I predicted that I was going to love For All Time, and while I loved the premise, I had a few hiccups. Do you ever have that where you think you’re going to absolutely love a book no reservations? Find out my full and complex thoughts in this book review.
Summary
Tamar is a musician, a warrior, a survivor. Fayard? He’s a pioneer, a hustler, a hopeless romantic.
Together, Tamar and Fayard have lived a thousand lives, seen the world build itself up from nothing only to tear itself down again in civil war. They’ve even watched humanity take to the stars. But in each life one thing remains the same: their love and their fight to be together. One love story after another. Their only concern is they never get to see how their story ends. Until now.
When they finally discover what it will take to break the cycle, will they be able to make the sacrifice?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: racism, child abuse
For All Time is a dual POV story that spans centuries and lifetimes. With a premise of finding each other over and over again, but never being together how could I not fall in love with the premise? And I keep going back to this kernel over and over again. Because, even after finishing, I’m still so intrigued by this concept. This idea of fate, of something, stopping us from being together across lifetimes. And while I love the idea, I had a few issues with the story.
But?
First of all, the pacing of the story is somewhat slow compared to the last 25%. To be fair, Miles has a lot to set up. There’s four different timelines and characters, situations, to set up. And while I greatly enjoyed this foundation – that’s one of the main reasons I picked it up – I found that all of a sudden the pacing picks up speed like a runaway train. Because it’s almost like at one point the plot just breaks free and there’s all these threads which come together and unravel.
Considering the sizable increase in speed in the last 20% or so, it gave me a small case of whiplash. But the reason my feelings are so complex, is because at the end, I really love the way the threads to (un)ravel. I just wish there was a bit more space to relish in these moments. All the ways that Miles has set up such a wonderful foundation which come together in splashes of colors and explosions. But with the pace, I almost feel like I need to read the ending again to make sure I understood it all.
Overall,
Might this have been remedied with a few less timelines? Maybe, but that was also part of the allure! Not to mention, I greatly appreciated the dual POV because Miles uses it to illustrate all these wedges keeping Tamara and Fayard apart. Overall, I still am so obsessed with the concept. I’m still happy I read it, because what a unique story, I just wish the end had more space to develop. For All Time is an intriguing story that asks how much influence we have over our own lives. How strong are the walls between us and our future, the visions of what we want?
I’m not sure I could even sway past me, but reading For All Time was certainly an experience. And who can deny an obsession with alternate lifetimes? If you ever watched, “The Fountain” I feel like the ending 20% felt very similar and so maybe if that’s your vibe definitely check it out. Do I recommend it? Yes, because it’s tremendously unique, just know going in that you might wanna re-read that end.
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Find For All Time on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.