I was very excited when I read the description of I’ll Stop the World by Lauren Thoman. Time Travel? Yes, please!

In 2023, Justin Warren has never felt like he belonged. His grandparents were killed in a fire and his mom struggled with alcoholism.

On a rainy night, Justin has an accident and wakes up in 1985. There (then) he meets Rose and discovers that his grandparents a still alive. The fire will occur in a week and Justin and Rose work together to unravel the clues and try to prevent the tragedy from happening.

While this book met my time travel expectations, I’ll Stop the World is the quintessential Young Adult book. So much teen drama! I just wasn’t prepared for all the angst in this book and to be honest, I could have done without it.

The book also started off slowly with too many characters in two different timelines and told from too many POVs. It wasn’t until the about 25% mark that Justin actually travels back in time and the story starts to pick up its pace.

However, the mystery was well-crafted and the ending was satisfying. I also loved the 1985 setting since it brought back a lot of my memories about life in the 80s.

Overall, I’d recommend I’ll Stop the World as an entertaining read with a clever story but be prepared for a heavy dose of teen drama. 3.5 stars round down.

Thank you NetGalley and Mindy’s Book Studio for an advanced copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the authors, and publisher for the digital ARC of ”I’ll Stop The World.” I thought the book started off very strong and was intrigued by how time travel played a role in the plot. It seemed to be drawn out longer than it needed to though, with a lot of chapters devoted to wondering about whether or not they would be able to stop the events from happening. This definitely reads as a young adult book.

There are tons of characters introduced with busy story lines that begin to blur about 20% into the book. It became a pain to remember which story matched up with which character the way they switched from story line to story line. I feel like a few of the stories could have made a complete book on its own without over complicating the book.
It’s not a bad book, just not my preferred style of a read.

I feel a little duped by this book and description. I went into it expecting a time travel adventure with a murder mystery. Yes, it did have those things.

It also was clearly a YA book. All of the main characters are teenagers. You have to wade through the teenage angst muck in order to get to the good parts.

There were some good parts, but it just felt like the other parts overshadowed the good stuff.

Looking for a book that’s YA, includes a mystery, and involves time travel? Well, here you go. There are even a couple of twists thrown in, and one of them is a doozy. Add in a tense race against time, and the result is a unique and compelling story.

The cast of characters is made up almost entirely of teenagers. They suffer all the kinds of teen angst over issues such as romantic problems, family disagreements, college choice, and prom.

The local high school is named after the grandparents of one of the teenagers. The grandparents died in a fire at the school back in 1985. It was never discovered who started the fire. This is the central mystery of the book, and it turns out to be not at all straightforward.

The story moves back and forth between 1985 and the present. Someone does travel in time to the other time period, and it’s fun to see their culture shock and astonishment at the differences between the two worlds. Remember 1985? No cell phones, no texting, no Google. And that’s just for a start.

It took me until about the 30% point to really get into the book. It felt like a slow start. But this might be due to the fact that so many characters are introduced in the first section. I was often confused, and, although I began to recognize most of the names, there were a couple of kids I could never tell apart

The chapters are not marked to indicate the time period in which they take place. So in the early chapters it’s impossible to know which are set in 1985 and which in 2023. This is not a criticism, because I think it makes the book more interesting and causes the reader to pay close attention.

The strength of this book is the clever plotting and the intriguing twists. You will think you know how it’s going to turn out, but you will be wrong. I just love a book that keeps me wondering!

A smart, enthralling debut. Extra credit for the cool eighties title. ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2, available now.

My thanks to the author, Lauren Thoman, to the publisher, Mindy’s Book Studio, and to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book.

3.75/5 stars! When I saw that Mindy Kaling had written the introduction to this book, I knew that I'd have to read it. This book started feeling like "How to Get Away with Murder" and then took a quick turn into "Umbrella Academy" territory. There are timelines that smash and overlap and it truly is a unique story. However, I struggled keeping track of the competing timelines, which at times slowed things down for me.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

A intriguing and interesting premise a mystery spanning multiple generations and having to cross through time to solve it. I'll Stop the World sounded right up my street but sadly I was a bit disappointed. I just could not engage with the characters or story, I expected it to be more of a mystery thriller but instead it was more of a younger YA so sadly not for me.

I was very intrigued by the premise and Mindy Kaling’s introduction. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into this one. It may be a case of bad timing and I might come back to it in the future but for now this is a DNF for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

This book was so different than a lot of the other books I have read - in a good way.

As the characters start to take shape in the book. you find yourself enthralled with each of their stories. I loved how the story goes from 2023 to 1985. I also loved how Justin is so confused by things by not having any of the conveniences from the 2000's (cell phones, internet, social media, etc.). This is something all us 80's kids talk about a lot!

I also loved that there was a mystery aspect to this story line and that throughout the entire book, you are trying to figure out who caused the fire at the high school.

The ending ties everything together - definitely a 5 star read!!

This was such a fun read. This book is hefty but so fast paced.
Every character you meet is so developed through the book. You’re immediately drawn in to everyone.
My only downside is that It kinda felt like they were throwing too many pop culture references in to really show the time gap.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mindy’s Book Studio for the ARC in return for an honest review.

A story that crosses two timelines (and lifetimes) where a teenager gets the chance to save his grandparents from being murdered. An interesting story although I didn't quite get the same vibes as the other books referenced in the synopsis.

I wasn’t going to read this book because of some negative reviews I saw. I am so happy that I didn’t let the reviews deter me. I was unable to put the book down. For me it was a slow start with the many different POVs. The book really take off after page 116. All in all an amazing book.

"This is how I feel all the time. Like I took a wrong turn somewhere."

"Maybe there are a bunch of alternate universes where you make different choices.

Lauren Thoman, I loved your debut book and I cannot wait to read more of your work!!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)
•1985 / 2023
•Multiple points of views
•Time travel
•Questioning fate
•Solving a murder
•This is the 2nd book from Mindy Kaling's Book Studio

I don't usually like stories with so many characters but this is so well written. It's a slow build up and you'll see why all these characters are significant and connected. I enjoyed the twists and turns! This is definitely a book I would have to flip the pages back and unravel clues I might have missed! My favorite parts: When Justin and Rose first meet. And they realize theyre in different years lol. The main message I got from this book: Your actions can change the future. And this can apply to so many different scenarios and situations. Can this be made into a show?! I loved these characters so much! Thank you Netgalley for the arc!!!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I was drawn to this book when I saw that it was being endorsed by Mindy Kaling- I love her writing and think she is hilarious. I read a few chapters of this book before I DNF. When requested, didn’t realize it was a young adult book, I just don’t think I’m the right audience. I just couldn’t get into it.

This is definitely a YA novel - it’s been labeled as an adult mystery in some places, so just be aware of that going in. I do happen to love some YA stories from time to time, so I still would have picked this up! I am SO GLAD I did!!! This book was so much fun, it was a book that truly evoked the best feel good vibes.

Justin Warren is a high school student who feels he has no future, his life has always been defined by the suspicious and unsolved death of his grandparents. His mom, having grown up without her parents, turned to alcohol and rarely even notices her son. With graduation coming soon, Justin is trying to face what his future holds - or doesn’t hold.

Rose Yin lives in the same town as Justin, she is also a high school student, and she is struggling with problems of her own. Her step-mom is running for town mayor, and she feels like her friends and family all have better things to do than focus on her.

In a weird twist of events, Rose and Justin are brought together through time travel and they believe they have one week to solve the murders of Justin’s grandparents that have yet to happen.

This book is a delight to read, you get several different narrators who develop very well as the story goes on. I felt for these characters, I laughed and cried with them. Thoman writes a beautiful story that explores the power of friendship, the role of fate, and what could happen if someone was given a second chance. I loved the way this was written, the world building was done in such a way that I felt like I was there.

If you are looking for a heartfelt book and you enjoy multiple narrators, YA novels, and science fiction - pick this one up! I absolutely adored it, and cannot wait to read more from the author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mindy’s Book Studio, and Lauren Thoman for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

rating﹕★★★☆☆
｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

First I would like to say that I love this book!! The reason why this isn't a five star read is because the beginning was really slow. Right off the bat, I was already overwhelmed at the 'Table of Contents' because there is a lot of characters and multiple POVs.

I may as well have gone into this blind (I actually recommend people going to this blind, it's better if you don't really know what's going on for the full experience), I only skimmed through the summary before deciding to read this.

I really love the concept of this book- the idea of time travelling. I've always entertained the thought of time travelling existing but this just took it to another level. This book kind of made my brain hurt because I was trying to make sense of everything and how Justin and Stan did what they did.

Nothing much happened in the first 30% of the book. I was really bored and considered DNFing it multiple times because I felt like the plot was going nowhere. I forced myself to continue this because I was convinced that it would get better and I don't regret it at all, I'm so happy that I didn't end up DNF this. But after the 70% mark- omg, it was plot twist after plot twist. There are subplots of romance in this, but it's obviously not the focus. The ending was bittersweet, but it fits the book perfectly.

That mini heart attack moment when I thought Justin was going to fail... I just know this is going to be a book I'm going to keep thinking about.

The only problem I have about this book is that the first 70% was super slow, I felt that the plot wasn't going anywhere, but a lot of things happen after the 70% mark.

💌 E-ARC provided by NetGalley!

This book had such an interesting premise. I've never read a YA time travel mystery before.
Overall, I did enjoy this book and the way the story concluded.

However, it was extremely slow to start and didn't have that fast paced thriller feel to it that I was expecting and hoping for.
It seemed like there were too many characters that we were supposed to get to know at the beginning of the story, and since it was told through all their individual perspectives it felt kind of choppy to me rather than if one person had been narrating the whole story.
I kept reading, because I was curious enough about what would happen, but it definitely wasn't a page-turner for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this egalley.


*A note on the audio- I ended up aquiring the audiobook from Amazon about half way through my reading of this book. And the narration is excellent. They have different narrators for the different characters and I think that helped differentiate who was telling the story in the various chapters.

A little bit jumpy at times but I really enjoyed this book nonetheless. Thank you the NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

I love Mindy Kaling, and love the last book she published via her studio so was eager to read her next one. This one was a bit harder to get through, but definitely unlike anything I've read before. I would give it 3.75 stars. My biggest issue with this book was the length and that the chapters were labeled by POV, but not by timeline, so I had difficulty figuring out which timeline we were in. I also felt it took me a while to get into this book, and think it could have been about 1/3 shorter. .I had no issue with it being more YA as I love a good YA novel.

The end and the beginning become one in a heart-pounding coming-of-age mystery about the power of friendship, fate, and inexplicable second chances.

Is it the right place at the wrong time? Or the wrong place at the right time?

Trapped in a dead-end town, Justin Warren has had his life defined by the suspicious deaths of his grandparents. The unsolved crime happened long before Justin was born, but the ripple effects are still felt after thirty-eight years. Justin always knew he wouldn’t have much of a future. He just never imagined that his life might take him backward.

In a cosmic twist of fate, Justin’s choices send him crashing into the path of determined optimist Rose Yin. Justin and Rose live in the same town and attend the same school, but have never met―because Rose lives in 1985. Justin won’t be born for another twenty years. And his grandparents are still alive―for now.

In a series of events that reverberate through multiple lifetimes, Justin and Rose have a week to get Justin unstuck in time and put each of them in control of their futures―by solving a murder that hasn’t even happened yet.

CW: I’LL STOP THE WORLD contains depictions of emotional abuse, alcoholism and excessive drinking, underage drinking, smoking, racism, discussions of homophobia, and violent bullying.

This book was amazing from start to finish. I will recommend to others.