Title: Time of My Life
Author: Allison Winn Scotch
Publication Information: Shaye Areheart Books; 1 edition (October 7, 2008), 304 pgs.
Genre: Fiction – General/Fiction – Contemporary Women
Explanation/Summary:
The story revolves around Jillian Westfield, a suburban wife and mother. Jillian’s life looks like it could be straight out of a magazine. She has the life many dream of, yet she longs for something amidst the days of changing diapers and arguing with her husband. She can’t help wondering “What if?” about the choices she made along the way.
Then one day, she wakes up seven years in the past. Before the baby, and before the husband. She’s back in the time when her career meant everything, and when her relationship with her ex-boyfriend (the primary target of her “what-if’s”) was still deeply in tact.
With the knowledge of twenty-twenty hindsight, she has the chance to make each choice over again. She can fix fights, reconnect with loved ones, save a friend, impress clients and bosses. However, each new choice she makes has an impact that was unpredicted and leads her to wonder if the initial problem wasn’t her ex-boyfriend or her husband, but her…
Analysis and Evaluation:
I think many of us occasionally have those “what if?” thoughts. What if I’d done this instead of that? What if I’d mended that relationship instead of walking away from it? What if I’d said yes? Etc., etc., etc… Allison Winn Scotch weaves together an engaging tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat, but also, have you thinking about the choices you’ve made.
The writing works – the author clearly communicates the story. Time travel stories can certainly be challenging, and I’ve seen them go horribly wrong in the hands of a novice, but this author handles it with ease and makes it look effortless.
The strength of the book is the engaging story. The author effectively navigates through the questions and the answers of “What if” and leaves the reader to do a bit of wondering themselves.
The weakness is a big one, at least it is to me. The weakness is the foul language that is used in the book. The f-bomb is used more time than I could count, along with even more usage of words that take the Lord’s name in vain. I firmly believe that the writing in the book could have been just as good, just as effective, if those words had been removed or substituted with language that is not vulgar.
I truly enjoyed this book, it tells a good story. I read the book in about a day and a-half, it’s fast moving, engaging, and fun. But, I found myself getting more and more frustrated with the author each time I encountered, yet another, foul word.
I really wish I could give an enthusiastic “yes” to this question. However, I feel I must give this book a cautionary recommendation for the same reasons I listed in the previous question. It’s a good story, but if you are offended by foul language, the book will certainly offend you.
Thanks for the review–I’ll have to check this out. Right now I’m reading The Shack. Have you heard of it? It’s very powerful!
As soon as I typed that comment, I thought, “Hmmmm. I think Tanya’s the one where I heard about the Shack in the first place.” And then I checked your archives. Whoops. As I said, very powerful, but it’s taking me a while to read, because it’s a heavy book to get through. I’ll have to e-mail you when I’m done with it!
The storyline is certainly intriguing. Foul language doesn’t offend me, per se, but, I don’t know why, it does shock me when I see it. I guess because I don’t read a lot of books with bad words. lol