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There are currently 41 member reviews
for Until the Next Time
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Erin S. (Springville, UT)
Interesting Concept that Struggles with Execution
Until the Next Time part historical fiction and part religious/reincarnation philosophy presented in a creative format. I liked the idea of the novel, and I enjoyed reading about a different culture and set of beliefs. Unfortunately, the writing and execution made it difficult for me to get into the story. I did not feel much connection or interest to the characters, and most especially to the love story.
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Philip K. (San Anselmo, Ca)
No next time
This book explores the concept of reincarnation using 3 generations of an Irish American family to try to accomplish the authors goal. While the concept of reincarnation is fascinating, Fox is too weak an author to make this a satisfying read. His characters are caricatures of The Irish IRA types and the depiction of Bloody Friday has been better done by many others. Despite the hackneyed writing and a weak story line, the novel was entertaining and informative about a period of Irish- English history that few of us in the United States know much about if we are not of Irish descent.
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Carol N. (Indian Springs VIllage, AL)
Until Next Time
I don't consider myself a prude, but it does bother me when an author uses foul language so freely in his books, as if he cannot come up with anything better to say to describe the situation. That being said, the book did have some interesting characters, especially the women who seemed to me the strongest of the people in the story. I would have enjoyed more history of Ireland as well as I have relatives from there and would like to know more about it. I did not consider this book as 'suspense' but it was interesting once you got past the constant use of one particular word and phrase.
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Patricia D. (Woodland Hills, CA)
Can Love Continue Forever?
Can you search forever, even into the next life, and ever find your true life story and your true love? Moving through the parallel stories of Sean and Michael who are living during different time periods yet looking for similar historical truths of their family is at first intriguing to the reader. But then the moving back and forth in time and learning how reincarnation can help your searches and trying to find the love of your life, loses the reader in more of a make-believe story. Some of the history of the bloody revolutions in Ireland make the story move along. But "coming back" into another body to continue the fight, the family search, the perfect love, destroys the continuity of the book. I liked the female characters for their strength and assuredness for the direction that they took. The women are always lecturing the males that "death don't matter so much. What matters if the next life." Second chances are what's important. A lot of this philosophy didn't make sense to this reader and made the story less believable. Because of the way the next life is stressed through reincarnation, religious beliefs become unbelievable themselves and these ideas might offend some readers. There is a paranormal flavor to the story which adds to the suspense and how this novel is concluded. Will love be found or lost in your next life? Kevin Fox has given the reader much to think about.
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Sharon V. (Chicago, IL)
Until the Next Time
This fresh and original perspective on reincarnation follows 21-year Sean Corrigan to Ireland on a journey to learn more about his Uncle Michael while searching for his soul mate. While told in a clever voice that paints a colorful and rich portrait of Irish history, culture and ideals, the dual storyline felt redundant and the characters difficult to differentiate.
The intense prologue about one man's obsession sets the reader’s expectations high. Unfortunately, the plot becomes bogged down in too many moral lessons and loses sight of its goal somewhere around Page 100.
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Carol T. (Ankeny, Iowa)
Time Travel with a twist
Nice time travel and interesting premise, but the device of using the same names in different generations (Sean Michael, Michael Sean) makes the reader work harder than necessary early on. The more the reader has to work, the more likely he or she will put the book down without finishing it.
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Karen R. (Locust Grove, VA)
Just ok for me
I looked forward to read this book which for the most part takes place in Ireland, a place I recently visited for the first time. I enjoyed the bits that give us a perspective of Ireland's heritage. But I thought the story was confusing and uneven. Maybe I just don't do well with chapters that intertwine past/present and time travel. It was hard for me to keep the characters straight, to remember who was who. I didn't find myself caring about any of the characters. This book was compared to the writing style of The Time Traveler's Wife. That book also was confusing for me, I couldn't get thru it initially. But after seeing the movie, I went back to the book and really enjoyed it. Perhaps that is what I need in this case!
