“My lust was decrepit and cavernous. I wanted their organs. I wanted their eyes so I could see what they saw when they looked out at London that no longer felt livable to me.”
blurb:
Less meets the year 1300 in this exhilarating and thoughtfully genre-defying literary novel about a man transported through time in a moment of extreme stress, whose modern anxieties are replaced by medieval brutalities
Newly laid off George’s internet bill is in his ex-boyfriend’s name. He’s got a spider-infested apartment, and two of the six dogs he’s walking in London have just escaped. It’s pure undiluted stress that sends him into a spiral, all the way to the year 1300.
When he comes to, George recognizes the same rolling hills of Greenwich Park. But the luxuries and phone service of modernity are nowhere. In their place are locals with a bizarre, slanted speech in awe of his foreign clothes, who swiftly toss him in a dungeon. Despite the barbarity of a medieval world, a servant named Simon helps George acclimate to a simpler, easier existence—until a summons from the King threatens to send his life up in flames.
George Falls Through Time isas much an inward journey as an outward one: an immersive exploration of identity and dislocation that pits present-day sensibilities against a raw and alien backdrop, a strangely perfect canvas for the absurd anxieties of our modern lives. It’s a profound meditation on the nature of desire perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and The Ministry of Time.
⭐ 5 STARS⭐
I am now this author’s self-proclaimed number one fan. This book felt like a mashup of all the genres I love, wrapped up in one beautifully weird story.
I now understand why people get upset when someone doesn’t like the same books as you. This has a pretty low rating on Goodreads—undeservedly (in my correct opinion). I often say “not to yuck anyone’s yum,” but y’all are sure yucking all over my yum… which is apparently self-loathing MCs (time to look inward, maybe? lol).
⬇️this review contains minor spoilers⬇️
Hating MCs
Here’s the rub: you don’t have to like the characters. In fact, George is miserable and often insufferable. He’s clearly going through some kind of midlife crisis, or teetering on the edge of a psychotic break, and the writing reflects that. Then he zaps back in time.
And just because he time-traveled doesn’t mean he’s suddenly a different person, especially when the way to time travel involves mentally torturing yourself so much that you literally break through time.
There’s a rawness to this book that really struck me. Even though George is thrown back into the 1300s, he’s still rooted in his own reality—largely unchanged. I can see how the lack of obvious character development might frustrate some readers, but honestly, give my man George a break. He was going through it in 2026 and he’s still going through it in 1300. Mental illness, anxiety, and trauma don’t just magically disappear with time (travel).
I also found it interesting that while the author is fairly heavy-handed in explaining just how miserable George’s modern life is, the literal torture he endures in the 1300s is presented far more matter-of-factly.
“As wrecked and ruined as I was, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.”
Which, whether intentional or not, I thought was an amazing representation of how self-loathing and anxiety work. It’s easier to accept the bad things that happen (or are happening) to us, but getting past our own mistakes, and actually changing ourselves, is often times harder.
The writing
Ohmygod. The writing.
“My hearing blurred. My vision split. My nervous system, my fingernails, my hair, my skeleton, all displayed themselves like jars of separated herbs, sealed off, naked, preserved, then shattering back together again, too fast, too hard and somehow, in a way disgustingly sour.”
The writing is by far my favorite part of this book. It completely draws you in. It’s unsettling and absolutely brilliant. I could honestly gush for hours about how much I loved the prose, and I’m sure you can already tell by the sheer number of quotes I included in this review, haha.
The Meat
I loved the story here. Sure, we get interrupted by more details about George’s life in 2026, but I never once wanted to stop reading. There was always something compelling that pushed the plot forward.
The romance is definitely a central plot point, and I both loved and hated the dynamic between Simon and George. George is so clearly not mentally well enough to be in a serious relationship with Simon, and yet I found myself rooting for them the entire time—hoping George would change into someone who felt deserving of Simon’s devotion. That big change, though, never really comes. However, they do find their way back to each other.
“Simon’s sweetness and chivalry seemed in diametric opposition to the concept of gayness and the bitterness it creates in a person–there was no shrinking, there was no squeamishness. We held hands in public”
This book tackles a lot, like, a lot a lot, and trying to unpack all of it would make this review way too long. The gist is that George resigns himself to being a low-level pawn, a perpetual renter, both in 2026 and in the 1300s. He exists only to survive, not to thrive, and even when he’s given the chance to change his position in life, he can’t do it. It’s all very miserable. It’s all very woe-is-me. And I absolutely devoured it with ferocity.
Why others might not like it
I think this book really needs to get into the hands of readers who enjoy weird girl lit fic. Yes, it has a gay romance and fantasy elements, but it’s not really aimed at people who primarily read MM romance or SFF.
Like Outlander, it has a realistic time-travel element, but it’s not heavy enough on romance for that to be the main draw.
This is a niche book, best suited for readers who enjoy queer romance, SFF, and weird girl lit fic—specifically all three, not just one or the other. I’d especially recommend it to fans of Eat the Ones You Love and, maybe, Han Kang (though I’ve only read The Vegetarian so far… hoping to read more of her work soon).
“I slurp you up like a noodle stuck in a–what do you call them? A straw? Like slurping through a straw. I gobble you up. I swallow you whole.”
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