Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Do-Over

Adorable romcom, first book I’ve read by Lynn Painter and so worth it. Did it as a buddy read with my best friend, tore through it. Very cute, heartfelt, funny, and inspiring. Might need a new tattoo 👀 iykyk

No spice! Appropriate for younger readers

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.5

This was a fun read with some characters that were clearly in high school. Lots of the interpersonal conflict could have been resolved easily if the characters had more emotional intelligence, but I guess that’s how 16 year olds truly are lol. It was fun to see how each Valentine’s Day differed, though as soon as the DONC started I knew it would be her last Valentine’s Day and it was painful to wait for all her poor decisions to catch up to her. Overall, a fun and fluffy YA romance where the characters are sometimes too immature and I wanted to bash my head into the wall for certain moments. Also, the mechanisms/reasoning behind the time loop was super stupid/not explained.

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annabananadel's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

“I remember everything about you, Em.”

I wish to travel back in time with this book to when I was younger and read this back then because I would for sure have loved this one. I just know I would. Nowadays, I just find this book okay and a good time investment for reading - would definitely recommend to the younger people. But because of my age and of course, maturity, I only just simply had fun reading it. It is a good "coming of age" book where she was forced to come out of her shell and just be free. Read this in two days so it was really fast paced and something that could for sure be binged in one day.

Nick was quotable in a lot of ways and for someone who was grieving, you can't fault him for being that way. Em was someone I had hated but learned to like. She was just hiding and not screaming what she wanted to do in life. She was just lonely and all she needed was a parent's love. You can't help understanding that she is like that because she grew up as such - as a divorced marriage baggage.

What I hate is the time-loop and in the end, just simply assuming it was because of Eric. I would have loved a more sensible explanation for how it ended and how it started.

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cady_sass's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

Kiki’s book club pick 📚
Groundhog Day but make mean girls! Thoroughly heartwarming and fun with fantastic banter, while not a wholly original idea it was definitely executed well and felt fresh.

I am, however, nothing if not consistent and it will cause my physical pain to not point out the heinous and unaddressed continuity issues. This is a story predicated on the fact that our protagonist is living the same day over and over again, as we’ve established this is not a new idea and we ALL know that the same things should be happening every day unless our MC specifically effects them. So then riddle me this, LYNN: (spoilers below)

1. If Em gets into a car accident every day she tries to take her van to school, which car (she actually says “my car”) is she sitting in in the school parking lot the day she honks at Josh and Macy?
2. Lisa makes chicken for Valentine’s Day dinner and gets mad that Em leaves to go to grandmas. Then another day Tom is making spaghetti and meatballs?
3. Why does Chris’s car get towed one day and no other days?
4. Why does Nick’s truck randomly not start one morning and then one afternoon?
5. Why does the content of the chemistry class change every day? Why are they not getting the same quiz or assignment every day? they’re constantly doing something different and it makes no sense

I understand that these things truly do not matter, okay, and mostly exist as plot devices to keep the story moving. I’m not deluded (entirely) but they do matter to ME and an editor should’ve caught it. Sure it’s YA but young adults aren’t idiots, this is blatant lazy storytelling IMO.

Anyways this was fun and I give it 4 strong stars even considering my list of grievances. high school me would’ve LOVED this but still would’ve been pissed about continuity (some things never change) so definitely recommend this to the YA fan in your life. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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annikaa's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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