Thanks to #NetGalley for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an hones review.
I liked the atmosphere of the book, it really did feel like 2033 and the future. It's a little hard to get into, the first couple of chapters have a lot of information at once. Most of the time I was skimming the pages just to get to the good stuff faster. Not bad but not great either.
Overall, I would recommend the book to people who are into sci-fi and mystery.

I absolutely loved the premise of The Night Time is the Right Time by Merritt Graves, however I quickly became overwhelmed by all the technical jargon and medi-speak that abounds. It felt more like reading a school science project or medical review journal in that I was trying to keep track of all the various technologies and drugs that were prevalent, which unfortunately took me out of the story entirely. Not sure if it’s my dyscalculia or the writing, but I had an incredibly difficult time with this novel and struggled to read more than a few pages at a time before having to step away. Even going so far as to keep detailed notes didn’t help my confusion.

The writing was really good at times, and that initial scene absolutely grabs you; unfortunately, it just failed to hold onto me after that introductory sequence. It could do with a final critical edit to cut extraneous bits as not only was the scientific jargon and absolute bombardment of articles regarding the advanced technologies a massive slog to get through, but the dialogue between the characters was incredibly long at times and filled with gamer-esque and trendy slang which didn’t help at all.

There were a few things that threw me off like having the housekeeping in the beginning knocking on doors during pre-dawn hours (I traveled for work and never heard housekeeping before dawn), or overwhelmingly confusing sentences like “We’re talkin’ legal, credit, social, GPS, infrared—and if the AI sees somethin’ sus—your be jaywalking—then lo siento compadre no obtienes nada, and you’ll never know why.” I have no idea if, “your be jaywalking” is another typo as there were a few, or if it’s just another contemporary colloquialism. These are just two more examples of elements that took me out of the story.

Having large sections of abstruse text in italics was a terrible idea; it was not only visually unappealing, but most importantly, it was incredibly difficult to read. A sentence or two of italicized text is fine, but there were paragraphs. Flashbacks are a useful plot device when implemented correctly, however the ones in this book were excessive and ill-timed, interrupting the flow at times rather than advancing the narrative.

I also had a hard time accepting that this story was taking place in 2033 and feel like pushing the timeline back even an additional 20-25 years would help the believability. I just cannot envision that within ten years the ability to input another person into your body via neuronal processes and having them “drive” you would be existing technology.

This novel had great promise and an innovative plot, it was just overly ambitious and suffered a bit as a result. Staunch sci-fi and futuristic thriller readers will most likely enjoy this novel much more than I did. 2.5 stars but bumping it up to 3 for the creativity of Merritt Graves. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of this. While I enjoyed the technothriller vibe, this story wasn’t for me. I try to challenge myself by reading things that are out of my comfort zone, which is how I came across this novel. The writing was decent, as well as the storyline, though there were parts where I was confused about what was going on. This does not in any way to tracked from the author’s skills as a storyteller.

For those interested in a futuristic thriller, I would definitely recommend this book.

This was definitely not for me. I was completely flummoxed by the the entire premise, the storyline jumped around too much and I couldn't follow what was going on. I couldn't stay focused long even to even finish the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

Thank you to Netgally for providing this ARC read.
This futuristic mystery thriller fell short for me. I was anticipating more of a Ready Player One vibe but did not get that. It started off really strong and attention grabbing, but I was quickly bogged down by lots of technology information, news articles, and long character dialogs. There are also a handful of flashbacks scattered throughout the book and I felt that some of them did not seem as pertinent to the story as others. All the complex technology is just not one of my interests and the mystery did not really pull through enough for me. For people who are also interested in the technology aspect of his book will probably enjoy it.

This wasn't really my type of book, I don't like futuristic stuff. I kept reading because I didn't want to give up yet, and it turned out to be way better than I expected! I got interested in the story and I eventually couldn't stop reading :)

The story is set in a future where revolutionary body-renting technology allows one person to "drive" another by using The Night Time is the Right Time, an immersive service designed to cover a multitude of sins. Its creators probably didn't have the sin of murder in mind, though...

When Logan Harrison awakens to find himself surrounded by dead bodies - in a room awash with blood, and with a knife lying close by - his first thought is that someone must have been "driving" him. But there is no trace on the dashboard to indicate that the body-rental service has been in use during the relevant timeframe. So how did he get into this situation?

The answer lies in a complex sequence of events which includes hidden agendas and the extensive use of drugs. Unfortunately for Logan, piecing it all together will be easier said than done.

This technothriller offers an interesting premise, but the delivery does not entirely meet expectations. For one thing, there are just too many flashbacks, and some occur at very inconvenient points in the story, breaking the thread of the storytelling narrative. For another, certain devices - such as the number of articles offered in one section - I really could have done without.

But Merritt gets points for sheer creativity and a fairly original idea. You do feel for Logan, and the mystery element of the story was very effective. The second half of the book flows much better than the first. This would be best appreciated by serious sci-fi and speculative fiction lovers who have the patience to stick around for the final reveal.

The Night Time Is The Right Time is a decent book, but it did take me until the 2nd half to become actually interested and invested in the story. I like the 'vibe' this book has, it feels sorta like Cyperpunk 2077 during the 2020 Johnny Silverhand flashbacks, and that's something I can get behind. I also liked Nate (the main character's younger brother).

For the first couple of chapters I was severely confused. Looking at the synopsis now it clearly explains what Night Time and 'driving' is, but I guess I like didn't read that part of the synopsis before. So that let to a pretty unenjoyable first 2 chapters because I had no fucking clue what they were talking about until they actually explained it in chapter 3.

The biggest problem I had with this book is the flashbacks. There are a lot of them: 7 (technically 8 chapters containing flashbacks, but 2 of them are half flashback, half present time) out of the 32 chapters. That's a lot, and they are not all short, some of them are painfully long. As far as I can tell, the majority of these flashbacks add precisely fuck all to the story and you are forced to sit through pages of something that isn't progressing the plot at all. Worse than that though are the occasions when it actively inhibits the plot from progressing. I remember reading, and for the first time so far actually being excited about what was happening, I turned to go to the next chapter and BLAM! Fucking flashback. Right in the middle of a sequence that had ACTUALLY built tension and peaked my interest and then what does the book do? it kills its own momentum! WHY?!

There are also some chapters which are just several pages of straight dialogue. I personally hate this and I would keep accidently zoning out during it and end up missing someone explaining some key thing about the companies or whatever (or worse, its a flashback chapter and there is no key information to even miss). Similarly to this, chapter 7 forces you to read sooo many articles. I am reading a book, I don't want to read the news, and okay, I'd be fine with reading like one article, but multiple?? NAH, I also kept accidently zoning out. Surely there is a better, more creative way to communicate your information to the reader than just making them read several articles straight, or at least make the segments of the articles smaller.

Then there's the ending. Which is not much of an ending. It is extremely abrupt and we don't really get to find out anything about what happens to the characters or, you know, the whole world. The book just decides, oops, looks like its time to end, okay bye. The ending was like if I ran out of time in an in-class English narrative assessment and was like shit let me just quickly wrap this up.

On a less serious note, I wasn't a fan of the 'cool' and 'modern' language used, it just kinda made me cringe. "noob" was said multiple times, real life stuff was referred to as a "side quest", at one point I had to read "hashtag stonerlogic", then "health bar back to 100" again not referring to a game but real life, also "drip" though this isn't as bad, and finally several, several mentions of "taking an L".

The Night Time Is The Right Time is definitely a fine book, I just didn't really enjoy the entire first half, and also had a massive problem continuously zoning out while reading that I haven't had to the same extent in any other book. It's set in 2033 and realistically I think this should maybe be pushed back a few years, I just don't really see the world having some of the technology/behavior that is present in less than 10 years, but who knows, maybe I'll be proved wrong. The most unrealistic part of the 2033 time period was definitely a reference to GTA7, which, let's be real, is definitely NOT going to be out by 2033. I'm also just not that into drugs, and this book is very into drugs. It's not that I have a problem with drug media, I've watched my fair share of very drug prominent shows, its just idk, I feel like I would've thought this book was cooler when I was like 12. I'm not really sure what demographic this is aimed at.

Side Note: why doesn't Nate get a job if their finances are so precarious? and more importantly why is Nate going to a $4000 USD a month school if they are worried about losing their house? It's only 10 years in the future, there are many references to inflation, but really? and it's also America and I'm aware that their public education is bad, but is it really that terrible?

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this advance copy of The Night Time Is The Right Time.

In this Futuristic Sci-Fi Mystery Logan Harrison jolts awake in a hotel bathroom, confronted by the stares of three lifeless strangers. A knife is nearby, and blood’s everywhere. Dazed and horrified, he can only wonder: Had he been “driven” on The Night Time is the Right Time—a revolutionary, full-immersion body-renting platform? That’s the only explanation, yet his dashboard shows no rentals.

With sirens wailing and the shadow of a nameless driver lurking around every turn, Logan must stitch together the evening, uncovering why someone would want these people dead and why they’d want him to do it.

Overall, this fast-paced mystery was an attention-grabbing thrill ride, ideal for fans of William Gibson. For me, it didn't quite hit the mark, but I think that is much more due to my reading habits - technological, futuristic sci-fi in this style either clicks or it doesn't for me and in this case it was outside of my reading comfort zone. So don't let me put you, as a reader, off. It's well written, a really solid mystery and a fully imagined and inhabited world that you can picture fully in your mind as you read along. Stylistically I can see this working as a movie or TV show, think Minority Report so if you enjoy all of those kinds of elements then I definitely recommend this to you.