No Time Like Now has a cool, starting premise. The publisher’s note bills it as a twist on A Christmas Carol and while it does have some of that structure in the first part of the story, the middle part meanders a bit aimlessly, then there is a flip to Groundhog Day, and then quite a lengthy wrap-up. There is a lot of time spent in the main character’s head and in his emotional stew. This eventually felt a bit repetitive and really slowed the pacing of the book.
Readers interested in diverse characters will likely enjoy this book and the characters’ journeys. Since the characters are seventeen, it will especially appeal to high schoolers. It is a little difficult to categorize the genre for this book, but it is a coming-of-age journey with a science fiction (or fantasy?) twist.
Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy Provided by the Publisher
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 43 religious exclamations; 33 mild obscenities; 1 religious profanity; 1 derogatory name; 2 anatomical terms.
Violence/Gore: References to the death of a family member; character is present at the death(s) of a family member (natural causes); character is told they have to choose who will die out of a group of people; flashback to the scene of a dying pet; fall from a great height by a character; serious accident resulting in injury to the brink of death, mention of head and windshield being bloody; character seriously contemplates suicide; character says that their parent was abusive in every way, no details.
Sex/Nudity: Passing reference to a book where a boy in the book goes searching for his ex-boyfriend and how the boy reading the book felt jealous; scene where a boy talks to a boy he is in love with and is thinking throughout it about his romantic feelings; boy often thinks throughout the book of his romantic feelings for another boy and how attractive that boy is; flashback to when a boy told another boy that he loved him and then tried to kiss him; flash forward to when a man kisses the hand of another man (romantic); character makes a joke about someone watching porn; friend tries to cheer up a boy by telling him there are lots of hot boys in Hollywood he can date; character jokes that someone’s eyebrows look like squirmy worms trying to mate; character comes out to parents about being gay; character comes out to parents about being non-binary; parent tells boy he should ask a boy for permission before kissing him; boy has a conversation with a boy about his romantic feelings for him; boy kisses another boy, touches his face, hug.
Mature Subject Matter:
Death of a parent, death of a family member, nonbinary individual, struggles with nonbinary identity, same-sex attraction and romantic relationships, consideration of a minority ethnic group regarding involving police, suicide (contemplated), coming out, abuse (referred to).
Alcohol/Drug Use:
High school students drinking beer at a party, some get drunk; adults drink in social situations.
