Come Again

Youre actually reading two books for the price of one when you purchase Come Again. A time-travelling retro trip to 1992, which shares more than a little in common with Back to the Future, and an action adventure espionage comedy.

I personally would have preferred more of a focus on the former, and fewer car chases and black cab conspiracy theories, but Im not going to quibble, as the title says, it was a highly enjoyable read.

Basically my headline says it all. This book had me captivated all the way up until part 3, and then it just goes down this path of a completely ludicrous tale which does not fit with the story at all! I was so disappointed.

Kate’s husband dies, thats not a spoiler as its the main content of this book. Now there are some spoilers ahead:
Kate is depressed and suicidal and decides she’s going to take her own life on this particular evening. That night she gets transported back to her student self to the night she met her husband, and she’s convinced she’s been sent back to warn him of his premature death and for him to get a health check or whatever. Part 1 and part 2 were beautiful, so well written. Kate’s dad had also died and we’re introduced to him and her emotions at realising that she can see him, speak to him, hold him. For anyone who is going through a bereavement you’ll understand the longing and the emotion that is so well portrayed in this part of the story. It had me in tears. Kate also finds Luke (husband) warns him etc and then she wakes up and we’re in part 3. Now I’m not sure if part 3 was written by a different author, but honestly… what happened? Kate is suddenly in a pretty serious entanglement with some Russians who want her dead (we are introduced to this notion at the start of the book) and we’re racing through London in some sort of Bond film… it’s like 2 separate books and I didn’t enjoy the second one.

Audiobook Review
Overall 3.5 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 3 stars

This was an entertaining novel, but not quite what I was expecting. From the blurb it sounded like a second chance-ish romance, but that didn’t end up being the case. I think it actually falls more into the women’s fiction/romantic suspense category. The story is broken into 3 parts, but each sort of felt disjointed from the others. Some parts of the novel were surprisingly very funny (lots of profanity sprinkled throughout) and there was a lot more action and suspense than I was expecting. The pacing was slow at times and then everything seemed to speed up in part 3. I’m still not entirely sure how to feel about the ending, even after suspending disbelief, but overall I found the book entertaining and enjoyable.

The narration was a true highlight and Olivia Colman’s performance was wonderful. She had fantastic comedic timing and gave each character (male and female) their own unique voice. I had no trouble differentiating between characters and enjoyed all of her different accents. I look forward to listening to her other titles in the future.

*I voluntarily listened to an audio listening copy of this book.*

I am a sucker for time travel novels. Time travel fascinates me. I even wrote a short story with a similar premise to this novel a while back. So I was interested in seeing what would be in store for Kate when she revisited her first days of college in 1992.

Since I went to college in the nineties, the part with Kate’s time travel experience was my favorite thing about this novel. It was fun seeing her college experience through an adult lens. I liked all the friends she re-encountered in this way, especially Kes.

The first part of the story, leading up to the time travel, felt slow and mired in British inside jokes or something along those lines. The political talk was confusing, as well. The third part of the story, after the time travel, had some interesting moments. However, I wish Kate could have stayed a bit longer in 1992 instead. One part gave me the chills though, and it made me glad I stuck with the story.

Overall, it was an interesting novel, but I think British readers will appreciate it more for all the little nuances that didn’t translate well to an American reader such as myself. It’s still worth checking out though!

Movie casting suggestions:
Kate (2020): Rachel Weisz
Toby (2020): Simon Pegg
Kes (2020): Joseph Fiennes
Charles (2020): Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Kate (1992): Imogen Gurney
Luke (1992): Hero Fiennes Tiffin
Amy (1992): Esme Creed-Miles
Kes (1992): Ferdia Walsh-Peelo
Toby (1992): Tayler Marshall

Reading the summary, I had expected the book to be about one thing – a woman’s voyage into her past when she met her now-deceased husband for the first time in college. In reality, Come Again is about a lot more, and although the chance to alter past events still lies at the core of the story there is much more to be said about this book (and its other characters) than can be accurately summed up in the book’s description. Initially, I was unprepared for what I thought was a preamble to the ‘meat’ of the sandwich, if this audio book can be compared to be a sandwich, and alas did not afford this part the attention it deserved. That being said, the extra dimensions and complications brought more interest and my concentration did not waver a bit for the last two thirds of the novel.

I loved Olivia Colman’s narration. She was a pleasure to listen to, and I will look out for more of her work with interest from now onwards

All in all, this is a good book but readers should expect more from the plot based on it’s summary- not less. This should make one think and reconsider the way one has treated people in the past – underestimating, or in some cases even overestimating the value of the roles they will play in one’s life. The narration is par excellence, and worth listening to for that reason alone.

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