After being hit by a car, a series of events leads to Anna, a single mother, getting a job at the Time Travel Agency. Despite the name, the place is a cozy hole in the wall with few customers and a small staff led by an eccentric disgraced physicist. Anna is sure that it’s all some clever illusion, but as she becomes accustomed to her new job and conflict arises in her personal life with her daughter and a new friend named Teddy, Anna must face the reality of time travel head-on and find a way forward before it’s too late.
This is simply a really great book. The pacing is excellent, it’s the right length, the world is charming and complicated in a way that feels realistic, and it has a really great cast of characters which is always the key to my heart. The idea of this little hole in the wall that offers genuine time travel experiences is so delightful, and both the negative and positive reviews from customers scattered throughout the book are just a lovely addition. There isn’t a whole lot of complexity to the science, but there’s enough to put it above all of the kind of corny literary magical realism books with snappy premises and really lackluster worlds. Moriarty does a great job making the setting feel magical while also having grounding moments of emotion and humor (the review about the woman visiting her dog absolutely took me out, I was very teary).
As mentioned, I like the characters across the board but Katya is definitely a favorite, both because she’s charmingly odd and because there’s a lot of tragedy to her backstory and her fall from grace as a physicist. I liked Anna’s POV most, followed by Teddy’s, with Jade’s in last place. The thing with Jade’s POV is that it’s very direct and disjointed, which is good because it makes sense for her character and distinguishes her from the others, but it also makes her less immediately compelling. I always enjoy when all the characters are dealing with things in their own lives, separately from one another and largely from the main plot because it makes them feel more real. Anna’s struggles with her daughter Nicola and Nicola’s troubles with her friends do have relevance to the plot, but it’s expanded on more than strictly necessary in a way that makes it feel thought-through.
Plot-wise, I also think this was really tight. In terms of actual major plot events it’s fairly slow but the scenes and chapters are snappy enough to make it feel fast. I have a bit of a mental block with larger books because I think most books could probably be edited down, but this felt like it was the exact right length. There are some nice twists and turns towards the end too which I did not predict and did enjoy.
This has a very similar premise to Retro by Jessica M. Goldstein which I talked about at length in an essay. I really enjoyed the magic of the world in Retro but the plot and pacing were pretty poorly done. Time Travel for Beginners is maybe a smidge less magical, but the structure is super well done, so if you were disappointed with Retro, definitely give this a shot.
This is the first book I’ve read by Jaclyn Moriarty and consider me impressed! It’s one of the better books I’ve read this year, so I’ll have my eye on her backlist and whatever she comes out with next!
Thank you to Jaclyn Moriarty and Berkley for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!
Happy reading!
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