You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Rarely in my readings have I come across a powerful story not just of time travel - which this book has - but of a relationship between an adult and their father. An unconventional magical realism that exams the question of what’s most important in life and how do we know if we’ve made it?
Language. Some spice that thankfully doesn’t graphic. Drug use. Secular view of life which leaves a lot to be desired, but such is the point of fallible thinking.
3.75/5 round up to 4.
Language. Some spice that thankfully doesn’t graphic. Drug use. Secular view of life which leaves a lot to be desired, but such is the point of fallible thinking.
3.75/5 round up to 4.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This one was so good! It did take a hot minute for me to really sync into it and be invested because for the first third it felt like too breezy passive and then 13 going on 30, 16 wishes-esque which was cute and I liked that the time travel was grounded by the idea of going back to your birthday because of the idea that your birthday is supposed be the happiest day of your life, but Leonard was like I go to the day I felt the most loved that was so moving.
Also the audiobook narrator is really good because the way she read the chapter when Leonard died was so tender it transported me there. That was just a good combination of incredible writing and great narration.
All in all, I loved the romcom moments but also when they were 16 they sounded like they were 13 but that was like kind of my only gripe for when she time travelled back to being a 16-year-old.
Also the audiobook narrator is really good because the way she read the chapter when Leonard died was so tender it transported me there. That was just a good combination of incredible writing and great narration.
All in all, I loved the romcom moments but also when they were 16 they sounded like they were 13 but that was like kind of my only gripe for when she time travelled back to being a 16-year-old.
On Alice’s 40th birthday, she falls asleep and wakes up in her 16 year old body and it’s 1996. Her father (who was dying in her other life) is young again and healthy, she decides to figure out a way to try and fix her future problems. She plays around with choices and tries to curate the perfect life for her self.
This was a touching book about time travel, alternate lives, and finding/losing family.
I’m a 90’s kid so it was fun to go back into that period of time, very nostalgic.
This was a touching book about time travel, alternate lives, and finding/losing family.
I’m a 90’s kid so it was fun to go back into that period of time, very nostalgic.
As someone who would give anything to go back to 16 and spend one more day with my dad I fully expected this book to destroy me, but alas it did not. Not one tear shed. Very confused what I was supposed to get out of this. Also no info on the 30+ year old cat? No thank you
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Based on my taste in contemporary fiction, Emma Straub's books have popped up on my recommended lists lately. Sometimes my next audiobook depends on Libby availability, and that's what happened here.
📖: Alice feels like her life is pretty mediocre. She's an admissions counselor at the NYC school she attended, and she doesn't do much besides chat with her best friend, eat takeout with her boyfriend, and visit her ailing father in the hospital. She feels like maybe she missed out on something bigger. On her 40th birthday, suddenly Alice is sixteen again. She soon realizes how much she enjoys her relationship with her father, a famous science fiction author who may have some insight into her predicament.
🤝: This may be a good fit if you enjoy:
- stories about father-daughter relationships
- considering "what if I got a do-over?"
- 90's teen nostalgia
💭: I thought this was a pleasant reading experience. No fault to this book, but I read it shortly after Recursion by Blake Crouch, and I'm a little over the "groundhog's day" situation right now. 😆 I can't help but wonder how I would have felt without that timing. Anyways, I think this is a nice contemporary fiction story that allows readers to dip their toes into a bit of sci-fi time travel in a digestible way. I've always been a believer that do-over opportunities never lead anywhere good like The Butterfly Effect, so this was a nice , heart-warming switch-up. I thought it was sweet how it ended up being a love letter to a father-daughter relationship.
🎧: How did I not realize Marin Ireland narrated this until just now? (You have to scroll on Libby to see the narrator, so I don't always look.) No wonder I enjoyed the audio so much! While there were shifts in time, I didn't find it very hard to follow. I would recommend audio, especially if you're more seasoned in listening to handle changes in timeline.
📖: Alice feels like her life is pretty mediocre. She's an admissions counselor at the NYC school she attended, and she doesn't do much besides chat with her best friend, eat takeout with her boyfriend, and visit her ailing father in the hospital. She feels like maybe she missed out on something bigger. On her 40th birthday, suddenly Alice is sixteen again. She soon realizes how much she enjoys her relationship with her father, a famous science fiction author who may have some insight into her predicament.
🤝: This may be a good fit if you enjoy:
- stories about father-daughter relationships
- considering "what if I got a do-over?"
- 90's teen nostalgia
💭: I thought this was a pleasant reading experience. No fault to this book, but I read it shortly after Recursion by Blake Crouch, and I'm a little over the "groundhog's day" situation right now. 😆 I can't help but wonder how I would have felt without that timing. Anyways, I think this is a nice contemporary fiction story that allows readers to dip their toes into a bit of sci-fi time travel in a digestible way. I've always been a believer that do-over opportunities never lead anywhere good like The Butterfly Effect, so this was a nice , heart-warming switch-up. I thought it was sweet how it ended up being a love letter to a father-daughter relationship.
🎧: How did I not realize Marin Ireland narrated this until just now? (You have to scroll on Libby to see the narrator, so I don't always look.) No wonder I enjoyed the audio so much! While there were shifts in time, I didn't find it very hard to follow. I would recommend audio, especially if you're more seasoned in listening to handle changes in timeline.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No