There's this bookstore called The Book Depot that has a semi-annual book sale. Basically you pay $35 and you get a big box you can fill with as many books as you possibly can. I've gone once and I got 50 books for $35 and tax. This book was one of those books and to be honest by the time I got to the sale, there wasn't much left. The cover of The Long Wait for Tomorrow was bright enough that it caught my eye among all these other books sprawled over the table. I did like the concept so I stuck it in the box.
The Review of The Long Wait For Tomorrow by Joaquin Dorfman:
The concept: Kelly, star-football player and all around popular kid suddenly isn't Kelly anymore. The story isn't told from Kelly's perspective though, but instead from the sole perspective of his best friend Patrick who is part of the school's marching band.
For anyone who's read the typical High School cliché books you'll know marching band member + star football player DO NOT MIX. But in this instance Kelly and Patrick became friends through a car crash and remained friends even when Kelly became interested in sports and Patrick in music. Patrick is entirely aware if it wasn't for Kelly, he'd be one of the ones the football players pick on.
The other concept? Oh, time travel. You see, Kelly stops being the Kelly everyone knows because the Kelly everyone knows disappears when the Kelly from the future takes over teen Kelly's body.
All future-Kelly thinks is he's asleep in a mental institution. He can't remember why he's in the mental institution or what happened to Patrick and Kelly's girlfriend Jenna. He does remember something big is about to go down because of the school outcast. What it is, he can't remember and spends his time trying to figure out the mystery behind what might blow up.
Turns out the blow up happens anyway as Kelly was supposed to remember. There is a huge plot twist in there but obviously I'm not going to reveal it. That would be mean.
The book itself wasn't as stereotypical as some people might make it out to be. Yes there was the popular cheerleader, band-kid shadow, nerdy kid, football player, etc but you know, there are certain truths in some stereotypes or they wouldn't be stereotypes.
It was an entertaining read, especially the whole time travel concept. Would it have been better had there been input from Kelly directly? Maybe. I can see why Kelly's train of thought wasn't revealed as the mystery of a few points was able to be hidden since we're stuck in Patrick's point of view. But I would have liked to see the past through Kelly's eyes at least once.
Would I recommend it to others? Only those who are okay with time travel as shown through the eyes of young adults. It's a good read, light, funny, and sometimes serious and thought-provoking but it's not a book meant for everyone.
It can get confusing, especially when the concept behind the time travel is explained and you really don't know what's going on until you're a few chapters into the book. In the end, unless you're especially observant, you don't know why Kelly came back in the first place.
Would I read it again?
Possibly, if only to understand the concepts of its time travel a bit better.
The Negatives:
The time travel isn't really explained in simple terms. It's all theory and no one's really sure what that theory is. Sometimes the characters are a bit inconsistent and Patrick's "angels" are a little off-putting and strange.
A lot of people say the characters are too stereotypical and I repeat: uh, hello? Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. You won't often find a star high school football player who has the soul of an artist and wants to paint rather than play football. Will you find the star football player making fun of the nerds and dating the cheerleader? Yep. At least 75% of the time, too.
Other people have been thrown off by simultaneous plots but I find it makes things interesting. And really the only plots were Kelly's time travel, Patrick's acceptance into the school of his choice, their parents, the nerd's situation, and Jenna...okay, maybe there was a lot going on but I like books with a bit going on.
Final Review: 4/5 because the lack of explanation on the time travel and those danged angels.
Until next time: comments, questions, rants and the like can be directed to the comments.
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