She Wouldn't Change a Thing

Books about time travel haven’t really been my thing; as mysterious and fun as the concept sounds, I haven’t been drawn to it. However, when I read the excerpt for Sarah Adlakha’s 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, it sounded interesting. The book is about Maria Forssmann who is a successful psychiatrist and happily married with two kids and a third one on the way. On a usually hectic morning, she comes across a patient who tells her things that are about to change her life drastically, the one question is–is it for the better or for the worst? This story is fascinating because of Adlakha’s interesting writing style, the complex development of the concept of time travel, and the dynamic between the characters. There are some issues within these aspects, but it does not completely take away from the plot development and the moral of the story.

Adlakha’s writing style is gripping to the extent it keeps the reader’s nose in the book. Her third person narrator not only delves into the feelings of the characters, but her metaphors and similes perfectly depict the dilemmas and inner thoughts of the characters. This is also important because the figurative language enhances the complexities of the personalities of the people in the story. Moreover, the author does not meticulously detail the characters’ surroundings, she just describes those spaces for what they provoke in the characters and what they signify for them. This kind of writing personifies these spaces and gives them character, rather than them just existing for their physicality. For these reasons, Adlakha’s writing style is riveting to the extent that you cannot keep the book down.

The theme of time travel is well-written. In this story, this concept has many facets, but they are not all dumped on the reader at once. Instead, these aspects are slowly revealed alongside the progression of the story, which helps readers understand it fully. Some particular aspects that I liked about time travel in this book is reincarnation, travelling from one time period to another, and the concept of reliving with a new purpose; these concepts are nicely written out, there is no fantasy element to it; Adlakha seems to have dealt with the overall theme from a scientific point of view. It might seem boring without any magic, but I felt that it made it more thrilling and unique from time travel stories I have usually come across. Nevertheless, there are aspects of the time travel plot that I was confused by, therefore they didn’t appeal to me. Nonetheless, the book is a nerve-wrecking, yet exciting account about time-travel.

In addition to the writing style and the theme of time travel, the relationship dynamic between characters is intricately developed. The story follows two characters-Maria and Jenny and it was surprising to discover the connection between the two characters and how one’s choices shapes the other’s life. Furthermore, the overall dynamic between all the characters is heavily influenced by the theme of time travel, so it is exciting to read about because the reader has no idea how the character’s relations and overall lives will be shaped by this phenomena. It is also interesting to read about her relationship with her parents that changes completely because of the time travelling experience because one expects her to react differently. Overall, the dynamic between the characters has interesting complexities that are well-developed with the progression of the story.

From Adlakha’s gripping writing style to the unique take on time travel and to the intricately developed dynamic between the characters, She Wouldn’t Change a Thing by Sarah Adlakha is book that you’ve got to read if you’re thrilled by the prospect of reliving the past!