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kristicanread's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
thebelovedreadingnook's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Medical content
rrubin97's review
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A bit of a slow start but then picked up when Gemma - who swapped timelines with alt Gemma - started settling in
A timeline swap point of view might have been fun but I enjoyed Gemma and Dax and their one sided friends to lovers relationship
A timeline swap point of view might have been fun but I enjoyed Gemma and Dax and their one sided friends to lovers relationship
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Abandonment
hazelgirl21's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment
mari1532's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I want to thank Netgalley and Random House for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I have started this book review several times and honestly, I think I had such a hard time writing this review because I was truly ambivalent about this book. I didn’t hate the book and I thought that Robb’s writing style was excellent and funny. However, I didn’t like Gemma (as a person, she was well-written) or Dax (I think this was more a lack of understanding of who he was in both timelines).
I have started this book review several times and honestly, I think I had such a hard time writing this review because I was truly ambivalent about this book. I didn’t hate the book and I thought that Robb’s writing style was excellent and funny. However, I didn’t like Gemma (as a person, she was well-written) or Dax (I think this was more a lack of understanding of who he was in both timelines).
This book had lowkey 13 Going on 30 vibes throughout which I liked and I did think that their ending was lovely. However, my favourite part of the book was Kiersten, Gemma’s sister. She was funny and well-rounded and always gave the best advice. I wanted her to be my older sister. I do think that my love of Kiersten’s character is part of why I did not end up liking Gemma as much. I think in many respects their relationship highlighted Gemma’s self-absorption throughout the book.
I also think that Gemma’s donut (and to a lesser extent food) habits at the beginning of the book made me judge her as a person. I understand having a comfort food or neurodivergence about ordering specific things at specific restaurants, but the description of Gemma’s donut (food habits) does not fall into either category. She appears to have grown into such a rut in her life that she never tries a different kind of donut (or anything for that matter) even though it is a specialty shop she visits. I understand trying to highlight that Gemma never takes risks. Still, she seems so paralyzed by something negative happening (which might be an anxiety disorder) that she rarely deviates from her routine because she knows she likes something and/or it’s safe. I do feel a bit like Robb took it a bit too far.
[This is a sidebar, but as a way to highlight how Robb’s writing created imagery and sensory experiences, I’m going to highlight the donuts. Kiersten takes Gemma to the local donut shop and orders the “surprise me special” while Gemma only orders apple fritters. The way that Robb wrote about what these donuts looked like, smelled like, and tasted like made me go on a donut run before I finished the book.]
It is much harder to pin down how I feel about Dax. I feel like I didn’t get to know enough about him as a person in one timeline before I met him in another. And some aspects of him in the one timeline where he featured a bit more made him feel a bit like he suffers from toxic masculinity (see Gemma’s CVS purchase). I get that his life was in a bit of turmoil, but he lacked effective communication skills. It was also hard to go from one version of Dax that I didn’t like, back to the one that Gemma was in love with.
I also struggled with the ethics of Gemma’s time travelling and having all these experiences with Dax and then just acting like every first was a first in the other timeline. When he said “I’ve waited 4 years to kiss you” it was kind of heartbreaking because she had been making out with him for weeks.
Also, in terms of the time travel. Is Aunt Livi a witch? Is her book club a coven? Why were there so many clues that indicated this, but were never picked up again?
Also, in terms of the time travel. Is Aunt Livi a witch? Is her book club a coven? Why were there so many clues that indicated this, but were never picked up again?
Overall, if you enjoy well-written romance novels, I would recommend this book. However, if you want to be able to identify with or like the characters in the book, I cannot give you a recommendation because I did not walk away feeling that way. And while some loose ends were tied up quite nicely between the timelines I was left with several questions that are just left unanswered.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, and Sexual content
dianaschmidty's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I’m conflicted. When I started this book, I was absolutely obsessed! It gave me serious PWMOV vibes, with a little bit of BTTM, a.k.a., my two favorite books, so I was obviously very happy! I’m a sucker for besties to lovers and Dax and Gemma were great together, both as friends and as practical strangers in the Other World. They felt like they were soulmates, which is one of my favorite things in romance books. Also, they had amazing chemistry! This book got four stars on the butterflies it gave me alone! I was sure this would be a solid five stars, probably in my top books of the year. Then I got to the middle of the book and a few things went wrong for me…
(Warning: the following contains light spoilers because I couldn’t do my review justice without specific examples)
I think the first thing that really went wrong is about Gemma’s personality. I tend to like when my main characters are a little annoying because I usually find that both endearing and realistic. Gemma, however, is annoying because she’s both judgy and hypocritical. I will preface this by saying that she admits to be self-centered by the end of the book and does go through character growth, but there were certain moments that I couldn’t get over. The most glaring moment was when she practically fat-shamed Dougie during the roof scene. It was a few off-hand comments that made me really uncomfortable and made me think differently about both the author and the book as a whole. Besides that insensitivity, Gemma was also very insensitive about Other World Dax’s career choices. She made a big stink about him not being able to drop everything and go to Toronto with her. A lot of times in the book, she seemed for forget that that Dax hadn’t known her for the past four years, and I think this was the most glaring example. There were a few other moments that had me shouting “GIRL, SERIOUSLY, YOU CAN’T SAY THAT!”
The other major thing I didn’t love was the magic system. I love time travel/alternate reality movies and tv shows, so the fact that I was so confused does not bode well for this book. My most major question is: does the Other World still exist after she leaves?? Like, has she completely screwed over Other World Dax and Gemma?! Also, I kind of hate that she basically lost a month of her actual life. She should have woken up that morning, because otherwise I’m left with the question: what Gemma was living her life for that month? One other thing, why did Aunt Vivi seem to know everything in the Other World? That was not explained other than Kiersten’s comment at the end about her being magical.
I do still recommend this book for Dax and Gemma’s relationship alone, because they really seemed to be destined for each other. Just know that I really wish I could remove multiple of Gemma’s thoughts and words.
Thank you to NetGalley, Dial Press, and Kate Robb for providing me access to this book.
(Warning: the following contains light spoilers because I couldn’t do my review justice without specific examples)
I think the first thing that really went wrong is about Gemma’s personality. I tend to like when my main characters are a little annoying because I usually find that both endearing and realistic. Gemma, however, is annoying because she’s both judgy and hypocritical. I will preface this by saying that she admits to be self-centered by the end of the book and does go through character growth, but there were certain moments that I couldn’t get over. The most glaring moment was when she practically fat-shamed Dougie during the roof scene. It was a few off-hand comments that made me really uncomfortable and made me think differently about both the author and the book as a whole. Besides that insensitivity, Gemma was also very insensitive about Other World Dax’s career choices. She made a big stink about him not being able to drop everything and go to Toronto with her. A lot of times in the book, she seemed for forget that that Dax hadn’t known her for the past four years, and I think this was the most glaring example. There were a few other moments that had me shouting “GIRL, SERIOUSLY, YOU CAN’T SAY THAT!”
The other major thing I didn’t love was the magic system. I love time travel/alternate reality movies and tv shows, so the fact that I was so confused does not bode well for this book. My most major question is: does the Other World still exist after she leaves?? Like, has she completely screwed over Other World Dax and Gemma?! Also, I kind of hate that she basically lost a month of her actual life. She should have woken up that morning, because otherwise I’m left with the question: what Gemma was living her life for that month? One other thing, why did Aunt Vivi seem to know everything in the Other World? That was not explained other than Kiersten’s comment at the end about her being magical.
I do still recommend this book for Dax and Gemma’s relationship alone, because they really seemed to be destined for each other. Just know that I really wish I could remove multiple of Gemma’s thoughts and words.
Thank you to NetGalley, Dial Press, and Kate Robb for providing me access to this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment
etymoye's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Loved it. Reminded me of 13 Going on 30. Romcom vibes with some spice.
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment
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