Given Our History

by Kristyn J. Miller

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Given Our History by Kristyn J. Miller
I DIDN'T FINISH!

Summary

Assistant professor Clara Fernsby is nothing if not driven. She’s wanted to teach history since she was fourteen, and she hasn’t let anything stand in her way―not even the love of her life. And it all paid off in the end, because she landed a well-paid position at a private liberal arts college fresh out of grad school, and this year, she’s finally up for tenure.

When Theodore Harrison is brought on for the fall semester as a visiting scholar, it’s an unexpected blast from Clara’s past. She hasn’t spoken to Teddy since rejecting him over a phone call ten years ago. Now that he’s here, she’s reminded of their time together at every autumn spent at a sleepaway camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains, trading battered history books and burned CDs with the quiet, dark-haired boy she once fell in love with.

That boy might’ve been her best friend, but the man teaching HIST-322 is a total stranger―or so she thinks. As they spend evenings working on a shared project and brainstorming over drinks at a college bar, Clara realizes she’s at risk of falling all over again. Given their history, she knows there’s every chance he’s not interested. But history’s all down to interpretation, and this time around, she’s got no intentions of repeating it.

[summary provided by GoodReads]
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GoodReads:3.58
My Score:DNF
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My Review

Stopped the audiobook around the 55% mark.
2 stars based on the portion I read.

I really tried to stick with this book. I even listened to the audiobook and sped it up in hopes of getting through it, but eventually I had to give up. The pacing was painfully slow, and I found myself bored because nothing seemed to happen. I did not connect with any of the characters, and I did not care about their stories or outcomes. I also didn’t like the amount of cursing in it.

The book alternates between past and present timelines, and while the past was slightly more interesting, it still did not hold my attention. Even the central couple in the past timeline failed to spark much interest for me.

What drew me to this book in the first place was the beautiful autumn-themed cover, but unfortunately, the story itself had very little seasonal atmosphere. From what I read, there were only the faintest mentions of autumn, which left me disappointed.

I truly wanted to like this book, but in the end, it just was not a good fit for me.