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limabean_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
sassidylooksy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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? No
3.5
lawryn's review against another edition
3.0
Ugh, not poorly written or boring by any means but I am sick of these stories about unhappy and vaguely middle-aged women that time travel within their own lives. This and any story about a sad, painfully average woman ‘finding herself’ and learning that happiness comes from within, are trite and depressing.
Again, not bad! Maybe I’ll feel differently when I’m grown.
Again, not bad! Maybe I’ll feel differently when I’m grown.
teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
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? No
4.0
This is definitely a reflective book. It made me think about my own life and what I might do if I went back to a certain time/place. Overall, a pleasant read, though I did find there was some inconsistencies and some parts dragged. It touches on love, grief, hope and family. It was fun at the same time as being thoughtful. I did feel the ending didn't sit quite right with the overall story, at least for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Terminal illness and Classism
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Time travel with heart, a family story.
With shades of 'About Time' (Bill Nighy), this time travel story is self-referential, nostalgic for the 1980s, a love letter to our teenage selves, and a sad story about growing up and old and watching those we love do the same.
It's the story of a woman who hasn't had the life she might have wanted, Alice works in the school she herself attended, interviewing potential new families, going home to her apartment, seeing her best friend occasionally between Sam's childcare commitments, and visiting her author father in the hospital where he's sick after a lifetime of cigarettes and poor habits. As she turns 40, she happens to see her teenage crush, interviewing with his wife and son for a place at her school, and in the midst of this mid-life turmoil... she wakes up in her childhood bedroom, in her teenage body, on her 16th birthday.
Not only does Alice find she has the chance to live the day again, but that it might just have an affect on her 'real' life... and she might want to talk to her father about it all... her father who writes books for children about time travel.
It's smart. It doesn't try to replicate any particular time travel story before it (and in fact manages a great scene with writers all discussing time travel theories in literature), it feels almost possible (outside of the 'suspend your disbelief' nature of the entire narrative). I liked how Alice was both the 40 year old and 16 year old simulataneously, this had to work carefully around seeing a teenage crush again whilst in reality being 40.
And I loved Alice and Sam's relationship, spanning the decades, being so trusting and intimate. Almost as much as I fell for her relationship with her father Leonard. The ultimate hippy/relaxed parent. Her adoration was eye-glisteningly real.
I also loved the conclusions Alice and the book both came to, nothing that make take you by surprise, but a gradual unfolding of events that draws towards inevitability maybe, but sadly. Sweetly.
Would you change your past if you could? You might answer differently after some thought. It is always worth assessing your life at 40 (writes the 41-year-old), and a book that manages to reference My So Called Life and Ferris Bueller is not a bad way to help you do that.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.
With shades of 'About Time' (Bill Nighy), this time travel story is self-referential, nostalgic for the 1980s, a love letter to our teenage selves, and a sad story about growing up and old and watching those we love do the same.
It's the story of a woman who hasn't had the life she might have wanted, Alice works in the school she herself attended, interviewing potential new families, going home to her apartment, seeing her best friend occasionally between Sam's childcare commitments, and visiting her author father in the hospital where he's sick after a lifetime of cigarettes and poor habits. As she turns 40, she happens to see her teenage crush, interviewing with his wife and son for a place at her school, and in the midst of this mid-life turmoil... she wakes up in her childhood bedroom, in her teenage body, on her 16th birthday.
Not only does Alice find she has the chance to live the day again, but that it might just have an affect on her 'real' life... and she might want to talk to her father about it all... her father who writes books for children about time travel.
It's smart. It doesn't try to replicate any particular time travel story before it (and in fact manages a great scene with writers all discussing time travel theories in literature), it feels almost possible (outside of the 'suspend your disbelief' nature of the entire narrative). I liked how Alice was both the 40 year old and 16 year old simulataneously, this had to work carefully around seeing a teenage crush again whilst in reality being 40.
And I loved Alice and Sam's relationship, spanning the decades, being so trusting and intimate. Almost as much as I fell for her relationship with her father Leonard. The ultimate hippy/relaxed parent. Her adoration was eye-glisteningly real.
I also loved the conclusions Alice and the book both came to, nothing that make take you by surprise, but a gradual unfolding of events that draws towards inevitability maybe, but sadly. Sweetly.
Would you change your past if you could? You might answer differently after some thought. It is always worth assessing your life at 40 (writes the 41-year-old), and a book that manages to reference My So Called Life and Ferris Bueller is not a bad way to help you do that.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.
annaisinhiding's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It was…fine. Nothing blew me away and followed similar time travel tropes. Not a bad read but not an all time fave
bookishmama17's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
alicebme's review against another edition
4.0
A great birthday book for my 45th. Puts you right in the sandwich years state of mind. Thoughtful, but not nostalgic.