A story of love across all planes

I absolutely loved Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott's Five Feet Apart. So when I heard that they were releasing another YA drama novel, I jumped online to preorder a copy. I have to say that while I really enjoyed this story, I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping to. It also doesn't compare to Five Feet Apart in my mind. I guess there were just some parts of the overall dynamic of the plot and the narrative itself that I found a little cheesy and hard to fully run with. I did, however, think that the characterizations of our main protagonists, Kyle and Marley, were very well-written. Both characters deal with so much pain and loss that it is virtually impossible for them to not be different people by the end of the novel, and I thought that their development and growth was portrayed very well. I also really liked most of the descriptions. There are some witty turns of phrase sprinkled throughout the entire thing. However, I wasn't really a fan of the plot twists. For me, there wasn't even much of a twist. I was able to piece together enough clues through the context to see the most major one coming from a mile away, which was frankly kind of disappointing. But the build up to the second plot twist felt much better than the first one; there actually seemed to be a twist! It left me sighing in relief because I thought I was going to end up hating the ending, haha! My main point of question was how some of the psychological elements of the story worked. I found myself shaking my head at some of the logic employed, wondering if I as a reader was supposed to believe that some of the stuff happening was credible. I think that this is the kind of book that would be more enjoyable during a second or third read, once the reality of the characters' situations is something the reader is already aware of. Overall, I would recommend this book to fans of Five Feet Apart and readers looking for an easy to follow, somewhat cheesy dramatic love story.



Some of my favorite quotes from All This Time:

"... a flash of that particular shade of blond that manages to hold whatever light is in the room."

"The reality of Kim being gone is a series of everyday heartbreaks. Moments and reminders that chip slowly away at me until there's nothing left."

"The wattage of her grin could power nine suns."

"Without an audience, a storyteller is just talking to the air, but when someone's listening..."

"I never knew love could feel like this. That it could get so deep inside me that I have two hearts beating in my chest..."

"There was a place where I loved you, a place you built with your words, and the happiness we shared was as real as anything here in the real world."

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