Review: All We Have Is Time: A Novel

All We Have Is Time: A Novel by Amy Tordoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

🌅 All We Have Is Time by Amy Tordoff is a sweeping, star-crossed romance between Beatrix, an immortal woman cursed never to die, and Oliver, a time traveler who slips through history in twelve-hour bursts. Their paths first crossed in 1605 in London, and from that moment on, their lives intertwined through revolutions, wars, the Apollo 11 liftoff, and beyond. For Beatrix, who has survived the loneliness of eternity, Oliver is a tether; for Oliver, she becomes proof that even borrowed hours can matter.

What I loved most was the ambition of this book. The idea of one lover enduring decades before the next meeting while the other only waits a few weeks is hauntingly bittersweet. The scope is vast—covering major historical moments while maintaining a focus on these two fragile, extraordinary lives. The writing often leans lyrical, capturing the ache of love that shouldn’t exist but does anyway. Fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue will recognize the same themes of yearning, memory, and the heavy cost of forever.

That said, I had mixed feelings about the execution. The characters are compelling on the surface, but sometimes they felt more like ideas than people. Beatrix’s backstory—especially why her own community mistrusts her—is hinted at but never really fleshed out, and Oliver, for all his charm, isn’t always given enough depth beyond the romance. The faerie subplot also felt underdeveloped, almost like an afterthought compared to the more emotionally resonant time-travel element. I also struggled at times with the formatting (missing quotation marks, paragraphs not starting at changes in speakers, abrupt time jumps without clear breaks), which occasionally broke my immersion.

Even with these flaws, I couldn’t stop turning the pages. The emotional beats—those brief, electrifying moments when Beatrix and Oliver find each other again—are where the book shines. <b>“What is the point of loving someone if you are just going to lose them?”</b> one of the characters muses, <b>“loving is the point,”</b> they respond, and the novel seems determined to prove that even fractured, incomplete time is worth cherishing. Oliver later says, <b>“Memories are real. The love that made them is real.”</b> And then they go on to fill the pages with Beatrix and Oliver making incredible memories.

<i>All We Have Is Time</i> is a gorgeously imagined, if imperfectly executed, tale about the endurance of love across centuries. It’s messy in places, rushed in others, but it still delivers moments that feel magical and heartbreaking in equal measure. I was crying buckets at the end. Yes, it was like <i>The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue</i>, but it had its own unique differences. The themes of love and loss and regret, the difference between truly living and just existing, and walking through life as a ghost are all tackled here. If you enjoy time-slip romances that ask big “what ifs” about memory, love, and history, this one is worth picking up.

Thank you, Atria and NetGalley, for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I truly enjoyed reading this imaginative and thoughtful story. #Atria #AllWeHaveIsTime #NetGalley #AmyTordoff

There were so many great quotes from the book, I’ll end the review with one of my favorites – <B>“’I don’t regret choosing this existence.’ It has been a hard life. It has been work. But it has been real and it has been hers and more than she could have ever hoped for.”</B>

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

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