Amy Tordoff: All We Have Is Time Review

In this fresh and entrancing debut novel that is perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Ministry of Time, a jaded immortal woman and a time traveler fall in love across the centuries, learning what it means to really live and love before their time together runs out.
 

1605, London. Beatrix lives a solitary life in the shadows, wandering the city streets looking for ways to forget. Forget that everyone she has ever loved has been dead for nearly a century. Forget that, for her, love can only ever mean loss. Because Beatrix has a secret: a lifetime ago her deathbed wish was granted, making her immortal.
 

Until one day, while picking pockets amid the raucous crowds of Shakespeare's Globe, she meets Oliver. They spend a single, perfect day together before he tells her that he has to leave. She’s not surprised; eternity is a lonely place.
 

When Beatrix and Oliver meet again by chance a century later, recognition hits her like a bolt of lightning. It’s impossible. He’s impossible. Just like her. A chance for Beatrix to truly live – and love – again sparks into existence.
 

Woven between the biggest events in history and the quiet moments lost to it, from London in 1605 to Woodstock in 1969 and beyond, All We Have Is Time is an unforgettable love story for anyone who believes love can rewrite the rules of time.

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Atria Books via Netgalley.

A romance story across time mixed with traces of speculative fiction and fantasy, Amy Tordoff’s debut novel All We Have Is Time is an accessible story filled with interesting historical fiction snapshots spread over the course of four hundred years. Time-travelers and immortal beings are two common elements separately, but this book’s unorthodox cross of the two gives it a unique spin and for its characters, different repercussions from its genre’s norm. Easy to follow and generally fast-paced in nature, All We Have Is Time is a safe pick for historical romance readers, though those looking for a strong speculative fiction storyline or deeper introspective character work may find this book underwhelming and bland.

Marketed for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, at first glance All We Have Is Time appears to fly too close to the sun with what is clearly one of its inspirations and at risk of being highly derivative. Both books feature a withdrawn female protagonist cursed by a fantasy being with immortality and walking through history a shadow of a person. Both books also feature a tragic romance with an unexpected love interest who is not what they seem. And despite this book’s more speculative fiction lean vs the other’s stronger literary fiction elements, both stories feature similar beginnings and endings; other reviews have highlighted their similarities in far more colorful detail, particularly those that have DNF’d this book early on. Despite having a start that could be a retelling of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, All We Have Is Time quickly diverges from the other as soon as Oliver is introduced that shifts the story in a completely new direction.

While Beatrix’s immortal condition carries much of the book’s narrative content, I personally found the historical fiction elements of the book to be the biggest highlight and selling point instead. From the rural village of Lancaut, to the rough yet urban excitement of London, to even key moments in American history, Tordoff portrayals of various historic events are varied, visual, and often quite unexpectedly chosen. Given the story’s setting primarily takes place in Britain, certain events are to be expected like World Wars or certain iconic performing arts. However, far outnumbering the predictable historic moments chosen are some that are less common yet still notable, my personal favorite being the Frost Fair of the River Thames. The book smartly avoids coming off as a history lesson that’s consistent with one of the story’s recurring themes of Oliver’s personal interest, and instead is a walk through different romanticized moments that serve as fitting framework for the book’s couple to fill in.

Without giving away any notable spoilers, I also was pleasantly surprised by the backstory of Oliver’s character which was far from what I had been expecting. While not as extensively presented as Beatrix’s perspective, Oliver’s story is where the book gets its speculative fiction edge and provides interesting food for thought. A story involving an immortal falling in love with a mortal is nothing new but the plot mechanism and unique gimmick explaining Oliver’s presence in 1605 London creates an interesting scenario that I haven’t seen explored before, particularly as Beatrix’s journey through history moves towards present day.

While I found the book’s concepts and general storyline interesting, unfortunately the execution and depth of the story stay pretty surface level and simple. The exploration of Beatrix’s isolation and monotonous years, Oliver’s desperation for more time, and the ramifications of their ill-fated bond provided really compelling narrative material that consistently fell flat due to their lackluster handling. Beatrix’s entire backstory with the curse felt very underdeveloped (the fantasy being in particular being sorely underutilized), her journey filled with emotional reactions that could’ve benefited from better setup, not to mention nearly all of Oliver’s backstory and time-traveling mechanism has so many conflicting issues and plot holes that can give veteran scifi/speculative fiction readers a case of trypophobia.

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As the story progressed, I found myself highlighting more and more passages not because they were lyrical or moving, but because they didn’t make sense. It is revealed that Oliver is time-traveling through a company called Aevum that provides it service as a form of entertainment akin to tourist sight-seeing. Revealed to be dying, Oliver uses Aevum to experience as much as he can in what little time he has left. This plot mechanism and narrative causes endless issues and conflicts. Aevum’s contracts state that its customers can only travel to the past and never the future which is off-limits only for “professionals”. Yet his brother somehow travels to the future for no reason except to see how Oliver futures turns out (the reason behind it vague at best) which explains nothing as Theo is not a professional in any form whose request should’ve been denied by Aevum. Assuming his request was granted which goes against the concept of where knowing the future can affect the present, it doesn’t make sense how Theo or Oliver can even afford Aevum’s services to begin with being orphans and young (Oliver just graduates from school prior to time-traveling). Furthermore, the book doesn’t even attempt to say what Oliver is dying from who notably has zero visible symptoms until the verry end of the book despite having only months to live.

Despite Aevum saying it’s okay to do things in the past as the timeline has already been affected prior to the present (the easiest time-traveling ideology to apply for this particular story), Oliver makes it a personal choice never to tell Beatrix what happens in the future, a promise he repeatedly breaks. Some are intentional to try and save her from catastrophic historical events, but also his planning for her to meet him at set locations throughout time also indirectly conflicts his own mantra every time they meet. To top it all off, after a very sharp decline in health that seems almost comical give the book’s ironically baffling sense of time, Beatrix makes a deal with the faerie to save Oliver in exchange for her soul. Once brought back to life, Oliver is shown reflecting on his time with Beatrix, conflicted but thankful for her sacrifice. Yet the last time Theo, Zoe or Luke see her is when she runs from Oliver’s room (Oliver himself obviously not being able to see given he’s already dead), and outside far from the hospital she makes the deal. There is no logical way or explanation for any of the other characters to know what Beatrix did to save Oliver which is a crazy oversight given it’s the book’s emotional climax. A potentially very easy workaround would’ve only taken a few more pages max might be something like having Oliver see the faerie or have him pass her in the dark as her soul is taken. While I tend to be a more detail-oriented reader than the norm, the illogical and numerous plot holes heavily affected what little interest I had in the book’s speculative fiction/scifi angle that felt like a cheap imitation of the genres. « Hide Spoiler

Additionally, despite finding the read underwhelming, the character development and pacing of the story felt quite rushed and far too fast for the material. As an immortal, Beatrix reflects about how time blends together, her memories of her family painful, and closing herself off to the world. But the reader isn’t given enough time or reflective moments to feel her experiences, the book largely telling rather than showing. The recurring theme of Beatrix having to patiently wait while longing for Oliver over time also lacks the punch it should as the book’s sense of time jumps rushes on or jumps so quickly. These weaknesses likely are not as detrimental to the reading experience for those picking up this book for a historical fiction romance, but for others, the closer you look and pay attention, the bigger the missed opportunities of this story become.

Featuring great concepts and an unexpectedly creative twist with Oliver’s presence and backstory, All We Have Is Time is a respectable book that is highly accessible and has a lot of mainstream appeal. The historical elements are great, there’s enough character moments to satisfy book club style readership without being upsetting, and its romance across time is unique enough to set itself apart. Yet despite Tordoff’s polished prose and overall good plotting, I found this to be a disappointing read due to how much better it could’ve been with stronger character writing and deeper introspection. The story consistently feels fine but lacks a sense of urgency, literary touch, or more solid speculative fiction crafting to take it further, the story’s intensity growing as it progresses as does its missed potential. While this book certainly scratches the same narrative itch as The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Ministry of Time as advertised (two of my favorite books I might add), doing so sets up this novel against expectations it more than likely will not meet. That said, this is still a well-intentioned, heartfelt, and light story that’s a great pick for those looking for a quick and easy book to read.