Elizabeth
Broke my heart just as much as when first read ths as a kid.
Haven't really liked the other time travel/loop plots (Last Continent, Thief Of Time) but this one knocked it out of the park. There were no “just because” plot points, it was coherent and I was fully invested.
Tension feels like its reaching a crescendo fairly early on on the book and it really has you on edge for the whole ride. I felt as tired as the protags by the end of it.
Highlights for me was Comrade Shoe trying to spread communism, and his death scene.
** spoiler alert ** This was a very British spooky story but I had issues with the plot not living up to its potential. This review has spoilers from here on:
Rose shows aggression towards Jude but not Ashley, who assumes that Rose is frightened of men/males, and that a male put her there. But later in the story, we are told by Rita that Rose was put there by herself and her mother, two women. Either the latter character is lying, or Ashley's assumption is wrong, but my theory was that Rose recognizes fellow wickedness in Ashley. But then this does not explain what happened to Lily, who was also very wicked. What Rita did was also very wicked. I wonder if the story she told about Rose was true. Perhaps Rose had reasons for what she originally did, or perhaps the husband did it and Rose was unfairly blamed?
There was a bigger opportunity here to make a statement on gender, sex, and power imbalances and the nature of wickedness, as well as violence being transferred down the generations, or vengeance vs justice, but it was muddied. An enjoyable short read but could have had more to say.