Rating: 
Summary: Clever and Compelling
Review: I admit: I am an easy touch when it comes to time-travel books. I have loved such diverse books with this theme as "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", "A Wrinkle in Time," and "Time and Again."I was not disappointed by "The Time Traveler's Wife." The book both moved me and challenged me to think about a number of deeper issues in life (most notably, the true meaning of love in a romantic relationship). The underlying story concerns Henry, a librarian at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and Clare, his artist wife. Henry suffers from CDP (Chrono-Displacement Order) which whisks him from the present to another point of time (usually the past). One minute he may be in the stacks of the Newberry Library in 2003, the next minute he may find himself in a field (probably naked) in Michigan with his future wife as a child sometime in the early 1980's. The author does an excellent job of sequencing the book. Even though Henry is shuttling back and forth in every chapter, she manages to move the plot forward. You do feel that you see Henry and Clare meeting, falling in love, starting a marriage and going through the stages of their lives. You do get to know their family and friends and see life happen to them. However, I do feel that the author could have better developed all of her characters, particularly the supporting ones. I wanted to learn more about their close friends, Gomez and Charisse, and their troubled marriage. I felt that the landlady from Henry's child-whom he constantly visited in his time-traveling modes-was a sketch figure that could have been better developed. I wished that the author could have mined deeper into the inner feelings of Henry and Clare. Still I would highly recommend this book to most readers. (If time-travel books bother you, this won't change your opinion.) It is a good, hard-to-put down read. And at the end, you're exhausted by all the travel!
Rating: 
Summary: Divine Romp
Review: In terms of divine romps in fiction, THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE ranks among the best. There is a quaintness that sooths the soul in the same nature as SECRET LIFE OF BEES. At the same time there is an urgency that excites and keeps you wrapped up as if the fiction world were true in the same nature as MY FRACTURED LIFE. The address of relationship shares precision with THE WEDDING and a dedication for love of the same nature as COLD MOUNTAIN. I am delighted with this book and recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: didn't do it for me
Review: Let me bigin this review by saying that I only managed to read the first 80 pages in. I lost interest long before there, but I pressed on. If a writer can't captivate my interest in the 1st 80 pgs, then it's not really worth exploring further. Overall, I liked the idea of having the book be told by the two characters. However, I felt that the constant jumping around so quickly in the beginning only left me wondering who these people really were. I only caught glimpses of them- they were 2 dimensional and not real. I think that she should have let the readers get used to the characters- tell a backbone story in the present before jumping around. Then we would have something to work with, and I think would then rid a lot of what has been said reagarding all the "confusing" jumping around. Personally, I was lost- first I was getting to know Henry at 35, then 24, then 15- ditto for Clare. How are we supposed to know who these people really are when we're not really dealing with only 2 characters? we're dealing with many versions of these characters all at once and what are we left with but a bunch of jumbled facts? Also, I thought the intro Walcott poem was pretentious, as was the Rilke poems. She could have just used a quote or just had the characters mention it. It is very pretentious for novelists to use a poem in their book, esp from a great poet like Rilke, that really isn't needed at all because a quote or reference or 2 would have done the trick. Overall, this is a mediocre and banal novel but I give it 2 stars for its attempt to be different. I think it failed, but at least it tried. So many of the novels don't even try, so that grants it at least one more star. Even though I only made it to pg 80, this is not a book that will stay with you- nothing in those 80 pgs really fascinated my attention, the way Falukner or Fitzgerald do. We're dealing with a whole lesser form of art when we're talking about this book.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written!
Review: I stumbled across this book by mistake and hesitated to read it simply because it was 518 pages. To my surprise, I devoured this book in a few days and felt a pang of sadness when it was finished. The author crafts a story of something that is quite unbelievable and yet deftly makes it so very believable. I was hooked after the first chapter. Niffenegger managed to suck me in to this story so that I felt emotionally bound to the characters and their plight. It's a tragic story that weaves so much love/pain/joy/disappointment that it fairly bursts with emotion. Read it!
Rating:
Summary: Powerful, well-written, original
Review: "The Time Traveler's Wife" is one of the most interesting, powerful books I've read in a long time. Audrey Niffenegger did a beautiful job taking some of the most complex ideas - time travel, marriage, love, children, friends, literary and artistic allusions, religion, death, drugs, childhood, growing, loss, and what it means to be human - and weaving them together poetically and with amazing clarity. Her characters are wonderful, "real" people with strengths and flaws, and I really grew to adore them. Despite skipping around time at the same rate as Henry, the time traveler, the events are sequenced in such a way that you still witness each character's growth as a person, as well as discover many surprises along the way. Clare and Henry's story is one of the best love stories I've read in a very long time. This book also echoes important modern-day questions about the appropriateness of gene therapy, and what it means to be a human being. I highly and enthusiastically recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: people need to get lives
Review: What is the deal with these intense reviews? This is hardly a book to get worked up over. It IS poorly written and pretentious, the characters are all over the place and they are never developed. The dialouge is meager at best, and her descriptions are rote. With that in mind, I don't think this is a terrible book- just a bad one & I can't for the life of me understand why certain reviewers are getting so worked up. If you enjoyed the book, fine- I have no problem with that. I did not. I do think it's trite and agree that the supposed "vulgarity" wasn't 'offensive' in the I'm a prude sort of way- but that it was totally out of line with the characters and the tone in the novel. And with that in mind, people seem to like this pap because it has a "mystery" attached to it. Oooh- what will happen next? Will she see him naked? tee hee. Just like in "The Lovely Bones" which is a terrible book, and "The Secret Life of Bees" which is a mediocre book (at very best), and "The Da Vinci Code" which is a mindless potboiler but at least knows it- "The Time Traveller's Wife" is no different because it too is filled with narrative cliches. It's amazing that low brow literature like this passes for quality because it's "different". Well, it ain't that different, and even if it was, different doesn't mean good.
With all this in mind, the glowing reviews are very suspicious- people who use terms like "brilliant young artist" to describe an author isn't just a casual reader, but generally a friend. And these overly positive reviews are not likely to be honest ones. They seem like gloated family members of the author with bones to pick with anyone who doesn't praise this book. And you know what? I don't praise it, and yes, it is poorly written, so there, nya!
Rating:
Summary: IF YOU LIKE LOVE STORIES
Review: This is one of the best love stories I have encountered so far in life. The love between Henry and Clare is the same as any other people; it is the way they go about it that is so different. Henry can travel through time. He cannot control it but is aware of some things that trigger it. When he travels he usually goes to the past and to points of emotional significance. He describes it as kind of like emotional gravity. And so, he frequently visits his wife in the past while she is growing up. This situation of course leads to many interesting encounters and begs many, many questions. The author deals with many inquires and problems that are associated with time travel through out the book. She actually does this in such a fantastic way that this is one of those awesome works of fiction that I find myself believing. Structurally it is organized very well and keeps the reader from too much confusion that can be caused by two Henrys in one place! Also, it is easy to tell the author is a reader, there are many fun references to books and music that make the characters so alive. All in all I do not wish to speak too much on the plot except for it being a love story. It is a fantastic read and I would rather not spoil it for you. It is not too difficult but entirely engaging. This is the first book in a long time that made me cry, and I am going to read it now for a second time! Other Amazon quick-pick recommendations: THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez, WILL@EPICQWEST.COM by Tom Grimes
Rating:
Summary: An awesome read!
Review: I had heard some good things about this book so I decided to pre-order it when it came out in paperback. As soon as I started reading, I couldn't put it down. The characters are so engaging and interesting. At the end of the story, you feel as if you have known them your whole life. Henry DeTamble has Chrono-Displacement Disorder and can travel through time. He meets his wife when she is 6 and he is in his 30s. Even through all his time traveling, he and his wife are able to stay together. I think this particular book is a good study in human nature, in how people think and act and especially love overcoming all. I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: This book covers practically the entire lives of its main characters, Henry and Clare. Henry suffers from "Chrono-Displacement Disorder", so from the age of five on, he jumps randomly back and forth in time. His jumps seem to center around a few locations or catastrophic emotional events. In a large number of jumps, he ends up in the meadow outside of Clare Abshire's house. So, Clare knows and loves an older Henry, whom she has known since she was six. But in Henry's timeline, he does not meet Clare until she is twenty. Confused? Sometimes it is, but also very compelling and hard to put down. If my husband had not forced me to go to bed, I would have read this in one sitting.
Rating:
Summary: Creative, compelling story that makes you think
Review: Time travel is overused as a plot device, so I was skeptical when I picked up this book. However, the characters are so clearly drawn, you can't help but be pulled in. Yes, there are moments when you must suspend disbelief (this is a genetic disorder...?), but the clarity of the scenes and the emotional realism make you more than willing to do so.
At its root, this story is about love, and the connection between soulmates. However, it also shows that everyone has personal demons (time travel being just a stranger demon than most), and true intimacy means knowing and accepting them. With that acceptance grounding him, Henry can soar like Clare's birds. The story also makes you question your awareness of the people around you. At one point a character says "You're not ready to see me yet". How many of us are looking at the people we know, and really seeing them?
Finishing this book, I was bereft. It ended perfectly, and I knew it was coming, but I still felt like I had lost a close friend. Bravo on a wonderful story - can't wait to see what Ms Niffenegger does next!
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