All Our Wrong Todays
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an unbiased review.
Caveat: I love time-travel stories, so read my review with that in mind.
That being said, I loved how twisty this story was. Yes, this was a book about time-travel, but it really revolved around the frailties of life. How people self-sabotage, how arrogance causes lack of focus, how lack of focus causes accidents that can spiral into... well, BIG accidents.
The "hero" of our book, Tom, is both affable and churlish, while his alter-egos are just plain jerks. Actually, jerks is putting it mildly. While there are parts of Tom you probably won't like, you'll root for him anyway. There were many times during my journey through these pages where I didn't really know which outcome to hope for, and that was cool with me - because it meant I was waiting for the author to guide me there.
We meet several incarnations of a few of the characters, and that's always interesting in an alternate-reality/time-travel story. We always hope that the "good guys" make it out alive - right? Well, it's all resting on the shoulders of Tom. This under-achieving miscreant who had a bit of a tantrum and took off in a time machine without permission.
Okay, I'm underselling that point - there are mitigating circumstances. A girl is involved, and you gotta absolve a dude when there's a girl involved. Then there's the whole father thing, and well... I don't want to give the story away. Lemme just say this, you'll totally underestimate Tom, because he needs some time, some perspective, and a little help from a hero with clay feet to make him into a pretty brilliant guy in the end.
I have to say, even when Tom laid everything out for me, I still didn't put all the pieces together - and then when it all fell into place - it was like - how did I miss that? A few carefully chosen words and nothing is perfect again, but it's the best outcome for everyone.
I really enjoyed this book, and I hope there's more to come from Elan Mastai.