This is my first Mike Chen read and it was a great book to read during the holidays. I love a good time travel/time loop story and this one reminded me of a mix between Ground Hog Day and Passengers. This is a mix of science fiction and romance and has great themes of grief, hope, and friendship. It really made me think about how precious the little things are. This one is out next year on 1/30!

3.85 stars

Review posts to my blog on January 10th, 2024

I love time loop stories. One of my favorite things is that they’ve been around for long enough that authors can play with the conventions of an established genre. A QUANTUM LOVE STORY does this to fantastic effect, using memory, food, and a plausible but loose edition of quantum mechanics to build a story of two people trying to escape a time loop. It’s about grief, sacrifice, and care for oneself and others. There’s an emphasis on the importance of fully inhabiting moments. Not every single one, necessarily, but learning to regularly take the time to enjoy food as more than fuel, learn new things, and appreciate small interactions.

Because the story starts from Carter’s perspective, and then switches to Mariana, pretty early on, I thought it first that the point of view would switch back-and-forth between them. Instead, most of the book is from Mariana's perspective. With Carter as the more personally spontaneous one, indulging his love of good food as his bank account resets with each loop, staying in Mariana’s perspective means that we see her growing appreciation for the way Carter surprises her, and how he chooses to cultivate moments of calm and enjoyment in stressful circumstances that seem like they’ll never end. I like the way they strategize through the iterations, figuring out how to keep their research progress across the loops, using the only seemingly durable resource they have, Carter’s eidetic memory, and Mariana’s less precise but scientifically enhanced recall.

There’s a turning point where Carter’s memory stops helping them, and Mariana has to make the most of her time with him before, eventually, a loop starts where he has no idea who she is and she must figure out a solution to their problem on her own. I have a particular interest in stories where protagonists risk the possibility of their own non-existence in the course of trying to make things better. I don't just mean death, but the loss of other people's memories of who someone was and what they did. One of the staples of time loop stories as a genre is the frustration and futility of trying to convince those who don’t remember the loops that anything strange is happening at all. It creates this lopsided balance of access to information, where as the loops continue one person knows more and more about the other, but the non-looping person doesn’t get to reciprocate in a fully informed way. You can create an increasing sense of isolation as the closer the looper gets to someone in their life, the more intimate they feel about details that took a very long time for the other person to tell them. Having two people loop solves some of that, but the onset of memory loss means that eventually this imbalance happens anyway. It's made all the more poignant Carter and Mariana spent so long progressing as partners, with fairly symmetrical access to information once a few loops had happened where Mariana was up to speed. Having that intimacy and then losing it piles on grief and heartbreak, especially since Mariana was grieving her missing stepsister and best friend, Shay, who vanished several months ago and is presumed dead. The loop at first gave her time to process that loss in a way she hadn’t been able to before, but then it piles on new loss when Carter’s memory starts fading.

Narratively, I love the ending. It’s perfect for the story, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Emotionally, fuck you Mike Chen (appreciatively) for making me feel this much in this manner. You took one of my favorite sub-genres and added a masterwork to the canon. I look forward to how your next book inevitably shatters me in the best ways.

What a fun take on time travel. I was a little frustrated at the lack of science, though. Think more Groundhog Day less Primer.
If you go into this expecting a romance story, I think you’ll be happier than expecting a sci-fi story. There are just too many implausibilities and not enough exposition to make the plot work for me. I generally get fussy when all stories think there must be a love-interest to make someone read it. I didn’t really find the romance part that intersting or necessary. Having the main charachter do what she does because she wants to save the world or something would be far more reasonable for the scenario.
It was a fast-paced, well-written story so no problems getting through it. I was afraid the ending would feel rushed, but the pacing was nice and consistent throughout the story.

A Quantum Love Story is the definitive time-loop romance, and one for the ages. I quantum loved it.

Mike Chen has already proven he can write an exceptional time-travel story. His debut novel (Here And Now And Then) is one of my favourites in the genre, but this latest offering is on a different level. A Quantum Love Story takes the concept of a time-loop and dares to twist it into a brand new shape. It’s one of the most accessible, character-driven, enjoyable, and downright awesome books I’ve read in what feels like forever.

The premise is a familiar one. Boy meets girl. Boy brings girl into a Groundhog Day-esque time-loop. Boy and girl fall in love. Then stuff gets CRAZY!

As with all love stories, it juggles its sweetness with suspense, leaving you on the cusp of “will they / won’t they” until the very last word. There’s a feeling of build and momentum which is present here that’s extremely impressive when you consider that these characters are stuck in a loop. And as for the characters themselves, these might just be my favourite Mike Chen creations yet.

One of the standout features of Chen’s writing is his ability to craft relatable and believable characters. Well, he’s raised the bar even further this time. I fell in love with Mariana and Carter long before they fell for each other! Their quirks and habits, the subtlety of their nuances, their flaws and foibles — it all added up to make them feel like more than just characters. They felt alive. There’s nothing idealised about them. They’re an absolute joy to imagine in every layer and dimension, and they’ll live with me for a long time yet.

One of the most exciting things about the experience of reading A Quantum Love Story is how it helped me come to terms with the claustrophobia of a time-loop. The themes it throws up are so well-considered, and it’ll get you thinking about the nature of time. Is it a trap? Is it a gift? Is there freedom in the passing of a second? How do our relationships evolve without time? For anybody who’s contemplated how our identity and relationships are affected by the march of days, weeks, months, and years, this is destined to give you plenty to think about. But it never feels like a dense or heavy read. It’s fun, but not frivolous. There’s a huge amount of merit and worth that it manages to pack into its punch.

Also, after reading this story, you’ll never take the simple pleasure of a glazed donut for granted ever again!

Comparison titles should be really obvious with this one, but they aren’t! Groundhog Day. Palm Springs. Looper. Live, Die, Repeat (Edge Of Tomorrow). Those are all time-loop movies. But it didn’t really feel like any of them. The atmosphere made it more like a heist story, with a “save the world” sub-plot that kept surprising me. If anything, it’s more of Mission Impossible meets When Harry Met Sally. It’s what Passengers tried to pull off: a genuine genre-blend that makes its own rules and is sure to please sci-fi fans as well as die-hard romantics.

I would happily read this book over and over again in a four day loop. A Quantum Love Story is a masterpiece. I’ve often said that I’ve yet to meet a time-travel story I didn’t like. But this is one that I truly and wholeheartedly adored. Go and read it, and get ready to fall in love.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the premise was interesting - anything about time travel is always going to pull me in! And I found the characters very interesting and relatable.

I enjoyed the world that was built and how the future that was presented felt very possible. I also loved Carter and Mariana’s dynamic and was rooting for them from the start!

My main complaint with this book, and why I’m not rating it 4 stars, is that there were a lot of unanswered questions and it felt very disjointed.

The first half of the book felt very slow and completely different from the 2nd half of the book. I also thought it was odd that we got Carter’s point of view for most of it and then it just disappeared. I understand the reasoning for that choice, but I would’ve liked to stay with Carter for the entire book.

The ending was very unsatisfying to me as well. I feel like there was a better way to do it to make really give them both a happy ending (which I believe is what the author was trying to do).

All in all this was a fun read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys romcoms and New YA sci-fi, as long as you don’t care too much about all the time travel/science adding up perfectly.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

I have a strange relationship with Mike Chen's books. Here and Now and Then was the first I read and it was astonishingly beautiful and I absolutely loved it. Since then I have struggled with each of his titles, despite always being intrigued by his concepts. For some reason, I have not been able to find my way into his writing since that first book.

When I saw that he had another time travel story, I thought that maybe I would have more luck and so requested it. It started out very strong and I thought I was once again going to rediscover the magic of Chen's storytelling. Unfortunately, largely given the nature of the story itself, I rather quickly found this one to feel repetitive in ways that, while they might be necessary for driving the plot points forward, made for a bit of a slog as far as a reading experience... Still, the concept was intriguing and I did enjoy the characters and way their situation was developing - although eventually the repetitive nature did get to be a bit too much and I started skimming for a little while. I also found the flashbacks, especially regarding shay, to be inserted oddly and to not necessarily feel like they were adding all that much . I felt like the relationship between the women was well established without adding them in, and they really pulled me out of the main storyline - especially since they were inserted without any indication that they were coming. Perhaps a visual offset or something would help with that? Still, I really wanted to see how things resolved themselves, and didn't want to set the book down - although almost did a couple times....

Finally things begin to shift and went in crazy directions that I did not at all see coming, with major turns and twists. I did feel as though it tied up tidily and vast quantities of time and experience were skimmed over in the final quarter of the book, in a way that felt fairly dissonant given the incredible attention to detail in the first three quarters. It all felt a little conveniently happy-ended, but I still found it to be an intriguing story and worth the read. It would make for a very cool movie or miniseries.

A Quantum Love Story begins with Carter, a technician who works at the Hawke Accelerator, being stuck in a time loop caused by an incident at the particle accelerator. He is able to help Mariana, who is a neuroscientist and visitor to the site, become aware of also being in the time loop. They have four days to try to resolve the situation before it all starts over again.

The scenario in the novel is an interesting one. The reader is drawn in to the story immediately, and the author does an excellent job with character development. Mike Chen is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors.

I love me a good time travel novel so I was looking forward to trying out this new one by Mike Chen. I appreciated the characters and loved their initial connection/friendship once they found themselves in the situation. However it started to get a bit tedious in the middle and the ending felt extremely rushed. I think part of it was that the characters didn’t always progress in our level of getting to know them. Their interests (1-2) were established early and they didn’t really open up enough to us as readers to get to know them better. It felt a bit surface. I’m looking forward to reading more of Chen’s books down the line but this one was just middling for me. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once in a while, I decide to try a book on a whim, one that maybe sits a little outside my usual genres, and it winds up completely by surprise. This was the case with Mike Chen’s A Quantum Love Story, a book that - as suggested by the title - blends science and romance together to tell a story that is every bit as twisty and surprising as the quantum physics and time loops that make up the plot.

(OK I don’t know if that last bit makes sense, I was the bane of my physics teacher’s existence)

The story is set in the year 2094 and follows Carter and Mariana, who become trapped in a time loop, repeating the same four days over and over again following an incident at the facility where Carter works. Since they are the only two who remember each loop when it resets, it becomes up to them to find a way to break the cycle.

Their adventures become increasingly drastic, and eventually infused with a sort of carpe diem energy, especially since the start of a new loop brings no consequences from the last one. The two of them, so mired in grief and feelings of indequacy that have held them back for so long, slowly begin to heal with each new loop, and begin to discover a growing attraction between them. What a shame, then, when Carter’s memories of each loop begin to fade.

While I would not call this a “romance novel” per se, make no mistake that Carter and Mariana’s feelings for each other, and what each of them is willing to do for the other in the name of possibly having a future together outside of the loop, is right at the heart of the story. The central mystery surrounding the time loops themselves is an absolute roller coaster, with each perceived solution being followed closely by the next piece in the puzzle, throwing the pair for…well, a new loop.

A Quantum Love Story is one of those winding, engaging books that had me absolutely hooked from the start. While physics was never my forte, the science in the book remained accessible enough that I could follow along with little issue. But really, it’s Carter and Mariana, and the hope that the two of them will find a way to make it work, that proves to be the emotional throughline of the book, and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

A Quantum Love Story hits shelves on January 30, 2024. Special thank you to Netgalley and MIRA for the advance copy for review purposes.

I have a very high bar for time travel and time loop stories because it is extremely difficult to make the stories compelling without relying on repetition and magic. This one kind of fell flat for me even though I normally like Mike Chen’s writing style. I spent the first half of the book trying to decide if I wanted to DNF, it dragged that much.

I am glad I finished ultimately, because the payoff was only in the end and it is a very slow buildup to an abrupt, heartbreaking blowup of the characters. Save the world but with the only variable you can’t plan for; the romance can’t be saved, which was disappointing for the romance fan in me. In fact these characters just seemed to keep living their normal lives even though they knew they needed to change. Only the time loop and their romance would change them and change the world, the heartbreaking but interesting paradox of it all that made the ending pay off for its interesting philosophical dilemma.

I would describe this as a modern day Lessons in Chemistry meets Groundhog Day. Reading the author’s afterword made it make much more sense, as it was his way of processing pandemic isolation, which indeed often felt like a repetitive time loop with fleeting moments of human connection.

Mariana is a neuroscientist working with the ReLive project, a firm developing perfect memory recall. She loves tennis and is in mourning for her stepsister and best friend Shay. She visits the Hawke accelerator project one day, where she becomes trapped in a time loop with Carter Cho, a technician who’s obsessed with food and cooking, who has a photographic memory.

I think what fell flat for me was their romance felt forced. It felt like Carter selfishly pulled Mariana into the loop to not be lonely, and then Mariana was willing to risk it all based on one kiss on a cruise ship. I liked how they were opposing personalities - Carter’s spontaneous chaos to Mariana’s calm, orderly control - who brought each other out of their shells, but I didn’t find their chemistry compelling. Their characterizations were also extremely repetitive. Carter’s always writing in his yellow notebook and thinking about pastries; Mariana’s always obsessing over Shay and tennis. I wish their personalities had been given more depth and complexity and we dug deeper into their traumas and pasts beyond every detail with Mariana and Shay. I also found the memory aspects intriguing but they never made much of a difference in the plot. I thought grief was handled very well here though. Mariana was the most interesting and fleshed out character.

I never really felt like I got to know Carter, though, beyond how he was always thinking of how to feed Mariana or he didn’t get along with his parents. Too much food! Please give him some other interests, and I’m a foodie. Then he just abruptly drops off the plot when one loop he forgets that she exists, starting with forgetting their kiss. The romance was starting to make sense then and then it just died. I knew this wasn’t a romance going into it though so I didn’t need the HEA to find enjoyment out of the story, but I was still disappointed with the incredibly practical ending. Even though the intriguing part was that it also needed to be that way to save the world. Frustrating, repetitive and also somehow still intriguing in a very slow burn way.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

While an interesting concept, the fake science of this book was difficult to break into. We jumped right into the plot (great), but the fake scientific explanations given didn't work for me. I also had trouble connecting to the characters because the two protagonists seemed to lack a chemistry integral to their relationship moving forward. Overall, I really wanted to like this book, but it did not work for me.

great book and loved the mystery through out the book. I loved the characters and how they grew through all of their adventures. I enjoyed this book and this author and will check them out again add them to my reading pile.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read this lovely book. With a unique premise of an age-old tale, A Quantum Love Story puts a fun spin on the trope but unfortunately for me, it didn’t quite capture my attention. The writing was polished but both the dialogue and world building felt as if Chen was holding back. Neither Carter nor Mariana were particularly exciting characters nor their backstories—I simply didn’t connect with either of them or their love story. It is a genuinely cute story but one I wish had more heft.

Quantum Love Story is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant novel that explores the themes of love, loss, and the power of human connection. Mike Chen's masterful storytelling and well-developed characters keep the reader engaged from start to finish, even as the story takes some unexpected turns.

While some reviewers have criticized the novel's muted human responses to catastrophic and peculiar events, others have found the characters' reactions to be realistic and believable. Ultimately, the novel's success in capturing the human experience is a matter of personal taste.

One of the novel's greatest strengths is its ability to balance complex scientific concepts with a heartwarming love story. Chen never gets bogged down in technical jargon, and the romance between Mariana and Carter feels both organic and believable.

The novel's ending is sure to spark debate among readers. While some may find it satisfying, others may be left feeling disappointed or confused. However, there is no denying that A Quantum Love Story is a unique and unforgettable novel that will stay with readers long after they finish reading it.

Overall, A Quantum Love Story is a well-written and thought-provoking novel that is sure to appeal to fans of science fiction, romance, and literary fiction.

I think this one just wasn't for me -- it's a perfectly competent story, but it never hooked my interest.

I was immediately drawn to this quirky and interesting premise. It wasn’t predictable (which I find many time looping stories to be), and the friendship, love, grief, and hope surprised me with its depth. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did (as this is outside of my normal genre preferences), but I found myself thinking about it for days and days after I set it down.

A very enjoyable entry in the time loop/"Groundhog Day" sort of genre, with a sweet romance to keep it going. The characters were quirky and realistic (and smart), the plot never dragged, the science wasn't eyeroll-inducing. The ending was hopeful and no loose ends. 4.25 stars.

Welcome to the time loop.

You have four days to do whatever you want and then the loop goes back to the beginning. Wake up Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Repeat. Over and over and over and over and over again. This is not Groundhog Day. Its more than one day. You can do whatever you want. No consequences.

What would you do?

A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen is about a man named Carter who is living the same four days over and over. He’s stuck in a time loop and he’s the only one who realizes it. Everyone else is just going about their days without a clue. Then Carter has an idea. He meets a woman, Mariana, that he likes and decides that he’ll include her in the time loop. He figures out how to do it and just does it. And so two people are stuck repeating the same day over and over. What will they do with their time? Will they fall in love? Will they get out of the loop?

No, I’m not going to tell you anything more about the book. You’ll have to read it!

I read A Quantum Love Story early thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing (via NetGalley). And I liked it a lot. Of course I’m a total sucker for time loop stories. I love them. Groundhog Day, yes, its my favorite but there are so many other good ones. A Quantum Love Story is one of the good ones. Its not a comedy at all. Its a drama with a pretty unique take on the time loop gimmick.

I really like that the book doesn’t repeat one day over and over. Having it be several days makes this story more interesting. Also, unlike a lot of repeating time stories, A Quantum Love Story doesn’t get obsessed with the details.

We find out about some repeating events but not a lot. Instead the book focuses on how the loop effects its two characters. Sometimes a chapter will be focused on Carter and sometimes on Mariana and sometimes both. Both of them are two unique, complex individuals with their own likes and dislikes. Both are so well thought out. The characters of A Quantum Love Story are more important than the plot’s concept.

The book is well written and while its not the most intense book, it’ll keep your attention for sure.

Honestly, the only part I was disappointed with was the ending. I felt like the ending was a little rushed. It was a pretty typical time loop type of ending. I wanted to know more at the end.

Otherwise, I enjoyed A Quantum Love Story a lot. I would definitely include it in a list of favorite time loop stories. If you’re looking for a good time loop story with interesting characters, then keep this book in mind when its releases in January 2024.

Here ends the time loop. We hope you had a good time.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing a digital copy of this story for review. A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen releases on January 30th, 2024.

This book hits all the marks for me. Enjoyed this book immensely, quirky AI, time travel and great characters. Both our main characters are a little dissatisfied with life. They both get stuck in a time loop, forced to relive the same time over and over again trying to solve the problem without losing their sanity. Problem solving, troubleshooting and breaking some rules. This book was a great length it could have easily dragged on with the plot line, but I thought it was perfect, kept me engaged through the whole story. You don't have to be a hardcore sci-fi reader for this one. Highly recommend!

If you’re stuck in a time loop, what do you do with your time, and how do you try to get out of it? I loved the take this story had on a familiar premise, with Carter and Mariana trying to use science and experiments to try and figure the true boundaries of the loop. This was heartfelt and fun, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review