14. 'The Time Traveler's Wife' - Audrey Niffenegger

Though I'm very well accustomed to books that change voices off and on throughout its entirety,The Time Traveler's Wife definitely took some time for me to adjusted. I think that it was the fact that it changed back and forth between Henry and Clare's point-of-views ever few paragraphs at times while in other sections it would carry on with one or the other for a pretty extended amount of time. Once I was able to work through the issue of getting a feel for the individual character's thoughts and emotions, this was actually a pretty enjoyable read. The overall plot was just beautifully tragic. To have found such an intense love and to have nourished it through almost a decade and a half of stolen moments before the true relationship could begin is almost heartbreaking. It's hard to imagine knowing very well that you're going to go months and then even years without seeing the person that you love and then to finally meet up with them in the present only to discover that they haven't a clue as to who you are was almost a painful thing to read. I do think I would have been a little more impressed with Henry had they not ended up sleeping together on the first date... but what can you do? It's better than the next book I read, anyway.

It's all just a very sad affair throughout... whether it was when they were trying to conceive a child with continuously devastating consequences or the moment when Henry realized that his time was almost up, this is a love story that actually kept me glued to it wondering how it all would end when his obvious demise was inching closer on the horizon. It was made very clear through the majority of the novel that Clare had never seen Henry beyond about his early forties... so you were left watching the years tick by at the top of each header and wondering if perhaps the doctor had finally found a cure for him... hoping that it's true... because you don't want Henry to die. It's hard not to fall in love with him yourself as you're reading through his trials and adventures shifting back and forth between the now and the then and occasionally even the later.

Though it was rough starting out because of the differences between this and everything else that I've read lately, I'm glad that I followed through on this recommendation. Niffenegger painted a beautiful picture of how love truly can conquer all sometimes... whether it's life, death, or something in between. I'm usually not one for romances, but this is one that I would actually encourage others to read. Just don't substitute watching the movie for experiencing the book. It's one of the few films that just feels too short for all that it should have covered... too many important things were left out... and I found myself barely paying attention to the screen as I continued thumbing through the pages of the actual novel instead. The only benefit? Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams are just gorgeous. Feel free to wrinkle your nose at Gomez, though. Apparently it was too hard for them to find a blonde actor in the world willing to play the part.

Rating: 4/5