To be published in numerous local magazines in April: No one expects Tom Barren to amount to much. They certainly don’t expect him to go back in time and completely change life as they know it. But that’s what happens. In Tom’s world 2016 looks rather different than it does to us. The discovery of a clean, almost effortless form of energy back in the 60s has made the world something of a utopia. But then Tom becomes the first time traveller, and accidently rewrites history. When he gets back to 2016, everything has changed.

This author doesn't just think outside the box hes lost his box if he ever had one.This book is delightfully bonkers and I loved the originality.Its a time travel book not like any other I've read before and not easy to describe,but very imaginative and great fun.I loved it and the way the author was talking to me,that sounds a bit odd but it felt personal in a good way.I am grateful to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

As I started reading this I thought it was a si-fi book and that's not really my thing. But as the story develops its about parallel worlds in the present, and the past. Tom lives in the present (but not the present we know), his father develops a time machine and when everything his dad has worked on goes wrong he goes back to the past. Beyond that you have to read the book, it is a well written book with a fantastic story would really recommend it.

All Our Wrong Todays is a great example of a time travel novel where it's clear the author has put a great deal of thought into the logistics. Problems and paradoxes are explored and explained, making it quite technical at times. It's a fascinating storyline that brings up a lot of questions and certainly made me think about what makes us who we are and what a 'utopia' really looks like.

It's written in the first person with our protagonist writing for a particular reader, although what he's writing, the format choices and who he's writing for are explained as we go along. We get to know the protagonist quite well because of this, but he can be a bit insufferable at times! Unfortunately this narcissism also means we don't really get to know many of the other characters, particularly the women. Part of this is the character's self-acknowledged sexist attitude, but it goes further than this. Nearly every female character either dies, is raped, or generally used badly, and I found myself getting frustrated with whiny Tom feeling sorry for himself rather than caring about the wellbeing of his insta-love girlfriend after she was raped.

Recommended for fans of hard sci-fi looking for detailed scientific explanations and a brain workout courtesy of time travel theories and moral quandaries.

A very interesting take on time-travel, and a fun read at that. From the get-go, all of my foundations on time-travel are shattered by the simple notion that the earth moves (fancy that) and as such the Back to Future premise that you can go back to the same spot in 1955 is completely flawed. So thank you for destroying a beloved classic. In a further interesting take, the premise consists of time travel gone wrong leading from a sci-fi to utopia to our existing present (we are the wrong timeline) which made for fascinating insights into our world. The story could've been told better, the characters a bit more rounded, more empathetic, but nonetheless, out of sheer boldness to write a refreshing take on time travel, this book gets high marks. 4.5/5

What an extraordinary and fantastically clever piece of work! This book is so spellbinding I cannot stop raving about it to anyone and everyone. I don't usually go for books of this genre being a hardcore crime thriller fan. However, I am so glad I had the opportunity to read and review this fascinating tale. The characters are diverse, original and well developed. The plot itself will take you to another world, introducing all kinds of unimaginable scenarios. I thoroughly enjoyed every paragraph of this book.

Sci-fi is not one of my go to genres when selecting a book but, having read and loved Blake Crouch's Dark Matter, a book that this has been likened to / compared with, I thought I'd give it a whirl. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it albeit it at times thought it was a bit bonkers!
Tom lives in 2016 but it is not like our 2016. Technology is way more advanced due mostly to the invention of a special energy source back in the 60s. His father is a whizz in science and is on the brink of trialling his own time travel invention. Tom is a bit of a failure but is one of the back up time travellers - this being mostly due to his close genetic match to one of the primaries rather than on his own expertise. His primary is also his love infatuation and on the night before the big day, something happens and she is prevented from being able to take her place. She reacts rather badly and the experiment is shut down. Tom being Tom thinks he can fix things so completes the experiment himself, going back in time to 1965. And here's where it all starts going wrong as he eventually wakes up as himself but not himself, in 2016 but not his 2016, things are different, he is different, his love infatuation exists in this alternate world but she's also different. Tom is wracked with guilt about what he has done and sets off on a mission to make things right. Will he succeed, can he succeed, or is all not what it seems?
Oh my goodness, what an absolute ride I had reading this book. It is written in a very easy to read kind of way, like a journal. At times it actually felt like Tom was there talking to me himself. That really helped me with all the timey-wimey explanations I had to get my head round. I say helped but some of the time, with Tom lacking in his own understanding, it was a case of the blind leading the blind! Anyway, I managed to get most of it, but the rest I just accepted. I also enjoyed Tom's moral dilemma. The world he had destroyed (2016A) and the people there versus the world he is in now (2016B) and the new people he has met. Tricky. Not sure what I would have done to be honest. We also had a good dose of dysfunctional family thrown in - with the added twist of differing dysfunctions, and indeed members, in 2016A vs 2016B.
As already mentioned I am not overly familiar with this genre but I more or less coped with the time-travel stuff for the majority of the book. I did have to really slow down reading towards the end though as it did get rather busy and a bit overwhelming in a convoluted kind of way. This is not a criticism of the book by the way, my issues were probably more to do with my lack of experience in these matters. I think it helped that I had not long finished Dark Matter cos there were quite a few similarities between the two. I also found some of the physics to be rather interesting especially regarding the correlation between time and space displacement. I also really loved the theory of the Accident. After finishing this book, I went round employing this theory on things in my everyday life. Interesting, if a little weird...
Characterisation was very interesting to me. I mean we get more for the money being as there are several characters that are defined twice so I got to know them in 2016A and then re-met them in 2016B as completely different people. It was interesting that, for all their differences, there were also some similarities. I wouldn't quite call it core values but there was definitely something which added a whole other layer into this book for me. But then I am a very character driven reader by nature.
Pacing was a bit different. We had a bit of set up at the beginning and then the book started to really rock. Then we had the second set-up bit in the new now and it went back to square one pacing wise. Then it kicked off a second time and this time it went all the way to the end.
I said at the beginning that this book was a bit bonkers. At times it felt like the story was taking the mickey out of itself. It definitely didn't take itself very seriously at times despite some of the actually quite important moral issues that came to light. Or maybe because of them? Balance and all that?
All in all, this was a relatively quick and easy read that left me, on the whole satisfied. It also left me wanting to read more of this genre, as well as wanting to read Vonnegut. I guess its work is done.

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

DNF at 70 pages

Can someone tell me why I keep trying to read time travel narratives when I don't really care for time travel narratives?

Honestly though, I was coaxed into trying to read this book by a glowing blurb from Andy Weir. It did not end up being vaguely similar to The Martian in the first few pages. The narrative style is confusing and it just feels like the narrator is throwing out big words to make everything seem "science-y" rather than actually engaging in decent, immersive world building. It's full of casual sexism and wasn't in anyway fun to read. I see people comparing this to Dark Matter which wasn't really my thing, however, the comparison is unfair to Dark Matter which has far better writing and is surprisingly addictive if not really my cup of tea. I'm hard passing on finishing this, I have better things to do with my time.

I did try to read this book but struggled with the writing style- it jumped around too much from time to time to place to... - even though I know this is often how science fiction is written. For me it would be 1 star but I am giving it 2 as I am sure that there will be people to whom it really appeals.

Oh dear, this really is a book of two halves. The first half was interesting, well written, funny and with sufficient dramatic episodes to move the book along at pace. Time travel at its funniest. Was recommending it lots...

But the second half of the book is bizarre. It summarises what's happened so far... that was odd! But it then gets really strange. It swings from funny one minute to mind blowing another (including a fab section that's written backwards). Even more, the book becomes self-important saying that novels need to do XYZ but this book doesn't have to as it's a memoir. Gah!

For me, this book just didn't work. There are too many interwoven characters and this spoil the second half and resolution of Tom's story... it was almost as if the author had lots of brilliant ways to end it and couldn't decide which one to use -- so he put them ALL in!

An amazing start followed by a damp squib of disappointment. I'm struggling with a rating so probably 3*

Many thanks to Michael Joseph for an advance review copy.

I definitely enjoyed this time twisting tale, but sometimes I'm afraid like I was caught in a time drag too. I flew through some parts and slogged through others. For the most part, this was a smart quirky read though with a novel twist on the classic girl meets boy (meets other girl, meets other boy) love story. This is a book of time travel and of the different possible parallel lives that we could be living. Interestingly, the world we are currently in is mooted as the dystopian one compared to the potential loveliness of a world where there is unlimited energy available and teleporting is just another part of an everyday life. The 'here-comes-the-science' bit were deftly dealt with and, for the most part at least, easy to follow. If you're looking for something different, this may well be right up your street.

This book really wasn't for me.
I found it a little to hard digest and fully understand all the complex language. A little to technical for me.

This book is perfect if you really enjoy science fiction, time travel, alternative timelines, futuristic gadgets.

I would however like to thank the publishers for giving me the opportunity to try something new.

This book grows on you. At first it was interesting and then it developed into a real page turner. HG Wells for the 21st century perhaps.

This was a really cool read. Well written with interesting characters and a great time travel/alternative reality premise. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book from cover to cover and it leaves you thinking about what we can all potentially achieve.

All Our Wrong Todays – Elan Mastai

Although his first novel, Elan Mastai writes for the movies and this story, which is without doubt the best science fiction work I have read in years, will undoubtedly translate into a great film. The plot is quite complex and will keep you on your toes, but it weaves several quite new, but believable, approaches to low cost energy generation and time travel, into what turns out to be more of a romantic story than a pure science fiction romp. His characters have depth and Elan deals very well with the twists and turns of alternative realities and imaginative technologically advanced futures that are lost to the present day by the immutable laws of unintended consequences on the part of the story’s two time travellers. You don’t need to be a science fiction fan to enjoy this book and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I struggled to get into this book initially. It was a bit too scientific for me and I had trouble relating to the characters. About halfway through something finally clicked and I couldn't put it down.
The successful hectic matter is fascinating and I love the thought of time travel and alternative realities.
I still think there are issues with relatablility but I would recommend this to others who are into science fiction.
I felt the ending and the Victor scenario was very rushed and probably didn't need to happen or could have been explored more as it seemed disjointed to the story.

I clearly didn't read the synopsis well enough. I am just not into futuristic literature or fiction. Not my kind of book

This is an original and amazing story of timetravel, love, redemption and the present future. The style of writing took me a while to warm to as it was different but refreshing. The story is complex but wonderfully crafted to keep you hooked. I loved the characters and their different personalities. Excellent book

Self-referential, smart, science-y... an eminently readable time travel comedy of errors and horrors

I'm at a bit of a loss to summarise this book any more succinctly than above. I thought it was a fairly sraightforward "alternative future utopia" tale, with a rather lacklustre failure of a man set to travel back in time. But almost immediately that is turned on its head.

He opens with a narration you know is a hooker:
"Maybe the first person is the wrong way to tell this story. Maybe if I take refuge in the third person I'll find some sort of distance or insight or at least peace of mind. It's worth a try."

So you are aware from the start of Tom Barren's awareness of us, his readers, and you know he's going to be telling us his own story: "but I'm not the microscope, I'm the thing on the slide."

Great start. And yes, I was definitely hooked. I love books that aim for something different, give their narrator a unique tag. This is Mastai's first book and I was already excited about his writing from the first chapter.

There follows a little world-building as Tom's apparent Utopic society ("imagine that the last five decades happened with no restrictions on energy") is described - a world of "universal plenty". Though of course, ads can now be marketed to your specific tastes and even your mood, hunger and time to spare. Food synthesizers, clothing recyclers - everybody's fantasy of a future paradise where want is unknown.

But of course, Tom has already prepared us for the worst... he's not exactly a success in life, even in this world of opportunity and pleasure. Some wrong choices, some chance encounters, some life events all combine to place him at the heart of the world's first time travel experiment... going back to the moment the world started to become the Utopia he knows. And yes - he manages to screw it up.

From this point onward, concentration is required, as it often is with time travel stories. The author even helps out a little, by inserting occasional summaries of previous chapters into the narrative (though I didn't quite see the need).

I LOVED what happened next, and not least because the story just wouldn't stay still. It jumped around like three time travel plots combined, though seamlessly meshed together. Mastai's plot is incredibly well constructed, and Tom himself is an impressive character who grows (I won't say how, as it isn't quite as you'd expect!) through the story.

Hugely entertaining, mind-bending stuff. Both inside the genre and outside at the same time, I've never read anything quite like it. Wonderful narration, eye-widening ideas (sorry, mustn't explain!), and very, very assured writing for a debut novelist.

Please say you've got more ideas for future books, Mr Mastai. I can't wait to read them.

And PLEASE someone, make this a mini-series. Too much material for a film, it would spoil it to cut it down. This needs to be on television.

Wonderful choice for a book group, and for anyone who likes time travel/dimension-swapping stories, or just likes to try out new writers - this is now my top read of the year so far.

With thanks to Netgalley for the advance reading copy.