Member Reviews
Right away I knew it was going to be a challenge to care for Sam, the protagonist, given how self-indulgent and petulant she is. But after the incident that caused her to slip back in time to Georgian England, there was really good exploration of some very visceral grief over being lost in time. Then it starts to follow the same tropes as The Outlander and its ilk, where the MC goes around with some futuristic chip on her shoulder, embodying the worst of disaster bisexual stereotypes while narrowly avoiding sexual assault every 5 seconds. I REALLY tried with this one because once it got to Daisy, I really wanted to see more of her, but this isn't her story, and I just couldn't ride around in Sam's head anymore. She's insufferable even as she blames most of her struggles on the time slip and not her being a selfish ass. Sorry, much better historical sapphic romances out there!
2SLGBTQIA+ Fantasy Historical Romance in which a modern bisexual woman's thrown back in time to 1805 England and finds herself falling in love with a woman who will become a famous author.
1/5 stars: This is Frey's 2SLGBTQIA+ Fantasy Historical Romance stand-alone which is set is England and follows a modern bisexual Canadian woman who's thrown back in time to 1805 England after her plane crashes over the Atlantic. Betrayed and at the mercy of the men and morals of the time, she’s left with no choice but to throw herself on the charity of the sisters of the ship captain who pulled her out of the ocean. Unexpectedly, she discovers her new landlady is the world-famous author whose yet-to-be-completed novel will contain the first lesbian kiss in the history of British Literature and is a very clever woman. Clever enough to know her new companion has a secret. As the two women grow ever closer, she must tread the tenuous line between finding her own happiness in a place where she doesn’t think she’ll ever fit in and possibly (accidentally) changing the course of history. Frey's writing and character work are nicely done, with characters that are well-rounded and complex while remaining likable. Sam's tough and manages her circumstances with gutsy determination. Frey tackles some very tough and sensitive topics, so please take care and check the CWs. Unfortunately, I found that this wasn't a book for me; leading me to DNF at 46%.
I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group | W by Wattpad Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.
I wanted to like this book so badly. A sapphic regency time travel sounds like it would be something right up my alley. However I found Sam as a character utterly obnoxious and most of her choices rather foolish. I don't believe that you have to like the characters in a novel in order to enjoy it but leaving me annoyed most of the story is an offense I cannot get past. From the moment she was introduced on page by trying to force her girlfriend out of the closet she was on thin ice with me and then proceeded to seem too much of a walking bisexual stereotype without nearly enough depth outside of that. Not to mention constantly making the worst choices. I feel like I'm not asking too much by saying perhaps when you are transported to another time to at least attempt to blend in and maybe don't try to tell a man that you have only known a few days that you are from a different time.
Outside of that I thought that the writing was entertaining enough. Frey's writing style is enjoyable though I did find the pacing a bit odd. Some moments were very slow while others were rushed or basically even time skipped which made it feel a bit disjointed at points. The romance was cute enough and I enjoyed Daisy enough as a character to balance out my dislike of Sam a little though I did find it rather odd that for a book that is mainly a romance that we didn't even even meet the love interest until well into 25% of the story. Overall if Sam had not made the reading experience such an irksome experience I could have over looked these small factors but she made a book I had desperately wanted to enjoy into a painful experience.
This book was average. I liked the characters and the setting. Would recommend. Good for the autumn.
DNF’d at 20% I cannot stand the MC. She is horrid from the first page. Honestly she could go through a major change and I would still hold a grudge about how horrible she was to her Ex girlfriend
First, I’d like to say thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!
Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I usually really dislike time travel books, but the premise of this story really intrigued me. I am so glad that I didn’t just write it off because of one trope, as I never wanted to stop reading for very long!
The plane crash and PTSD that it caused were both genuinely well written to me. Sam dealing with it felt very real, and I really appreciated that. I did find that I had a love-hate relationship with Samantha as a character. She both inspired and infuriated me, so I guess I have that in common with Daisy (who I loved).
There were some times where I had to close out of my reading app because of how embarrassed I was at some things Sam did or said; however, it was never bad enough that I wanted to stop reading completely, and I liked the other characters so much that I kept coming back.
I loved the climax of the story, and the ending was superb; but I do think the pacing was a bit off. The beginning seemed to fly by, as did the ending, but the middle was a bit slow and took a bit to really get through. I also wish that there had been content warnings at the beginning because I had no idea about the attempted s*xual assault, and while that doesn’t usually bother me, I know many who would’ve been hurt by reading it. Hopefully, that will be addressed in the final copy!
Genuinely, though, I loved this book and I can see myself re-reading it. I feel like in telling some of my friends about it, they too are interested in the story and will be reading. I’d definitely encourage it!
On the one hand, this book is a disaster. On the other hand, the author embraced the disaster bi stereotype hard when writing the main character. So if your MC is a disaster, it makes sense that the plot would follow. It might, in fact, be entirely the point. Look, did I love this? No. But there are going to be readers out there who will be thrilled to embrace the chaos. And I will say that the way the end references the beginning, bringing the book full circle was pretty clever.
Absolutely such a gorgeous tale. She falls back in time to meet the love of her life and it’s such a fun romance to read. Absolutely can’t wait to get my hands on a copy in a couple months. I’ll be living downtown by then!!!!
Unfortunately this just wasn't the book for me. Felt a bit all over the place and I had a hard time following the plot. I was really excited for a sapphic/ time travel esque regency romance but it ended up falling flat for me. The book also deals with some heavy themes including SA on page so please read the trigger warnings.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is such a sweet book!
I’ve never read a time-travel book before so I was hesitant at first reading about a woman from Toronto in 2024 going back to Regency Era England. But I was able to quickly set those concerns aside and immerse myself in the story!
It was a very quick read for me - I devoured it! I really enjoyed seeing how a modern day bisexual woman and enthusiastic feminist made her way through a time where women weren’t as “free” and LGBTQ+ represented was unheard of. That being said, there was a lot of the story where I didn’t love the main character, Samantha. She could be selfish and stubborn and very prideful, but I understood where she came from and her reasons for doing so (she was stuck 200 years in the past, after all).
I don’t want to give too much away, but this book has time travel, the historical regency era setting, and a beautiful sapphic love story. It’s worth checking out if you love any of those things! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this!
This book touches on hard subjects and has trigger warnings so please beware. However the book overall was great and I enjoyed it. Yes a hard read at times and perhaps not the lightest book out there but more on the medium side.
I ended up DNFing this one at 20%.
At this point I wasn't really sold on any of the characters in the story and we had yet to meet the main love interest. The book felt like it was all over the place and didn't feel like I was getting any important information about the main character. I decided to see other reviews and when I saw the warnings for sexual assault and attempted rape I decided to stop before it got to those scenes. I'm sure that there is an audience out there for this book as it is a historical time traveling piece with some romance elements.
Unfortunately this isn’t the book for me. I was so anticipating on it being different than this. But I hope this finds the right audience <3
I didn’t love this story, but I think it’ll be a hit with the right audience. I definitely got Alexis Hall and Diana Gabaldon vibes with the time traveling and historical romance. One thing I will say is I definitely think the author should include a content warning for readers at the beginning of the book.
Thank you for the chance to read this book early! I look forward to seeing it hit shelves and see what other people’s thoughts are.
I thought this was a great time travel book. I loved the character development in this book. I loved how the author builded the world.
I'm not usually a fan of time-travel, but I love how this story created web weaves from the past to the present, which made the storyline feel so much more connected and well-rounded. Also, the romance was so sweet and it made me feel so comforted and happy.
IT WAS SUCH AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER OMG
I experienced everything they did. This book is so well written. I loved it even though I am not a big fan of time travel in books and I went blindly. . I loved Sam and her thoughts. Imagine being on a plane and suddenly the plain crashes and you find yourself in 19th century. and then being a part of your fav book irl. I wish this happens to me (or not lol) . Sam went through so much hell and I am happy that she finally got her happily ever after. It was a wonderful experience to read this book. DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED!!
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.
Time and Tide
2.5/5 rating
Disclaimer: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Webtoon Book Group.
CW: Attempted SA, violence, and misogyny.
Based on the blurb and the cover I went in thinking this was going to be another strictly fun and fluffy, historical fiction/romance. Alas, this was not that for me. While I do enjoy books that tackle more difficult topics like PTSD it was not at all what I was expecting when going into ‘Time and Tide’. That being said, the story itself is entertaining and a fairly easy read. I genuinely feel that if I had gone in blind or with different expectations, I would have enjoyed it much more.
This one had potential, but it didn’t quite land for me. I grew up on Wattpad, so seeing this publisher + sapphic Outlander vibes had me sold. Unfortunately the story was all over the place, and even though it tried to tackle big themes like gender roles and relationships, it just felt a bit flat. Credit though, it did read like a Wattpad fanfic!
First content warnings for this book: There is attempted sexual assault/rape and domestic violence. I found these scenes to be more intense than I was expecting based on the book description.
Sam, an outspoken bisexual Canadian, is flying to Barcelona when a crash sends her into the ocean and the 1800s. After being rescued at sea, she now must spend her time figuring out how to survive in 1800s London society.
I struggled with the first half of this book. It felt like it took Sam a long time to get to London which is when the story seemed to start to take off. Also, while a lot of character behavior, particularly the men’s, was probably historically accurate, I think some of that realism felt out of place for the fun romance I was expecting.
On a positive note, I felt the character growth for Sam was good. I really saw her mature and grow for the better by the end of this book. Also, the second half of this book where Sam really has a chance to settle into her new reality and finally her romance was enjoyable to read. Overall, I liked the book and the ending, but I definitely had to push through the beginning before I got to that point.
Thank you Wattpad Webtoon Book Group, J.M Frey, and NetGalley for this ARC.