The premise sounded so good I was really intrigued and wanted to see how everything unfolded. I realized very early on it was going to be a struggle for me to continue, as I was having a hard time liking the main character. I think the writing is fine, this book may just not be for me.

I enjoyed this Boo Walker novel dealing with generational trauma and it may affect future generations. It was an interesting idea and exposed me to constellation therapy which was new to me. We have a young Charli Thermon who feels stuck in life and seems to sabotage anything that is going well for her. Her friend recommends constellation therapy and Charli takes a chance. The session seemed to expose a dark secret in her family's past.

Charli searches and follows clues to get answers to the mystery. Along the way she grows and starts healing. Charli is a relatable character who one hopes finds what she wants in life! Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review this book.

3.5 ⭐️

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

A multigenerational tale that tells the story of a families inter generational trauma related to an unknown event in Charlis family history. This book straddles England and the USA as Charli tries to break the “curse” of her family.

I really enjoyed the mystery and intrigue as Charli searches to find the source of her families pain, it was thrilling to read.

I did find it a bit cheesy in some parts, but if you love romance and spiritually mixed with historical mystery this is definitely a book you should check out!

Charli doesn’t think she deserves happiness. She sees ‘red lights’ wherever she goes. Mentally abused by her own mother as a child after the death of her baby brother, she is not giving love a chance. Is her whole family cursed? Her best friend Viv is telling her about a ‘soul reader’ who offers family constellation therapy and, even though she is skeptical at first, Charli decides to attend. During her first session, Charli experiences a life-like memory from the past that may be the cause of her family’s trauma and bad luck. Charli decides to dig deeper. Her subsequent research brings her to England where she meets Noah. Will she be able to turn her luck?
I really loved this book, and the only reason I’m giving it ‘only’ 4 ⭐️ is that it got a little repetitive in the middle. The dual timelines had me hooked, and I enjoyed the glimpses into a family’s history and fate. Reading about transgenerational memories and following Charli on her journey was exciting and quite fascinating. I have to say that, in the beginning, her negativity and self-loathing were annoying at times, but how can you not root for a girl who watches the Bachelor, listens to the Zac Brown Band and reads Louise Penny? And what a journey it is!
I want to thank Netgalley, Lake Inion Publishing and the author for giving me the opportunity to enjoy this advance copy. It was a delight, and the above is my honest opinion.

This was the second time I tried to read a book by this author. The first time I DNFed the book. Yet, I wanted to try this author again.
And now I come to realise that Boo Walker's novels are simply not for me.
Nothing wrong with the writing style or the characters' storylines. The setting was interesting and I dare say well written, but overall this book is not for me. And it's fine. I'm pretty sure it will please Walker's loyal fans.

Boo Walker’s “An Echo in Time” is a nice escape from a hot summer day, although it doesn’t have the same emotional pull as Walker’s previous books. It’s a love story through time, with a bit of mysticism thrown in for good measure. The historical touches are well-written and transform the reader to an earlier time.

Boo Walker has a way with words, tying the story together like a weaver and pulling you in. It’s an entertaining read.

Charli Thurman seems to attract bad luck. Every relationship she’s been in ends right before the good parts - mainly because she sabotages them herself. She's stuck in a dead-end job because she ran away from her dream of opening a bookstore at the first hurdle. And nothing she does seems to change the way she sees herself and her life.

Her best friend, Viv, introduces her to a "soul reader" who focuses on generational trauma and how to break the chains that bind us to our history. Charli takes a chance and flies to Costa Rica for a workshop where she experiences a memory of terrible violence through a "family constellation" exercise. Instead of running from it, Charli decides she needs to uncover her history to have any chance of changing her future.

The idea of generational trauma drew me into the story and I really felt invested in finding out what happened and why and I won't lie, the romance between Charli and Noah was a good draw too! I did find the writing and dialogue quite clunky at times but the storylines were interesting and there was great character development.

Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union publishers for this opportunity to read an ARC of this novel.

Boo Walker has established a following for his gentle-but-emotional novels about identity and relationships. Considering that this novel centres on a young woman and her attempts to come to terms with her self-sabotaging tendencies, he does a good job of imagining a woman’s perspective. Curiously, Charli comes off more ‘real’ than any of the male characters, present and past, who seem prototypes of the sensitive, wounded man (her dad and Noah) or the impetuous, driven, aggressive type (Charles/Miles, Edward, their father) in this dual timeline story.

In the present, Charli is depressed by her recent abandonment of both her life’s dream (her own bookstore) and a promising relationship, one of many that ended due to her seeming indifference. She has only a nominal relationship with her emotionally abusive, unstable mother, who left her beloved father, and ruined him emotionally and financially, while she was too young to take care of them both but was forced to do so. Nearly 20 years later, father and daughter are still unable to get on with their lives. Persuaded by her best friend Viv, Charli impulsively flies to Costa Rica for a quickie ‘past lives’ retreat organized by a ‘soul reader’ who directs participants in a form of ‘modelling’ their family relationships to get at the intergenerational roots of their personal identity crises. This is ‘family constellations’ theory, which is real, though disputed. The previously sceptical Charli is motivated to put together her family tree, about which she knows nothing. She flies to England, where she spends her time digging in archives famous and obscure, poring through reams of mid 19th century newspapers, interviewing family members she didn’t know she had. What she uncovers, having to do with the tribulations of her maternal third great grandfather and his flight to the United States, is interspersed with her present-time ‘too good (and too weird) to be true’ sudden love affair with a local pub-owner. And all that is interspersed with long distance calls to her depressed father at home, mostly begging him to ‘hold on’ while she tries to straighten out their troubled family history. After a few very lucky breaks, her historical detective work pays off.

Much of this stretches belief, and leaves a few holes that beg to be filled, starting with the question of whether the truth really does set you free. She finds the family villains of old and can suddenly explain away her mother’s abuses, her father’s willingness to be abused, her own inability to bond, and her bad choices in life, love, and even livelihood.
Without denying intergenerational impacts, just knowing what happened to an ancestral branch of your family is not going to bring about miraculous changes in the present. This is nonetheless a breezy, uncomplicated story, best taken as a cozy mystery with some historical episodes. You can’t help wishing family trauma could be healed by genealogy. Who doesn’t like a happy ending?

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC. I stumbled upon Boo Walker's books about 2 years ago and have thoroughly enjoyed the ones I have read. This one did not disappoint. The dual timeline was easy to follow. The therapeutic technique was a very interesting concept. I did good a good chuckle out of the self insert of the author. Highly recommend this book. I loved it!!!

I happen to love shows like the Long Island Medium and Who Do You Think You Are; both nods to life after death and family genealogy. If you, like me, find this intriguing, consider this an invitation to read this book.

For generations, Charli's family has been consumed by negative energy. As she approaches thirty, she is determined to break this cycle of negativity. She is in a job that brings her little to no joy and has commitment issues when it comes to love. After some convincing from her best friend, despite her skepticism, she seeks the help of a guru who dives into an alternative method known as family constellation therapy. This leads her across the pond to Winchester, England, where the roots of her family tree began. With any luck, she will discover the source that has caused generations of family trauma.

It's tragic, yet lucky. At times it's sad, but sweet. The two story timelines, past and present, provide a character insight that really enhances the reading experience. This is a beautiful blend of mystery, magical realism and romance that works. Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. It's made me think and ponder...Can trauma travel through the generations, impacting every little branch of a family tree?

Definitely engaging and enchanting but requires removing oneself from reality and from lingering too long on details and logistics. An Echo in Time is a fascinating concept mixed with a taste of magical realism. A easy, entertaining summer read…

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

this was a fun read using historical fiction, self-help, family dynamics and a romance component-not to mention a little travel as a storyline. I enjoyed Boo making a reference to himself at one point. The story is about a person dealing with a difficult relationship with her mom and how it affects her adulthood. I appreciate that by the end of the book things come to a sort of resolution for the main character and other family members.

This story an interesting tale about generational trauma, the impacts of holding onto guilt and anger, and how to stop the pattern.

Charli has a tumultuous relationship with her mother, and while she loves her father she holds resentment toward him for his complacency in her childhood trauma. Nothing Charli does goes right, and she is constantly hearing that voice in her head from childhood telling her she just isn’t good enough.

She ventures to Costa Rica to attend a healing session, and finds herself deeply enthralled with a mystery that she must travel to England to investigate for herself where she finds the truth, herself, her future, and her peace.

This story had a lot of holes for me. The concept was interesting and the story is well written, but i had a hard time getting past the strange trip to Costa Rica, the new job approving the unending time off, the creep boss trope, the wildly fast relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy to read it again!

Where do I even begin? Everything about this book is utter perfection - the character development, the POV’s through time travel, it’s incredible.

The main character Charli is so painfully human and Boo perfectly encapsulates what it’s like to be in your twenties and navigating childhood and familial issues. I resonated so deeply with her journey and was so invested.

The themes all throughout this book are addressed so perfectly and with such depth, I felt like I was in Winchester with Charli trying to put the pieces together! Some of the life lessons Charli learns throughout the story are things I’m currently coming to terms with in my own life and made me feel so much less alone.

This book has literally shifted my perspective on life - it needs to be read!

An interesting premise, though not one I resonate with. Well drawn characters and nice pacing. Not really my cup of tea but I can see the attraction for people who are interested in trauma and unconventional therapies.

I love Boo Walker. I was excited to read a new Boo Walker book! This one dragged for me. The constellation therapy part was a little far fetched. Charli had so much trauma in her life and the fact that it was caused from generations before was just not my style. And then one day finding a missing child sets her free? The historical piece was very interesting, the romance and connection between the families was great.

This is my first Boo Walker book, I was pleasantly surprised. While it was definitely out of my comfort zone, it was enjoyable. The main fact I would like to emphasize is that the generational family trauma is so relatable, this alone would appeal to a mass group of people.
While unfortunate and sad, there are take a way's for the reader in learning to deal with past traumas so theyre not trickling over into the present. It was an easy, down to earth read I feel would check a lot of boxes for many.

This is the first time I have read Boo Walker, although his stories have been recommended to me. “An Echo in Time” has an extremely interesting and fresh premise: generational trauma that can be healed by addressing family constellations using proxies and searching ancestry to discover what happened.

The concept of generational trauma is one I have been interested in and Boo Walker does a great job of using a retreat scene to establish how this type of therapy can work. Although considered a pseudo science (if that) family constellation theory seems highly interesting.

Boo Walker lays out the ways in which the main character, Charli, and her family have struggled through life. The reader feels for her especially and hopes things get better. She travels to England following some ancestral clues and meets a like aged barkeep who helps her along her journey.

This story goes back and forth in time to show where the trauma possible began, and intertwines families and love. It’s almost spiritual in nature.

What I am not a fan of is the use of third person narration. It takes on me out of some key moments where I felt that the author could have shown more without telling. Especially some emotional scenes.

This is a very different sort of story and I enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Boo Walker for an advance reader copy of “An Echo in Time” in exchange for an honest review.

"An Echo in Time" by Boo Walker is a compelling novel that blends elements of mystery, romance, and self-discovery. The story follows Charli Thurman, a woman approaching thirty who feels trapped by her family's tumultuous history and her own struggles in life and love. When she experiences a disturbing memory during family constellation therapy, Charli becomes determined to uncover the truth about her family's past and break the cycle of trauma.

One of the novel's strengths lies in its exploration of generational trauma and the impact it can have on individuals and families. Through Charli's journey, Walker delves into themes of healing, forgiveness, and the power of confronting the past to create a better future. The character development is well-done, particularly Charli's growth as she learns to confront her fears and take control of her own destiny.

The setting of Winchester, England, adds depth to the story, providing a rich backdrop for the unfolding mystery. The interactions between Charli and Noah, the charming pub owner with his own family secrets, are engaging and add a layer of romance to the narrative.

Overall, "An Echo in Time" is a captivating read that will appeal to fans of contemporary fiction and mystery. Boo Walker has crafted a thought-provoking story that explores the complexities of family dynamics and the resilience of the human spirit.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy to review for my honest opinion.

I wasn’t so sure about this book in the beginning but because I know Boo Walker writes good books I kept reading and I’m not sorry. Charli hasn’t had the best life growing up with an abusive mother and her father away early in a living. She intends to never marry or have children because of her mother’s abuse. She stumbles onto generational trauma and sets out to find out what has brought her family to where they are today. She takes a trip to England to see if she can find out about her ancestors and their lives. There’s plenty of mystery and intrigue in this book and I was cheering Charli on all the way through. She certainly deserved to have a better life. I received an arc of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.