'Apophenia - the tendency to perceive connections or patterns between unrelated or random things'
‘the photograph is a forgotten object. we are fixated by its context alone; we forget its physicality’.
‘a photograph tells you very little. it masks reality’

I enjoyed this time-travelling historical novel and it kept me entertained throughout. Charlie’s character and time frame was easy (ish!) to follow and I enjoyed her sections of the book more than the 1920s section. It was written well and I was interested to know what happened next. The photographic theme was thoroughly engaging and I loved all the quotes about reality portraying through a photograph etc - it got me thinking! I thoroughly loved the historical element and plot twists throughout.

It was 3 stars for me because there were some negatives. I felt that the 1920s section had too many characters and they weren’t well explained so I got a tad confused about who was who! It also took me a few chapters to understand what was happening too, but overall enjoyed it! Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows charlie in 2019 and tian wei in 1920 singapore as they somehow start up a letter correspondence through space and time, eventually falling in love. Let me tell you this premise had me SWOONING. Star crossed lovers (time crossed lovers?) are my favourite. I don't even like romance, but if there's a ton of mutual pining and lovers are fated to never be together, sign. me. up.

But the thing is, i never really believed in charlie and tian wei's love. They hardly seem to really question the way they're suddenly communicating even though they're a 100 years apart (and thinking about the logistics of it all made my brain ache) and they fall in love after pretty much one letter. Call me a cynic, but i didn't buy it. To me, a large part of the story (including their love story, but also many of the 'side quests' as i started calling them) felt like it happened simply for the plot. Charlie and tian wei simply fall in love because that's what the story is about. But there's too little depth behind it. There's no appareny reason for their characters to fall in love, nothing to fall in love with, other than the plot asking for it.

(Warning: spoilers ahead)

Despite the above, i still thought this was enjoyable up until the part where, get this, tian wei travels to the future, takes over the body of charlie's adoptive brother and... they sleep together. There are so many things wrong with this sequence of events that it fully pulled me out of the story, and i ended up skipping a lot afterwards because i just wanted it to be over.

The book posed a challenge for me to read. The content was difficult to grasp due to the writing style. Although I enjoy reading books with dual storylines, this one took longer to read than usual. I'm unsure if it's because the characters were not well-developed or if the author's writing style was not conducive to my reading style. The book was not an enjoyable read for me, perhaps due to the English translation being confusing. The numerous characters in the story made it difficult to grasp the overall meaning, and I found myself imagining translations when I couldn't understand the references. It's disappointing because I typically enjoy learning about different cultures through my reading, but this time it didn't work out.

with dual perspectives from modern singapore to asia in the 1920’s, you wonder how both are connected. both parties both in modern singapore and the 1920’s are searching for a japanese girl aiko.

the reader is instantly enticed into wanting to find out more. as history and modern times get intertwined together

this is a story about how a relationship transcends time and forms through letters somehow being sent through time.

as the story proceeds, family secrets are revealed, healing generational trauma.

i must say, the writing is absolutely stunning and flows really nicely. you can tell the author has researched singapore / asian history vastly.

if you like asian mythology and learning about asian cultures this book is a really wonderful read. it’s really beautiful and powerful.

An interesting subject and setting - I was keen to read this as I know Singapore and love ghost/time-slip stories. There is no doubt about the level of research that has gone into writing this book. This missed the mark for me, however, I found the writing clunky and at times simplistic.