Write your own review!
Valerie C. (Chico, CA)
(02/28/12)
a little slow moving
This book is a bit confusing, both by similarities in names, and in the time difference in chapters. It is also a bit slow moving. It may be perfect for someone with a strong interest in Ireland and its "troubles".
Betty B. (Irving, TX)
(02/28/12)
Until the Next Time
After reading about a third of Next Time, I was so lost I returned to the beginning and read with a pen in hand. I made notes of all the various relationships and that did help me follow the story in both time periods. This book has all the elements that I usually like. I just had difficulty connecting it all. Had it been told more straight-forwardly, I would have enjoyed it more.
Eloise F. (Poway, CA)
(02/24/12)
Not what I expected.
The Irish invited no sympathy: they were consistently argumentative, unpleasant, and dishonest. The Americans’ patience in the face of bizarre adventures wasn’t believable. The love story was shallow. It was too hard to read: too many names, characters and time periods, and the Irish accents were difficult (contrast Diana Gabaldon’s quite readable Scottish accents). If you are looking for time travel or historical fiction, look elsewhere. A reader more familiar with Irish history and the personality of the Irish might enjoy it more.
Cynthia C. (Peekskill, NY)
(02/23/12)
Disappointing time-travel novel
Comparisons to The Time Traveler's Wife made me anxious to read this novel. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into this story and was hard-pressed to finish it. I found switching between characters & time periods confusing and really didn't care for any of the characters. I thought the premise was good, but the execution was not.
Ann O. (Kansas City, MO)
(02/22/12)
Not one of my favorites about "time travel"!
I really wanted to love this book and requested it because a review said it was in the same category as Time and Again and The Time Traveler's Wife, two books I loved and read more than once. How mistaken that reviewer was! It was nothing like those two classics. Keeping track of the two main characters (Sean and Michael) what they were all about and what they wanted to do as well as understanding the language was a struggle. I had to keep flipping back to find out who was the subject of the chapter I was reading. I had such high hopes for this book and am disappointed that it wasn't what I expected.
Marge V. (Merriam, KS)
(02/21/12)
I Hope There Won't Be a Next Time
I found this book to have been very difficult to get into. Once I DID get into it, I found the changes in characters and in time periods disconcerting. The Irish folks' speeches were confusing now, weren't they? (:)) I found the Americans fathers to be awful men and the Irish relatives to be just as bad because they wouldn't share vital information to the 2 main American characters (and, therefore, to us the readers) in the different time periods. It was a very hard read for me. I didn't hate the book, it COULD have been a better one than it was.
Nikki M. (Fort Wayne, IN)
(02/21/12)
Good first novel
This was a good book. Not great, but good. It got a little bogged down in places, but was overall an enjoyable read. I do agree with another reviewer that phonetic spellings following the Gaelic words and names would be helpful. I get frustrated trying to "pronounce" the words in my head (incorrectly, I'm sure!) and it distracts me from the story.
Ruth O. (Downingtown, PA)
(02/20/12)
Fantasy and Reincarnation Elements
This book began with an interesting premise, with a young man receiving his late uncle’s diary for his 21st birthday—and the young man (Sean Michael) did not even know the uncle had ever existed! The rest of the book details Sean’s search for his uncle’s history. The chapters switched back and forth between viewpoints, and the dual heroes had reversed names (Michael Sean and Sean Michael) so it was difficult to keep track of the narrator at times. Midway through the book the story devolved into fantasy and reincarnation elements, neither of which particularly are of interest to me, and I generally don’t read books with these plot characteristics. Overall I had to force myself to finish it, although I would recommend it to a reader who likes plots with fantasy and reincarnation.