Reviews

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

frejaisreading's review

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief and Emotional abuse

jj_theater's review against another edition

🤷‍♀️

life_full_ofbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

I’m not always a big fan of time loops so I wasn’t really sure I wanted to read this one. My youngest daughter (14) read this and thought it was ok (more on that later) and my middle daughter (18) read this and loved it. In fact, this was the first book she has read in a while and she read it in a day. I thought it would be fun if I read it so we could discuss it and I was right!

Emilie Hornby has had the worst Valentines Day of her life. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong so she goes to her grandma’s house to sleep there and get a little comfort. She is shocked when she wakes up the next day in her bed at home and even more shocked to discover it’s Valentines Day again. After weeks of this she decides to live life pushing her boundaries knowing that everything will reset “tomorrow”. In doing this she finally learns who she really is and discovers there’s more to life than just trying to make others happy. 

I really enjoyed the concept of this but like my youngest daughter, I found the things Emilie did while pushing the boundaries to be anxiety provoking, which made it a bit less enjoyable. My middle daughter didn’t have any of the same anxiety issues we had and found it to be quite enjoyable. 

While this is only the second book I’ve read by Lynn Painter she’s quickly become one of my favorite YA authors and I’m looking forward to reading her backlist books. 

reading_ro's review

adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

aroth638's review

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

It was cute it a little overly tropey. Mostly, it just left me unsatisfied. I know Emilie had lots of Valentines Days with Nick but he only had one with her and I think because of that I just didn’t really buy it. Plus, the resolution with Josh irked me to no end. Not every problem needs to be solved and wrapped up with a shiny bow. He was a bad boyfriend—it’s okay to leave it at that sometimes.

beatrizbooknook's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

royalwaves's review against another edition

4.0

I’m starting to realise that I really like Lynn Painter’s writing. The Great American Dynasty quote as well 🩵. This was adorable and I highly recommend it.

readingwith_kait's review against another edition

5.0

WOW! What an adorable story! I liked this more than Better Than The Movies!

Such a sweet story of love and loss and the Groundhog Day twist was such a nice touch!

megs515's review against another edition

emotional funny

5.0

izzyyyc's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0