pull apart the 1800s periods as separate and stand alone from the others, especially with the audiobook. My thoughts while listening were that the 1800s periods were one full and complete setting, two at the most. Because Eleanor is almost always surrounded by the same people and interested in the same man, and they all have the nearly the exact same name every time, it is incredibly hard to decipher the lives as distinct and detached. Time Squared hits about 13 different time 'Eleanor eras,' ranging from as early as 61 AD and as late as 2019.
In the end, I found this one to suffer from some pretty heavy identity, marketing, and structural issues. The themes covered were pretty evident as we went along, but even those became messy and confused with the romance element stirred in through various angles at different times. I was pretty invested in finding out the root of Eleanor's glimpses until it started becoming clearer what these were, and as the end rolled neared I grew rightly suspicious that this would use an element I have come to loathe — in film and books. It did.
Audiobook, as narrated by Helen Taylor: Taylor did a great job — this was a confusingly anchored book for audio format, and any issues I had were not related to Taylor's narration.
September 28, 2021
Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for giving me an ebook copy of this novel in exchange for a review.
I finished this book a couple of days ago and I have let it percolate so I can get a handle on my thoughts about it. My feeling is generally positive: it’s an enjoyable read. Some of the characters are on the whole interesting, as is the concept; that is what really drives this novel. The settings and writing are good. I would say it is a pleasant enough read.
The book is described as being like Life After Life by Kate Atkinson who, to be fair is one of my all time favourite writers so I came to the boom with high expectations. It is nowhere near as good as Atkinson’s, unfortunately and it’s a pity they have lumped the two together.
The whole idea of the novel is to show how women’s roles have changed over the decades but it really fails to achieve this as it is so focused on the time slip nature of it and the non relationship between the two love interests. It’s insta-love and we’re meant to think that will last them through the decades together - we know very little about Robin/Rob/Robert because the main character only knows that when she looks into his eyes he’s the one she’ll marry. So there is no tension in their relationship, no passion and the difficulties they face are due to him being at some war or other and never having more than a few conversations together.
Also as the characters acknowledge themselves, the main character is given a life of leisure and who basically does nothing in any of her carnations so how is that showing a changing role of women? She chooses to have barely any role! She is incredibly passive in a way that even when women were supposed to be passive she managed to be the worst possible.
So there isn’t much of plot, just a new page and you working out where she is now and how much time has moved on. (if you don’t know the history of the wars of the 19th/20th century it might be a bit lost on you). The other characters are fairly one dimensional and the writer seems to suggest that changing their names (ENDLESSLY!!) will make us feel that they interesting people in differing times. Her best friend is Kitty/Catherine/Kat/Kate/Katy/Cait and after a while that’s just annoying! She never seems to know if the love interest is Robin or Robert. Aunt Clara is always Clara though, until she’s aunt Joan!
It really is interesting reading what time it is and where they are and that sort of thing. I particularly liked the Roman bit but overall I was underwhelmed by this and didn’t love it like I thought I would. Having said that I wanted to read on, I didn’t feel dread when picking it up (like I did another book I read recently) and I was satisfied with the ending.
I finished this book a couple of days ago and I have let it percolate so I can get a handle on my thoughts about it. My feeling is generally positive: it’s an enjoyable read. Some of the characters are on the whole interesting, as is the concept; that is what really drives this novel. The settings and writing are good. I would say it is a pleasant enough read.
The book is described as being like Life After Life by Kate Atkinson who, to be fair is one of my all time favourite writers so I came to the boom with high expectations. It is nowhere near as good as Atkinson’s, unfortunately and it’s a pity they have lumped the two together.
The whole idea of the novel is to show how women’s roles have changed over the decades but it really fails to achieve this as it is so focused on the time slip nature of it and the non relationship between the two love interests. It’s insta-love and we’re meant to think that will last them through the decades together - we know very little about Robin/Rob/Robert because the main character only knows that when she looks into his eyes he’s the one she’ll marry. So there is no tension in their relationship, no passion and the difficulties they face are due to him being at some war or other and never having more than a few conversations together.
Also as the characters acknowledge themselves, the main character is given a life of leisure and who basically does nothing in any of her carnations so how is that showing a changing role of women? She chooses to have barely any role! She is incredibly passive in a way that even when women were supposed to be passive she managed to be the worst possible.
So there isn’t much of plot, just a new page and you working out where she is now and how much time has moved on. (if you don’t know the history of the wars of the 19th/20th century it might be a bit lost on you). The other characters are fairly one dimensional and the writer seems to suggest that changing their names (ENDLESSLY!!) will make us feel that they interesting people in differing times. Her best friend is Kitty/Catherine/Kat/Kate/Katy/Cait and after a while that’s just annoying! She never seems to know if the love interest is Robin or Robert. Aunt Clara is always Clara though, until she’s aunt Joan!
It really is interesting reading what time it is and where they are and that sort of thing. I particularly liked the Roman bit but overall I was underwhelmed by this and didn’t love it like I thought I would. Having said that I wanted to read on, I didn’t feel dread when picking it up (like I did another book I read recently) and I was satisfied with the ending.
December 30, 2021
I really struggled to engage with this strange time lapse story and to get anything out of it. I wondered whether a pause before writing my review would help but it only served to convince me that it was a highly forgettable novel, more interesting conceptually than in the reading of it. Sorry, but not for me.
With thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.
With thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.
October 30, 2021
What a vibe, would recommend- like if Jane Austen had written Cloud Atlas.
Pulling on themes of class, war, the role of women, romance, and tension between generations, Time Squared is a delightful story that straddles the line between romance/slice of life and high concept science fiction. It languishes in the day to day details of the historical sections and seems to drag, but the last third of the book when the sci fi element truly takes off more than makes up for it.
Summary:
Eleanor lives with her aunt, who is trying to marry her to a smart match. But she finds herself drawn to Robin, an officer in the military, who never stays in town long enough.
The war he's fighting in, the year they're living in, the details of how her aunt tries to set her up with suitors- those keep changing, but Eleanor and Robin are in the same situation, over and over, and Eleanor is the only person with the faintest clue that something amiss is going on.
I listened to the audiobook and really liked the narration. Just one narrator but the voices between characters was good, the narration style changed to suit the time period which helped to orient to where/when the story was. Since the setting/time period weren't in the chapter titles, it's super important to pay attention to the first few seconds of each new part to make sure you catch the current year.
I really liked this and would recommend! I wish we'd gotten a clue about the sci fi twist before we had, but the ~suspense~ and disorientation also added to the book so I can't complain too much.
Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for the review audiobook copy provided in exchange for an honest review
Pulling on themes of class, war, the role of women, romance, and tension between generations, Time Squared is a delightful story that straddles the line between romance/slice of life and high concept science fiction. It languishes in the day to day details of the historical sections and seems to drag, but the last third of the book when the sci fi element truly takes off more than makes up for it.
Summary:
Eleanor lives with her aunt, who is trying to marry her to a smart match. But she finds herself drawn to Robin, an officer in the military, who never stays in town long enough.
The war he's fighting in, the year they're living in, the details of how her aunt tries to set her up with suitors- those keep changing, but Eleanor and Robin are in the same situation, over and over, and Eleanor is the only person with the faintest clue that something amiss is going on.
I listened to the audiobook and really liked the narration. Just one narrator but the voices between characters was good, the narration style changed to suit the time period which helped to orient to where/when the story was. Since the setting/time period weren't in the chapter titles, it's super important to pay attention to the first few seconds of each new part to make sure you catch the current year.
I really liked this and would recommend! I wish we'd gotten a clue about the sci fi twist before we had, but the ~suspense~ and disorientation also added to the book so I can't complain too much.
Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for the review audiobook copy provided in exchange for an honest review
July 26, 2023
I really wanted to like this book but honestly it was boring. Who needs such a description of buying something from Nordstrom sales rack!
June 18, 2021
Does love slow down time, or speed it up, or make it turn back on itself? The answer is “all of the above” in this genre-bending novel. In the course of the story, we see two characters meet, fall in love, and create a life together. Their love story unfolds slowly, while time rushes by around them – so quickly they end up in various eras with various sets of odds stacked against them. Various characters travel with them … sort of … appearing in different guises like a movie with the same actors playing different roles.
What starts out as a gentle Regency romance becomes a meditation on how women’s thoughts and feelings are shaped by their times. And then it becomes … something else entirely. And then something else. But I won’t give the ending away.
Lesley Krueger is a writer with an enormous range. You might want to read Time Squared just to wonder how she pulls off yet another genre, or genres, or you might just enjoy its playful twists and turns. Comparisons to Kate Atkinson’s work are obvious, but Time Squared made me think more of If On A Winter’s Night a Traveler crossed with Pride and Prejudice crossed with … well, you'll have to read it to see.
This is a flight of the imagination that might disorient you at times, but rest assured, there’s nothing accidental in this book. It’s an intricately structured and wildly creative ride.
What starts out as a gentle Regency romance becomes a meditation on how women’s thoughts and feelings are shaped by their times. And then it becomes … something else entirely. And then something else. But I won’t give the ending away.
Lesley Krueger is a writer with an enormous range. You might want to read Time Squared just to wonder how she pulls off yet another genre, or genres, or you might just enjoy its playful twists and turns. Comparisons to Kate Atkinson’s work are obvious, but Time Squared made me think more of If On A Winter’s Night a Traveler crossed with Pride and Prejudice crossed with … well, you'll have to read it to see.
This is a flight of the imagination that might disorient you at times, but rest assured, there’s nothing accidental in this book. It’s an intricately structured and wildly creative ride.
January 27, 2022
I just didn't care for this. It was fine but I just didn't connect and I honestly don't know if we time travelled in the first half or not because I was surprised when we were suddenly in a different era like 75% of the way through
October 14, 2021
I listened to the audio version of this novel. I unfortunately did not like it, though I thought the premise was intriguing. I expected more scifi/ time travel than what this actually turned out to be.
I listened to ~30% of the story and saw that I still had 7+ hours left. Even listening at 2x+ speed, I knew I could not tolerate that much more of this book. It was boring and the characters were unlikable. The story had been taking place primarily in the Victorian era. The characters had terribly affected personalities. This was probably a combination of the writing and the voice of the narrator. I do not automatically dislike Victorian era novels, but this one was very unappealing. Maybe that was part of the author's objective. She may have wanted to demonstrate the cultural norms for women of that time period in England. Yuck. Mission accomplished? Maybe. I wouldn't have wanted to be one of those women.
I knew this novel included other time periods, so I decided to jump ahead. I did find some more interesting content, but just barely. I missed the part where the main character learned what was happening to her at some future time. I wanted to hear that part; and if I had a print copy, I probably would have thumbed through until I found it. However, I decided it was not worth the effort.
I still believe this is a very interesting concept, but the execution was overly long and tedious. I could not relate to the characters, mainly because I found them unlikable.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
I listened to ~30% of the story and saw that I still had 7+ hours left. Even listening at 2x+ speed, I knew I could not tolerate that much more of this book. It was boring and the characters were unlikable. The story had been taking place primarily in the Victorian era. The characters had terribly affected personalities. This was probably a combination of the writing and the voice of the narrator. I do not automatically dislike Victorian era novels, but this one was very unappealing. Maybe that was part of the author's objective. She may have wanted to demonstrate the cultural norms for women of that time period in England. Yuck. Mission accomplished? Maybe. I wouldn't have wanted to be one of those women.
I knew this novel included other time periods, so I decided to jump ahead. I did find some more interesting content, but just barely. I missed the part where the main character learned what was happening to her at some future time. I wanted to hear that part; and if I had a print copy, I probably would have thumbed through until I found it. However, I decided it was not worth the effort.
I still believe this is a very interesting concept, but the execution was overly long and tedious. I could not relate to the characters, mainly because I found them unlikable.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
April 17, 2023
I mean…”time travel”? This book was confusing and maddeningly boring. At this point I would have just settled for them picking one time period and living through it…idk and the ending? Complete left field for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2023
I found it incredibly slow and boring and couldn’t make it through more than a third. Was expecting more time travel and less bored Victorian women.
abandoned-books
March 23, 2023DNF at 40%. If the time travel hasn't even kicked in by then, there's no hope for this slow regency-era marriage hunt
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2021
Time Squared by Leslie Krueger has been weighing on my mind for several days, now. It is the story of Eleanor Crosby who appears to have lived several lives, but only one life. Her lives begin in Regency England where she meets Captain Robin Denholm and begins a tentative correspondence with him as he is off fighting in the Boer War. They grow closer and it looks like a romance, then all of a sudden their romance is happening in a different time, a different setting. He is still away at war. She is still waiting. Her friends and family are still surrounding her: some different, some the same. The story continues and it happens again. She doesn't really notice, but occasionally she'll have an odd dream or a flash of a memory. She has migraines (or megrims). Are they the cause? Is she mentally ill?
Very strange book with time working in waves. Intriguing and interesting to see her personality, and the personalities of those around her, developing on different timelines. I had no idea what was going on, but I kept reading. The characters were good. It amazed me that the same storyline could be played out in so many settings. It is a work of art, really. I enjoyed it as much as I was fascinated by it. You'll have to read it for yourself in order to understand. I recommend it.
I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Time Squared by Baker and Taylor, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #bakerandtaylor #timesquared
Very strange book with time working in waves. Intriguing and interesting to see her personality, and the personalities of those around her, developing on different timelines. I had no idea what was going on, but I kept reading. The characters were good. It amazed me that the same storyline could be played out in so many settings. It is a work of art, really. I enjoyed it as much as I was fascinated by it. You'll have to read it for yourself in order to understand. I recommend it.
I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Time Squared by Baker and Taylor, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #bakerandtaylor #timesquared
March 5, 2025
A unique concept for a time travel book. At first it was a little confusing; decades would go by but the characters acted as if it was only months. It only became obvious that the world was changing when technology started to change dramatically. Later characters and situations changed significantly as well. It starts, and takes place for most of the book in the 19th century, but doesn't stay there and briefly visits the 16th and 17th century and of course the 20th and 21st.
Our main character is Eleanor Crosby who lives with her Aunt Clara since her father died, who was a minister. It is time she gets a husband. She has a dear friend Catherine. The Denholm brothers are visiting their area, Middleford, Yorkshire and the eldest is the most attractive catch, as the heir to the family castle, while the younger in uniform about to head out to war.
There’s a quite a cast of characters, the above being the most important, and they all seem to reappear in each time line. The book is held as being a romance through the different eras where Eleanor is trying to be with Robin. It is that in a way, but much more.
It’s an uncommon book and the ending does try to provide some reasoning for what all came before, but I was not much of a fan of that. Despite that part I did enjoy the way the book worked and the style of writing. It was an intriguing book.
Book rating: 3.75 stars
Our main character is Eleanor Crosby who lives with her Aunt Clara since her father died, who was a minister. It is time she gets a husband. She has a dear friend Catherine. The Denholm brothers are visiting their area, Middleford, Yorkshire and the eldest is the most attractive catch, as the heir to the family castle, while the younger in uniform about to head out to war.
There’s a quite a cast of characters, the above being the most important, and they all seem to reappear in each time line. The book is held as being a romance through the different eras where Eleanor is trying to be with Robin. It is that in a way, but much more.
It’s an uncommon book and the ending does try to provide some reasoning for what all came before, but I was not much of a fan of that. Despite that part I did enjoy the way the book worked and the style of writing. It was an intriguing book.
Book rating: 3.75 stars
December 2, 2021
Time Squared was a total surprise, not what I expected at all. It’s a complex and fascinating mystery, with a twist that I definitely did not see coming. It’s also a moving love story. Eleanor is a smart woman from a privileged background who falls deeply in love with a man who respects her desire to be more than a wife. But Eleanor’s life is reshaped over and again because she keeps landing in a different time period. That’s one of the intriguing puzzles in the book, the lifestyle clues that tell the reader what year Eleanor’s in (hint: from antiquity to contemporary). The man she loves hops time with her. He’s always a soldier and there’s always another war to fight, though some are more just than others. Theirs is a beautiful love story full of passion and commitment.
I had a great discussion about Time Squared with my mini-book club, particularly about the ending. I’m not going to give anything away, except to say that it could make you wonder if you might ever have done some time travelling yourself! I’m definitely going to recommend it to my big condo book club. It’s a clever, beautifully written, engaging and provocative read. I really enjoyed it.
I had a great discussion about Time Squared with my mini-book club, particularly about the ending. I’m not going to give anything away, except to say that it could make you wonder if you might ever have done some time travelling yourself! I’m definitely going to recommend it to my big condo book club. It’s a clever, beautifully written, engaging and provocative read. I really enjoyed it.
October 24, 2021
I had an audio copy of this book, and this is a review of that. I loved most of this book, but the ending wasn’t for me. The narrator was perfect for this book, I really enjoyed listening to this and would have given it 5 star if the ending had been more to my taste. I’m sure others will enjoy it though.
July 4, 2023
Ug. I got bored. It was mostly a regency period romance with a few paragraphs of alternate universe type experiences. But the proportion was wrong. Too much regency and not enough time warps to keep me interested. It was all very muddled. I got bored and this was almost a DNF but I skipped to the end to see what the great mystery was. That part was sort of interesting. In the middle of the book it switched to more modern times but I didn't pay close attention because I kept skipping large chunks.
February 23, 2023
I feel like the premise of this book is what many people don't like because they get sucked into the different storylines in the different times. But this just shows that Krueger is a good writer as she does this. While the explanation and resolution weren't my favorite, this was ambitious and deserves more than a 2 star rating.
October 8, 2021
This could have been interesting if the machinations of the end characters were interwoven into the whole story, rather than being a reveal at the end.
Instead, it read like Jane Austen fan fiction. And, I’m not a fan.
Instead, it read like Jane Austen fan fiction. And, I’m not a fan.
June 10, 2023
DNF. Got bored.
April 11, 2023
I'm shocked to see the overall low rating on this book. I'm going to make a perhaps unfair assumption that a lot of readers picked this up thinking it was a historical romance, and when it turned out to be a good deal more complicated than that, they gave it a thumbs-down and moved onto more straightforward fare.
This is a wonderfully interesting and very well-written novel that keeps you guessing until about the 90% mark. Like one of the jacket blurbs says, I got a whiff of Life After Life from Time Squared -- although Life After Life is inarguably the superior novel, those who liked it are almost sure to like this one too.
The way that Eleanor's life flows and changes with the time period she's dropped into is really quite profound. I particularly like how it forces readers who are well-acquainted with Regency/early Victorian romance to really internalize how stifling those periods are compared with modernity.
The solution to Eleanor's time slippage was not something I foresaw -- I really thought it was going to be more mystical/romance-y. It turned out to be soft SF instead. But I appreciated that.
A couple spoilery comments:
This is a wonderfully interesting and very well-written novel that keeps you guessing until about the 90% mark. Like one of the jacket blurbs says, I got a whiff of Life After Life from Time Squared -- although Life After Life is inarguably the superior novel, those who liked it are almost sure to like this one too.
The way that Eleanor's life flows and changes with the time period she's dropped into is really quite profound. I particularly like how it forces readers who are well-acquainted with Regency/early Victorian romance to really internalize how stifling those periods are compared with modernity.
The solution to Eleanor's time slippage was not something I foresaw -- I really thought it was going to be more mystical/romance-y. It turned out to be soft SF instead. But I appreciated that.
A couple spoilery comments:
August 8, 2024
What I was excited about: A romance of fated lovers told across time and space as the main character drifts in and out of her own timeline.
What I loved: The reveal truly surprised me and didn’t disappoint. I loved when the fantasy flipped on its head into a sci-fi world. It was so good. But I also imagine could be a very polarizing narrative choice. The resolution felt tidy and as happy as it could be, given the reveal. I also enjoyed getting to know the many versions of Elizabeth. She is so different in each life, but also remains the same.
What I didn’t love: There are a lot of secondary characters that get lost in the narrative, but given the reveal - maybe that’s intentional. I also felt like the plot does drag at points as her lives are explored, but because each one basically is the same, the monotony loses its impact. Instead of a thought provoking literary device, it becomes slow moving and boring repetition. Also, the romance never feels super genuine. It’s like it’s missing a spark (again maybe intentional given the reveal).
Who I’d recommend this to: Any sci-fi lover who enjoys the idea of fate and multiple lives told across time.
What I loved: The reveal truly surprised me and didn’t disappoint. I loved when the fantasy flipped on its head into a sci-fi world. It was so good. But I also imagine could be a very polarizing narrative choice. The resolution felt tidy and as happy as it could be, given the reveal. I also enjoyed getting to know the many versions of Elizabeth. She is so different in each life, but also remains the same.
What I didn’t love: There are a lot of secondary characters that get lost in the narrative, but given the reveal - maybe that’s intentional. I also felt like the plot does drag at points as her lives are explored, but because each one basically is the same, the monotony loses its impact. Instead of a thought provoking literary device, it becomes slow moving and boring repetition. Also, the romance never feels super genuine. It’s like it’s missing a spark (again maybe intentional given the reveal).
Who I’d recommend this to: Any sci-fi lover who enjoys the idea of fate and multiple lives told across time.
Read
April 22, 2023Everything about this book premise captured my imagination. Time travel, looking at women's roles, romance for all the ages.
Unfortunately, nothing was gelling. Here's the thing: I was completely confused at the lack of time transitions and purpose. At 44%, we were still establishing a never gonna happen slow burn. I read the major plot twist spoiler and still doesn't fit the book.
Too ambitious. There was a huge disconnect of all moving parts. At over 300 pages and 12 hours, there should be more movement 40% in. I should be invested in characters and plots. Read more like a Austen fanfic when it came to Eleanor's observations. With a pinch of Romance royalty name issues.
And let's not mention the amount of colonialist rhetoric involving British troops in India and the Boer War. Meant to discuss the impact of women, it was super myopic and seemed on only reference removed white women's history. That's where I said enough. Felt like character cosplay.
Maybe it's good later on. I don't know. But investing a few days' worth (~4 hours) tells me that I'm okay not learning the rest.
Unfortunately, nothing was gelling. Here's the thing: I was completely confused at the lack of time transitions and purpose. At 44%, we were still establishing a never gonna happen slow burn. I read the major plot twist spoiler and still doesn't fit the book.
Too ambitious. There was a huge disconnect of all moving parts. At over 300 pages and 12 hours, there should be more movement 40% in. I should be invested in characters and plots. Read more like a Austen fanfic when it came to Eleanor's observations. With a pinch of Romance royalty name issues.
And let's not mention the amount of colonialist rhetoric involving British troops in India and the Boer War. Meant to discuss the impact of women, it was super myopic and seemed on only reference removed white women's history. That's where I said enough. Felt like character cosplay.
Maybe it's good later on. I don't know. But investing a few days' worth (~4 hours) tells me that I'm okay not learning the rest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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