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readingwithkt's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a duology of two novellas in one book. I didn't realise this before going in but it didn't affect my enjoyment.
The titular novella follows a young girl and her group of school friends. The name of our protagonist and one of her friends were very similar, so that required a bit of attention to detail to differentiate them, especially during group conversations, but it was okay. I liked that there were a couple of twists in the story but I overall just felt that the story was underdeveloped. The character development was pretty poor, there is a romance theme introduced that just felt wholly unnecessary, and I just found myself turning the last page of the story feeling like I wanted more from it.
Especially the part where it is revealed that the main character's friend is from the future and can stop time... I wanted so much more to come from this revelation. It could have been so interesting and exciting! But the author was just like "right okay, the end" (I exaggerate)
The second novella is about memory, trauma, and the way that fear manifests in children. It was really interesting from that point of view but again I just found myself wanting more from it. It felt rushed and underdeveloped. I also felt that the author perpetuates toxic masculinity in his phrasing around "boys shouldn't wet the bed" etc, which was never challenged within the narrative. This isn't the kind of message I would want my children to read and believe in, so I disliked it from that point of view. However, I do acknowledge that this was published in the 1960s, so it's from another time period, a time where toxic masculinity was even more prevalent and pervasive than it is today.
The titular novella follows a young girl and her group of school friends. The name of our protagonist and one of her friends were very similar, so that required a bit of attention to detail to differentiate them, especially during group conversations, but it was okay. I liked that there were a couple of twists in the story but I overall just felt that the story was underdeveloped. The character development was pretty poor, there is a romance theme introduced that just felt wholly unnecessary, and I just found myself turning the last page of the story feeling like I wanted more from it.
The second novella is about memory, trauma, and the way that fear manifests in children. It was really interesting from that point of view but again I just found myself wanting more from it. It felt rushed and underdeveloped. I also felt that the author perpetuates toxic masculinity in his phrasing around "boys shouldn't wet the bed" etc, which was never challenged within the narrative. This isn't the kind of message I would want my children to read and believe in, so I disliked it from that point of view. However, I do acknowledge that this was published in the 1960s, so it's from another time period, a time where toxic masculinity was even more prevalent and pervasive than it is today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
In the first novella, there is a scene in which there is a house fire and then two children are run over by a car accident. Later in the same story, the same car runs off the road and hits several other people. The driver appears to be asleep. In the second novella, a child is thrown from height by another child but survives.
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