In 1985, a fire at a small town high school killed the guidance counselor and his wife, leaving their infant daughter orphaned and alone in a running but parked car. The man who was arrested for the after hours fire was put in jail without much proof, not to be heard from in about thirty years. Who really set the fire? What, exactly, happened that fateful day? Such is part of the premise of I’ll Stop the World, a new novel from Lauren Thoman. There’s quite a bit more to it, though.
You see, this is a book about time travel. Within its pages, presented by Amazon Publishing, a young man named Justin Warren finds himself transported from our current year to the year 1985 with no idea of why. In one moment he’s leaving an annual school bonfire at the home of its richest students; the next, he sees something in his roadway while crossing a bridge and ends up going over the edge. Alcohol certainly had something to do with it, but something happened. Instead of dying, or waking up in a drowned car, Justin awakes on the bridge and soon meets a young woman named Rose who’s traveling home from the same bonfire. The only difference is hers was in 1985 and his was in 2023. The boy thinks something is wrong with his new friend, though, because there’s no way it can be the mid-80s. Time travel doesn’t exist, after all.
This is a story of trying to right wrongs, attempting to solve mysteries and also trying to keep people alive. Justin and Rose believe that he’s been brought back for a reason, and they intend to make good on that by trying to figure out who set the school fire and why. Not only that, but whether a previous fire was related. The thing is, although she wants to believe him, Rose has a hard time coming to grips with the fact that she may be talking to someone from nearly forty years in the future.
I’ll Stop the World, which is titled after a famous 80s song of the same name, is an interesting, relatively deep and emotional novel with numerous themes including the ones mentioned above. It’s told from several different viewpoints, including those of Rose and Justin. They’re joined by others, though, such as Rose’s sister Lisa, her citizenship award winning boyfriend, Shawn, and the folks who perished in the fire, not to mention a young boy who’s being terrorized by three bullies reminiscent of the Henry Bowers Gang from Stephen King’s IT. Despite its multiple viewpoints, and the reader never really knowing which one will come next, the book is pretty easy to follow and has a lot of characters with depth. They all have their own problems, needs and desires, too, including Lisa’s attempts at telling those she loves that she’s gay. It all kind of coalesces around an upcoming debate, too, as Rose and Lisa’s mother is in a dogfight for the position of town mayor in the year of 1985.
If I made it sound confusing, don’t worry. It’s not. In fact, I was quite impressed with how the time travel element was introduced. I wasn’t expecting it to happen when it did, and thought that it was really well handled. It’s also nice that the book doesn’t jump from one time frame to another over and over again.
I’d never heard of Lauren Thoman before, but would definitely be willing to read something else by her. She’s a good writer, who delivered a strongly written and easy to like novel herein. For a free Amazon First Reads book, this was quite impressive. That said, things do get a little muddy at times, and you have to suspend belief a bit. Otherwise, it reads like a normal book about things like small town life, small town mysteries and trying to look after your family, friends and those you care about.
If you’re in the market for a good read, and don’t mind some suspension of belief, I’ll Stop the World by Lauren Thoman should be on your list. It’s a quality, well written book, with good characters and an intriguing story that keeps you wondering. At least it kept me wondering from start to finish. Just note that, while it’s definitely good for all ages, this one might best be classified as a young adult read.
This book is based on a free copy we received. We originally got it as an Amazon FirstReads freebie, but then also chose to ‘Read it now’ on NetGalley. Receiving a free copy from NetGalley and Amazon Publishing did not sway our review or impact our thoughts.