This engaging debut novel takes a thought-provoking look at time travel.
A middle-aged woman frustrated with her life learns that change isn’t always good in Somers’ whimsical time-travel tale.
Marcia Farrar loses her Italian lover when she is young and pregnant. A settlement awarded after his death helps to support the single mother as she raises their son Howie while working at various dead-end jobs, but it also ties her to the town of Round Stone, home to her rival and former foster sister, Nina. Marcia unexpectedly finds herself an empty nester when Howie receives and accepts a linguistics fellowship. Marcia worries about Howie, who leaves to conduct research on What Island, near Kanz-_ika, which is run by a murderous dictator. Then, her ancient dog Orson dies just after Howie’s departure. The grieving Marcia takes him to a pet crematorium, where, instead of Orson’s cremains, she receives the ashes of Mr. Whiskey, a cat who soon reconstitutes himself. Mr. Whiskey, in addition to being able to communicate telepathically with Marcia, can also time travel. (“This was ridiculous. She was talking to an ash-cat about the fact that they’d just time-tripped back to the past.”) He convinces her that they should use his ability to return to her college years in Chicago and attempt to change the direction of her life. It takes some time for the pair to get the hang of what they’re doing—it’s an engaging trial-and-error adventure for the lonely woman and her new feline best friend. Somers cannily builds this narrative on an everywoman battered by adversity; Marcia has always rolled with the punches while managing to provide a good childhood for her precocious son, so it’s easy for readers to appreciate her wish for a better life. She also employs a clever structure for her tale, blending the present and flashback sections with segments from the memoirs of author Socraties Love (a friend of Marcia’s father) and Internet search results from The Information Hatch (think Google). Readers must assemble all the clues to uncover the path that Marcia has been manipulated into following throughout the book—it’s an often tortuous journey, but well worth the trip.
This engaging debut novel takes a thought-provoking look at time travel.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2025
ISBN: 9798990240506
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Stylite Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
