An interesting concept. Normally I love time travel books but this one didn't do it for me. I felt it became bogged down in scientific detail. The writing was fine just a Marmite book which unfortunately for me didn't work.

You usually read books about time travel that romantisice it, made it sound adventurous and exciting. This time travel book is based much more in reality that the aforementioned thrills. What does happen to the people from an alternate reality? which reality is real.. ...who do you love? Who is your real family? This is a time travel fiction book (if it is fiction) that makes you think, long and hard about the choices you make and the decisions you have to take responsibility for as well as being a jolly good yarn at the same time, Well worth a read if you're into true love stories, time travel or science fiction. It spans the genres. Enjoy.

If I like a book and it hooks me in, I normally finish it within 1-3 days. This book took me over 2 weeks to get through. I had to take days off from reading. I did not look forward to having to pick it up again. I don't dislike sci-fi or time travel. I just found this story pretty boring. I disliked the first 35% and thought several times of just giving up because there are so many other more interesting books for me to spend my time on. It took 35% for the scene to be set. I didn't particularly gel with or feel for any of the characters.

The reason I elected to read it in the first place was because of all the positive reviews saying how engaging, smart, humorous and exciting it was. I must have been reading a different book! It became even more confusing as the 50 year time travel was introduced but that was closer to the end so I carried on just so I could say I gave it a fair shot by finishing it. I can't even say I'm glad I did!

I really wish I had given up at 35% and read something much better. In fact today I have read another whole book in one sitting.

Definitely not my cup of tea.

I don't usually read science fiction but I have to admit, this has sparked an interest. Set in a utopian futuristic 2016, Tom Barren finds himself time travelling back to 1965, when the world was changed by a new invention. Although a science fiction novel, it explores relationships, love and loss. Nice short chapters so easy to read. Well written so that your imagination can run riot and visualise this new utopia and the alternative paths.

I suppose the first thing to say about this book is that it is definitely different! I can understand why some people loved it and others hated it. There were times when I did both!

Tom Barren is a bit of a failure. He ambles along seeming like a perpetual teenager. He lives in a Utopian world. So many of our present problems have been solved. His father is a genius and has devised a Time Machine. Its first destination is back to the moment when the 'engine' that proved to be the solution to the world's energy needs was switched on.

Tom is the one who goes back ,-even though he was not the first choice. He manages to change history, returning to a far from perfect world.

At times I found Tom a real pain- in fact many of the characters were not very likable but I did get involved & I did want to know what happened. For me it was a good read but not a great one. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read it.

This intelligent and warm hearted time travel book is one for fans of Matt Haig's The Humans, - sci fi for people who don't like sci fi. Our hero Tom, from an arguably better alternative present time travels to the past to witness the first use of a brilliant invention that created the technologically marvellous world he lives in. Unfortunately, he does something in the past that changes everything, meaning the present he returns to is a different one to the one he knows, He is different, his family is different and technologically, everything is shoddier than the world he knows. (It is the world as we, the readers, know it). Can he fix it? Should he fix it? Especially as he finds love in the alternative, technologically shoddy present, he has a sister who didn't exist, his dad is less successful and less dismissive of him and his mother is still alive. But, by the same token, friends that he cared about just don't exist at all in this timeline and life for humans on earth is generally much more rubbish. The book felt fractionally too long with a climactic "battle" scene when Tom wrestles with alternate selves from alternate timelines that felt a little like reading a screenplay as opposed to a novel. I read afterwards that Elan Mastai is also a film writer which doesn't surprise me. Ulimately, though, this is a funny, enjoyable read about our choices, our humanity and about love. (It would also make a great, if expensive, film.)

What a joy this book is! A truly original, funny and intelligent exploration into time travel which focuses on the life of Tom Barren. The story is written as a memoir and chronicles the many mishaps and disasters that befall our protagonist as he attempts to 'be first'. The prose is wonderful, with great pacing and real humour and I raced through what is a truly compelling plot. This is the first novel by the author, and I really look forward to see what he will produce in the future. If you like time travel narratives, you should read this book!

I found this book difficult to get into and am afraid I gave up. May try again at a later date.

I throughly enjoy books on time travel, but was disappointed by this one. First section was really slow and I would have put the book aside if I was not reading it with a review in mind. The book came to life once the Tom/John interaction started and I really enjoyed the middle chapters, but then it seemed to rush to a conclusion and Victor was not a well developed character. I was also irritated by incredibly long sentences - surely a good editor would have sorted this out?

This was a different genre for me and I am not sure what I make of it .I did find the concept of time travel interesting and I thought the book was well written though a little slow at times .

Wow! From the outset this book was different! I shall start by writing that I loved reading this, kept being surprised and delighted by it and will certainly be hoping for more from Elan Mastai. I have since learned that he is an award winning screenwriter and am keen to watch his film The F Word. This book 'All Our Wrong Todays', would make a great film. The author writes self consciously as an author, addressing his readers, or does he - is it the narrator who is addressing his readers?: this is just one of the book's pleasing conundrums. The narrator, Tom, tells the reader at the outset that he is from an alternative present, setting up the probability of a science fiction novel. This book is so much more, including a philosophical discussion of values, a romance, a family saga and a humorous romp through the recent past. Despite Tom being a disappointment to his father, this reader was rooting for him from early on. References to other science fiction writers and to Western youth cultural norms and practices help to render the novel realistic despite its improbable events. One of the characters in the novel wrote a book about time travel in popular culture called 'The DeLorean and the Police Box - The Art and Science of Time Travel' which amused this back to the Future and Doctor Who fan and helped to set the context well. I will not write any spoilers in this review but would urge people to read it even if they think they are not fans of science fiction. The characters are well established and the settings realistically described. The plot is unpredictable and gripping. It is a book I have already recommended and one that I shall return to.

I'm always open to a good time travel tale, counting The Time Traveler's Wife, 11/22/63 and The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August among my favourite novels of all time, and I'm happy to say that Elan Mastai's All Our Wrong Todays is another winner.

Written as a memoir, All Our Wrong Todays is the story of Tom Barren, who despite living in our world actually comes from a near utopia that was created back in 1965, the result of an experiment that changed the word forever with the discovery of an unlimited supply of clean energy. In this alternate future, he is the son of the man who invents time travel and unwittingly finds himself in the position of being the first person to actually travel in time, back to the very day that the momentous experiment takes place.

Of course it doesn't go to plan, and Tom affects the outcome, which in turn changes history and deposits him back in 2016, but the wrong 2016 as far as he in concerned. His immediate reaction is to set about fixing this mistake, but how do you go about travelling back in time to fix things when time travel hasn't been invented in this reality? Read on and find out!

The first part of All Our Wrong Todays does a great job of setting up the premise, if a little lethargically, but once the story gets going it twists and turns to great effect while delivery some deep and thoughtful ideas and well rounded characters. It blends science fiction, humour and romance convincingly and is destined to be perfect holiday reading for the coming summer.

his is a really different book; Tom lives in Toronto in 2016, except it isn’t this 2016, it’s the one that everybody thought we’d have back in the 1950s, flying cars, space travel as regular an occurrence as hen weekends in Benidorm and weirdly, no books. That is until Tom travels back in time to 1965, does something he shouldn’t and when he returns to 2016, he is here (well, last year), where we don’t have flying cars but we do have books, so that’s one positive anyway.

Tom, at the beginning is an unlikable character, a bit hopeless, a bit wet, utterly hapless and with no real purpose in life having lived in the shadow of his super-intelligent dad. He arrives in this 2016 and despite us living a pre-historic life (we have to put our own clothes on in the morning; the horror), he finds he is far happier here. Confusingly Tom in our 2016 is named John and he’s a celebrated architect, creating beautiful buildings that Tom quickly realises are from his 2016. John (Tom), is also a narcissistic, cruel man who has no interest in his family and is disdainful of most things. Tom meets and falls in love with warm, kind, beautiful Penny who is a version of the cold, dismissive, beautiful Penelope he was in love with in his 2016 and suddenly this 2016 isn’t too bad after all. Until John makes an appearance, does something unforgivable and Tom realises he has to find a solution to the predicament he has put himself in.

All Our Wrong Todays explores some really interesting themes; what makes us happy, what do we need to be happy, the effect of technology and how our decisions influence our lives. Tom’s life in futuristic 2016 is all smoke and mirrors – technological advancement which on the surface looks wonderful masks loneliness and despair. Compare this to our 2016 where we seem to live a happier life but lack technology and Tom has a difficult decision to make.

I’m not sure if I enjoyed this book, there were some sections I thought were brilliantly written and thought-provoking, some twists that really made me sit up and take notice but then there were some really confusing bits that went right over my head. The last section was utterly bemusing and I hand on heart, have no idea what happened whatsoever. I know how it ends but the bit preceding it is just a blur.

Overall though, I would say it is definitely worth a read; it is very thought-provoking and quite action packed and would make a wonderful film (and Elan Mastai writes movies for a living) as I’d love to see what future 2016 looks like!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Dutton for an advanced copy of this book which is published today in the UK and can be purchased here

The premise of this story is really interesting. It takes place in 2016 where every futuristic idea anyone has had (flying cars included) is what life is like. However, the main character ends up in a very different 2016, just like the one we live in.

The story starts off explaining time travel in technical terms so it starts off a little slow, but the information is important. The story quickly gets going though and Tom is such a fascinating character, unlike the typical sci-fi characters, which makes him more relatable.

Elan Mastai's background is in screenwriting, so I don't think it will be too long before we see this on the big screen!

By far the best time travel book I have ever read. And that is giving you the simple version. The concept is fantastic treating our world as an alternate future accidentally created by someone traveling back in time from a 2016 with flying cars, overwhelming technology, moon bases, and all that was basically predicted for the future in the 1950s. The writing style is excellent truly drawing the reader in. The plot is entirely original, fascinating, and executed flawlessly. There is a little bit of everything including humour and romance. Plus the protagonist is a fun one to go on the journey with. All Our Wrong Todays may be the best book I've read so far this year. I highly recommend to all readers. You're in for a treat!

I had heard good things about this book, so when I had the opportunity to get a copy from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review, I jumped at it.
Tom is from 2016, but not our 2016, his 2016 is a utopia, flying cars, perfect food, moving sidewalks and so on, life is perfect, but Tom doesn’t fit in, he is average, he is not a genius like his father and he struggles to hold down a job. His father gives him a job in the lab he runs and he is perfecting time travel and wants a team to go back to the moment that made the utopia they live in possible, the day in 1965 that the Goettleider engine was switched on. Tom meanwhile has fallen in love with another employee of his father, Penelope, she is the lead on the time travel experiment, but when something happens to stop her from becoming the first time traveller and results in her dismissal from the company, she kills herself. Distraught Tom uses the machine himself but doesn’t complete the protocols required before he travel back, this causes the timeline to change and when he returns to 2016 it is to our 2016, which to him seems a dystopian nightmare, but thin this timeline he is a successful architect named John. Should he try and restore the 2016 he knows, which could possible cause the timeline to change again but for the worse, or does he stay in a world in which he feels he belongs?
 
Firstly the formatting in the Netgalley edition was not brilliant, with words, spaced incorrectly and the books title and author name appearing in the middle of the text on the majority of pages, although this was annoying and distracted me at first one I got used to it I was able to enjoy the story.
The story itself is brilliant and Mastai explains why time travel in other stories simply won’t work because the earth moves so this needs to be taken into consideration when travelling in time.
Tom is a simple character to start with, not completely likable at this point, but he grows as we learn he is a product of this utopia, but he does not belong there. We also meet the other versions of him, John from our 2016 and Victor a version from yet another possible 2016,  a truly dystopian 2016 and he is a solider, a survivor of the 3rd world war. Naturally these three different personas want to take control of the one body, they have all existed and they all want to exist, but although when absorbed together they make one complete human being, separately they are a nightmare.
The other characters are also well crafted, but complicated as there are multiple versions of some of them and in each timeline they are completely different.
The story twists and turns with each page and leads Tom to his ultimate decision, which is the best 2016 that they can hope for.
Well written and powerful this is a must read for all fans of time travel and dystopian fiction, there are some lovely and funny moments, and there are also some shocks as well, a real rollercoatser ride.
 
I only dropped this 1 star because the reasons for the suicide of Tom’s girl wasn’t believable to me and if you read the book you will understand why I found this bit hard to accept.
 
4/5

This must be the most boring book I have ever read, or tried to. I did get half way through but absolutely nothing has happened and it's deadly dull. I rarely give up on a book but this one succeeded where so many others have failed. Shame, as it was a good idea for a story.
I definitely do not recommend this book to anyone. Life's too short to waste on such an inane book.

Wasn't really sure what to expect when I started this! I don't read that much sci-fi and seeing the time travel element of this story had me a little worried as to what was in store for me as a reader - I just wish I could send myself back in a time-machine now and start reading this again so I can savour it all one more time!

Tom Barren lives in 2016 - but a 2016 unlike ours! It is full of automated life, decisions made for you - a world where everything is perfect. Sounds idyllic?! Not for Tom and he's nostalgic for the real world of good and bad experiences. Tom is the perfect character to be the narrator of this story as he's the idiot to his genius father - never seemingly good enough and missing his beloved mother. So we get to enjoy and share his every thought and action as he tries to live up to something he isn't - he's not quite sure what he's supposed to be so when a chance to achieve some respect from his father by travelling back in time to witness the moment in time that changed the world as we know it - Lionel Goettreider invented the future in 1965 and he is the most famous man in the alternate 2016 timeline.

So what happens if the impossible happens and we could travel back in time to witness those moments in time that we all know so much about? Tom is about to find out and things aren't all as he imagined - the genius plan had some flaws! And then what happens when you return from that moment and your version of 2016 has changed beyond recognition?! Full of people you know, but don't know at all?!

This is more than a sci-fi/time travel novel as it features a lot of human emotion as he deals with love, grief and all those self doubts that we as humans often feel. And it is also very funny! It is written in a really punchy way and never gets bogged down in too much 'geeky' detail and that is what kept me engrossed from start to finish. I loved the Tom character along with Penelope too who had her own dreams but her destiny was also changed by a quirk of fate and, like life, leads on to new experiences and dreams to unfold.

It really did exceed my expectations so am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have read this through NetGalley so thankyou!

An absolute rollercoaster of a read featuring time travel, saving the world from annihilation and personal development - this "memoir" has confused and amused me in equal measure.
Time travel is an extremely difficult subject to write about but the author has some inspired ideas and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. It's also very hard to describe without spoiling things for future readers.
Confused by the science but definitely amused by the presentation - there are so many things about this book that I loved. Please read it so that I have someone to discuss theories with.

I struggled to begin reading this book. While the voice literally smacked of personality and humour, it felt like there were about 7 chapters of info dumps and not much story at all to truly get me involved emotionally. I'm not that used to being addressed as a reader but I settled into it, and it was quite a nice change, but it's unfortunate that the info dump took a lot of excitement I had about reading this book away at the start. I felt like I needed a PHD in this book to be able to get what was being explained.

The technology itself sounded absolutely amazing, which is a big reason why I gave this 3* and not 2. I had to check back a few times to remind myself what this was actually meant to be about because it read so much like a fictional reference book without the threads of plot or prominent action.

I wasn't sure where the author was leading me - which is usually fine, unreliable narrators are a huge plus with me - but this wasn't unreliable, it was just that I had no idea. At all.

It's a novel concept, the way it was presented, and it reminded me of Cloud Atlas. I suppose it is clever. But I don't read books to see if they're clever or not, I read books to be immersed in the story, and characters. Do I want to be challenged? Absolutely. But while enjoyable once I got mid way through, the start let it down for me.