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Counterclockwise
Simon's task is travel back seventy years. Figure out how the apocalyptic Rift began. Come back to his own time, without causing any paradoxes. Hope he'll learn enough to close the Rift, before it swallows the world. It would be easy, if he didn't start to catch feelings for the man who caused it all.
239 pages, Paperback
Published August 14, 2023
25 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 31, 2025
Well, I think I need new wires for my brain. That was something else.
First of all, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good.
There are several small repetitions and the author has fun with half sentences in the conversations. One wasn't so great, the other was slightly frustrating and took some getting used to.
But everything fits the characters too. The POV alone by Simon and the descriptions and conversations are really fitting with the repetition and half sentences.
It is a story about time travel and its possible effects. It's about unplanned love and too little time. Half-truths, uncertainties, odd brother relationships and predestinations.
I don't want to go into the details. Reading the book was an experience that would be completely destroyed if you knew what it was about.
It develops very very slowly. Almost not at all. The real bombshell only comes in the last chapter and only then comes a resolution, everything before that is pure speculation. And like Simon, you don't understand anything or try to find clues that make little sense.
I think the book is for readers who like to get into something new without expecting too much. I can't praise the book to the skies because it didn't blow me away. But it did something to me. It's also a bit boring at times, but for me, the writing style is such that I still couldn't put it down.
It is melancholic and different.
And the ending was rather subdued. I'm still a bit numb. I think I need to think about it a bit more. Very strange but still satisfying.
He was told not to worry about the butterfly effect; at least, not on little things. Genie rules, the mysterious woman from the Firefly Institute had told him. Avoid changing who dies, avoid large amounts of money, and avoid falling in love. Avoid anything that would change someone's Wikipedia entry. Let's hope that's enough to prevent something worse than the apocalypse we've already got, eh? 😳💗😳
Simon's the one who kisses him. It's a nightmare, because Simon's heart feels alive, and he wants this, and he needs this, and he was sent here because everyone knew that Simon was going to die alone and nobody, not even Simon, cared if it was early. 🥺💗🥺
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Minor spoilers probably ahead
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Content warnings: some people will die
Cheating between MCs: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
Kinks: no sex
First of all, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good.
There are several small repetitions and the author has fun with half sentences in the conversations. One wasn't so great, the other was slightly frustrating and took some getting used to.
But everything fits the characters too. The POV alone by Simon and the descriptions and conversations are really fitting with the repetition and half sentences.
It is a story about time travel and its possible effects. It's about unplanned love and too little time. Half-truths, uncertainties, odd brother relationships and predestinations.
I don't want to go into the details. Reading the book was an experience that would be completely destroyed if you knew what it was about.
It develops very very slowly. Almost not at all. The real bombshell only comes in the last chapter and only then comes a resolution, everything before that is pure speculation. And like Simon, you don't understand anything or try to find clues that make little sense.
I think the book is for readers who like to get into something new without expecting too much. I can't praise the book to the skies because it didn't blow me away. But it did something to me. It's also a bit boring at times, but for me, the writing style is such that I still couldn't put it down.
It is melancholic and different.
And the ending was rather subdued. I'm still a bit numb. I think I need to think about it a bit more. Very strange but still satisfying.
He was told not to worry about the butterfly effect; at least, not on little things. Genie rules, the mysterious woman from the Firefly Institute had told him. Avoid changing who dies, avoid large amounts of money, and avoid falling in love. Avoid anything that would change someone's Wikipedia entry. Let's hope that's enough to prevent something worse than the apocalypse we've already got, eh? 😳💗😳
Simon's the one who kisses him. It's a nightmare, because Simon's heart feels alive, and he wants this, and he needs this, and he was sent here because everyone knew that Simon was going to die alone and nobody, not even Simon, cared if it was early. 🥺💗🥺
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Minor spoilers probably ahead
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Content warnings: some people will die
Cheating between MCs: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
Kinks: no sex
September 27, 2023
I was scrolling through the free books on Amazon and the cover of this one caught my eye and I thought 'why not?' And why not indeed!
I loved the storytelling, it had a constant edge of bittersweetness and this book ended on the most HFN tone I've read in a very long time (I jolly hope there's a sequel planned!)
Simon travels back in time to find out if the rift that is drawing the present time (2097) apart can be fixed but ends up falling in love with the time traveler who is at the heart of the matter. At the end of the book we still don't know what caused it but we knew it was inevitable. A tale of young love, coming of age (although the MCs are in theory older than coming of age it reads very coming-of-age-y), first dates while watching a performance at the Globe Theatre and hanging out in the Wild West. Beautiful writing and heartfelt emotions. I do need a sequel though - give me more romance and resolution!
NSFW infos:
- One 29-year-old who is well about negative forty
- One time travelling 21-year-old for whom time halts in the present when he's in the past so who is in theory more like 27
- a couple of kisses
- 'darlings' and 'love'
I loved the storytelling, it had a constant edge of bittersweetness and this book ended on the most HFN tone I've read in a very long time (I jolly hope there's a sequel planned!)
Simon travels back in time to find out if the rift that is drawing the present time (2097) apart can be fixed but ends up falling in love with the time traveler who is at the heart of the matter. At the end of the book we still don't know what caused it but we knew it was inevitable. A tale of young love, coming of age (although the MCs are in theory older than coming of age it reads very coming-of-age-y), first dates while watching a performance at the Globe Theatre and hanging out in the Wild West. Beautiful writing and heartfelt emotions. I do need a sequel though - give me more romance and resolution!
NSFW infos:
- One 29-year-old who is well about negative forty
- One time travelling 21-year-old for whom time halts in the present when he's in the past so who is in theory more like 27
- a couple of kisses
- 'darlings' and 'love'
October 16, 2023
3'5★
I loved the premise of this and how the cover also caught my eye. The characters are well thought and so is the plot, and they're both connected to the other and I liked how the ending was finally connected too -I'm wondering about how a couple of issues work or translate in the future in the story, but I still think it's great that the story is left like so. It's sweet and bitter at the same time and the story is filled with the narrator's fondness and dread, and the knowledge of his future.
I loved the premise of this and how the cover also caught my eye. The characters are well thought and so is the plot, and they're both connected to the other and I liked how the ending was finally connected too -I'm wondering about how a couple of issues work or translate in the future in the story, but I still think it's great that the story is left like so. It's sweet and bitter at the same time and the story is filled with the narrator's fondness and dread, and the knowledge of his future.
April 24, 2024
Was maybe more of a 2.5 star read…
There was some typos and redundancy of thought patterns from MC. I’m addition, the beginning drags and it was hard for me to stay invested in the plot and characters. About halfway through, though, is when I started enjoying it more. A cute little love story that had me feeling all the butterflies, though I could’ve done without all the drama and tears (or at least toned it down). I loved the succinct explanations of time and paradoxes. Lively little ending, with a twist. Felt a little abrupt and underwhelming.
Overall, pretty enjoyable and a light read.
There was some typos and redundancy of thought patterns from MC. I’m addition, the beginning drags and it was hard for me to stay invested in the plot and characters. About halfway through, though, is when I started enjoying it more. A cute little love story that had me feeling all the butterflies, though I could’ve done without all the drama and tears (or at least toned it down). I loved the succinct explanations of time and paradoxes. Lively little ending, with a twist. Felt a little abrupt and underwhelming.
Overall, pretty enjoyable and a light read.
January 4, 2024
Interesting
Needs some editing/proofreading but overall an enjoyable interesting read. I am curious to know if there will be a 2nd book
Needs some editing/proofreading but overall an enjoyable interesting read. I am curious to know if there will be a 2nd book
December 17, 2023
I debated for a long time between rating this 2 or 3 stars, I think I've settled on 2.5 or even 2.8 but sadly there's no option for partial star points on this site. I really enjoyed the premise of this book, it hooked me and drove my desire to want to know what happens and to read more... However I also couldn't get past how repetitive certain things were throughout the duration of the book. I personally ended up feeling somewhat frustrated with how frequently Simon's inner monologuing brought up his mission and how quickly everything could go badly... As a reader, I couldn't stop myself thinking "I get it! I get it already!" And wanting instead to have more plot details or to see things like more character interactions, especially between the main MC's Simon and Lee. I would have loved seeing them develop a lot more together and really learn more about one another... And then finally when I felt like things were SUPER interesting and mysterious, it all ends?! It was a little disappointing with the abruptness but overall my frustrations outweigh the enjoyment I had with this.
This title also needs some good proofreading/editing, since there were somewhat frequent grammatical errors, entirely wrong words written, and lastly the use of commas was unnecessary in many instances.
This title also needs some good proofreading/editing, since there were somewhat frequent grammatical errors, entirely wrong words written, and lastly the use of commas was unnecessary in many instances.
January 14, 2024
2.25 on storygraph.
I just found the whole thing a little underwhelming, especially the end, it's a short book but it feels like it was cut in half in order to get the book out. The characters were fine but when did they fall in love? Because they met and then talked like twice and now I'm over half way through the book and they're dating now.
It was written OK and the concept was interesting but execution didn't live up to expectations.
I just found the whole thing a little underwhelming, especially the end, it's a short book but it feels like it was cut in half in order to get the book out. The characters were fine but when did they fall in love? Because they met and then talked like twice and now I'm over half way through the book and they're dating now.
It was written OK and the concept was interesting but execution didn't live up to expectations.
June 6, 2024
4.5 ⭐️
🏳️🌈 M/M time travel romance
I loved this authors writing and cannot wait to read more of their work!
This was such a well crafted time travel story and I loved the idea of a rift causing the end of the world. The inevitability of the timeline staying the same even though our MC was sent back to see if there was any info of how it happened coupled with the “doomed” romance made for great tension.
🏳️🌈 M/M time travel romance
I loved this authors writing and cannot wait to read more of their work!
This was such a well crafted time travel story and I loved the idea of a rift causing the end of the world. The inevitability of the timeline staying the same even though our MC was sent back to see if there was any info of how it happened coupled with the “doomed” romance made for great tension.
August 13, 2024
I really wanted to like this more, I hoped that this would be a 5-star read, and maybe that is the reason why I was slightly disappointed. I liked the story and the characters, despite not being a big time travel fan. I would have liked it to be longer, I really believe that is the reason the book did not reach me as well as it could have. And usually I like shorter stories, but here it needed more.
November 6, 2023
Such a wholesome short story
November 13, 2023
Admittedly I didn't know what this book was about since I got it in one of those 'stuff your kindle' days and this just wasn't my cup of tea
March 7, 2024
The book was good but the cliffhanger was not. I mean if the author decides to make a second book, great, but as a standalone 😬
September 27, 2024
It was a bit confusing at times but non the less enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews