DNF.

I’ll for sure finish this one day, but it wasn’t bringing me enough enjoyment to want to finish it right now. I don’t have the patience for mediocre books at the moment. I’m being super picky lately because reading should be fun and not feel like a chore. <3

NO HATE to the author EVER! This just wasn’t the right read for me.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾!

(No real star rating, NetGalley just doesn’t let me give none.)

3.5
I thought this book was really cute and is a great option for readers who love magical realism/time travel. It took me a while to get into this book because I found the beginning to be really choppy and the whole concept was a little messy. But the plot ended up developing and I found that it tied up nicely at the end. I love a love triangle and was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon one within this story as that was not the direction I was expecting the plot to go in. I would definitely recommend this story and read more books by this author but I just wanted a little bit more depth out of Joe and Esi.

I was super excited to read this. I mean time travel, falling in love with the wrong person and not the person you’re meant to fall in love with. It had so much potential! Especially that blurb. Unfortunately this did not live up to my expectations.

I also really struggled with the Joe Greene’s (MMC) POV because the blurb had promised he was a great poet and I was expecting at least a hint of that but this was not case. His first impression did not endear him to me and the more ‘time’ went on, I ended disliking him which made it difficult to care for him and Esi.

Esi on the other hand drew me right in, however this didn’t last long either. I don’t know, she had these really big goals of trying to save her family and the whole reason why she traveled to the past and which was what was so fascinating about her, her choices like what she could and couldn’t do in the past.

I think I perhaps had a lot of expectations, the potential and possible build up that was evident in the earlier chapters just didn’t end up working for me in the latter half of the book.

Overall not a bad read, it had some good moments unfortunately they didn’t stick and left me feeling like all of it could have used a little more development.

Many thanks William Morrow for the eARC.

Love and Other Paradoxes was a smart, charming, and unexpectedly emotional ride. I came for the banter and stayed for the depth. The leads had incredible chemistry — the kind of tension-laced dynamic where snark turns slowly into sincerity, and you don’t even notice when the line blurs. The humor was on point (yes to the academic puns!), but what really stood out was the underlying vulnerability. These weren’t perfect people — they were messy, scared, layered — and that made their connection feel earned.
It’s funny, heartfelt, and just the right amount of chaotic.

Very cute time travel romance. I did find it a bit predictable and hard to keep focused on it at times. Overall all a good romance with a unique story arc.

The plot of this fizzy romance is straight out of a “Doctor Who” episode: Joe Greene is a struggling poet, while Esi is a woman from the future on a time-traveling tour of history’s greatest writers (which includes Joe). But Esi starts interfering in the timeline for her own reasons, Joe starts to go off the rails from his predetermined future, and chaos takes over. (Recommendation sent to subscribers of WordSmarts.com email newsletter)

4 stars for the story and the way it was written - but this type of plot is not for me. I went in blindly and not knowing it was a time traveler type of story. I am not a fan of that trope so it was hard for me to push through this book.

The story line, the characters, and the setting were all very well written and crafted. I really loved the connection between Joe Green and his roommate. His parents are the best people on the planet and I loved his connection to Cambridge and his poetry.

Esi is a phenomenal FMC and her pain from her life that she is trying to prevent by going back in time and course correct is very real. You can really feel that she wants the past to change so she can not feel the pain and heartache in the future, she wants to change what she experienced.

This is where my brain takes over too much and over analyzes this entire story and how it really isn't possible is it? How can people change the past and hope it changes the future but does it really change the future and around and around my brain goes. That is why this trope is not a favorite one of mine.

With that being said, if you love the time traveler trope and love how the two worlds are knitted together and what could happen if we mess with the past, this is the book for you. It is very well written and a great love story.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Catriona Silvey for the opportunity to review this book.

2.5/5⭐

This one was rough for me to finish. I loved the idea of the storyline, but it just didn't deliver for me. I didn't feel anything for any character and didn't care what realm they ended up in or who with. I like magic realism with some practicality so this had potential for that, but needed character development.

Thank you #netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC.

I love a good messing around with a timeline meets "I need to give you dating tips" to fix it. It's like a timey wimey Cyrano de Begerac with the fate of one of the Greats lying in the balance. Love and Other Paradoxes asks us not only about love and fate, but also if we can change the past and if we should. Is everything meant to be? If we have made it to the future, or if someone has, does the past just unfold how it's supposed to be? These sort of time existential questions are played out on the pages of Love and Other Paradoxes.

🌟🌟.5
Unfortunately, I DNF'd at 60%; this book just wasn't for me. The cover art is beautiful and very eye-catching. The premise of the story is what caught my eye, but unfortunately, the storyline wasn't holding my attention, and I decided to DNF.

Thank you, NetGalley, and William Morrow, for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Love and Other Paradoxes is a time traveling romance that will leave you pondering big questions long after you turn the final page. This book was so interesting and made me feel all the feels. Our main characters, Joe and Esi drew me right in and I was so interested to see how their story was going to turn out.

Joe is a college student just trying to get by. Little does he know that he is a famous writer and poet in the making. Esi is from the future, and she knows how famous Joe will be. But she travels back in time to try and alter the timeline to try and save her mom/family. In doing so, their paths cross and Esi tries to help guide Joe along towards his future.

Time Traveling novels are always so fascinating for me to try and mentally puzzle out. Each action can have such big consequences, and if I think too long and hard about it, I normally end up with more questions than answers, but trying to puzzle it all out and what the butterfly affect of certain actions might be is part of the fun. I did enjoy that about Love and Other Paradoxes.

Overall, this was an interesting read. I did find it a bit slow in parts and it took me longer to get through than I would have liked, but overall I did enjoy this one. If you are a fan of Time travel stories and you are looking for a unique concept, I think this would be an excellent book to check out.

I really loved Meet Me in Another Life so I was very excited to receive an early copy of Catriona Silvey's newest release. I love how unique her books are and not your basic love story format.

I enjoyed this book - I enjoyed seeing how Joe and Esi's story was going to play out, and I felt pretty tense wondering how it would all work out. I really enjoyed the setting of Cambridge, as well as all the discussion of plays and college games. I think Catriona Silvey is a lovely writer, very descriptive and I could picture it all.

I am excited to see what she writes next -- it's always refreshing to have such a unique spin on romance.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I really love the discussion of time travel & parallel universes so I truly thought that this book would be right up my alley. The story follows Joe, a normal, nothing-special 20 year old Cambridge student. He comes across a barista named Esi (beautiful name!) who is oddly enough carrying a book that he has written in his future - and tells that he is married to an actress that is also his muse for writing, and really he just has a glorious famous life. Esi however is struggling from the tragic loss of her mother, and she somehow meets up with other time travelers to "peak" in to John's early life - to see why he crafted the story these readers all love.

It's a bit of a harder read I'd say, just due to the alternate timelines and the use of a wormhole - it took a bit for me to really understand which time frame we were in. The love that grows between Esi and Joe felt real and natural while the "love" between him and Diana felt unnatural and beyond forced - there was no chemistry and just nothing between them.

But will Joe follow his heart? Or follow the "known" path that shows his meant to be future.

I won't spoil anything, but I will state that the ending was quick, and the obstacles were all really intense and made for a more dramatic ending. It was complex, and amusing! I really look forward to seeing future work by this author - I think she does have a really interesting take on the mechanics of time-travel!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Love and Other Paradoxes is a fun, sweet and filled with a world of possibilities for falling in love. Joseph Greene is one of the world's foremost poets but at the moment he is in his final year at Cambridge and very much not in love or succeeding at writing any poetry. A company from the future has begun using time travel wormholes to bring adoring fans (and time travelers with other motives) on a trip to visit Joseph while in school. He encounters a young woman who fled from the tour and is trying to change the past but accidentally hands Joseph the book of his poetry about another classmate that make him famous. Joseph and Esi then begin a journey of making the future both come true and undoing a tragedy of Esi's past.

I love time travel stories - the idea of going back to change one thing and being concerned about changing everything. The idea that anything that happened will always happen even if you go back or the parallel universes created by time travel. This book had all of that and an incredibly compelling love story as well. I am looking forward to reading this author's other books and would highly recommend this.

4.5/5

The romance part of this sci-fi romance was highly readable. The main characters were highly relatable short-sighted young people, at the stage of their lives where they just don't really know who they can or who they want to become, and so make some mistakes figuring that out. These mistakes just happen to involve time paradoxes! The sci-fi trappings were very secondary, and for anyone who has read or watched any other time travel plots, the workings of the time travel mechanism that ran several big plot points were so entirely obvious that it could be a bit frustrating the characters were so naive about them.

Such an unique plot I thoproughly enjoyed the time I had with it, the pace, the writing, Joe and Esi's story had me hooked in this wonderful concoction of a book. Im a sucker for time traveling shenanigans and this book wasn't the exception, I loved the loops and twists, tho the pacing made me feel like I lost quite a bit of the meatier parts of their love story. I do recommend this to anyone who likes a sweet romance with time travel tho.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was a little disappointed about this book. The premise was good and interesting. However, Joe seem a little pathetic of a character for me. Following Esi around gave me the stalker vibe. I think this book has potential and probably would have been better if there are less redundant narratives. It does not take away that fact that I would still look forward to what the author will come up next!

(Actual: 4.75⭐, rounded up) My god. I am honestly *such* an addict/wh*re for all things magical realism LOL— whether it’s time-travel, parallel universes, quantum &/or theoretical physics, the butterfly effect, paradoxes, etc…. it doesn’t matter, I love it all. And to sprinkle in some romance into that mix? I am SOLD. (Plus, I just love Catriona Silvey ☺) I guess it’s because I just... I love the idea that there are endless possibilities out there. Limitless, even. And to have all those choices or lives and loves laid out before you, to ask yourself what you would do & how far you would go to change that one mistake, to save your family, or even to be with That One Person™ if you could…. It’s genuinely important to me, this notion of wanting all of our choices to MEAN something, even in the wake of something bigger or otherworldly than us. I loved LOVE & OTHER PARADOXES. Absolutely loved it and it's probably one of the most unique books I've read so far in a quarter/year that has already been filled with so many amazing standouts. It's a fast-paced novel filled with all the many intricacies & twists typically associated with stories of this genre - and yes, some contrivances too, but I enjoyed this one so much that I don't even care - all of which find/reach their own earned payoff at the end, and I found both MCs (Esi and Joe) to be very endearing, relatable and well-developed. Highly recommend!!!

I love books with time travel elements and loved the author’s previous book so I was very excited to read Love and Other Paradoxes.

This one was really hard for me to get into. I found the characters pretty annoying and they weren’t developed enough for me to care about them. Joe went back and forth on his love interests and I just found it all exhausting. The book just fell a little flat for me. There was a real lack of chemistry between Joe and Esi so I did not care if they got together or not.

Thankfully, this was a short book and kept my attention. I did feel interested in what was going to happen. I can see this book working well for others but for me it was a bit of a dud.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc. 2.5 rounded up

This is a book about time travel. Romantic, scientific, although missing a little bit of the magical.

There's Joe, a struggling port at Cambridge, who accidentally bumps into Esi. Through that encounter, he discovers his own future. He and Esi band together - she is here to resolve her own past/present/future issues, while Joe tried to make his potential future a reality.

I found the writing to be quite crisp, sort like stomping through leaves. At times, the short sentences and thoughts make it a bit hard to read.

I usually love time travel stories, but found this one harder to understand and get myself into. Not that it was too scientific, but the paradoxes of it all makes it a more difficult to fall into the moment of things.

I find it to be a mood read. When you're looking for something that requires some puzzling out of paradoxes and butterflies changing the time continuum.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.