Book Review: Second Time Around

Second Time Around
Time Lottery #2
by Nancy Moser

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian speculative fiction

Three people win a prize that will allow them to travel back in time, within their own minds, to a moment of their choosing, to try to change something in their past. After they’ve lived out the change, they can decide whether they want to stay in the new alternate universe they’ve created or return to their original lives.

The premise for this book is literally the same as the previous book, since here we have a second Time Lottery with 3 more people chosen to go back into their past to change a pivotal moment. It’s not just a rinse and repeat of the previous book, though, because these are heavily character-driven stories and the characters are very different this time. There’s quite a focus on abusive relationships in this book—not physical abuse but heavy mental/emotional abuse. One storyline in particular I really enjoyed, and there were some interesting surprises in the book. Though something that happened in the previous book and carried over into this one I couldn’t have cared less about.

Overall, I liked this one a little more than the previous, and I don’t really think you need to read the first one before this one. Though it would give a fuller experience, and, as I said, there is definitely some reference back to the previous, I think the overall idea behind the time travel is explained well enough in this book to start here. I think that many fans of Christian fiction would enjoy this book, especially those interested in the exploration of past decisions and the ability to change some of those decisions.

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If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Time Lottery

Time Lottery
Book #1
by Nancy Moser

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Christian speculative fiction

Three people win a prize that will allow them to travel back in time, within their own minds, to a moment of their choosing, to try to change something in their past. After they’ve lived out the change, they can decide whether they want to stay in the new alternate universe they’ve created or return to their original lives.

The “time travel” involved here is an interesting idea and clearly just a means to the speculation involved in seeing what would happen if one could change a pivotal moment in one’s past. And it is an interesting premise. I was really looking forward to some high emotions and heart-felt moments, partly because of that premise and partly because of my experience with the other book that I read by this author. I can’t really say that it was as emotional as I expected, though. I did enjoy the story, and who hasn’t dreamed of the ability to revisit the past and at least see what could have been different, if not actually stay and live out a new path in life? There are three different storylines here, though there is some connection that requires suspension of disbelief (not in a bad way). One of the storylines I didn’t really connect with as much as the others, and I’m not a huge fan of something that happened at the end of the book. I think that many fans of Christian fiction would enjoy this book, especially those interested in the exploration of past decisions and the ability to change some of those decisions.

Find out more about Time Lottery

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!