Just, I mean just, finished it.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
When Henry meets Clare, he is twenty-eight and she is twenty. Henry has never met Clare before; Clare has known Henry since she was six. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. Henry and Clare's attempts to live normal lives are threatened by a force they can neither prevent nor control, making their passionate love story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable. The Time Traveler's Wife is a story of fate, hope and belief, and more than that, it's about the power of love to endure beyond the bounds of time.
I didn't expect much from this book. When something has been so hyped up as this novel and the subsequent movie, it can't ever be as good as people proclaim. It looked like the epitome of lovey-doveyness.
I am glad that I was completely wrong. Well, maybe not completely, because it is lovey-dovey, but it is written very carfully to avoid triggering any gag reflexes.
The time traveling is smartly done. At first I thought that it was just going to hurt my head, but after the initial shock of the many dates and times, I got used to it and did not have too much trouble following Henry and Clare. I also liked that Henry was able to meet himself at different stages of his life. It gets you thinking what you would do and say to your self if you encountered it somewhere.
Henry is a very likable character, intensely flawed, but someone I grew to care about.
Clare doesn't fare as well in my eyes, she seems to lack personality, but I also did not hate her. I was rooting for her, although sometimes simultaneously wanting to smack her on the head for her persistence in being so passive.
But then again, if her character had been more aggressive, more demanding, would the relationship have lasted at all? Probably not.
The ending was a bit strange, not my favorite. I don't mean Henry's dying, I liked that (what a horrible thing to say), but the actual last page. I could have done without Clare's last entry, but that's just me.
This is not high literature, don't try to read it as such. It is a very entertaining, moving, story. If you try not to analyze too much and just enjoy it for what it is, it's a fun ride. And a bit of romance never hurt anyone, right?
4 out of 5 Stars
