Book Review: Get Back, Imagine... Saving John Lennon, Donovan Day

Title: Get Back, Imagine... Saving John Lennon
Author: Donovan Day
Published: 01/10/2015, Park Slope Publishing
Pages: 268
Source: Netgalley
Format: Ebook
Rating: DNF (33%)
Imagine going back in time and befriending The Beatles at the height of their fame. Imagine seeing "the boys" interact onstage and off, hanging out with them in the dance clubs of London, visiting John & Paul at Paul's house across from Abbey Road Studios.

Imagine all the questions they'd ask when they learn you're from the future - questions about how music is recorded, whether their music will last, if anyone will people remember The Beatles. And then John Lennon asks the biggest question of them all - "What will become of me?"

That last question sets 17-year-old Lenny Funk off on the adventure of his young life with a goal that seems impossible - to stop John Lennon's assassin, Mark David Chapman!

Lenny Funk is able to time travel thanks in part to his grandfather's old iPod Nano which is loaded with classic music from the '60s and '70s. Together with his new friend Yoko (yes, she's named after that Yoko), Lenny "time slips" backwards to a world he thought he'd missed where he meets some of his musical heroes, including the Beatles, Jim Morrison and James Taylor, among others.

Lenny must make some difficult and heart-breaking decisions. Should he change the course of history or not? And what are the consequences if he does? Would John reunite with Paul? Would he remain married to Yoko and, if not, who would be his next wife?

The year 2015 marks what would have been John Lennon's 75th birthday and also the 35th year since his murder.

Get Back, Imagine... Saving John Lennon is a sci-fi fantasy all about time-travelling and set around the life of The Beatles. To me, this sounded incredibly original! Unfortunately, however, I found the story quite slow and, sadly, boring. Therefore, I had to DNF at 33%.

I really didn't understand the characters either. Lenny just came across as really childish, annoying and quite cheesy. It was cringeworthy! I also felt he knew far too many obscure 60s music facts for a teenager. I mean who that age would pay attention to band managers from the 60s? I also found the secondary characters far too accepting of Lenny's ability to time travel. They just believe him no questions asked.

I personally wouldn't recommend Get Back, Imagine... Saving John Lennon. I just couldn't connect with the story at all. However, I'm sure there will be people out there who will love this unique story.

Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository

Donovan Day / Twitter

Follow me via Goodreads, Twitter, Bloglovin, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Feel free to leave a comment.