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Love and Other Paradoxes
One of the greatest love stories in history gets derailed when a struggling poet at Cambridge runs into a time-traveler who agrees to help him find his muse—a thoughtful and uplifting romantic comedy for fans of About Time and The Midnight Library.
Cambridge University, 2005: Student Joe Greene scribbles verses in the margins of his notebook, dreaming of a future where his words will echo through the ages, all while doubting it could ever happen.
Then, the future quite literally finds him—in the form of Esi. She’s part of a time-traveling tour, a trip for people in the future to witness history’s greatest moments firsthand. The star of this tour? Joe Greene. In Esi’s era, Joe is as renowned as Shakespeare. And he’s about to meet Diana, a fellow student and aspiring actress, who will become his muse and the subject of his famous love poems.
But Esi is harboring a secret. She’s not here because she idolizes Joe—actually, she thinks his poetry is overrated. Something will happen at Cambridge this year that will wreck Esi’s life, and she’s hell-bent on changing it. When Esi goes rogue from her tour, she bumps into Joe and sends his destiny into a tailspin. To save both their futures, Esi becomes Joe’s dating coach, helping him win over Diana. But when Joe’s romantic endeavors go off-script—and worse, he starts falling for Esi instead—they both face a crucial question: Is the future set in stone, or can we pen our own fates?
Cambridge University, 2005: Student Joe Greene scribbles verses in the margins of his notebook, dreaming of a future where his words will echo through the ages, all while doubting it could ever happen.
Then, the future quite literally finds him—in the form of Esi. She’s part of a time-traveling tour, a trip for people in the future to witness history’s greatest moments firsthand. The star of this tour? Joe Greene. In Esi’s era, Joe is as renowned as Shakespeare. And he’s about to meet Diana, a fellow student and aspiring actress, who will become his muse and the subject of his famous love poems.
But Esi is harboring a secret. She’s not here because she idolizes Joe—actually, she thinks his poetry is overrated. Something will happen at Cambridge this year that will wreck Esi’s life, and she’s hell-bent on changing it. When Esi goes rogue from her tour, she bumps into Joe and sends his destiny into a tailspin. To save both their futures, Esi becomes Joe’s dating coach, helping him win over Diana. But when Joe’s romantic endeavors go off-script—and worse, he starts falling for Esi instead—they both face a crucial question: Is the future set in stone, or can we pen our own fates?
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 11, 2025
56 people are currently reading
14569 people want to read
About the author
Catriona Silvey
3 books419 followersCatriona Silvey was born in Glasgow and grew up in Perthshire and Derbyshire, which left her with a strange accent and a distrust of flat places. She overcame the latter to do a BA in English at Cambridge, and spent the next few years there working in scientific publishing. After that she moved to Edinburgh and did a PhD in language evolution, in the hope of finding out where all these words came from in the first place.
Following stints in Chicago and back in Cambridge, she returned to Edinburgh, where she lives with her husband, children, and a very peculiar cat. When she's not working as a solutions developer for a software company, she writes science fiction and fantasy. Her debut novel Meet Me in Another Life was published in 2021. It was a #2 Waterstones bestseller, has been translated into eleven languages, and is currently in development as a feature film.
Following stints in Chicago and back in Cambridge, she returned to Edinburgh, where she lives with her husband, children, and a very peculiar cat. When she's not working as a solutions developer for a software company, she writes science fiction and fantasy. Her debut novel Meet Me in Another Life was published in 2021. It was a #2 Waterstones bestseller, has been translated into eleven languages, and is currently in development as a feature film.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
October 25, 2024
If you enjoyed the author's previous work "Meet Me in Another Life," and are intrigued by concepts like quantum physics, time travel, parallel universes, endless possibilities, forbidden love stories, destiny, paradoxes, and changing your path against determinism, you'll be drawn into this plot. It follows John Greene, a mediocre, aimless 20-year-old Cambridge student, whose path crosses with a strange young barista named Esi. She has a poetry book written by his future self that foretells his marriage to a beautiful actress named Diana, who becomes his muse, leading to a fulfilled, famous life. Meanwhile, Esi, a poor barista from the future, tries to save her mother's life in the past to rescue her crumbling family.
If you haven't already shouted "I'm sold!" like I did, you might want to find another book. But I bet you're already wondering what's going to happen, right? Come on, jump on this train and join the complex adventure of Joe Greene, who only wants to get a 2.1 to pass his class, while trying to make Diana, who seems way out of his league, fall in love with him to secure his promising future fame and passionate love story.
Esi, whose mother died in an accident that tore her family apart, has time-traveled to Joe's timeline along with other travelers who keep stalking Joe from a distance to witness their famous poet's early years. They've passed through a secret wormhole, and Esi becomes Joe's Cyrano, whispering love tactics to help him win not Roxanne's but Diana's heart. She even gives Joe a makeover: styling his hair, updating his fashion with charity store finds, and offering love advice that seems to work on Diana. But there's a big problem they didn't anticipate: Joe starts liking Esi a lot, realizing he and Diana have little in common.
Esi is adamant about returning to her own time after accomplishing her mission, even though their feelings might be mutual. They believe that whatever they do, they can't change their future - Diana and Joe are meant to be, right? But what if, instead of accepting his predetermined path, Joe listens to his heart and follows a different one against all obstacles?
Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed this complex, unique sci-fi romance novel that blends quantum mechanics and time travel! I'm looking forward to reading more works by the author in the near future.
Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for sharing this smart read's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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If you haven't already shouted "I'm sold!" like I did, you might want to find another book. But I bet you're already wondering what's going to happen, right? Come on, jump on this train and join the complex adventure of Joe Greene, who only wants to get a 2.1 to pass his class, while trying to make Diana, who seems way out of his league, fall in love with him to secure his promising future fame and passionate love story.
Esi, whose mother died in an accident that tore her family apart, has time-traveled to Joe's timeline along with other travelers who keep stalking Joe from a distance to witness their famous poet's early years. They've passed through a secret wormhole, and Esi becomes Joe's Cyrano, whispering love tactics to help him win not Roxanne's but Diana's heart. She even gives Joe a makeover: styling his hair, updating his fashion with charity store finds, and offering love advice that seems to work on Diana. But there's a big problem they didn't anticipate: Joe starts liking Esi a lot, realizing he and Diana have little in common.
Esi is adamant about returning to her own time after accomplishing her mission, even though their feelings might be mutual. They believe that whatever they do, they can't change their future - Diana and Joe are meant to be, right? But what if, instead of accepting his predetermined path, Joe listens to his heart and follows a different one against all obstacles?
Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed this complex, unique sci-fi romance novel that blends quantum mechanics and time travel! I'm looking forward to reading more works by the author in the near future.
Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for sharing this smart read's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
medium blog
April 24, 2025
I’m something of a time travel novel addict. I think it’s the fact that literally anything is possible. It’s as likely you’ll see characters transported to major events of the past as it is that you’ll see them wrestling with a strange (to us) future life. And sometimes both of these occur in the same story. I’d so enjoyed the author’s previous novel Meet Me in Another Life, one of my absolute favourite novels of this sub-genre, that I was desperate to get hold of a copy of this one.
It starts off pretty simply as Joe, a Cambridge University student and an aspiring poet, finds himself wrestling with his feelings for two girls. Diana is haughty but devastatingly beautiful - it seems that this is the girl he’s destined to be with. Esi is quirky and funny and totally unobtainable. At heart, this is a simple love story. Which girl will Jo eventually end up with: can he tame the ice queen, or will he manage to grab the ungrabbable?
In time travel theory, there are two popular paradigms:
1. The past can be changed, but with unpredictable consequences for the future. This is also known as the butterfly effect and is rooted in chaos theory.
2. You really can’t change the past. If you try something will intervene to stop you – whatever happened, happened (i.e. your actions were always part of what happened).
So what if you learn of your future and want to change it, or if there’s something in your past that you want to alter? Well, it really depends on which one of the above comes into play.
It’s a fun story, and despite myself, I did become somewhat invested in the question of which girl would eventually claim Joe’s heart. Take it from me, it really is quite complicated. What appealed to me less is the fact that the time travel element is treated with such nonchalance. The few people that become aware of or participate in the act seem to accept it without question. There’s little sense of wonder, which I found to be odd and somewhat disappointing. To me, just the thought of time travel is mind-blowing. It would surely be the ultimate experience. Yet despite this minor disappointment, I still caught myself rushing back to this story, eager to see how it all played out.
It’s worth noting that there’s also a third popular time travel paradigm that might have a part to play in this tale. What is it? Well, I'm afraid you’ll have to read the book to find out.
My thanks to HarperCollins UK for supplying a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It starts off pretty simply as Joe, a Cambridge University student and an aspiring poet, finds himself wrestling with his feelings for two girls. Diana is haughty but devastatingly beautiful - it seems that this is the girl he’s destined to be with. Esi is quirky and funny and totally unobtainable. At heart, this is a simple love story. Which girl will Jo eventually end up with: can he tame the ice queen, or will he manage to grab the ungrabbable?
In time travel theory, there are two popular paradigms:
1. The past can be changed, but with unpredictable consequences for the future. This is also known as the butterfly effect and is rooted in chaos theory.
2. You really can’t change the past. If you try something will intervene to stop you – whatever happened, happened (i.e. your actions were always part of what happened).
So what if you learn of your future and want to change it, or if there’s something in your past that you want to alter? Well, it really depends on which one of the above comes into play.
It’s a fun story, and despite myself, I did become somewhat invested in the question of which girl would eventually claim Joe’s heart. Take it from me, it really is quite complicated. What appealed to me less is the fact that the time travel element is treated with such nonchalance. The few people that become aware of or participate in the act seem to accept it without question. There’s little sense of wonder, which I found to be odd and somewhat disappointing. To me, just the thought of time travel is mind-blowing. It would surely be the ultimate experience. Yet despite this minor disappointment, I still caught myself rushing back to this story, eager to see how it all played out.
It’s worth noting that there’s also a third popular time travel paradigm that might have a part to play in this tale. What is it? Well, I'm afraid you’ll have to read the book to find out.
My thanks to HarperCollins UK for supplying a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 2, 2025
A time travel and love triangle romance for fans of Ashley Poston and Christina Lauren, with two 21 year old students in Cambridge, England — one from 2044 and the other from 2005. Joe Greene is not doing well in school, his real passion is with his terrible poetry. His roommate Rob is a physics major whose real passion is playing the game Assassins. This is a live action game where you are hunting other players to surprise them and get them eliminated from the game. Joe has a meet cute with Esi at the coffee shop, and they have some interesting chemistry. He just doesn’t know what it is about her.
Then as she is walking away she drops a book of poetry. Written by him! It turns out she is on a "time travel trip" where people who are fans of someone famous can travel back in time to where they used to live to maybe meet them before they were famous. So everyone on this visit to 2005 is a huge fan of "Joseph Greene the famous poet" except, that is, for Esi. Eli has other plans in mind. Her mother, who tragically died in an accident, was killed returning to Cambridge in celebration of "an award she won in June of 2005." So Esi has an ulterior motive, find her mother and make sure she doesn't win this award.
But will it work? After all, the time travel company says that the Butterfly Effect doesn't apply, there is nothing you can do in the past to ruin the future. So will Esi save her mom, and will Joe and Esi even find her?
This time travel romance is about 30% romance, no spice. Mostly this is heavily plot driven and character-building as Joe and Esi inhabit the world they are in and as Joe get his mind around his supposed future. This book asks the question, what would you do if you knew you were destined to succeed? And it changes all of his decisions. Joe's roommate Rob is a great character, he gets all the best lines. There is plenty of humor. Most of the narrative is Joe's inner dialogue and Esi becoming a sort of Cyrano to him with his "muse" Diana.
If you enjoy time travel romances or romances that embrace magical realism, add this one to your TBR list~!
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC. Book to be published March 11, 2025.
Then as she is walking away she drops a book of poetry. Written by him! It turns out she is on a "time travel trip" where people who are fans of someone famous can travel back in time to where they used to live to maybe meet them before they were famous. So everyone on this visit to 2005 is a huge fan of "Joseph Greene the famous poet" except, that is, for Esi. Eli has other plans in mind. Her mother, who tragically died in an accident, was killed returning to Cambridge in celebration of "an award she won in June of 2005." So Esi has an ulterior motive, find her mother and make sure she doesn't win this award.
But will it work? After all, the time travel company says that the Butterfly Effect doesn't apply, there is nothing you can do in the past to ruin the future. So will Esi save her mom, and will Joe and Esi even find her?
This time travel romance is about 30% romance, no spice. Mostly this is heavily plot driven and character-building as Joe and Esi inhabit the world they are in and as Joe get his mind around his supposed future. This book asks the question, what would you do if you knew you were destined to succeed? And it changes all of his decisions. Joe's roommate Rob is a great character, he gets all the best lines. There is plenty of humor. Most of the narrative is Joe's inner dialogue and Esi becoming a sort of Cyrano to him with his "muse" Diana.
If you enjoy time travel romances or romances that embrace magical realism, add this one to your TBR list~!
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC. Book to be published March 11, 2025.
February 2, 2025
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
"Love and Other Paradoxes" takes place in 2004. We follow Cambridge student, Joseph (Joe) Greene. Joe has been dealing with an insane amount of writer's block and does not know if he's going to be able to graduate let alone become a successful poet. Going into a coffee shop, Joe ends up meeting a young woman named Esi. He doesn't know why he follows her and wants to know more about her, but then he ends up picking up a book that could not possibly have been written since it shows it was published by him in the year 2044. Joe is shocked that Esi is a time traveler who is hell-bent on stopping something that Joe is going to be part of. It ends up causing a lot of butterfly effects (yeah, I said it).
Not too much to say about this one except it wasn't very well thought out or developed IMHO. I thought we would get something akin to what the summary said, "About Time" which I honestly did love as a romance movie. I don't know what I would liken this to since it just didn't work for me at all in several different ways.
Joe was not someone I rooted for at all. Probably because he was falling in and out of love with people every five seconds. Don't try to sell me on some epic romance and it seems whatever way the wind blows is his philosophy. I wanted something deeper there for the character. Something that was going to show some type of sacrifice. "About Time" blows you away when the hero realizes that he can't go back beyond a certain point in time and he will not be able to see someone he loves anymore. Grief hits them hard and I know I cried like a baby during one of those scenes. There's not none of that. And no offense, based on the poetry that Silvey shows us that Joe writes, I got to wonder why anyone in the future was obsessed with visiting his basic ass.
Esi. UGHHHH. Look, same issue with Joe but also I am a little more aggravated with her. There's a whole freaking reason that Esi comes back. And honestly it was some of the most hodge podge mess. And I don't want to do spoilers for the review, only thing I could say was that some type of therapy needed to occur and maybe that does not exist in the future. Also, I never got some big overwhelming grief from her at all about anything. Once again, it's a lot of lip service that didn't ring true.
The other characters we get to know, Diana, Ray, etc. were just kind of there. Honestly, the only character that Silvey gave any spark to, and that was towards the end, was Diana. I was hoping for a different ending than what we got, because at least that would have been interesting and not so blah.
The setting of Cambridge in 2004 was a choice. I maybe judged the crap out of Esi because of all the crap going on now and this is what the most important thing to her was to do with the whole go back to time and change things. Bahhhhh.
The flow was bad. I don't know what else to say. It just never hung together well and the whole book was a chore.
The ending made me laugh (not in a good way). Things get explained by, I guess this doesn't matter even though the whole book said it did and I just gave up.
"Love and Other Paradoxes" takes place in 2004. We follow Cambridge student, Joseph (Joe) Greene. Joe has been dealing with an insane amount of writer's block and does not know if he's going to be able to graduate let alone become a successful poet. Going into a coffee shop, Joe ends up meeting a young woman named Esi. He doesn't know why he follows her and wants to know more about her, but then he ends up picking up a book that could not possibly have been written since it shows it was published by him in the year 2044. Joe is shocked that Esi is a time traveler who is hell-bent on stopping something that Joe is going to be part of. It ends up causing a lot of butterfly effects (yeah, I said it).
Not too much to say about this one except it wasn't very well thought out or developed IMHO. I thought we would get something akin to what the summary said, "About Time" which I honestly did love as a romance movie. I don't know what I would liken this to since it just didn't work for me at all in several different ways.
Joe was not someone I rooted for at all. Probably because he was falling in and out of love with people every five seconds. Don't try to sell me on some epic romance and it seems whatever way the wind blows is his philosophy. I wanted something deeper there for the character. Something that was going to show some type of sacrifice. "About Time" blows you away when the hero realizes that he can't go back beyond a certain point in time and he will not be able to see someone he loves anymore. Grief hits them hard and I know I cried like a baby during one of those scenes. There's not none of that. And no offense, based on the poetry that Silvey shows us that Joe writes, I got to wonder why anyone in the future was obsessed with visiting his basic ass.
Esi. UGHHHH. Look, same issue with Joe but also I am a little more aggravated with her. There's a whole freaking reason that Esi comes back. And honestly it was some of the most hodge podge mess. And I don't want to do spoilers for the review, only thing I could say was that some type of therapy needed to occur and maybe that does not exist in the future. Also, I never got some big overwhelming grief from her at all about anything. Once again, it's a lot of lip service that didn't ring true.
The other characters we get to know, Diana, Ray, etc. were just kind of there. Honestly, the only character that Silvey gave any spark to, and that was towards the end, was Diana. I was hoping for a different ending than what we got, because at least that would have been interesting and not so blah.
The setting of Cambridge in 2004 was a choice. I maybe judged the crap out of Esi because of all the crap going on now and this is what the most important thing to her was to do with the whole go back to time and change things. Bahhhhh.
The flow was bad. I don't know what else to say. It just never hung together well and the whole book was a chore.
The ending made me laugh (not in a good way). Things get explained by, I guess this doesn't matter even though the whole book said it did and I just gave up.
November 3, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 -This was a pretty fun and cute read, especially since I’m a sucker for time travel love stories. I would’ve liked to see more indications of the time travel element in the story, but it was quite subdued - very much like in the movie “About Time”; the time travel aspect in both media was more of a catalyst to just set the story in motion and wasn’t the center focus. I did like the messages we got from both despite the minute amount of sci/fi, that your future isn’t predetermined and it’s important to make the most of your time and cherish your loved ones in the present moment.
One issue I did have with the story was the pacing. It felt very off at times, since often throughout the book there were time skips of weeks at a time. With so much time just glossed over, it was quite off putting and disorienting. Because of this, I didn’t feel like I got a good visual of the love story that unfolded between Joe and Esi. There were beautiful moments here and there with heartfelt dialogues, but i didn’t quite see that adding up to the equation of their love story.
Overall I enjoyed this story, and would recommend this book to someone looking for a quick and fun read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
One issue I did have with the story was the pacing. It felt very off at times, since often throughout the book there were time skips of weeks at a time. With so much time just glossed over, it was quite off putting and disorienting. Because of this, I didn’t feel like I got a good visual of the love story that unfolded between Joe and Esi. There were beautiful moments here and there with heartfelt dialogues, but i didn’t quite see that adding up to the equation of their love story.
Overall I enjoyed this story, and would recommend this book to someone looking for a quick and fun read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
April 24, 2025
Although I love romance stories I don't really enjoy plain romance stories. I always need something extra. A little bit of magic, some sci-fi elements, something adding that little something to make a story more special. So, when I was invited by HarperVoyager to read this digital arc via Netgalley I didn't hesitate. It sounded like the kind of book I currently need. Lighthearted, romantic, and time travel. I was very excited to dive in.
This book is exactly what I expected it to be. The book has a general lighthearted tone and it's a quick and easy read. Although the book has a time-travel element, it's not really a time-travel novel. Apart from a few pages the book takes place in the same world and the same time and although some characters are traveling back and forth between timelines, it's not the main theme of the story. It's more the driving force behind the decisions of these characters.
The book is marketed as a romance and although it IS a romance and the romantic relationship(s) is the core of the story, it doesn't feel like a typical romance. That's partly because of the time travel element. It seems that knowing about your future does complicate things. A lot. Especially the romance. Because if you already know who your epic love is gonna be, why would you spend time listening to what your actual heart is telling you?
And I think that's exactly what makes this book, apart from being simply entertaining, stand out. The science might not be explained in too much detail, although it was clear how everything worked and what was going on, but the dilemmas caused by time travel are really well thought out. The characters have a lot of choices to make, a lot of times their way of thinking and seeing the world is challenged and in the end they have to decide who they want to be.
This book is exactly what I expected it to be. The book has a general lighthearted tone and it's a quick and easy read. Although the book has a time-travel element, it's not really a time-travel novel. Apart from a few pages the book takes place in the same world and the same time and although some characters are traveling back and forth between timelines, it's not the main theme of the story. It's more the driving force behind the decisions of these characters.
The book is marketed as a romance and although it IS a romance and the romantic relationship(s) is the core of the story, it doesn't feel like a typical romance. That's partly because of the time travel element. It seems that knowing about your future does complicate things. A lot. Especially the romance. Because if you already know who your epic love is gonna be, why would you spend time listening to what your actual heart is telling you?
And I think that's exactly what makes this book, apart from being simply entertaining, stand out. The science might not be explained in too much detail, although it was clear how everything worked and what was going on, but the dilemmas caused by time travel are really well thought out. The characters have a lot of choices to make, a lot of times their way of thinking and seeing the world is challenged and in the end they have to decide who they want to be.
November 18, 2024
3.5/5
Very cute time travel love triangle romance from Catriona Silvey, author of Meet Me in Another Life. Like that novel (which I loved, to be clear), this has its fair share of contrivances and works at a pretty breakneck pace. But, despite the fact that most of the plot beats could probably be guessed after the first few pages (almost feels a little meta here: the future of this book feels set in stone when you start reading it!), it's really a joy to see it all come together in the end. It feels like every detail set up in the beginning has a payoff in the conclusion, which is pretty satisfying. This never dragged for me, but I will say that it's often hard to like the protagonist. Yeah, he had to learn his lessons, but it isn't until near the end that I was really rooting for him at all. And even then I think he still needs to prove himself some more for me to not side-eye him a little.
A rather light read, but I'm not complaining. I will read as many unabashedly romantic sci-fi stories from Silvey as she manages to write.
Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the eARC.
Very cute time travel love triangle romance from Catriona Silvey, author of Meet Me in Another Life. Like that novel (which I loved, to be clear), this has its fair share of contrivances and works at a pretty breakneck pace. But, despite the fact that most of the plot beats could probably be guessed after the first few pages (almost feels a little meta here: the future of this book feels set in stone when you start reading it!), it's really a joy to see it all come together in the end. It feels like every detail set up in the beginning has a payoff in the conclusion, which is pretty satisfying. This never dragged for me, but I will say that it's often hard to like the protagonist. Yeah, he had to learn his lessons, but it isn't until near the end that I was really rooting for him at all. And even then I think he still needs to prove himself some more for me to not side-eye him a little.
A rather light read, but I'm not complaining. I will read as many unabashedly romantic sci-fi stories from Silvey as she manages to write.
Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the eARC.
December 27, 2024
This is by far the most unique book I've read this year in all the best ways imaginable. Joe and Esi's story from beginning to end had me hooked. Joe, a student at Cambridge, struggles to find his potential in a sea of people who seem to have it all figured out. Insert Esi, a woman who time travels back to the early 2000s to change the past in order to save her mother's future. The two end up on journey together of self discovery and unexpected love. I won't spoil the ending but I will say that it's a good one.
December 1, 2025
3.75⭐️
I was scared going into this book because I loved the author's last book so much, but this book is about time travel, which I usually don't like. There are always a lot of plot holes and things that don't make sense. But I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. The time travel makes sense, and it didn't take me out of the story. I think the overall story and the side stories are really good, I just wasn't interested in the romance.
I was scared going into this book because I loved the author's last book so much, but this book is about time travel, which I usually don't like. There are always a lot of plot holes and things that don't make sense. But I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. The time travel makes sense, and it didn't take me out of the story. I think the overall story and the side stories are really good, I just wasn't interested in the romance.
April 13, 2025
I enjoyed this take a on time-travel related love story. It was funny, thought provoking and poetic at times (literally since the main guy is a poet). I didn’t quite get giddy butterflies for the couple, since there is also kind of a love triangle of sorts? But the rest of the story kept me intrigued.
January 6, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
Love and Other Paradoxes is a romantic story containing magical realism and time-traveling. When Joe crosses paths with Esi, he learns that she has traveled from the future and that he has a bright future awaiting him. But Esi is on a mission and now Joe's life is about to get turned around.
Overall, I thought the premise of this story was super fun! However, the first half of this book fell flat for me and felt extremely choppy. We had scenes that were split into separate chapters in the middle of dialogue and then random time jumps. The second half was amazing and I wish the entire story could have flown as nicely.
Our two main characters felt realistic and the tiny twists thrown throughout the story made for an entertaining and unique story. I love how each aspect of this story wraps up and there weren't any loose ends. Parts of the book that I thought had no significance ended up being instrumental in the conclusion.
Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the eARC! All opinions are my own.
Love and Other Paradoxes is a romantic story containing magical realism and time-traveling. When Joe crosses paths with Esi, he learns that she has traveled from the future and that he has a bright future awaiting him. But Esi is on a mission and now Joe's life is about to get turned around.
Overall, I thought the premise of this story was super fun! However, the first half of this book fell flat for me and felt extremely choppy. We had scenes that were split into separate chapters in the middle of dialogue and then random time jumps. The second half was amazing and I wish the entire story could have flown as nicely.
Our two main characters felt realistic and the tiny twists thrown throughout the story made for an entertaining and unique story. I love how each aspect of this story wraps up and there weren't any loose ends. Parts of the book that I thought had no significance ended up being instrumental in the conclusion.
Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the eARC! All opinions are my own.
October 14, 2024
Tiny spoiler for a paradox, but nothing major. It is a time travel novel, after all, and the title does say paradox.
Ever since I was young, I have always loved ❤️ reading time travel novels. Love and Other Paradoxes is amazing! I remember reading years ago the same paradox (although brought about through different circumstances), and every once in a while, I will think about it. If a time traveler gives you a book of your poems before you write them, did you, in fact, write them?
Anyone who loves time travel romances, or even just cute romances in general, will love this book!
Thanks to NetGalley for the free kindle book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Ever since I was young, I have always loved ❤️ reading time travel novels. Love and Other Paradoxes is amazing! I remember reading years ago the same paradox (although brought about through different circumstances), and every once in a while, I will think about it. If a time traveler gives you a book of your poems before you write them, did you, in fact, write them?
Anyone who loves time travel romances, or even just cute romances in general, will love this book!
Thanks to NetGalley for the free kindle book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 14, 2025
Love and Other Paradoxes is a beautifully crafted, mind-bending novel that blends romance with high-concept science fiction. Catriona Silvey delivers a story that plays with time, fate, and the choices that define us, all while exploring the emotional depth of love and human connection.
The novel’s structure is ambitious, weaving together timelines and possibilities to keep you engaged and constantly questioning where the story is headed. Silvey’s writing is intelligent and deeply emotional, making the book as thought-provoking as it is heartfelt. The characters feel real and complex, and their relationships drive the story as much as the sci-fi elements do.
Whilst the plot is lighter in tone than a traditional time travel novel, it still carries high stakes for the characters within the story. Their struggles and the emotional weight of their choices make this more than just a playful take on time travel—it’s a novel that genuinely explores what it means to love and lose across different realities.
What I loved most was how Love and Other Paradoxes doesn’t just use time travel as a gimmick—it truly explores its emotional weight. It reminds me of the best of Blake Crouch’s work but with a slant of contemporary romance, making it a perfect read for those who love stories that balance speculative fiction with deep, personal stakes.
This is a must-read if you enjoy sci-fi, which is more about the human condition than just the mechanics of time travel.
The novel’s structure is ambitious, weaving together timelines and possibilities to keep you engaged and constantly questioning where the story is headed. Silvey’s writing is intelligent and deeply emotional, making the book as thought-provoking as it is heartfelt. The characters feel real and complex, and their relationships drive the story as much as the sci-fi elements do.
Whilst the plot is lighter in tone than a traditional time travel novel, it still carries high stakes for the characters within the story. Their struggles and the emotional weight of their choices make this more than just a playful take on time travel—it’s a novel that genuinely explores what it means to love and lose across different realities.
What I loved most was how Love and Other Paradoxes doesn’t just use time travel as a gimmick—it truly explores its emotional weight. It reminds me of the best of Blake Crouch’s work but with a slant of contemporary romance, making it a perfect read for those who love stories that balance speculative fiction with deep, personal stakes.
This is a must-read if you enjoy sci-fi, which is more about the human condition than just the mechanics of time travel.
Read
June 23, 2025DNF.
I’ll for sure finish this one day, but it wasn’t bringing me enough enjoyment to want to finish it right now. I don’t have the patience for mediocre books at the moment. I’m being super picky lately because reading should be fun and not feel like a chore. <3
NO HATE to the author EVER! This just wasn’t the right read for me.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾!
I’ll for sure finish this one day, but it wasn’t bringing me enough enjoyment to want to finish it right now. I don’t have the patience for mediocre books at the moment. I’m being super picky lately because reading should be fun and not feel like a chore. <3
NO HATE to the author EVER! This just wasn’t the right read for me.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾!
May 7, 2025
thank you so much to rachel quin and harper voyager for a proof!
love and other paradoxes is a romance with time travel and the eternal question of whether the future can be truly be change by going back in time or if it's set in stone and no matter what, what is meant to happen, happens.
it follows Joe Greene while he is at Cambridge University in 2005. he is an aspiring poet but doubting he could ever truly make it as one. one day, Esi pops up into his life, who travelled from the future with a time-travelling tour to see none other than the infamous Joe Greene. the tour comes right when Joe is supposed to meet Diana, a fellow student and aspiring actress, who will become his muse and the subject of his famous love.
however, Esi isn't actually here to see Joe, she is here to change the past in order to have a better future. when she bumps into Joe and derails his destiny by accidentally telling him his future, she decides to become his dating coach to help him win over Diana. there is only one problem, Joe starts falling for Esi instead...
this was the CUTEST read ever and i absolutely in love with it. i'm not usually one for time travel because it will make my head spin but i loved how it was approached in this. it had me hooked from the beginning and i couldn't wait to pick it up every time. i just love how much it was debated throughout the book about whether changing one simple thing in the past may actually derail and create chaos in the future. it also highlighted the importance of hard work and emphasised that just because you know you'll succeed doesn't mean you can just sit back and wait for destiny to take its course, you still need to put the effort in.
all the characters were so fun to read about. i absolutely adored Joe and Esi and i couldn't help but root for them. also Rob was the best and i ate up every time he showed up!!
love and other paradoxes is a romance with time travel and the eternal question of whether the future can be truly be change by going back in time or if it's set in stone and no matter what, what is meant to happen, happens.
it follows Joe Greene while he is at Cambridge University in 2005. he is an aspiring poet but doubting he could ever truly make it as one. one day, Esi pops up into his life, who travelled from the future with a time-travelling tour to see none other than the infamous Joe Greene. the tour comes right when Joe is supposed to meet Diana, a fellow student and aspiring actress, who will become his muse and the subject of his famous love.
however, Esi isn't actually here to see Joe, she is here to change the past in order to have a better future. when she bumps into Joe and derails his destiny by accidentally telling him his future, she decides to become his dating coach to help him win over Diana. there is only one problem, Joe starts falling for Esi instead...
this was the CUTEST read ever and i absolutely in love with it. i'm not usually one for time travel because it will make my head spin but i loved how it was approached in this. it had me hooked from the beginning and i couldn't wait to pick it up every time. i just love how much it was debated throughout the book about whether changing one simple thing in the past may actually derail and create chaos in the future. it also highlighted the importance of hard work and emphasised that just because you know you'll succeed doesn't mean you can just sit back and wait for destiny to take its course, you still need to put the effort in.
all the characters were so fun to read about. i absolutely adored Joe and Esi and i couldn't help but root for them. also Rob was the best and i ate up every time he showed up!!
June 22, 2025
This story was a delight! A perfect summer read. The time travel theory is dealt with very well, in my sci-fi-fan-and-nothing-more-humble-opinion. I imagine it's also particularly delightful if you've spent any time at Cambridge; I can vouch that it's also very good if you're familiar with Oxford. But even if you're not into sci-fi or elite British universities it is still a very sweet love story. I found the characters initially annoying but then they grow on you. Highly recommended.
January 30, 2025
Love and Other Paradoxes is just another run-of-the-mill woman-comes-from-the-future-to-change-the-past-and-boy-gets-caught-up-in-the-crossfire situation.
Joseph Greene wants to be the next great poet, so much so that he's had poet's-block (like writer's-block for poets, get it?) since he started at Cambridge. Now in his third year, it's time to shit-or-get-off-the-pot, poetically. Suddenly he starts noticing people looking at him strangely in the streets, and a chance encounter with a girl who claims she's from the future changes everything he thought he knew and the course of his future at the same time.
It's a book about time travel, the choices we make, questioning the things we thought were important, and second chances. It's an interesting concept, but for me, this book really struggled to accomplish its goals.
I'm not an expert on time travel, but these characters are the opposite of experts on time travel when they really should know something about it since the entire plot hinges on the facts. The whole concept is a little messy...as in I had a lot of questions as I read, and not the good kind. The kind that should have been answered far earlier than they were. I didn't feel grounded enough. I realize it kind of had to be that way for the plot, but that fatal flaw is why I've only rated this book two stars.
Note:: I received an early copy of the book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Find more book reviews on my blog thelitertarian.com.
Joseph Greene wants to be the next great poet, so much so that he's had poet's-block (like writer's-block for poets, get it?) since he started at Cambridge. Now in his third year, it's time to shit-or-get-off-the-pot, poetically. Suddenly he starts noticing people looking at him strangely in the streets, and a chance encounter with a girl who claims she's from the future changes everything he thought he knew and the course of his future at the same time.
It's a book about time travel, the choices we make, questioning the things we thought were important, and second chances. It's an interesting concept, but for me, this book really struggled to accomplish its goals.
I'm not an expert on time travel, but these characters are the opposite of experts on time travel when they really should know something about it since the entire plot hinges on the facts. The whole concept is a little messy...as in I had a lot of questions as I read, and not the good kind. The kind that should have been answered far earlier than they were. I didn't feel grounded enough. I realize it kind of had to be that way for the plot, but that fatal flaw is why I've only rated this book two stars.
Note:: I received an early copy of the book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Find more book reviews on my blog thelitertarian.com.
August 11, 2025
I am usually a sucker for any time travel trope in any genre - romance, fantasy, sci-fi, or mystery I will immediately choose to read a time travel story over any other. That being said, I have a lot of experience with the trope and opinions on when it is done well and when it is a hot mess. Unfortunately for me, Love and Other Paradoxes fell into the later category.
The premise is catching. A time traveling tour group descends upon 2004 Cambridge where Joseph Green, a future celebrated poet is a student and a staple of the future tourism company's ventures. Esi, a time traveler, uses the tour as an opportunity to sneak into the past to save her mom from an untimely death and inadvertently informs Joseph of his future, including his future muse and wife who is also currently a student at Cambridge.
I had so many issues with this book. First of all, the characters. Joseph is completely insufferable. His personality is that of a wet dish rag and honestly I am not sure how he managed to get two women who are way out of his league to fall for him and then continue to pursue him despite knowing about each other. There was zero chemistry in either relationship and his ability to fall in and out of love at every turn of the page would be red flags for anyone considering dating him. The fact that Esi kept referring to him as Joseph Green to his face bordered on obnoxiousness.
The dating of 2004 for the time period was frustrating for me because I felt the author either forgot or simply didn't do their due diligence on communication methods. I got married in 2005 and had just finished college, so I speak from experience when I say that no one was texting to that extent in 2004. Unless you had a Blackberry, most mobile phones didn't even have texting capabilities. Not to mention, if you did have text messaging - it was extremely cost prohibitive to be sending random messages all day long. People still either called and talked on the phone, used AOL Instant Messenger on their laptop or computer or used emails back and forth. I think some of my very first text messages were not until at least 2006.
The time travel. I was so confused as to why anyone would be interested in the future in spying on a poet during his university days. First of all, this isn't the 18th or 19th century where poets were quite the celebrities. We're talking only a few decades into the future and last I checked no poet would reach that level of status to warrant an entire wormhole to his past - especially a time period when he's a hot mess and not even with his muse. If he had been simply a novelist, I'd be able to sustain my suspension of disbelief. I say this as a former English major. Singers/Songwriters, actors - so many other individuals that would warrant an entire tour group dedicated to them would make so much more sense.
Overall, I was disappointed on many levels. Even though this book wasn't for me, someone who wants to enjoy a fun time travel romance where they don't have to put too much brain power in it might find it more appealing.
Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and the author for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.
The premise is catching. A time traveling tour group descends upon 2004 Cambridge where Joseph Green, a future celebrated poet is a student and a staple of the future tourism company's ventures. Esi, a time traveler, uses the tour as an opportunity to sneak into the past to save her mom from an untimely death and inadvertently informs Joseph of his future, including his future muse and wife who is also currently a student at Cambridge.
I had so many issues with this book. First of all, the characters. Joseph is completely insufferable. His personality is that of a wet dish rag and honestly I am not sure how he managed to get two women who are way out of his league to fall for him and then continue to pursue him despite knowing about each other. There was zero chemistry in either relationship and his ability to fall in and out of love at every turn of the page would be red flags for anyone considering dating him. The fact that Esi kept referring to him as Joseph Green to his face bordered on obnoxiousness.
The dating of 2004 for the time period was frustrating for me because I felt the author either forgot or simply didn't do their due diligence on communication methods. I got married in 2005 and had just finished college, so I speak from experience when I say that no one was texting to that extent in 2004. Unless you had a Blackberry, most mobile phones didn't even have texting capabilities. Not to mention, if you did have text messaging - it was extremely cost prohibitive to be sending random messages all day long. People still either called and talked on the phone, used AOL Instant Messenger on their laptop or computer or used emails back and forth. I think some of my very first text messages were not until at least 2006.
The time travel. I was so confused as to why anyone would be interested in the future in spying on a poet during his university days. First of all, this isn't the 18th or 19th century where poets were quite the celebrities. We're talking only a few decades into the future and last I checked no poet would reach that level of status to warrant an entire wormhole to his past - especially a time period when he's a hot mess and not even with his muse. If he had been simply a novelist, I'd be able to sustain my suspension of disbelief. I say this as a former English major. Singers/Songwriters, actors - so many other individuals that would warrant an entire tour group dedicated to them would make so much more sense.
Overall, I was disappointed on many levels. Even though this book wasn't for me, someone who wants to enjoy a fun time travel romance where they don't have to put too much brain power in it might find it more appealing.
Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and the author for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 18, 2025
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Love and Other Paradoxes by Catriona Silvey is a third person-POV speculative romance. Aspiring poet Joe Greene is studying at Cambridge but is spending more time dreaming about being a poet than actively chasing his future. When he meets Esi and finds out she’s a time traveller, he also learns that he is destined to be the greatest poet of his time and all his poems are based on the love of his life, Diana. Only, he hasn’t met Diana yet and maybe, just maybe, Diana isn’t the one for him.
As a long time romance genre reader, I will admit that I’m very rarely a fan of narratives where the characters try to have a relationship with someone else after they catch feelings. Here, I actually really enjoyed how it was handled. In many ways, Joe is going through the motions, trying to force himself to feel that everlasting passionate love that he’s supposed to have with Diana even after he realizes he loves Esi. Both he and Esi believe they don’t have a future due to their different times and the fact that they could change the future, but the pull is way too strong for either of them to ignore forever. It’s done in a way that feels like Joe is truly trying to be respectful to Diana and also doing what Esi wants from him even if it could lead to all three of them being hurt.
Esi’s arc is directly tied to Joe in multiple ways, one of which being that the last day of her tour is the same date that her mother received an award, an award that led to her mother’s death when she drove to an anniversary event. Joe is linked to a tragedy in her life, but not in a way that is his fault nor does Esi blame him. It’s just how things turned out. She never blames him for it, with most of her animosity towards him in the beginning more related to her resentment to having to read his poems in school and finding him mediocre at best. Esi keeps Joe humble and he sees passion and drive in her.
One of the things that really got my attention was that the entire book was from Joe’s POV. It’s very unusual to have a romance novel or a book so romance-driven written entirely from the male lead’s POV unless it’s a Queer romance. I would honestly love for there to be more romance novels in men’s POVs, to have a variety of interpretations of the romance genre that still adheres to the audience’s expectations.
I would recommend this to fans of romances with light speculative romances, readers who love a bit of poetry and exploration of what it means to be an artist in their romance, and those looking for a romance novel in a male POV
Love and Other Paradoxes by Catriona Silvey is a third person-POV speculative romance. Aspiring poet Joe Greene is studying at Cambridge but is spending more time dreaming about being a poet than actively chasing his future. When he meets Esi and finds out she’s a time traveller, he also learns that he is destined to be the greatest poet of his time and all his poems are based on the love of his life, Diana. Only, he hasn’t met Diana yet and maybe, just maybe, Diana isn’t the one for him.
As a long time romance genre reader, I will admit that I’m very rarely a fan of narratives where the characters try to have a relationship with someone else after they catch feelings. Here, I actually really enjoyed how it was handled. In many ways, Joe is going through the motions, trying to force himself to feel that everlasting passionate love that he’s supposed to have with Diana even after he realizes he loves Esi. Both he and Esi believe they don’t have a future due to their different times and the fact that they could change the future, but the pull is way too strong for either of them to ignore forever. It’s done in a way that feels like Joe is truly trying to be respectful to Diana and also doing what Esi wants from him even if it could lead to all three of them being hurt.
Esi’s arc is directly tied to Joe in multiple ways, one of which being that the last day of her tour is the same date that her mother received an award, an award that led to her mother’s death when she drove to an anniversary event. Joe is linked to a tragedy in her life, but not in a way that is his fault nor does Esi blame him. It’s just how things turned out. She never blames him for it, with most of her animosity towards him in the beginning more related to her resentment to having to read his poems in school and finding him mediocre at best. Esi keeps Joe humble and he sees passion and drive in her.
One of the things that really got my attention was that the entire book was from Joe’s POV. It’s very unusual to have a romance novel or a book so romance-driven written entirely from the male lead’s POV unless it’s a Queer romance. I would honestly love for there to be more romance novels in men’s POVs, to have a variety of interpretations of the romance genre that still adheres to the audience’s expectations.
I would recommend this to fans of romances with light speculative romances, readers who love a bit of poetry and exploration of what it means to be an artist in their romance, and those looking for a romance novel in a male POV
January 4, 2025
Fans of Catriona Silvey’s Meet Me in Another Life will find themselves swept away once more in Love and Other Paradoxes. With its irresistible mix of time travel, quantum mechanics, and romantic tension, this novel weaves a story that’s both intellectually engaging and emotionally satisfying.
The plot centers around Joe Greene, a directionless 20-year-old Cambridge student and aspiring poet, whose encounter with Esi, a mysterious barista from the future, flips his life upside down. Esi has traveled back to 2005 on a deeply personal mission to prevent her mother’s untimely death—a tragedy that fractured her family. But her plans go awry when she becomes entangled in Joe’s journey toward fulfilling a destiny he never imagined: becoming a celebrated poet and marrying his muse, Diana.
Silvey deftly explores the complexities of fate, free will, and the butterfly effect as Joe grapples with the poetic future foretold by Esi and a book of his unwritten verses. Esi acts as Joe’s Cyrano, coaching him to win Diana’s heart while disguising her own growing feelings for him. The resulting love triangle is as poignant as it is unpredictable, raising profound questions about love, loyalty, and the power to rewrite one’s story.
Silvey’s writing is sharp and evocative, capturing the tension between Joe’s fumbling charm and Esi’s steely resolve. The novel’s Cambridge setting is richly detailed, and the supporting characters—particularly Rob, Joe’s eccentric roommate—add humor and texture to the story. While the time travel mechanics take a backseat to the emotional drama, they provide an intriguing backdrop that enhances the novel’s themes of destiny and self-discovery.
The pacing, while brisk, occasionally skips over key emotional beats, making the romantic connection between Joe and Esi feel slightly underdeveloped. However, the plot’s twists and turns, combined with Silvey’s knack for tying together seemingly disparate threads, deliver a satisfying conclusion that feels both inevitable and surprising.
Love and Other Paradoxes is a thoughtful, genre-bending tale that balances heart and head. Readers who enjoy romances with a speculative twist, like Ashley Poston’s The Dead Romantics or Christina Lauren’s The Soulmate Equation, will find much to love here. Silvey’s exploration of what it means to follow—or defy—our destined path is as moving as it is thought-provoking.
Many thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on March 11, 2025.
The plot centers around Joe Greene, a directionless 20-year-old Cambridge student and aspiring poet, whose encounter with Esi, a mysterious barista from the future, flips his life upside down. Esi has traveled back to 2005 on a deeply personal mission to prevent her mother’s untimely death—a tragedy that fractured her family. But her plans go awry when she becomes entangled in Joe’s journey toward fulfilling a destiny he never imagined: becoming a celebrated poet and marrying his muse, Diana.
Silvey deftly explores the complexities of fate, free will, and the butterfly effect as Joe grapples with the poetic future foretold by Esi and a book of his unwritten verses. Esi acts as Joe’s Cyrano, coaching him to win Diana’s heart while disguising her own growing feelings for him. The resulting love triangle is as poignant as it is unpredictable, raising profound questions about love, loyalty, and the power to rewrite one’s story.
Silvey’s writing is sharp and evocative, capturing the tension between Joe’s fumbling charm and Esi’s steely resolve. The novel’s Cambridge setting is richly detailed, and the supporting characters—particularly Rob, Joe’s eccentric roommate—add humor and texture to the story. While the time travel mechanics take a backseat to the emotional drama, they provide an intriguing backdrop that enhances the novel’s themes of destiny and self-discovery.
The pacing, while brisk, occasionally skips over key emotional beats, making the romantic connection between Joe and Esi feel slightly underdeveloped. However, the plot’s twists and turns, combined with Silvey’s knack for tying together seemingly disparate threads, deliver a satisfying conclusion that feels both inevitable and surprising.
Love and Other Paradoxes is a thoughtful, genre-bending tale that balances heart and head. Readers who enjoy romances with a speculative twist, like Ashley Poston’s The Dead Romantics or Christina Lauren’s The Soulmate Equation, will find much to love here. Silvey’s exploration of what it means to follow—or defy—our destined path is as moving as it is thought-provoking.
Many thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on March 11, 2025.
December 28, 2024
Joe is a young college student and, unbeknownst to him, a future famous poet. He has struggled with channeling his poetic voice while at Cambridge, and he worries that the writing talent he showed in high school is actually unfounded. Little does he know that he's set to meet the muse (Diana) who will lead him to fame. Esi is a time travel tourist on her way to correct a past event from her personal history, when she accidentally knocks Joe off course and must help him to connect with Diana while also correcting the future.
This was an interesting time travel romance, where the reader is asked to engage in a love story while also considering the ethics of changing the future and what constitutes emotional manipulation. I found the main characters to be likable and easy to root for. And the crux of the story kept me guessing as to the final outcome: can we change the future by tinkering with the past, or are our relationships and our future selves inherently unchangeable? I was surprised at the amount of tension I experienced while reading, I expected this to be a bit lighter but the emotional conflicts definitely gave the story depth. The author's descriptive writing style had nice bits of wry humor scattered amongst the more serious issues, although I wouldn't call this a funny book overall. This is a quick read but it's not a superficial read nor is it straightforward. Many of the events in the book seemed to be in flux, which fit the theme of the book, and it made for engaging reading. The book was written in 3rd person POV from Joe's perspective, and while it makes sense since this is essentially Joe's story it's also a nice change of pace to read a romance from the MMC's viewpoint. One final note: I love the idea of time travel tourism, and the fact that random people who stare at you on the street may just be time travel tourists from a future where you're famous! This is a new-to-me author and I look forward to reading more from her. Readers who enjoy books about time travel with a new-adult romance woven in amongst the ethical conundrums will love this book! Publishes March 11, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book, all opinions are mine.
This was an interesting time travel romance, where the reader is asked to engage in a love story while also considering the ethics of changing the future and what constitutes emotional manipulation. I found the main characters to be likable and easy to root for. And the crux of the story kept me guessing as to the final outcome: can we change the future by tinkering with the past, or are our relationships and our future selves inherently unchangeable? I was surprised at the amount of tension I experienced while reading, I expected this to be a bit lighter but the emotional conflicts definitely gave the story depth. The author's descriptive writing style had nice bits of wry humor scattered amongst the more serious issues, although I wouldn't call this a funny book overall. This is a quick read but it's not a superficial read nor is it straightforward. Many of the events in the book seemed to be in flux, which fit the theme of the book, and it made for engaging reading. The book was written in 3rd person POV from Joe's perspective, and while it makes sense since this is essentially Joe's story it's also a nice change of pace to read a romance from the MMC's viewpoint. One final note: I love the idea of time travel tourism, and the fact that random people who stare at you on the street may just be time travel tourists from a future where you're famous! This is a new-to-me author and I look forward to reading more from her. Readers who enjoy books about time travel with a new-adult romance woven in amongst the ethical conundrums will love this book! Publishes March 11, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book, all opinions are mine.
March 1, 2025
Thank you to Netgalley for approving me to read this book. My opinions are my own.
I have officially put Catriona Silvey on my auto-buy authors list after Meet Me in Another Life and this book. Amazing. I almost don’t need to keep going with this review, it’s just a must-read. Go. Now. I’ll wait…
—-
So now we’ve both fallen in love with this book, I’ll expand.
Catriona has similar vibes as Becky Chambers - in that she doesn’t just write a good Sci fi book, she writes amazing characters and thought-provoking conversations about love and reality and how time itself works.
I almost forgot that the book was even Sci fi, it started to shift to more of a cerebral rom-com with one of my favourite tropes of the wingman trope. It was just so deep and present that I only remembered the time travel part being odd when other characters were reacting to it.
I think this makes it a great book for both Sci-fi lovers and contemporary romance readers.
(Slight side note that probably won’t even be in the final version, I wasn’t sure if this was a joke that Joe was making comparing the future and his time, but he said he lived in the nineteenth century… when he might have meant the twenty-first century)
I also really liked the setting at Cambridge University, I used to live near Cambridge so this felt very homey to me, though my university was very different (oxbridge is a land unto its own) it still brought me back to my time as a proto-adult, learning how to live by myself with all the safety nets still in place. It was a great feeling while reading, incredibly cosy.
I don’t really know what more I can say to make you read this awesome book, just give it a try!
I have officially put Catriona Silvey on my auto-buy authors list after Meet Me in Another Life and this book. Amazing. I almost don’t need to keep going with this review, it’s just a must-read. Go. Now. I’ll wait…
—-
So now we’ve both fallen in love with this book, I’ll expand.
Catriona has similar vibes as Becky Chambers - in that she doesn’t just write a good Sci fi book, she writes amazing characters and thought-provoking conversations about love and reality and how time itself works.
I almost forgot that the book was even Sci fi, it started to shift to more of a cerebral rom-com with one of my favourite tropes of the wingman trope. It was just so deep and present that I only remembered the time travel part being odd when other characters were reacting to it.
I think this makes it a great book for both Sci-fi lovers and contemporary romance readers.
(Slight side note that probably won’t even be in the final version, I wasn’t sure if this was a joke that Joe was making comparing the future and his time, but he said he lived in the nineteenth century… when he might have meant the twenty-first century)
I also really liked the setting at Cambridge University, I used to live near Cambridge so this felt very homey to me, though my university was very different (oxbridge is a land unto its own) it still brought me back to my time as a proto-adult, learning how to live by myself with all the safety nets still in place. It was a great feeling while reading, incredibly cosy.
I don’t really know what more I can say to make you read this awesome book, just give it a try!
February 23, 2025
I had so much fun with this one! Love and Other Paradoxes is a time travel love story taking place in 2005. This did kind of feature a love triangle but I actually really enjoyed it. Love triangles are very hit or miss for me but this one was done well and fit in with the story.
The time travel aspect of this story is very small and doesn’t really go into the intricacies of it all making it extremely easy to understand and digest. I feel like a lot of times the time travel can feel very complex and convoluted and this story didn’t feel that way at all. There was a lot of debate about whether your feature is fated and unable to change and I really enjoyed the different perspectives throughout the book.
Joe was a character in the beginning I didn’t care for, I was lowkey hoping for his downfall. However, as the story went on you’re able to see a really big change in his character and by the end I really loved his character and his overall character arc. I did also really enjoy Esi but I do wish we could’ve been able to see some of her POV. We really only got to know Esi surface level and through the perspective of Joe and I think her having her own POV chapters could’ve helped her character become fully fleshed out.
Overall I did have so much fun with this! While I enjoyed Meet Me in Another Life, I think I enjoyed Love and Other Paradoxes even more!
The time travel aspect of this story is very small and doesn’t really go into the intricacies of it all making it extremely easy to understand and digest. I feel like a lot of times the time travel can feel very complex and convoluted and this story didn’t feel that way at all. There was a lot of debate about whether your feature is fated and unable to change and I really enjoyed the different perspectives throughout the book.
Joe was a character in the beginning I didn’t care for, I was lowkey hoping for his downfall. However, as the story went on you’re able to see a really big change in his character and by the end I really loved his character and his overall character arc. I did also really enjoy Esi but I do wish we could’ve been able to see some of her POV. We really only got to know Esi surface level and through the perspective of Joe and I think her having her own POV chapters could’ve helped her character become fully fleshed out.
Overall I did have so much fun with this! While I enjoyed Meet Me in Another Life, I think I enjoyed Love and Other Paradoxes even more!
March 13, 2025
Oh, how I adored this story! It is funny and witty, but also very profound in places. Also, I loved the take on time travel! Imagine, running time travel tours and then having the hubris to actually think it won't be royally messed up! But our main character Joe doesn't know what he's in store for when he meets Esi, and reading it all play out was delightful! I also loved Esi, and was so mad at Joe for actually trying to wind up with the incredibly frustrating Diana. But, watching the growth that Joe and Esi undergo was worth it, frankly. I loved the charm of this story, and I can't recommend it enough!
Bottom Line: Heartfelt and charming, this book won me over completely.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
Bottom Line: Heartfelt and charming, this book won me over completely.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
March 15, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel. Love and Other Paradoxes is a delightful romance for fans of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey fun. Cambridge student is a particular favorite microtrope of mine, and Joe Greene is an exemplar of them. I loved that, unlike many Cambridge students in fiction, Joe struggled to keep up with his studies and, while awed by the history of Cambridge, did not necessarily feel like it was a second home. His experiences felt more real and lived for his struggles to fit in. Esi's futuristic colloquialisms and knowing statements about Joe's future were hilarious, and I greatly enjoyed the way her views of future Joseph Greene rattled present-day Joe Greene. Their competing beliefs on time travel and one's ability to affect the future were excellent foils, and the tension between whether Esi, Joe, or neither of them would get their desired outcome was perfectly tuned. A surprise hit of the novel was Joe's roommate, eternally obsessed with his games of Assassin. Even this whimsical detail was woven well into the final climax of the story. I had expected a little more time-travel talk and theory based on Silvey's previous novel, but while Love and Other Paradoxes is lighter on the sci-fi elements, I still really enjoyed this read.
April 21, 2025
This would make an absolutely *incredible* television show/series. I saw the whole thing playing out in episodes in my head as I was reading. The themes of time, fate, and choices combine beautifully in this romance to make us question how decisions in our present affect the future that lies ahead of us. Is the future fated or do we write it one page at a time?
Joseph Green, a philosophy student at Cambridge in 2005, dreams of leaving his mark on the world with his poetry while fighting his insecurities that he will never make a name for himself. Wondering what his future will hold, he bumps into Esi. Joe then picks up and runs away with her book… a published collection of his own poetry inspired by his future muse, Diana, and revealing details about his life not-yet lived! Turns out Esi is a time traveler from the future on a tour to witness famous historical figures and Joe is as renowned as Shakespeare in her time. However, Esi has an ulterior motive on her trip through time, as she is trying to change the future by preventing the eventual death of her mother. Can she somehow intervene without interfering in her mother’s own life as a Cambridge student? Will any intervention have an unknowable butterfly effect? Can she rewrite the future she should’ve had with her mom? Can she help restore Joe’s chance at his future with Diana after exposing him to information he should never have known? Are Esi and Joe’s futures fated, or can they rewrite them to include one another as their time together changes everything?
Spoilers to come…
I really liked the blending of romance and time-travel science fiction and how it was told primarily from the MMC’s POV and a male narrator - that felt rare and fresh! I loved the way he voiced the female characters. The story felt slow at times, as it happens over the course of months, but the relationships propel the story just as much as the time-travel elements do. There’s a lot of big thinking and contemplation about the nature of love and the laws/rules of time travel.
Two laugh out loud moments for me:
- Joe jumping onto his friend’s tour boat like Frodo Baggins onto Huckleberry Ferry.
- Joe making his rooftop rehearsal scene for Diana so candle-lit he hoped it didn’t look like the Phantom of the Opera’s lair.
Joe’s roommate, Rob, is a physics major and aspiring champion in the Assassins game played around campus. I liked this side plot - especially after the reveal of its deeper purpose in the story - and found him a quality side character.
I found the ending satisfying, if a little quickly wrapped up, and loved the idea that “We’re all time travelers… just most of us don’t get to go back.” We are all moving through time into the future and memories are our only way back. Joe’s poem to Esi was absolutely beautiful and one of the most romantic “I see you” gestures of any rom-com! I would’ve actually liked to hear more of his poems.
Joseph Green, a philosophy student at Cambridge in 2005, dreams of leaving his mark on the world with his poetry while fighting his insecurities that he will never make a name for himself. Wondering what his future will hold, he bumps into Esi. Joe then picks up and runs away with her book… a published collection of his own poetry inspired by his future muse, Diana, and revealing details about his life not-yet lived! Turns out Esi is a time traveler from the future on a tour to witness famous historical figures and Joe is as renowned as Shakespeare in her time. However, Esi has an ulterior motive on her trip through time, as she is trying to change the future by preventing the eventual death of her mother. Can she somehow intervene without interfering in her mother’s own life as a Cambridge student? Will any intervention have an unknowable butterfly effect? Can she rewrite the future she should’ve had with her mom? Can she help restore Joe’s chance at his future with Diana after exposing him to information he should never have known? Are Esi and Joe’s futures fated, or can they rewrite them to include one another as their time together changes everything?
Spoilers to come…
I really liked the blending of romance and time-travel science fiction and how it was told primarily from the MMC’s POV and a male narrator - that felt rare and fresh! I loved the way he voiced the female characters. The story felt slow at times, as it happens over the course of months, but the relationships propel the story just as much as the time-travel elements do. There’s a lot of big thinking and contemplation about the nature of love and the laws/rules of time travel.
Two laugh out loud moments for me:
- Joe jumping onto his friend’s tour boat like Frodo Baggins onto Huckleberry Ferry.
- Joe making his rooftop rehearsal scene for Diana so candle-lit he hoped it didn’t look like the Phantom of the Opera’s lair.
Joe’s roommate, Rob, is a physics major and aspiring champion in the Assassins game played around campus. I liked this side plot - especially after the reveal of its deeper purpose in the story - and found him a quality side character.
I found the ending satisfying, if a little quickly wrapped up, and loved the idea that “We’re all time travelers… just most of us don’t get to go back.” We are all moving through time into the future and memories are our only way back. Joe’s poem to Esi was absolutely beautiful and one of the most romantic “I see you” gestures of any rom-com! I would’ve actually liked to hear more of his poems.
December 26, 2024
Such a unique romantic journey. I loved the time travel aspect and adored the main character and all of his personal growth. I don't usually read stories from the male pov so that was a fun thing too. There was one thing I wish had been a little different (more chemistry/romance) but even despite this I really enjoyed the book. It was well written and an interesting plot that kept me turning page after page. It had the most unique thrown in things, like assassins. I have never heard of that. But my nerdy side ate it up.
So if someone is looking for a unique story with more plot and story than spice and romance, I'd recommend this one. It has its own flair of romance that's also unique to the story.
So if someone is looking for a unique story with more plot and story than spice and romance, I'd recommend this one. It has its own flair of romance that's also unique to the story.
February 11, 2025
This was a cute time travel romance. It didn’t pack the emotional punch that Silvey’s previous novel, Meet Me in Another Life, did. However, It was still a fun, fast-paced read.
We follow Joe as he realizes that there are time travelers spying on him. This leads him to figure out his future, which then impacts his present. Along the way, he begins to get close to one of the time travelers.
I’m a sucker for time travel stories, so this book was perfect for me. There were a few reveals toward the end that I guessed early on, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment. I’d recommend this to anyone who likes a sweet romance with time travel.
We follow Joe as he realizes that there are time travelers spying on him. This leads him to figure out his future, which then impacts his present. Along the way, he begins to get close to one of the time travelers.
I’m a sucker for time travel stories, so this book was perfect for me. There were a few reveals toward the end that I guessed early on, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment. I’d recommend this to anyone who likes a sweet romance with time travel.
May 2, 2025
Time travel rom-com? Sign me up. I adored Silvey’s previous novel so I knew I was going to have the best time with this one.
When Joe, an aspiring poet at Cambridge University, discovers his future fame he enlists the help of time traveller, Esi to manipulate his life into the one he has always dreamt of.
2005 Cambridge is the Cambridge of my childhood so I absolutely loved knowing exactly where the author was describing. I really enjoyed how flawed the characters were as it made them believable, but you ultimately still rooted for them. I think the conversation around fate and predestination was really interesting and was done it a way that was engaging and not too heavy.
Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
When Joe, an aspiring poet at Cambridge University, discovers his future fame he enlists the help of time traveller, Esi to manipulate his life into the one he has always dreamt of.
2005 Cambridge is the Cambridge of my childhood so I absolutely loved knowing exactly where the author was describing. I really enjoyed how flawed the characters were as it made them believable, but you ultimately still rooted for them. I think the conversation around fate and predestination was really interesting and was done it a way that was engaging and not too heavy.
Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 31, 2025
3,5 estrelas
curti, achei mais legal que o outro livro da catriona silvey, o romance foi interessante, os personagens legais, os conflitos fizeram sentido com a história, um livro de romance bem feito no geral, a viagem do tempo deu uma diferenciada legal, e por mais que ficou meio vaga, não foi um problema, foi explicado o necessário para fazer a história funcionar
e nossa, me estressei muito com o joe ignorando a faculdade, me estressou mais que o triângulo amoroso
"He felt horribly seen, like a corpse cut open on a table. He wondered uneasily if this was love, and if so, how he could make it stop."
curti, achei mais legal que o outro livro da catriona silvey, o romance foi interessante, os personagens legais, os conflitos fizeram sentido com a história, um livro de romance bem feito no geral, a viagem do tempo deu uma diferenciada legal, e por mais que ficou meio vaga, não foi um problema, foi explicado o necessário para fazer a história funcionar
e nossa, me estressei muito com o joe ignorando a faculdade, me estressou mais que o triângulo amoroso
"He felt horribly seen, like a corpse cut open on a table. He wondered uneasily if this was love, and if so, how he could make it stop."
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