Unhappenings

By: Edward Aubry

Narrated by: Josh Hurley

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

When Nigel Walden is 14, the Unhappenings begin. His first girlfriend disappears the day after their first kiss with no indication she ever existed. This retroactive change is the first of many only he seems to notice. Several years later, when Nigel is visited by two people from his future, he hopes they can explain why the past keeps rewriting itself around him. But the enigmatic young guide shares very little, and the haggard, incoherent, elderly version of himself is even less reliable. His search for answers takes him 52 years forward in time, where he finds himself stranded and alone. And then he meets Helen. Brilliant, hilarious, and beautiful, she captivates him. But Nigel's relationships always unhappen, and if they get close it could be fatal for her. Worse, according to the young guide, just by entering Helen's life, Nigel has already set into motion events that will have catastrophic consequences. In his efforts to reverse this, and to find a way to remain with Helen, he discovers the disturbing truth about the unhappenings and the role he and his future self have played all along.

Equal parts time travel adventure and tragic love story, Unhappenings is a tale of gravely bad choices and Nigel's struggle not to become what he sees in the preview of his worst self.

©2014 Edward Aubry (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

I couldn't turn this off!

This story had me hooked from the beginning. I couldn't wait to get back to it.

Sad Love Story with Time Traveling Dilemmas

How does one remember something that didn't happen? Or maybe a better question would be if you could change the past and did, would your motivation change the future, or would the future change your perceived motivation? This story raised some interesting questions about reasons for time travel, yet it seemed to deal more with the feelings and effects on the non-time travellers. This romantic story was a bit high on thoughts and dialogue and light on action and description. Parts of the romance felt very adolescent. Excellent audio recording!

Loved it!

After reading so many so - so time travel stories I really enjoyed this one.

Great time travel story

Interesting, well written and well narrated. I loved the intertwined love story as well as the mystery, danger, tragedy and sorrow throughout the entire novel. Definitely a great listen!

Quite long and sometimes difficult to follow, but still a good read!

The book jumps around from place to place and time to time. At times I needed to go back and read a chapter or two over again to see if I missed something earlier in the book.
Overall, it was an interesting concept to say the least. I believe a second reading may be needed to put it all together. It was a good story and might even make a good movie.

Not engaging, not enjoyable

Was a struggle to get 1/3 through; did not ever care about the characters or where the story was going.

Easy to read but a bit depressing

Easily one of my most favorite reads of the year.

To be clear, this is not a hard sci fi book. This is more of a drama/romance, with a sci fi back drop.

This is a book about a guy who's daily life is in constant Flux. No matter how hard he tries, no matter how much detail he puts into something it can all suddenly change. People he knows disappear or die. Tests come back with different marks, jobs disappear, people forget him, etc.

The first half of the book is exploring these concepts and the main character learning how to deal with them, learning how to cope with the changes and the loss of personal relationships.

The second half of the book he becomes a more active participant in the events and the attempt to alter them.

There are some reviews, on here, which I think miss the point of this book in a couple ways. Firstly, it is mentioned that the characters lack depth. And to extent that is true. However, characters who stick around for a bit are explored, even if it's not always a lot. The issue is, the pov is first person-past tense. The main character has withdrawn from pursuing friendships and romance, because it has always been a source of pain for him. He retreats to his own self and his studies. He doesn't know anyone, not really, and even if he did they constantly change, so how can the story have a full cast of fully rounded characters?

Thia may sound like a flawed excuse, for bad writing, but it does actually play into the plot of the book. It is less a story about time travel, or the struggle to right wrongs, or fall in love. It's the story of how a young man deals with the crippling reality of being a complete outcast, ostracized from everyone, including his parents. At that, I will say, the main character does much better than most of us would. He is constantly dealing with depression and loneliness, but still pushes on, each day, and makes it work.

This leads into another complaint I read, which was about lack of villains. And yes, there is a lack of villains, kinda. The book isn't about the struggle of 2 people. It is the emotional journey of 1 guy. The obstacles he has to overcome are sometime people, but the antagonist (per se) is his situation, rather than an actual villain.

That is one of the places this book shines, the main character. It's easy to write him off as a not interesting. However I was sucked into his journey. It was depressing at times, and I really felt for the character. I was always emotionally invested in his struggles.

The major secondary characters were great. Sometimes, I wanted to punch them, but they always got a reaction. Again, they were not extensively written or explored, but POV of a broken guy.

The settings are familiar, it's the future, but it takes place in places like a lab, or a library, etc. Familiar places that need little work building to accomplish.

The plot is.... Depressing. It is the story of a guy being beaten down for 12 hours. It is very interesting and I loved every minute of it, but it was frustrating, as well.

The only real flaw, to speak of is the will of the character. I would have liked the main character to stand up for himself more. I get why he didn't and I had to keep reminding myself that while a person wouldn't act like that, this character would

The voice narration, by Josh Hurley, was excellent. He has a range of male voices, and has a passable female voice. The only flaw, I would say, is with the recording. There are a few times when it seems like a different take was recorded and the narrator's voice changed. It would change back eventually, but it was narrating when it first happened.

All in all, this is an excellent book. While it's a book with time travel in it, it's really the emotional journey of one man, trying to find stability in his life the narrator is great and the plot is very interesting. The voice narrations is great and the narrator has an easy voice. The only downside is, it can be depressing. However, a book that can make one care so much about a fictional person's journey through time, is definitely worth the read.

Convoluted and way too long

The fact that the antagonist meets the protagonist in chapter 90 should tell you something.

Truly amazing

This book checked all my boxes, it deals with time travel, paradoxes, and family. It reminded me a little of the Time Traveler’s Wife.

Time travel :)

This was a great story! I love time travel books and this one was amazing. It had surprises and followed the “rules” of time travel :)