I’m delighted to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for unique and beautifully written The Undoing of Arlo Knott by Heather Child. Thank you to Tracy Fenton and Orbit Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this memorable book.
About the book:
Mainstream crossover fiction for fans of Matt Haig, Gail Honeyman and Rowan Coleman, from the author of Everything About You
Arlo Knott develops the mysterious ability to reverse his last action. It makes him able to experience anything, to charm any woman and impress any friend. His is a life free of mistakes, a life without regret. But second chances aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. As wonderful as his new life is, a mistake in Arlo’s traumatic childhood still haunts him and the temptation to undo, undo and keep undoing could be too much to resist.
About the author:
Heather Child’s debut novel EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU was partly inspired by having worked in digital marketing, which brought her into close contact with the cutting-edge automation and personalisation technologies that herald the ‘big data’ age.
Her second book, THE UNDOING OF ARLO KNOTT, is about a man who has an ‘undo’ button for life. Arlo is able to avoid mistakes, to sidestep regret, but it may not give him the perfect life he expects.
Heather Child is based in Bristol, UK. Alongside writing she has had an eclectic career in marketing and communications, working for various non-profit organisations.
She often takes part in panel discussions, workshops and other events at festivals and conventions. You can find out more about her work, and see discussion questions for book clubs, at http://www.heather-child.co.uk.
Find her on Twitter @Heatherika1
My Review:
The Undoing of Arlo Knott by Heather Child is a book unlike any I’ve ever read before. It tells the story of Arlo Knott who develops the mysterious ability to reverse his last action. This means he is able to redo any experience, enabling him to charm any woman or impress any friend. He has a life free of mistakes, but even a life free of mistakes isn’t as perfect as it would at first appear. His biggest regret is a traumatic event that happened in his childhood that continues to haunt him throughout his life, something he wishes he could change but has so far been unable to.
The temptation to keep trying to undo, undo and keep undoing becomes too much to resist, but is Arlo beginning to take his mysterious ability too far? He is a character that I found very hard to like at first as almost everything he does is for selfish reasons, from money earning enterprises to charming a girl. But as the story progresses and Arlo begins to see that having everything handed to him on a plate is not everything it’s cracked up to be, I began to warm to him, seeing him for the flawed human being that he is.
The Undoing of Arlo Knott is a story of love, loss, life and family with the added element of a time travel twist. But this is a time travel twist with a difference, as it isn’t one that can send you years into the past, but only a few seconds to start with, building up to minutes and days as the years pass and Arlo begins to learn how to use his gift. It’s a beautifully written and unique book that follows Arlo through his traumatic childhood, showing him grow and change as he comes to terms with his ability, becoming a selfish and hard to like young adult through his university years, before becoming a flawed but fascinating man as we approach the end of the story.
Heather Child has written a fascinating and insightful book that explores the moral dilemmas we sometimes have to face in our lives. What would we do differently if we could change something we said or did? Would we go back and change something if we could? Should we? Or does everything that happens to us happen for a reason?
The Undoing of Arlo Knott is a thought provoking and memorable book that once started I could not put down. The story kept me interested throughout, with well rounded characters and a protagonist who, as difficult to like as he sometimes is, won me over by the end of the story.
This is a book with an ending that packs a punch and I felt like I’d been put through an emotional wringer as I turned the final page. Beautiful and unique, The Undoing of Arlo Knott is a book I would recommend.
The Undoing of Arlo Knott by Heather Child is available to buy now: Amazon UK
Follow along with the blog tour to see what these other fabulous bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 
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