What do you think?
Rate this book
See You Later
Librarian's note: this is an alternate cover edition - ISBN 034055679X (ISBN 13: 9780340556795)
LOVE AND HATE ARE BEYOND TIME...
Mark's passion is video games, until he meets the girl of his dreams. And now his friend Kara wants to play Cupid...
But Kara's concern is becoming an obsession. She's out of control, and nobody can stop her!
But Mark has to trust her. His life is in her hands...
LOVE AND HATE ARE BEYOND TIME...
Mark's passion is video games, until he meets the girl of his dreams. And now his friend Kara wants to play Cupid...
But Kara's concern is becoming an obsession. She's out of control, and nobody can stop her!
But Mark has to trust her. His life is in her hands...
176 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 1990
15 people are currently reading
1032 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Pike
261 books5,447 followersChristopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
May 20, 2019
Angels of light from the future want to help us avoid nuclear war and also design bitchin' video games. If you ask nicely, they'll help you out with your dating troubles, too.
June 5, 2011
See You Later is a surprisingly brilliant and moving story. The book is short and to the point and, for me, was one of those books that you have to read all the way through without stopping for anything. The complexity of the novel was very well handled without giving its readers too bad of a headache and the characters were so well-characterized that I can find nothing bad to say about them or the way they were described. Most importantly though, this book played on my emotions which is something that books rarely do for me anymore. There was one part in particular where I felt like I was about to cry because of what Mark goes through. Even the ending of this book was beautiful in a unique way. I can honestly say that I have never read a book like this one and I’ve read over 600. I give See You Later all the praise I have to offer and recommend it to all. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read and it is made even better because I was not expecting it to be even a four star read.
December 1, 2020
"Frederick began to pace the room again. Even with my thoughts spinning, I saw something about his personality that should have immediately disqualified him from commanding a nuclear-armed space station: He was a goddamn lunatic."
See You Later
by Christopher Pike
Hard to do a review of this book since I read it ages ago and do not remember alot. But I realized I never did review it and I did enjoy it though it is not my favorite of Pike's.
Mark is just a simple guy, amusing himself by playing video games. He falls in with some people..including the girl of his dreams..and one or two of his new friends seem to know things about him which puzzles Mark. It is really puzzling because..they don't know each other..or didn't until recently..did they?
The poor kid has no idea what's in store for him.
I did really enjoy this book but unlike with most of Pike's books I have not done a reread recently which I must change.
See you later stayed with me in the sense that I remembered parts and aspects of this story which is both sad and bizarre. It gets a bit to science fiction for me but I was still so impressed with the writing.
I really dislike that so many pigeonhole Pike. It is not just that he is a writer of YA Horror. It is that his books (usually) have incredible character depth and often have a spiritual note rarely seen in a writer of this genre. I loved his works as a kid and I still do even if some are better than others.
FYI..My faves are The eternal enemy, Last Ac t and Weekend. Slumber Party is perhaps his scariest.
See You Later
by Christopher Pike
Hard to do a review of this book since I read it ages ago and do not remember alot. But I realized I never did review it and I did enjoy it though it is not my favorite of Pike's.
Mark is just a simple guy, amusing himself by playing video games. He falls in with some people..including the girl of his dreams..and one or two of his new friends seem to know things about him which puzzles Mark. It is really puzzling because..they don't know each other..or didn't until recently..did they?
The poor kid has no idea what's in store for him.
I did really enjoy this book but unlike with most of Pike's books I have not done a reread recently which I must change.
See you later stayed with me in the sense that I remembered parts and aspects of this story which is both sad and bizarre. It gets a bit to science fiction for me but I was still so impressed with the writing.
I really dislike that so many pigeonhole Pike. It is not just that he is a writer of YA Horror. It is that his books (usually) have incredible character depth and often have a spiritual note rarely seen in a writer of this genre. I loved his works as a kid and I still do even if some are better than others.
FYI..My faves are The eternal enemy, Last Ac t and Weekend. Slumber Party is perhaps his scariest.
July 1, 2015
Though I read it back when I was a pre-teen, the ending haunted me for years. It leaves a very melancholic feeling in your heart. I forgot almost all the characters but I remember the story, and I think that's what makes a good book.
August 25, 2010
THE ONLY WAY TO WIN THE GAME... IS TO NOT PLAY
May 1, 2023
this was my third pick on my little christopher pike kick, and first pike foray into the supernatural!
which, to be honest, i thought would make for a much juicier novel.
it really could have been a wild ride, except it's narrated in the most dry, detached voice i can imagine. the main character's voice is insufferable, and really takes away from the story. most of pike's books seem to be told in the third person, and this book's first person perspective is weak. it does have a creepy moonlit vibe, but the narration does the book a disservice that it can't recover from.
which, to be honest, i thought would make for a much juicier novel.
it really could have been a wild ride, except it's narrated in the most dry, detached voice i can imagine. the main character's voice is insufferable, and really takes away from the story. most of pike's books seem to be told in the third person, and this book's first person perspective is weak. it does have a creepy moonlit vibe, but the narration does the book a disservice that it can't recover from.
March 27, 2022
Mark is a high school video game developer who’s just fallen in love for the first time. Unfortunately, Becky already has a boyfriend, and Mark is hesitant to pursue her. When he meets Vincent, a quiet man who asks for help in play-testing his own video game, Vincent’s beautiful and enigmatic girlfriend takes an interest in Mark’s love life. In fact, Kara seems unusually invested in Mark going out with Becky, even to the point of trying to sabotage her current relationship. What Kara’s real motivations are, and where she and Vincent truly come from, is more like one of Mark’s science fiction games than he ever could have imagined. Spoilers will be clearly marked. Trigger warnings: character death (graphic, on-page), nuclear war, car accidents, asphyxiation, severe illness, violence, guns, blood, threats, infidelity.
This has always been one of my favorites of Pike’s standalone novels, but for various reasons, it didn’t quite hit me the same way this time. I love the story that’s being told here, though it edges into science fiction territory, but Pike has always been able to make sci-fi more accessible to me. While things like time travel, cryogenic freezing, and nuclear war are all central to the plot, the truth is that they’re all too vague to feel like we’re truly in a sci-fi novel or to even be sure what really happens, and I’m okay with that. In instances like this one, I even prefer it, since I’m not sure the story works at all if we look at it too closely. And it’s such a sad, lovely story.
As always with Pike, the book is really about people, and the small and large roles we play in the universal balance between good and evil. Every small action matters, and what matters most of all is love. As far as messages go, I’m hard pressed to think of a better one, and it’s present throughout so many of his novels. Like most of Pike’s narrators, Mark is a nerdy teenager with a crush, and I wasn’t terribly invested in his relationship with Becky until Kara and Vincent (my love) arrived on the scene. Kara is a variation of Pike’s usual mysterious, headstrong blonde, and I love their relationships with kind, quiet Vincent. While the villains aren’t often on the page, the novel interrogates whether or not being a villain is a foregone conclusion. If just one thing changes, can the whole world change?
I still love Vincent’s video game and the moral message there, and the whole novel comes over emphatically anti-war. What bothered me about it this time was the ending, particularly in the treatment of one of the characters, but more on that after the spoilers. I often find myself reaching for Pike’s novels when I’m going through emotional distress, and whatever my thoughts about them, they never fail to comfort me. I need his worlds and his characters to remind me that there is magic and grace in everything, even (and maybe especially) when it doesn’t turn out the way we hoped.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
I always found the ending of this book sad but beautiful, but this is the first time I’ve been a little angry reading it. Throughout the novel, I felt like Becky was being held at a distance, but Pike’s characters often feel a bit distant, and it makes sense since Mark loves her without actually knowing her that well. I dislike the idea that one of our only female characters dies for the redemption of a male villain though, especially when (in her current timeline) she didn’t do anything to deserve that. Kara might be far from innocent, but Becky isn’t. Yeah, yeah, I get that the whole theme of the ending is forgiveness, but I struggle a little with that concept too. (Ray didn’t make any attempt to stop being an asshole before she died.) I’ll always love it, just not quite in the same way as I did before.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
This has always been one of my favorites of Pike’s standalone novels, but for various reasons, it didn’t quite hit me the same way this time. I love the story that’s being told here, though it edges into science fiction territory, but Pike has always been able to make sci-fi more accessible to me. While things like time travel, cryogenic freezing, and nuclear war are all central to the plot, the truth is that they’re all too vague to feel like we’re truly in a sci-fi novel or to even be sure what really happens, and I’m okay with that. In instances like this one, I even prefer it, since I’m not sure the story works at all if we look at it too closely. And it’s such a sad, lovely story.
As always with Pike, the book is really about people, and the small and large roles we play in the universal balance between good and evil. Every small action matters, and what matters most of all is love. As far as messages go, I’m hard pressed to think of a better one, and it’s present throughout so many of his novels. Like most of Pike’s narrators, Mark is a nerdy teenager with a crush, and I wasn’t terribly invested in his relationship with Becky until Kara and Vincent (my love) arrived on the scene. Kara is a variation of Pike’s usual mysterious, headstrong blonde, and I love their relationships with kind, quiet Vincent. While the villains aren’t often on the page, the novel interrogates whether or not being a villain is a foregone conclusion. If just one thing changes, can the whole world change?
I still love Vincent’s video game and the moral message there, and the whole novel comes over emphatically anti-war. What bothered me about it this time was the ending, particularly in the treatment of one of the characters, but more on that after the spoilers. I often find myself reaching for Pike’s novels when I’m going through emotional distress, and whatever my thoughts about them, they never fail to comfort me. I need his worlds and his characters to remind me that there is magic and grace in everything, even (and maybe especially) when it doesn’t turn out the way we hoped.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
I always found the ending of this book sad but beautiful, but this is the first time I’ve been a little angry reading it. Throughout the novel, I felt like Becky was being held at a distance, but Pike’s characters often feel a bit distant, and it makes sense since Mark loves her without actually knowing her that well. I dislike the idea that one of our only female characters dies for the redemption of a male villain though, especially when (in her current timeline) she didn’t do anything to deserve that. Kara might be far from innocent, but Becky isn’t. Yeah, yeah, I get that the whole theme of the ending is forgiveness, but I struggle a little with that concept too. (Ray didn’t make any attempt to stop being an asshole before she died.) I’ll always love it, just not quite in the same way as I did before.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
July 15, 2012
I read this book sometime in junior high. I've read most, if not all of Christopher Pike's books from the 90's era. However, this book is not really a horror book like the other stuff he wrote. This was actually a very moving story and I vividly remember it bringing tears to my eyes. I was pleasantly surprised then and still remember the warm feeling it gave me when I finished reading the book.
March 23, 2020
Not my favorite Christopher Pike but still a fun read. As an adult, I appreciate the perspective on marriage that Pike presents. Currently hiding from the world in YA fiction.
Read
May 28, 2012"Frederick began to pace the room again. Even with my thoughts spinning, I saw something about his personality that should have immediately disqualified him from commanding a nuclear-armed space station: He was a goddamn lunatic."
"I was too busy daydreaming about them. That's how it is for me with the people I love. They become unreal to me. I guess I like them better that way."
"I bit my lip softly, not enough to draw blood but hard enough to feel pain. That was the thing about physical pain. It was real. It was simple to understand, unlike other kinds of pain."
All quotes by C. Pike. All brilliant.
"I was too busy daydreaming about them. That's how it is for me with the people I love. They become unreal to me. I guess I like them better that way."
"I bit my lip softly, not enough to draw blood but hard enough to feel pain. That was the thing about physical pain. It was real. It was simple to understand, unlike other kinds of pain."
All quotes by C. Pike. All brilliant.
May 16, 2013
Although there are mentions of time travel, nuclear war that kills the earth, and a superbreed of aliens, I don't really consider this book science fiction. I think it's more of a love story with a supernatural twist. SPOILERS BELOW:
When Mark falls in love with a girl with a boyfriend, he resigns himself to just being "the friend". Then he meets a couple, Kara and Vincent, who he immediately befriends, as both Mark and Vincent write computer games and agree to help each other. Kara right off the bat offers to get rid of the boyfriend by revealing to Mark's true love that her boyfriend is cheating on her. Although Kara's plan works, and the girl breaks things off and asks Mark out, Mark can tell her heart isn't in it. Further, he's baffled as to why Kara, a complete stranger, cares so much about his love life.
Once Vincent is mysteriously kidnapped, Kara is forced to come clean about her motivation in helping Mark. Kara tells Mark that if the girl he loves stayed with her boyfriend, she will marry the boyfriend, be miserable, she and her husband will turn on each other, and set off a chain of events that will eventually lead to nuclear war and the Earth's complete destruction. Other factors are in play here, but Kara is convinced the world can be saved if Mark gets the girl.
It is basically the precursor to The Butterfly Effect, only much better. Kara is, obviously from the future, although as the book goes on Mark starts to wonder if Kara is truly a time traveler from the future, or a dead woman who was offered the chance by whatever deity he believes in to come back to life temporarily and alter the course of the future (as evidenced later when he's analyzing the story Kara has told him and wonders if she didn't maybe misunderstand the whole thing that happened to her).
The ending is very bittersweet, in that the world is believed to be saved, but the ending is not happy for any of the main characters. I really enjoyed this book, but it is definitely not for everyone.
When Mark falls in love with a girl with a boyfriend, he resigns himself to just being "the friend". Then he meets a couple, Kara and Vincent, who he immediately befriends, as both Mark and Vincent write computer games and agree to help each other. Kara right off the bat offers to get rid of the boyfriend by revealing to Mark's true love that her boyfriend is cheating on her. Although Kara's plan works, and the girl breaks things off and asks Mark out, Mark can tell her heart isn't in it. Further, he's baffled as to why Kara, a complete stranger, cares so much about his love life.
Once Vincent is mysteriously kidnapped, Kara is forced to come clean about her motivation in helping Mark. Kara tells Mark that if the girl he loves stayed with her boyfriend, she will marry the boyfriend, be miserable, she and her husband will turn on each other, and set off a chain of events that will eventually lead to nuclear war and the Earth's complete destruction. Other factors are in play here, but Kara is convinced the world can be saved if Mark gets the girl.
It is basically the precursor to The Butterfly Effect, only much better. Kara is, obviously from the future, although as the book goes on Mark starts to wonder if Kara is truly a time traveler from the future, or a dead woman who was offered the chance by whatever deity he believes in to come back to life temporarily and alter the course of the future (as evidenced later when he's analyzing the story Kara has told him and wonders if she didn't maybe misunderstand the whole thing that happened to her).
The ending is very bittersweet, in that the world is believed to be saved, but the ending is not happy for any of the main characters. I really enjoyed this book, but it is definitely not for everyone.
March 24, 2011
Well I couldn't help myself... since I'm back in junior high... I decided to pick up one of my junior high faves.
GOTTA LOVE CHRISTOPHER PIKE.
Ok, so I finished it. I would give it maybe 3 stars as an adult, but it was SOOO SOO fun to read it again! I can remember waiting for this book to come out and going to buy it at Walden books at the mall.
My daughter said, "there was a bookstore at the mall? There was no Barnes and Noble?!"
GOTTA LOVE CHRISTOPHER PIKE.
Ok, so I finished it. I would give it maybe 3 stars as an adult, but it was SOOO SOO fun to read it again! I can remember waiting for this book to come out and going to buy it at Walden books at the mall.
My daughter said, "there was a bookstore at the mall? There was no Barnes and Noble?!"
November 30, 2017
I remembered this book quite a bit from the first time I read it as a twelve year old, and I loved it all the same, I remember being so in love with the name Vincent because of it. I cried a lot near the end of this and wish I could comfort my younger selfs heartache during reading this her first time, not knowing then what I expected now since I remembered the experience. Christopher Pike is way too good at explaining time travel but also makes my head hurt, in a good way.
October 11, 2011
First off, I just want to say that I think hard core sci-fi lovers will like this book. I really wanted to like it, but I felt it got way too complicated. I picked it up because the description on the back was interesting and if it had just stuck to that, I would have liked it, but the plot becomes more and more convoluted and it ends in a mess.
November 10, 2017
While my adult self sees this more as a 3 star read, the nostalgia factor weighs heavily with this, as it stayed with me for many years after first reading it as an adolescent, therefore bumping it up to 4.
March 24, 2020
This was... a trip? I'm just kind of surprised he went there, honestly, not even in a 'disgusting' way, but in a 'what the actual fuck, Chris' way.
October 11, 2017
Did anyone else keep expecting Agents Mulder and Scully to show up?
Or was it just me?
Perhaps the book would have been better if the famed agents HAD made a cameo. Of course this book was published a couple years before The X-Files made its debut on TV (its publication even preceeded "Beyond Reality," the little-known Sci-Fi Network show I am convinced was an inspiration for the X-files)....but this story is about time travel, so it could have been possible. It was also about aliens. Of sorts.
Basically
And... I think I'm done with Pike books. This one was particularly bad. As in CRINGE-worthy bad. The characters were flat and all had the same voice. The plot jumped around, required enormous suspension of belief, and, at times, it seemed like the author didn't know where he was going with the story. He was just rambling, and that made for an extremely convoluted plot. Also, I found it hard to believe that the main character could be so stupid as to not recognize his girlfriend in her future form. Or himself, for that matter. I mean, "Howdy, Stranger. You look freakishly like me except older and way cooler. And, by the way, your GF looks freakishly like a slightly older version of my crush. I'm severly creeped out, so I'm going to back away slowly and forget this ever happened."
If only.
Yeah...I just didn't like it. It was a little too angsty for me. And I just didn't like the narrator. He wined waaaaay too much. And I swear by all that is holy, if I have to read one more book where an emo male narrator is in love with a MPDG character, I will vomit. I quit reading a little more than halfway through and then flipped to the epilogue (and all its spoilery goodness), which pretty much summed up the entire story as well as made an attempt to explain some of the finer points of why the weirdness happened in the first place.
I need to go and read something awesome now.
p.s. A computer with less than 1 MG of memory. LOL!!!
Or was it just me?
Perhaps the book would have been better if the famed agents HAD made a cameo. Of course this book was published a couple years before The X-Files made its debut on TV (its publication even preceeded "Beyond Reality," the little-known Sci-Fi Network show I am convinced was an inspiration for the X-files)....but this story is about time travel, so it could have been possible. It was also about aliens. Of sorts.
Basically
And... I think I'm done with Pike books. This one was particularly bad. As in CRINGE-worthy bad. The characters were flat and all had the same voice. The plot jumped around, required enormous suspension of belief, and, at times, it seemed like the author didn't know where he was going with the story. He was just rambling, and that made for an extremely convoluted plot. Also, I found it hard to believe that the main character could be so stupid as to not recognize his girlfriend in her future form. Or himself, for that matter. I mean, "Howdy, Stranger. You look freakishly like me except older and way cooler. And, by the way, your GF looks freakishly like a slightly older version of my crush. I'm severly creeped out, so I'm going to back away slowly and forget this ever happened."
If only.
Yeah...I just didn't like it. It was a little too angsty for me. And I just didn't like the narrator. He wined waaaaay too much. And I swear by all that is holy, if I have to read one more book where an emo male narrator is in love with a MPDG character, I will vomit. I quit reading a little more than halfway through and then flipped to the epilogue (and all its spoilery goodness), which pretty much summed up the entire story as well as made an attempt to explain some of the finer points of why the weirdness happened in the first place.
I need to go and read something awesome now.
p.s. A computer with less than 1 MG of memory. LOL!!!
September 13, 2009
When Mark meets Becky, he's sure it's love. But Becky is involved with Ray and isn't interested in a new relationship. Then Mark befriends Kara and Vincent, a young couple new to the area. Kara soon embarks on a mission to turn Becky against Ray, thus paving the way for Mark, who's puzzled by Kara's determination.
This novel offers everything a reader could want -- action, foreshadowing, love, theology, and a strong message. That said, it cannot be denied that too many disparate elements are thrown in: romance, computer programming, time travel, murder, space stations, maniacal military leadership and intergalactic aliens. What saves it is Pike's raw writing style which is truly a gamut of emotions tinged with the truly surreal and bizarre.
Book Details:
Title See You Later
Author Christopher Pike
Reviewed By Purplycookie
This novel offers everything a reader could want -- action, foreshadowing, love, theology, and a strong message. That said, it cannot be denied that too many disparate elements are thrown in: romance, computer programming, time travel, murder, space stations, maniacal military leadership and intergalactic aliens. What saves it is Pike's raw writing style which is truly a gamut of emotions tinged with the truly surreal and bizarre.
Book Details:
Title See You Later
Author Christopher Pike
Reviewed By Purplycookie
July 10, 2013
LOOOVVE ITT. I remember finding this gem of a book back in the middle school library in a cardboard box filled with old books and marked "Take one". It didn't have a front or back cover, and for a long time I didn't even know its title, but See You Later hooked me from the first page and I bet if I went home and dug up my bedraggled hand-me-down now, I would be just as hooked. I think this was my introduction to sci-fi and romance in the same book, a most excellent combination if I do say so myself. Great reading experience. Give it a try!
June 28, 2024
I’ve never been able to read this book all the way through without skimming. It’s so boring. Theres this guy Mark who’s got a crush on this girl Becky who works at the record store and then he makes friends with this girl Kara and her boyfriend Vincent and it turns out that he’s Vincent and Becky’s Kara bc they’re space warriors or something. Pike loves to throw “starlight crystal” around, whether it’s a computer game a character invented or a story a character wrote or a dream a character had. I think he really wanted to be a sci fi author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2019
I loved Christopher Pike when I was a kid, and I'm trying to collect all of his teen fiction books. Most of them don't age well, including this one, but I still love them, nostalgia and all that. It's a quick read, and at least they have some more profound ideas in them than most teen fiction.
April 6, 2023
"He looked and talked like a cop, and had I been told he had shot a few people in the line of duty, I would have assumed they were teenagers. He gave me a dirty look as I sat down. His name was Lieutenant Cocker."
I'm losing my mind.
This was the first book that I read after fully watching its adaptation on Netflix. It was definitely trippier than the show, but I'm impressed at how close the events were in the adaptation and how well it fit thematically.
I'm losing my mind.
This was the first book that I read after fully watching its adaptation on Netflix. It was definitely trippier than the show, but I'm impressed at how close the events were in the adaptation and how well it fit thematically.
September 4, 2023
Rated 3.5 really.
Excerpt from my review - originally published at Offbeat YA.
Pros: Quirky time travel quest andcompletely tolerable not over-romantic love story/love triangle rolled into one.
Cons: Far-fetched and hugely eclectic (Pike's main trademark): sci-fi and spiritualism, Third World War and first love - don't go there if you don't want too much on your plate. Also, the writing is a bit stiff - but then again, that's Pike, folks.
Will appeal to: Time travel aficionados (but not puristic sci-fi fans). Believers in the power of love.
What if you met yourself in the past? No, wait, I saw you yawning. (Been there, read that!). What if you accidentally killed yourself in the past? Has this been done before - or even after - this book was out? I tried googling "time travelers killing themselves in the past" and the like, but apparently there aren't any references to this singular kind of incident, so I assume no one went there but Mr. Pike. And it's understandable since 1) this would result in dealing with the Grandfather Paradox, only a thousand times huger, and 2) few writers are asinsane gutsy as Mr. Pike ;D. Anyway, if you know of any brave one who actually did something like that, please stop below and spill! In the meantime...on with my review.
First off, this novel is written in a blend of first person + past tense + short sentences...a favourite recipe of Pike's. The same blend can be found in Witch World a.k.a. Red Queen (read my review here) 22 years later. Actually, I'd go as far as saying that Mark sounds awfully similar to Jessie from WW, especially in the respective first chapters, which stirs up an odd feeling of course. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the spare writing style, which is the main reason why I haven't rated this book higher - this, and some inconsistencies that will be addressed later. All in all, SYL had the potential to be almost-5-star material, if only it were written in a more impassioned and flowing prose.
This is a difficult book to review if one makes a point of avoiding spoilers. On one hand, you have a doomed love story and a love triangle, albeit they're both thankfully deprived of excessive emphasis. On the other, you have an equally doomed future, and a trio of characters who apparently came back from said time frame with the intention of changing it. (This had to be said...or the book would be impossible to review. Anyway, the big secret is revealed halfway through the narration, and the second - and better - part of SYL deals with the implications of this secret). [...]
Whole review here.
Excerpt from my review - originally published at Offbeat YA.
Pros: Quirky time travel quest and
Cons: Far-fetched and hugely eclectic (Pike's main trademark): sci-fi and spiritualism, Third World War and first love - don't go there if you don't want too much on your plate. Also, the writing is a bit stiff - but then again, that's Pike, folks.
Will appeal to: Time travel aficionados (but not puristic sci-fi fans). Believers in the power of love.
What if you met yourself in the past? No, wait, I saw you yawning. (Been there, read that!). What if you accidentally killed yourself in the past? Has this been done before - or even after - this book was out? I tried googling "time travelers killing themselves in the past" and the like, but apparently there aren't any references to this singular kind of incident, so I assume no one went there but Mr. Pike. And it's understandable since 1) this would result in dealing with the Grandfather Paradox, only a thousand times huger, and 2) few writers are as
First off, this novel is written in a blend of first person + past tense + short sentences...a favourite recipe of Pike's. The same blend can be found in Witch World a.k.a. Red Queen (read my review here) 22 years later. Actually, I'd go as far as saying that Mark sounds awfully similar to Jessie from WW, especially in the respective first chapters, which stirs up an odd feeling of course. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the spare writing style, which is the main reason why I haven't rated this book higher - this, and some inconsistencies that will be addressed later. All in all, SYL had the potential to be almost-5-star material, if only it were written in a more impassioned and flowing prose.
This is a difficult book to review if one makes a point of avoiding spoilers. On one hand, you have a doomed love story and a love triangle, albeit they're both thankfully deprived of excessive emphasis. On the other, you have an equally doomed future, and a trio of characters who apparently came back from said time frame with the intention of changing it. (This had to be said...or the book would be impossible to review. Anyway, the big secret is revealed halfway through the narration, and the second - and better - part of SYL deals with the implications of this secret). [...]
Whole review here.
October 26, 2016
This was amazing. I cried a little when I first read it. So tragic! I found my old battered copy from my teenage years after I moved in with my partner. I had to sticky-tape the cover back on. He read it too, but he won't admit to crying at the end. I know he's lying.
Christopher Pike never took the easy way out with his books. He always made the characters hurt. And the reader hurt. So much hurt!
It's got romance, horror, humour and freakin' time-travel! Even the title has heart-breaking relevance. Don't miss it!
Christopher Pike never took the easy way out with his books. He always made the characters hurt. And the reader hurt. So much hurt!
It's got romance, horror, humour and freakin' time-travel! Even the title has heart-breaking relevance. Don't miss it!
Read
December 23, 2008Oh wow. Oh oh oh wow. At least this book put into perspective what "terrible" means re: young adult fiction. Twilight? Not as bad! That said, it was interesting to see how Christopher Pike (whose name is lifted from one of the greatest sci-fi series of all times) handles science fiction. The answer? He handles it very, very poorly.
October 4, 2016
Could not get past the main character at the beginning of the book. He feels like he has an almost instant love with a girl who has a boyfriend. He then proceeds to visit her at work all the time and think about how he is pursuing her anyway. He also pulls out the 'nice guy' card. It creeped me out too much for me to finish.
June 12, 2007
I was a Christopher Pike junkie back in my youth, and I'm pretty sure this was the one that I loved the most. It was about time travel, and spirits, I think. I'm shady on the details, I just remember it made me cry my eyes out.
June 9, 2007
God I loved this book!
June 13, 2007
This book can still fuck my shit up even when I'm no longer in puberty. It's painful and so awesome.
January 14, 2008
I must have read this one 200 times.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews