Time of My LifeAllison Winn Scotch
I can't believe I made it all the way through this lazy, lazy book. It just goes to show you how absolutely addled my brain must be with finals stress. Because this book? Is just awful. And lazy. Did I mention lazy?
I don't know how to adequately describe to you how lazy the book is and I don't think the book warrants a full review because if the author isn't going to try with her product, I'm not going to try to review it. Suffice it to say, I think I can sum up the problem quickly and give you a gist of why Time of My Life sucks, and why Winn Scotch is the kind of writer who gives chick lit a bad name. And that's going to have to be enough because I'm not going to put any more effort into it than that.
Jillian (AKA Jill) is unfulfilled in her suburban Westchester County life so during a massage, when the masseuse unblocks her chi, she goes back in time to the year 2000, to her old life in Manhattan and her old boyfriend, Jackson (AKA Jack, making "Jack and Jill" which = BARF). From there she has to decide whether she wants to continue on the path of what might have been or go back to her old life and her husband and child. Obviously by the end she chooses blah blah blah and realizes that LOVE and FATE and DESTINY but on the way she sets things right and stuff and they all live happily ever after etc. But anyway. What's the first thing you think of when you hear the words "New York" and "year 2000?"
Right. Winn Scotch never mentions it. Not once. Not one quiet moment when Jill (who ostensibly lived in New York when the Towers fell) peeks out of a taxi window and sees that unbroken Manhattan skyline. She's too caught up in an advertising campaign she never got to pitch for her client back in the day. She just knows it's going to be a huge hit. "It's the zizz in the fizz that makes Coke what it is!" And while you're at it, try Doc Redfern's purple pills. In the phosphates aisle! Yeah, I don't buy it.
This sad thing is, Winn Scotch is not an untalented writer. She's got good ideas. And this book could have been so cool. With a little effort. Or like, any effort. At all.
Rating: 1 of 5 stars
Sorry this didn't work for you. :(
ReplyDeleteI read this a while ago and thought it was just average. I don't remember a lot about it.
ReplyDeletebut it was 2001 that it happened, not 2000...
ReplyDeletehowever, i don't begrudge you your reaction. this review is BRILLIANT. especially enjoyed your jack+jill=barf (oh how i laughed!)
you make me want to be braver in my reviewing - so thank you!!
Hi Connie,
ReplyDeleteThis popped up in my google alert, and I just wanted to chime in that I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the book. That said, I did want to say that in fact, early drafts of the book of course mentioned 9/11, and it was a very conscious decision to then take it out, as the event conjured up too many different emotions for people across the board. So it wasn't lazy, it was intentional.
Anyway, so sorry this didn't work for you. That's why reading is subjective.
All best,
Allison
Kate: I know it was 2000 Jill went back to, but the Towers would still be standing, and there's no way Jill would not notice them! Anyway, thank you for your kind words.
ReplyDeleteAllison: Thank you for the clarification. I understand that 9/11 could be difficult to write about. Disagreement is part of the fun of reading, I guess! Best of luck to you as you prepare for your next novel to come out.
I read and reviewed this last year and enjoyed it! Sorry it didn't work for you!
ReplyDeleteGreat review - you had me laughing out loud throughout. I especially loved how you snuck in the L.M.Montgomery reference - I really must go back and re-read The Blue Castle...
ReplyDeleteoh! i get you know. sorry! yes, you are right.
ReplyDeleteI just love a good negative review. This does sound awful ... esp. the Jack and Jill part.
ReplyDeleteSorry this didn't work for you. It has always looked like good fluffy fun to me. Ah well, can't win them all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a good honest review. There are too many times we as reviewers try to sugar coat what is truly a bad book. Saying "it doesn't work for me" or "gee, I guess this might work for someone else" is ok, as long as we also say that the writing was trite, the characters banal, the plot lousy, etc etc. We need to be brave enough to say why it doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteI congratulate you on even finishing this one - I was so disappointed by it I couldn't even do that!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning :)
ReplyDeleteI loved this book. I thought the premise was great and it kept me turning the page until the end. I'm sorry you didn't like it.
ReplyDeleteI just today (5/10) got time to read this post. My first thought was that I just love how you scoff. My second thought was that it was 2001 when the towers fell - now I'm confused. My third thought was "oh, crap! there's the author chiming in!" I'll probably read the book just to see if I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteConnie -
ReplyDeleteI didn't love this book, either. I really wanted to because I absolutely love time-shift plots (that's why my husband picked it out for me), but mostly this book just annoyed me. I was relieved not to have to review it, as I read it in January just after I'd decided to take a leave of absence from my book blog.
For me, the main problem was the fact that Jill was a MOM and had a child and didn't really seem all that upset to be back in 2000. It drove me crazy that she considered staying with Jack because that would mean HER daughter - the one she left behind - would never be born. As a mother, if that happened to me (not that it could), no matter what mistakes I might have thought I made in the past, the number one goal would be to get back to my child...even if that meant doing everything exactly the same the second time around - of course, that wouldn't make a very interesting book, would it?
If you want to see the basic concept of this novel carried out in an amazing way, try Ken Grimwood's novel, Replay. It is my all-time favorite novel. I've read it 3 times (so far), and I find it wonderfully thought-provoking (that's why I'd already thought through what I would do in this situation!) here's my review:
http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2006/03/science-fiction-replay.html
Good luck on your final bit of law school - how exciting!! Now get back to work...
Sue
I loved reading this honest review. this was not a favorite book of mine, but I still enjoyed it in some ways. I am looking forward to her next soon to be released novel. She does have great cover art :)
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