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A Quantum Love Story

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The only thing harder than finding someone in a time loop is losing them.

Grieving her best friend's recent death, neuroscientist Mariana Pineda’s ready to give up everything to start anew. Even her career— after one last week consulting at a top secret particle accelerator.

Except the strangest thing a man stops her…and claims they've met before. Carter Cho knows who she is, why she's mourning, why she's there. And he needs Mariana to remember everything he’s saying.

Because time is about to loop.

In a flash of energy, it’s Monday morning. Again. Together, Mariana and Carter enter an inevitable life, four days at a time, over and over, without permanence except for what they share. With everything resetting—even bank accounts—joy comes in the little a delicious (and expensive) meal, a tennis match, giving a dog his favorite treat.

In some ways, those are all that matter.

But just as they figure out this new life, everything changes. Because Carter's memories of the time loop are slowly disappearing. And their only chance at happiness is breaking out of the loop—forever.
 

364 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2024

238 people are currently reading
23158 people want to read

About the author

Mike Chen

63 books1,042 followers
Mike Chen is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Brotherhood, Here and Now and Then, Light Years From Home, and other novels, in addition to Star Trek comics. He has covered geek culture for sites such as Nerdist, Tor.com, and StarTrek.com, and in a different life, covered the NHL. A member of SFWA, Mike lives in the Bay Area with his wife, daughter, and many rescue animals. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @mikechenwriter

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 690 reviews
Profile Image for Nilufer Ozmekik.
3,119 reviews60.6k followers
July 16, 2023
This is an absolutely enjoyable and quirky time loop reading experience! What sets it apart is its ability to avoid predictable and stereotypical time loop stories that overload your brain with scientific jargon, forcing you to re-read pages in hopes of understanding it all. Instead, this book offers a refreshing twist. While there is a hint of romance between the characters, their motivation to escape the time loop is not solely driven by an impossible love story, as often seen in similar plots.

The focus of this story lies primarily on friendship and grief, with an infusion of quirky and hilarious vibes, complemented by science fiction elements.

We are introduced to Mariana Pineda, a brilliant neuroscientist who is grieving the loss of her best friend and seeking a fresh start. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she encounters Carter Cho, who insists they already know each other and warns her not to forget this moment before the time loop resets. Although Mariana finds Carter's claims unbelievable, the next day, when she wakes up to another Monday and realizes the time has indeed reset, she understands they are trapped in this loop together. Now, they must urgently find a way to break free!

Both characters are engaging with their unique, nerdy, and peculiar attributes. There are numerous moments that brought a smile to my face as I witnessed their gradual discovery of each other's personalities and their deepening connection. Together, they race against time, searching for an escape from the time loop before Carter's memories are permanently erased.

Overall, this book offers a fast-paced and intriguing reading experience that kept my interest fully engaged. In my opinion, it may be the author's best work to date and the one I enjoyed the most!

I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:

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Profile Image for Barbara.
1,775 reviews5,296 followers
September 19, 2024


Neuroscientist Mariana Pineda, who works for a company called ReLive - which enhances memories - is grief-stricken by the loss of her best friend Shay. Shay took off for a solo visit to Joshua Tree National Park and never returned. The authorities presume Shay is dead, and Mariana has just about given up hope.



Sad about Shay, and and bored with her job, Mariana is on the verge of submitting her resignation to ReLive when she receives an unexpected invitation. Several ReLive employees, including Mariana, are invited to tour the cutting edge Hawke Accelerator. Since physicist Shay would have loved to see the facility, Mariana grabs a photo of Shay and goes for the tour.



At Hawke, Mariana has a very strange experience. A Hawke technician named Carter Cho tells Mariana they've met before, though Mariana has no memory of this.



Carter convinces Mariana to stand at a particular spot at a specific time, and at the designated moment, a green beam shoots out of the Hawke Accelerator and hits Mariana. The next thing Mariana knows she's waking up in her bed on a Monday morning.





It turns out the Hawke Accelerator exploded, leading to a time loop that repeats every four days.



So the world 'resets' every four days, and everyone starts from scratch. The green beam allows Mariana and Carter to recall what happened, while the rest of the world is oblivious, just reliving the same four days over and over and over.

Mariana and Carter join forces to try to 'fix' the time loop, and much of the book covers their efforts along those lines.



The time loop has some very interesting characteristics. For example, Carter is a foodie who loves to cook and buy expensive take-out. Carter can spend tons of money on food, and when the world resets, his bank account is full again. So Carter and Mariana take advantage of this quirk to travel and have some fun, and everything is 'back to normal' after four days.





Nevertheless, Mariana and Carter are very serious about fixing the time loop, and - with the help of an AI named David - they try every which way to set things right. The twosome even manage to convince a Hawke scientist called Beckett to help them, but nothing works. Meanwhile, Mariana and Carter start to develop romantic feelings.



Whether it's because of this or something else, things then go seriously awry, and a new plan is required. To say more would be a spoiler.



I liked the first two-thirds of the book, but the 'new plan' was too drawn out and complicated (in my view). Still, the story has an interesting premise and would probably appeal to sci-fi fans.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
Profile Image for Karen’s Library.
1,295 reviews203 followers
February 25, 2024
4.5 rounded up. I’m a fan of Mike Chen’s and this is the 5th book I’ve read of his. I prefer his sci-fi books and usually end up loving those. This book… IS definitely one of those!

In a near future, Carter and Mariana find themselves stuck in a four day time-loop where they are living the same four days over and over again. Think Groundhog’s Day but with science. But there are major surprises along the way that make this story so unique and completely different from the classic GHD storyline.

Carter and Mariana are the only ones who can remember what happened during each of the previous time loops so they work to try to figure out how to stop the loops, and fall in love with each other a little more each loop.

Chen has done it once again by bringing in such amazing loving characters, you have to stay just to see how their story ends.

And the food! If you’re a foodie, read this book! If you love science, read this book. If you love futuristic science fiction, read this book. If you love time travel, read this book. If you love romance, read this book!

I love futuristic Sci-Fi, science, and time travel. When the science goes over my head, yes, I glaze over, but I still love it!!

This book was such a satisfying read for me and I’ll be raving about it for some time!

*Thanks so much to Mira Books and NetGalley for the gifted eGalley!*
Profile Image for Denise Ruttan.
449 reviews45 followers
October 30, 2023
I have a very high bar for time travel and time loop stories because it is extremely difficult to make the stories compelling without relying on repetition and magic. This one kind of fell flat for me even though I normally like Mike Chen’s writing style. I spent the first half of the book trying to decide if I wanted to DNF, it dragged that much.

I am glad I finished ultimately, because the payoff was only in the end and it is a very slow buildup to an abrupt, heartbreaking blowup of the characters. Save the world but with the only variable you can’t plan for; the romance can’t be saved, which was disappointing for the romance fan in me. In fact these characters just seemed to keep living their normal lives even though they knew they needed to change. Only the time loop and their romance would change them and change the world, the heartbreaking but interesting paradox of it all that made the ending pay off for its interesting philosophical dilemma.

I would describe this as a modern day Lessons in Chemistry meets Groundhog Day. Reading the author’s afterword made it make much more sense, as it was his way of processing pandemic isolation, which indeed often felt like a repetitive time loop with fleeting moments of human connection.

Mariana is a neuroscientist working with the ReLive project, a firm developing perfect memory recall. She loves tennis and is in mourning for her stepsister and best friend Shay. She visits the Hawke accelerator project one day, where she becomes trapped in a time loop with Carter Cho, a technician who’s obsessed with food and cooking, who has a photographic memory.

I think what fell flat for me was their romance felt forced. It felt like Carter selfishly pulled Mariana into the loop to not be lonely, and then Mariana was willing to risk it all based on one kiss on a cruise ship. I liked how they were opposing personalities - Carter’s spontaneous chaos to Mariana’s calm, orderly control - who brought each other out of their shells, but I didn’t find their chemistry compelling. Their characterizations were also extremely repetitive. Carter’s always writing in his yellow notebook and thinking about pastries; Mariana’s always obsessing over Shay and tennis. I wish their personalities had been given more depth and complexity and we dug deeper into their traumas and pasts beyond every detail with Mariana and Shay. I also found the memory aspects intriguing but they never made much of a difference in the plot. I thought grief was handled very well here though. Mariana was the most interesting and fleshed out character.

I never really felt like I got to know Carter, though, beyond how he was always thinking of how to feed Mariana or he didn’t get along with his parents. Too much food! Please give him some other interests, and I’m a foodie. Then he just abruptly drops off the plot when one loop he forgets that she exists, starting with forgetting their kiss. The romance was starting to make sense then and then it just died. I knew this wasn’t a romance going into it though so I didn’t need the HEA to find enjoyment out of the story, but I was still disappointed with the incredibly practical ending. Even though the intriguing part was that it also needed to be that way to save the world. Frustrating, repetitive and also somehow still intriguing in a very slow burn way.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sigal.
126 reviews30 followers
January 15, 2024
The title is a little misleading, because I didn’t find this book to be a love story at all. While there was maybe a sprinkle of romance in it, A Quantum Love Story was primarily a time loop book. So if you’re looking for a romance sci-fi book, this is probably not it.

I really enjoyed the story. It was fast paced and engaging, quirky at times, and it was not as predictable as I thought it would be. As someone who has a very technical and fact based mind, I liked the characters, but I wish that they had more depth. Both Mariana and Carter felt very one dimensional. They each had two or three traits that kept repeating, and that was their entire personality. It also made the (tiny bit of) romance feel kind of awkward and forced.

Overall it was a lovely time loop book that I had fun reading, and I would recommend it to those that enjoy that kind of time travel story.
Profile Image for Shannon  Miz.
1,503 reviews1,079 followers
January 24, 2024
Let me tell you a little story about this book. I could have finished in December, right at the end. But I waited, until January first, so that I could start the year off with a winner. This, my friends, is a winner. It's no secret that I'd purchase Mike Chen's grocery list without hesitation, but this one was fabulous. In it, Mariana and Carter are facing endless time loops of the same four days, unless they figure out a way to get out of it. I think I shall just tell you why I loved it, then!

►Time loops! These are always fun, right? I cannot help but wonder what I would do in such a situation, and I loved how Carter and Mariana handle their loops in so many different ways. Obviously, they go through phases of hope, denial, acceptance, etc., and back around again. It makes it feel more realistic, because I imagine that most of us would do the same.

►The characters! Mariana and Carter were just such different people, which ended up working really well. She was calculated and focused, whereas he was more willing to take risks and think outside the box. Ultimately, they just worked so well together, and I enjoyed them both as characters in their own right, too.

►The emotions! I had many, reader. We learn quite a bit about the characters' lives before the loops, and of course, we carry on with them for quite some time during the loops. Without giving away too much, there are plenty of moments that made me laugh, smile, and yes, cry.

►I was able to moderately understand the science. I mean look, I am no scientist, but I at least had a basic grasp of what was happening. Sometimes, it gets too convoluted when I read a book like this, but I assure you, this is not the case here! The author does a great job of writing it in a way that the reader understands, and I think it helps that while Mariana is a scientist, this isn't exactly her purview, and Carter is a layperson like most of us reading the book.

►It is just very heartfelt. I felt like I truly knew the characters by the end, especially Mariana, and I could not help but root for her with a desperation as though she was a friend. That, for me, is just the mark of good storytelling.

All of this said, I did want a little more from the ending. Just a little, and I considered knocking a half a star off, but I really loved it too much to do that. But also, if Mike Chen ever wants to throw an epilogue my way, this would absolutely shoot onto my favorites list. Just saying.

Bottom Line: Wonderfully written with tons of heart and emotion and time loop shenanigans, I fell quite in love with A Quantum Love Story.

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
Profile Image for Andrea | andrea.c.lowry.reads.
846 reviews83 followers
May 3, 2024
I am always such a sucker for a time loop themed story, and A Quantum Love Story was a fun adventure! What made this so unique and even more interesting was instead of a one-day loop it was a 4 day loop. I also enjoyed really getting into the lives of the characters, and absolutely loved how the male MC totally took advantage of all things food related during the loop, just like I would.😂

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:

Time Loop
Science Fiction
Dual POV
Mystery
A bit of adventure
Food
A bit of PG romance

3.5 stars

Thank you HTP for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest opinions.
Profile Image for Amber.
779 reviews167 followers
January 14, 2024
25% romance + 25% friendship + 50% physics
If anyone can explain the science behind quantum physics and time loops in the plot I’ll appreciate you forever thanks 😂
Profile Image for Crystal King.
Author 4 books585 followers
December 1, 2023
A Quantum Love Story is a brilliantly ingenious sci-fi romance that captivated me from the first page. Mike Chen has crafted a wonderful time loop story fueled by friendship, grief, hope, and the power of human connection.

Neuroscientist Mariana Pineda finds her life turned upside down when a stranger named Carter Cho insists they are stuck repeating the same four days in an endless time loop. At first skeptical, Mariana comes to trust Carter as the loops reset again and again.

Chen's masterful storytelling kept me hooked as Mariana and Carter's attempts to understand the loop led to exhilarating twists and devastating heartbreak. The characters are profoundly human, with quirks and flaws that make them feel real. Mariana's take-charge attitude especially moved me, as did Carter's humor and empathy, and I loved Bowie.

Though underpinned with complex quantum physics principles, the story never gets bogged down in technical jargon. And while romance is central to the characters' arcs, it emerges organically from their layered friendship. This perfectly balanced blend of science fiction and love story worked beautifully.

From laugh-out-loud moments to edge-of-your-seat suspense to thinking about the ending for weeks after you put the book down, A Quantum Love Story transcends genres. Chen has written a timeless tale that will resonate deeply with readers. Add this one to the top of your TBR pile right now!
Profile Image for Zana.
873 reviews312 followers
January 30, 2024
Happy pub day!

I didn't realize that this was more cute romance than (almost, but not really) contemporary sci-fi. I also didn't think that I'd like this that much. Guess I'm open to new experiences in the Year of Our Lord 2024.

I think I liked this arc because the romance wasn't too in-your-face and this is something I prefer. The author did mention in the acknowledgements that the romance in this novel was front and center. Surprisingly, it didn't feel that way to me.

I liked that this was more of a slowburn and coworkers(?)/friends to lovers. And if you like the forced proximity trope and the opposites attract trope, then this might be for you.

I requested this arc more for the sci-fi portion and that part didn't disappoint at all! I love anything to do with time travel, time loops, time travel paradoxes, etc. This delivered on that front. A lot of the reviews did mention that it got really repetitive with the Groundhog Day time loop stuff, but surprisingly, it didn't feel that way to me. Each iteration had a new revelation (whether with the characters figuring out how to resolve their situation, or how their relationship slowly moved forward), which kept things fresh and not too stale.

Overall, this was a quick read and a very cute book that dealt with loss, grief, and second chances.

Thank you to MIRA and NetGalley for this arc.
Profile Image for Momma Leighellen’s Book Nook.
957 reviews284 followers
January 31, 2024
“Times gonna pass anyway, right? Might as well enjoy it.”

I always love a time loop story! And this one felt extra special and unique because of the short time period (four days, repeated over and over), the fact that TWO people are stuck in the same time loop, plus all the science involved.

While this is a workplace romance slash friends-to-lovers, opposites-attract story, it felt less like a romance and more like a thriller, as Carter and Mariana work together to “beat the clock” every four days and try to find a way out of the time loop they are stuck in. I loved how their friendship and trust grew as they cycled through time.

“Nothing means happen til somethings happen.”

They have days that are all science and theories and work to get them “unstuck”. But they also have days playing tennis, confronting intergenerational trauma, rehashing the past and watching the sunset. The balance was really nice and kept the story fresh each time.

Once a breakthrough happens and things begin to change, the book takes on an ominous tone as the end comes in sight. The ending twists were well done and the story wrapped up perfectly. I think this would be a great fit for Doctor Who fans, especially those that loved Clara, the Impossible Girl.
Profile Image for Denise.
381 reviews41 followers
August 7, 2023
I have read and enjoyed Mike Chen’s books. I wouldn’t call them ‘cozy reads’ as the situations the characters find themselves in are often quite difficult emotionally but he describes these characters with compassion in a way I find appealing.

This new book has an interesting plot that’s part Groundhog Day with a quantum-like twist. However I felt the story missed something that has been hard to put my finger on. I think the characters’ reactions to events seemed off at times. Some events were catastrophic or very peculiar, and yet the human responses were muted. This was less true when developing the relationship between the main characters, but it felt odd.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Alyssa Berman.
217 reviews6 followers
August 6, 2023
This ground hog day science bit just wasn’t for me. The first 250 pages are mind numbingly repetitive. Every chapter begins the same. Although I understand that is kind of the point.. you’re stuck in a loop, we get it.

The flashbacks between Mariana and Shay happen at the most random of times. Sometimes, even in the middle of an existing paragraph. At the very least they should have been their own chapter. It was extremely confusing and hard to follow.

Bowie was the best part of this.

So much potential. Poor execution.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC and opportunity.
Profile Image for Alan.
1,269 reviews158 followers
May 28, 2025
Rec. by: MCL; title
Rec. for: Diana, Olivia

Mike Chen's 2024 novel A Quantum Love Story has a title that feels like a subtitle, but it gets the job done. Or it did for me, anyway... when I saw Chen's book featured at our minimal, transitional local branch library, amid other selections honoring Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May, that title drew me in. But it was Chen's warm-hearted, fast-moving story that kept me reading. It's a...

TIME LOOP MEET CUTE

I actually considered trying to write this whole review using only one-syllable words, but that seemed needlessly gimmicky—unlike A Quantum Love Story itself, a book whose gimmick is integral to the story. Comparisons to the 1993 romance Groundhog Day are inevitable, at least if you've seen that film at all, but Chen's romantic quantum entanglement goes in its own direction—and gives its female lead much more agency... eventually.

Carter Cho is a technician—not a scientist, though he'd tried to be one, and he does have appropriately methodical habits of thought—working in the San Francisco Bay Area at the world-famous Hawke Accelerator on the day everything went sideways. And although Mariana Pineda is just a visitor to the facility, she really is a scientist, though her field is neurology rather than nuclear physics.

Then the Hawke Accelerator explodes, and Carter happens to be standing in just the right place to be caught in the strange green lightning that sends him four days back in time to the Monday before. Garfield would be horrified...

The bottom line here, as it is in just about every time-travel story worth its subatomic particles, is that time travel fucks everything up. It certainly does for Carter Cho, at any rate.

Now, I did have trouble with a couple of things about A Quantum Love Story. One was the implicit acceptance of mind/body dualism, a separation which underlies the (necessary) conceit that Carter and Mariana's memories—which presumably depend on the physical structures of their brains—would somehow not reset along with their bodies when time loops around.

And worse... Carter commits a cruel act—basically kidnaping Mariana to join him in the loop. Eventually that act gets stood on its head (this is a love story, after all), but I found it hard to forgive him (and Chen) for that initial act of coercion, however essential it was to kick-starting the plot.

I did find A Quantum Love Story to be compulsively readable, though—I finished it over just two days.

You may like it as well... this time around.
Profile Image for Jenna.
166 reviews
September 11, 2024
I chowed down on this book and binged it in one evening. I was very captivated by the plot/premise, but upon finishing the book, I was left with a lot of plot questions and don't feel very content with the resolution. I would love a rewrite of the book that ties up the loose ends some more and just elaborates further.

Would recommend this book if you want a cozy version of Recursion.

strengths:
- the ai character was very entertaining and dynamic!
- features what it's like to own a dog or a cat
- argues that we need to slow down and enjoy life
- Carter spending the time loop spending his life savings on insanely expensive food is so real of him
- love them working together to solve the loop
- really related to Mariana's need for precise order and routine/ritual

weaknesses:
- the most entertaining and dynamic character was the ai and not the actual people
- what happened to shay???
- Carter never got to really see himself escape the loop
- why does his memory suddenly tank?
- so the doctor guy does he know what's happening??
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Magdalena aka A Bookaholic Swede.
2,062 reviews887 followers
June 9, 2024
"A Quantum Love Story" is the first novel I've read by Mike Chen, and I found the book to be fascinating (time loop and time travel things? Count me in). I never expected to cry like a baby towards the end of the book (won't spoil anything, I just have a trigger and Mike Chen triggered it).

I recommend this book if you, like me, enjoy time loops, fabulous characters, adorable pets, and a great story. I'm eagerly looking forward to reading Chen's other books.
Profile Image for James McRay.
427 reviews43 followers
July 23, 2024
Like other reviews have mentioned, this wasn’t much of a love story. It was a fairly entertaining time-travel/time-loop adventure. Read it if you’d like, but note that the title is false advertising.
Profile Image for Cassie.
323 reviews8 followers
January 31, 2024
Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA, and NetGalley for this advanced readers copy.

I really enjoyed this science fiction, time loop love story. I say love story as the title does because I would definitely not market this as romance. While there is a central relationship and the characters are slowly falling toward each other in love and in their shared mission to break out of a 4-day Groundhog Day-esque time loop, their romantic feelings are not the primary focus of the book.

This book was quirky and fun. I really enjoyed the setting of San Francisco circa the 2090s. I thought the technology portrayed throughout was just advanced enough while remaining believable for 70 years in the future. The time loops and time travel also were well done. While my head was spinning a little in a few moments with technical language and science, my brain did not hurt trying to figure out the logistics of the time travel; I’m no expert, but the logic seemed solid and lacked the problematic inconsistencies I’ve found with so many books of this type.

I also really liked the slow-burn development of feelings between Carter and Mariana, two people who weren’t really looking for each other at all.

I few items I struggled with:

I wanted more background and emotion felt about Carter’s family and his complicated relationship with them.

I also wanted to feel the emotions of our characters a bit more. They seemed distant at times. The one time I got a little misty-eyed was when Mariana said goodbye to her AI.

There was a moment about half way through the book when I felt like the pace was dragging a lot, only to turn to the next chapter and have the plot move rapidly to the finish line.

Finally, I have mixed feelings about the ending, but I won’t spoil it for anyone. I will say it was slightly ambiguous. I’m undecided on whether I appreciate that, the way I appreciate indie movies, or if I wish there were a longer epilogue.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book, but wonder if I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been expecting it to deliver more romance. My interest in this author has been piqued though, and I may be looking into his other works in the future.

— NOTES —
Genres: science fiction, time loops & travel, love story
POV: third-person
Content: grief, animal death (natural)
Romance: kisses

— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)

Pace: 3.5
Enjoyment: 4.5
Craft: 4
My Gut Feeling: 4
Total Stars: 4
86 reviews10 followers
August 1, 2023
I think I'm unlikely to read anymore Mike Chen books as he takes interesting SF concepts then builds pretty basic stories about people around them without challenging standard conventions or even developing characters I like. He also tends to repeat the types of stories he writes about loss and love so I'm not sure he's worth reading anymore.
Profile Image for Katie Keeshen.
185 reviews3 followers
May 15, 2024
picked this up on a whim… it was fine. I liked some of the time loop/time travel stuff but the characters were a little flat and repetitive to me. The romance element was not really believable because all we got from these two were like three personality traits each and it just wasn’t that interesting on that level.
Profile Image for Sacha.
Author 1 book11 followers
December 21, 2023
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed every previous book by Mike Chen. Looking back, they have all either received a 4 or 5 star rating from me. One thing that he really does wonderfully well is to take an interesting sci-fi concept (time travel, post-apocalypse, vampires, etc.) and creates realistic characters that live within these worlds. This book fell short in my opinion in one of those aspects.

While the concept of a time loop is something I immensely enjoy, I do think the concept can become stale quickly. To keep things from getting too repetitive (which is difficult in a time loop), the characters have to be compelling. Neither of the leads in this book, unfortunately, were very compelling. Carter didn't really do much but take notes and eat, and Mariana kept reminiscing about her dead friend. Nothing really stood out about either of them, and I thought it was strange how Carter basically forced her into the time loop with him. The romantic aspect between the two didn't ever click with me either. It felt more like a relationship built out of convenience than compatibility.

I'll definitely give Mike Chen another chance as this was the first out of six books that I haven't liked.
Profile Image for Ivy Kaprow.
868 reviews40 followers
February 2, 2024
While I was reading this I was trying to figure out what drew me to it on NetGalley. After reading the blurb again, I realized it sounds like an adorable story, which is right up my alley. Unfortunately, it’s more boring than adorable.
Taking place decades in the future, Carter Cho is a technician at a scientific lab. The book opens with Carter realizing he’s stuck in a 4 day time loop and needing to find a way to break it. He manages to get Mariana, a scientist visiting the lab with her company, to enter it too and he hopes between the two of them they can figure out how to break the cycle.
I felt like I was in a time loop while reading this. While I appreciate Mr. Chen’s idea, it just didn’t work for me. I was expecting a fun and flirty romcom and ended up with a sluggish science fiction. I think someone who has a true love of SciFi would enjoy this better than I did. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of this. A Quantum Love Story hit the shelves on January 30th.
Profile Image for Lata.
4,925 reviews254 followers
April 3, 2024
Technician Carter Cho is stuck in a repeating loop of the same four days, and he's trying to find a way to get out. He got stuck when there was a catastrophic explosion in the accelerator created by the company he works at.

On one loop, meets Mariana Pineda, who's undergone memory treatments from the Relive corporation to help her keep her memories of her best friend/stepsister alive. She is a neuroscientist, and is there for a tour of the facility.

Carter pulls Mariana into the same time loop, and the two then spend many repetitions attempting to get out. Carter's eidetic memory and his habit of logging details in a notebook help him preserve memories from loop to loop, while Mariana's Relive treatments are what seem to help her keep each previous iteration in her memories.

While they set up tests and compare notes, they share parts of their lives with each other: Carter loves food, and introduces Mariana to a wide variety of new tastes, helping her appreciate things that were just brain fuel in the past. She shares her love of tennis and a desire to travel to London with him, and the deep grief she feels about her missing, likely dead, sister.

Mariana and Carter become close, developing feelings for each other. And then, Carter's memories begin fading, and Mariana realizes that she'll have to remember for the two of them, while they continue to try to find a way back to regular time.

I loved both of the characters, and how they shared parts of their pasts and interests with each other, and how carefully Mike Chen handled their slow romance. Artificial intelligences David, and later Bowie, provided science exposition, and much needed sarcasm, adding some levity in an increasingly dark situation.

The ideas behind quantum physics made for an interesting basis for this novel, and I liked how each new iteration was subtly different, keeping things quirky and slightly ominous at the same time.

How the situation is resolved is tragic, with Mariana making a pretty radical choice to save them both, while the death of a beloved pet completely undid me.

Mike Chen is adept at creating relatable and sympathetic characters dealing with extraordinary circumstances, and this was another enjoyable example of his skill and empathetic writing.
Profile Image for Brit (britlovestoread).
354 reviews17 followers
Read
July 19, 2024
Not something I would normally read but I enjoyed this.

Usually concepts like this could be really confusing for me but I didn't feel like all of the time stuff was overly-complicated. It was all pretty straightforward and I appreciated that.

I really liked the characters as well.
Profile Image for Shannon.
8,309 reviews424 followers
January 24, 2024
A moving, cleverly written time loop love story between an tech guy and a neuroscientist who find themselves stuck in a four day time loop that ends with the world exploding. Full of humor and heart, this was my first book by Mike Chen and I really, really enjoyed it! Recommended for fans of romance stories with a sci-fi twist, books about living life to the fullest and fighting for what matters and authors like Roselle Lim. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @Librofm for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Steam level: kissing only
Profile Image for Amy.
829 reviews170 followers
September 23, 2024
The book starts at a particle collider facility where things go terribly wrong, resulting in an explosion for most people and a Groundhog-Day-style time loop effect for a technician. He eventually is able to pull someone else in to experience the time loop. They pause from trying to solve the 4-day time loop problem eventually to go live life with a bit of leisure and world travel. But odd things start happening, making them realize they can't just enjoy living in a carefree world with a bank account that resets every 4 days. What really works for me in this story is how the author throws together 2 very different characters with different quirks, strengths, and weaknesses and endears them to you and each other. I know I'd treat Groundhog-Day-style resets a lot like the one character who sought out to have different adventures and food experiences each day. It made me wonder why more time travel characters aren't out there exploring food more. Ha. Anyhow, it's a cute time travel book, and it's luckily light on the romance, but with just enough character chemistry to keep things interesting. I was certainly turning the pages once the book gathered momentum.
Profile Image for Ron.
Author 2 books170 followers
June 1, 2024
Because this time might be different. And that thought made his heart race again.

Excellent [subgenre redacted] science fiction/romance. Chen slowly eases into his characters even as the critical plot sequence is established and repeated early. Onion-layers of subterfuge and uncertainty. Refreshing lack of bad guys.

“See, science is science, but cooking … cooking is magic.”

Cooking, cat and dog, AI, and family subplots flesh out the main story in appropriate detail and intensity. Quibbles over maintaining anonymity and freedom from tracing in the late 21st century don’t ruin the story.

“You have to do this. But you’re allowed to mourn the fact that you have to do this.”

Establishing Shay’s character as unconventional and brash didn’t require nearly the repetition and severity of profanity. Lost a star. Do the math. Wanted to rate it higher, because it’s the best [redacted spoiler] story I’ve read in years.

“Let’s go save time and space.”
Profile Image for Keri Stone.
755 reviews103 followers
June 5, 2024
Carter Cho and Mariana Pineda meet when she is pulled into a strange time loop that he is stuck in. They work together to try to solve a crisis… and through these ongoing 4 day loops they get to know each other.

At times I really liked the book/audiobook and where it was headed. But I think the title of the book set up expectations that it didn’t quite deliver for me. I imagined this easily being a 4 star book part way through, but for me I’d say it ended with 3-1/2. Enjoyable but lacking… again it’s the title that for me promised more of a love story than it delivered.
Profile Image for Ellen.
209 reviews2 followers
December 28, 2023
3.75 - There were parts of A Quantum Love Story that I thoroughly enjoyed, but it ultimately left me feeling dissatisfied and unconvinced.

There were some pacing issues early on — Carter talks about food SO MUCH when there was a mystery we could have been solving.

The middle section had me hooked.

The end just left me with a lot of questions and a skeptical frown.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing an advanced copy for me to review.
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