Although not a new concept, this travel though time book is beautifully written and the method of travel is so unique and the travelling itself is so clumsy that it becomes even more believable!
After falling through a space hopper box through a wormhole and backto her childood Faye is given the chance to get to know her mum, who disappeared whe nFaye was only a small child.
Interacting with her mum and her young self leads to all sorts of bother, not least the worry of changing the course of the future.
The characters in each time period are just wonderful! So real, so down to earth (in some cases with a bump) and often times very funny.
I loved the perfect imperfection of Faye's investigation into her mums disappearance and the ending came as a real suprise!

Have you ever wanted to go back in time and to the people in it? Faye longs to reconnect with her mother Jeannie who died when she was a girl and was raised by lovely neighbours Em and Henry. She is now happily married to Eddie who is in training to be a clergyman, they have two daughters, Esther and Evie. Though everything in her life is good, she still feels her mothers loss keenly. Then one day something incredible happens - so, suspend disbelief and dive right into this very emotional journey.

First of all, I absolutely love the concept and premise of this novel which has love at its heart. I really like that you feel as if Faye is talking directly to you as she relates this fantastic story. It’s told in a very straightforward way which works superbly well as this story doesn’t need frills or bells and whistles. The characters are lovely and as a reader you feel Faye’s emotional turmoil as she doesn’t tell Eddie the truth until she has to. Louis, her friend is wonderful and the fact of his blindness adds an extra dimension as everything has to be described so carefully to him. There are a lot of themes to ponder on - love, loneliness and the grief of the loss of a much loved parent and the pain and longing of just five more minutes in their company which resonates and tugs at your heart strings. It’s an extremely thought provoking and philosophical book which makes you reflect especially on your own beliefs. I like the duality of the plot and the feelings it creates jointly in Jeannie and Faye and the dilemma it generates in Faye with what she could lose by going backwards. The end is absolutely magical.

Overall, this is a well written book with fantastical fantasy of a plot with some lovely images and a very clever title. I love the wisdom, I love the love, it brings tears to your eyes and touches you. It’s an original, moving and emotional rollercoaster which I didn’t want to end. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the arc for an honest review.

My thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Shuster Pub. For a copy of “ Space Hopper” for an honest review.
As a child of the seventies I was intrigued by this book simply by the title and cover and didn’t know much about the storyline.
I LOVED THIS BOOK ! It was so well written and original and I couldn’t stop reading it to see how it would finish. The characters were well written and even though the storyline was about loss it was told with humour.Ive already recommended it to my friends and will be looking out for further books by Helen Fisher One of my favourite books I’ve read this year

This is a quirky read with an intriguing plot and fascinating main character. Faye is very happily married with two daughters but the discovery of an old photo of her as a child and an old space hopper box that has been used for storage create a longing for her mum who died when Faye was just eight and the start of an unreal adventure. The story is unexpected with a few surprises and you really feel for Faye’s divided loyalties and longing to see her mum again, the ending was well considered and very touching, overall this is a lovely debut.

I was intrigued by the premise of this story, so was looking forward to reading it. I do like a bit of time-travel. It certainly is an interesting twist on the time-travel genre, with the main character travelling back in time via an old Space Hopper box; hence the title. You certainly need to suspend all sense of reality while reading it. It certainly is a quirky read.

The story is told in a first-person narrative, almost like a confessional, which I found to be a little disconcerting. At times it was very descriptive to the point where I wanted to skip over things; sometimes there can be too much information about the little things in a story which detracted from the storyline.

Having said that it was a good story. The idea certainly had real potential and I am sure many will love it, but for me, it was not a gripping read and didn't quite hit the mark.

4 Stars from me

Wow - this sure was an unusual one!

You'll need to suspend your grasp on reality just a teensy bit in order to be able to let go and just enjoy this book for what it is.

I felt this to be more of an exploration of love/grief/faith than a time travel book - it's like the time travel was kinda incidental.

Faye has a lovely family and what sounds like a wonderful husband - yet she aches for the love of her mother and for answers to the questions that she never got to ask.

I genuinely don't feel I can offer a review that can do this book justice - it really quite beautiful in a wholesome way.

Just read it.

I would like to thank the publishers and netgalley for an arc in exchange of an honest review.

I have a lot of feelings about this book.

Like a lot. Honestly I cried my eyes out at times due to the anxiety of things happening in the story and honestly not many books make me cry about mundane things.
I enjoyed how it helped me and maybe others deal with the death of a loved one, too.

I’ve seen criticism that the children aren’t well fleshed out but they don’t need to be. They’re small children without personalities of their own yet and it’s not that relevant, the story isn’t about them.

It’s about love and loss and spirituality. It’s far more spiritual than you’d expect and yet it makes a lot of sense. I love the relationship between Eddie and Faye and how realistic it is. He may be nice but he’s not perfect, nor is she. They have w real relationship.

I will say the friendship between Faye and her mother is a bit weird but I guess at the end they are only ever going to be friends rather than mother and daughter so it makes some sense. I’d like more of an ending resolution but still. I enjoyed this. I’ll ponder it a lot. I loved the inclusion of detail for the blind and how they also released an audiobook because a book that features a blind man so much surely needs that.
I like the distinctive voice of this book and how it feels unlike anything else I’ve read. It also gives us an understanding of how much life can be affected by others who we paid no mind to.

In all, this was a satisfying and heartwarming story though I wouldn’t read it again. It will definitely stay with me for a long time. I really enjoyed the twist.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book!
The concept was new and captivating, Faye is a 36-year-old woman with two wonderful kids, a loving husband and a close group of friends. She also has a secret: she can travel back in time through a space hopper and meet her mother who died when she was just a kid. Faye has finally the chance to ask her mother everything she always wanted to know, but she risks to ruin her future by clinging too tightly to her past.

This book was emotional, reflective and a very pleasant read. The characters were well-rounded and relatable and the writing style was immersive.

I highly recommend this to anyone who's looking for an emotional story about family, love and faith.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.

This is a wonderful book, which I loved and highly recommend. It is about a woman called Faye who misses her mum Jeanie and, through a space hopper box, she travels back in time to see her. It is an amazing book which is emotional and heartwarming. It pulled at my heartstrings and I loved the ending, which was unexpected!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever found yourself reading a book that evokes so many memories & emotions in you? This was that book for me 😢

I absolutely do not want to give anything away any this book as it was fantastic & I enjoyed every minute of reading it!

Thankyou to Netgalley for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Helen Fisher's debut novel "Space Hopper" contains themes including grief and loss, faith in different guises and the importance of family. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that there is time travel involved! Fisher beautifully illuminates the experience of a young child losing her mother through concepts such as young Faye missing Mum giving her a telling off. Older Faye fears becoming ill and ultimately leaving her own children. She cherishes her Mother's cookery book, replete with Mum's handwriting.

In terms of insight, I also particularly enjoyed the ways in which Fisher utilised her own professional knowledge to illustrate the differences between blind and sighted people, where Faye's friend Louis describes drawing a cat and a bus. Simple things we take for granted and make assumptions about. I enjoyed the allusions to "The Wizard of Oz" in the names of Faye's caregivers (Em and Henry) and the reference to Dorothy in Chapter 5.

Towards the beginning of the book there are some excellent references to retro toys. Major Morgan anyone? I found the ending a little perplexing although I really had no idea where it was going. Overall an enjoyable read and an accurate exploration of bereavement in childhood and loss of a parent.

This was a beautiful book, well told by the narrator, in which Fay returns to the 1970s to visit and befriend her now deceased mother. Time travel through the medals of a space hopper box is intriguing and yet fitting. In travelling back to see her mother, at first by accident and later on purpose, she learns more about her mother as a woman, and also more about herself, her needs and her devotion as a mother and wife.

The events unravel easily and the reader/listener is drawn into the dilemma of reasons and consequences of visiting the past, and possibly tampering with events, which may or may not change the present/ future.
The love between mother and daughter at both ages flows throughout the text and time periods.
A lovely story which encapsulates mother/ daughter love and loss.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review

One of those books that I’ve been chewing over since finishing. An interesting concept, I think it’s hard to read without imagining what you’d do in the same situation, which might affect how you connect with the main character. I’ve already recommended.

Faye’s confessional-style narrative is a compelling read from the outset, one which combines contemporary fiction with the more fantastical. Ultimately, ‘Space Hopper’ is a story with a strong human connection, an exploration of a mother-daughter relationship.

The novel is firmly rooted in modern times. Faye is married to trainee vicar Eddie; they have two daughters, But her life isn’t complete, namely because her mother died when she was young (Faye went to live with some older neighbours) - and she never really found out what happened. Even though Faye is happy, it isn’t enough - and, fortuitously, an old space hopper box comes in very handy as a portal back to the late 1970s, a time when Faye’s mum, Jeannie, was alive.

This debut deals with human emotions beautifully. An example being ‘... salt water and emotion, like lava, hot... spilling down my face...’ The first-person narrative works perfectly, and the description of travelling to see Jeannie portrays the unbelievable in a non-fussy way. When Faye goes back the second time, the intimacy is so noticeable between her and Jeannie - heartfelt and tender.

The story of Space Hopper is one that is very different to other contemporary fiction. It is not science-fiction, nor does it deal with time-travel in an other-worldly way. It’s a novel that shows how human relationships are integral to life and Faye has a deep-seated desire to learn about her mother, to find out about the woman she knows little about.

This is a novel that is multi-layered and one which will resonate with readers for many different reasons. It will make you laugh, it may make you cry, but it will definitely make you think - of what was, and perhaps what could have been. Essentially, it is a stunning debut with sensitivity and intrigue at its core.

I really enjoyed this book, as I love time travel stories, but I'm not sure the title does it justice. It's a fun, quirky story, with a high feel good factor, and especially poignant for anyone missing their mum.

Faye has a wonderful husband, although him deciding to enter the clergy was a bit of a surprise, and 2 wonderful children. She has a job she loves and good friends and life is great. Unfortunately it wasn't always so great - she was brought up by her mum alone, and when she was quite young her mum died and she ended up walking to her older neighbours, who were like grandparents to her, and she ended up staying with them. She had a great life but missed her mum terribly. When she went up to her loft to fetch something and stepped into an old Space Hopper box she was transported back in time and met her mum again.

Faye is pulled between her mother in the past, and her husband and children in the present, and really wants both, but everything has consequences.

It is a lovely, feel good story, with a very clever ending. I really enjoyed it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3591310233

Faye lost her Mum when she was a child. She doesn't really remember her, although she has always missed her presence.
By a chance of fate she is able to visit her past and get to know her Mum. What will be the consequences of meddling in the past? ' Serendipity..The discovery of things you were not in quest of'
A beautifully well crafted tale about love, loss, belief and faith. The characters all have depth of emotion which makes the reader feel as though they are on the journey with Faye. A wonderful book...Read it!

Heartwarming leap of faith!

Faye is a happily married mum of 2 daughters. Her husband Eddie is the perfect husband and she has a great life but feels something is missing.

One day she goes into the loft and finds a box from her childhood with a picture of a space hopper on. She climbs in and is then transported back to the 1970's where she comes face to face with her mum who died suddenly 30 years ago. Now the story really unfolds. Beautifully written and full of imagination.

If you had the chance to go back to the past, would you? Even if it could risk what happened in the future? A love so strong for her mum made Faye risk everything. I couldn't stop reading as I needed to find out what happened next.

I wasn't sure where the story would go but it was a truly perfect ending to a wonderful book. Highly recommend.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an advance copy. I have discovered a new author to follow.

As reads go, this one is firmly in the pile of uplifting, with a tingle of bittersweet. Faye finds herself transported from her life into the past, where she has an opportunity to meet her departed mother and contemplate the questions she has about her own family. Though there are many stories of time travel, I found this one to be genuinely original and full of confidence. The author has found a really entertaining way of telling the story, and the whole thing is very clever.

This is a really clever title for a refreshingly different book.
I enjoy roscommon style time travel fiction, but it isn't always fresh and innovative but this is. Beautifully written with sumptuous descriptions, it never flags and doesn't become at all predictable.
Faye and Eddie are a nice, loving couple. However wrong things go Faye knows any action Eddie takes against her will be done out of protective love.
Circumstances force Faye to choose between those she loves in the past and those in the present. Its spectacular ending came as a complete surprise to me.
This is really worth reading because whilst you may be silently urging Faye to act a certain way, you are unlikely to predict the outcome of how she does act.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre,  however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different. Characters were so well developed that I felt as though I knew them. I love when a book draws you into the story and it feels like you are living it with them.