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annikaa's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Grief, Car accident, and Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity, Death, and Bullying
Minor: Mental illness
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I didn't like this. At all.
Emilie Hornby is ready for the perfect Valentine's Day ever, she's going to tell her boyfriend that she loves him, she's going to give him the best present in the entire world, and it's all going to go according to plan, exactly how she's had it written in her schedule for months. Except she discovers her boyfriend kissing his ex, gets told she's not actually been accepted in the competitive internship she thought she was, oh, and her dad is moving to Texas, leaving her adrift a year before she goes off to college. When the day loops, Emilie sees it as the perfect opportunity to fix everything that went wrong, but then it loops again, and again, and she realizes that the universe might be showing her an option she never considered - or planned - for herself.
So I bought a copy of this, and I'm seriously going to take it back to the store and return it. Was this book morally reprehensible? No, but also, I had the worst time reading this. I truly expected a lighthearted YA read and instead I felt like I got 300 pages of the most insufferable inner teen dialogue and the blandest writing. This was my first Lynn Painter book and I just feel nothing towards her writing or characters. I didn't enjoy Emilie and I certainly didn't like Nick. Maybe I had too much of an adult view on this book, but I couldn't wrap my head around it and that disappointed me so much.
I LOVE time travel and time loop media. One of my favorite movies is Happy Death Day for this reason. I love when characters are forced to confront their problems by the universe stepping in and telling them to get their shit together. Instead... Emilie got a tattoo? And forced some guy she barely knew to reveal his trauma to her? It all felt so incredibly heavy-handed that I put this book down multiple times, but knew I had to power through in order to fully wrap my head around a review. She didn't grow at all, instead, arguably, I'd say Emilie got worse throughout this entire book. She went from being so neurotic that she was intolerable to the other end of the spectrum where she didn't seem to care about anyone's feelings but her own. I feel like the time loop ended on her "worst" decisions for no reason other than to make the plot different than other time loop plotlines. (Because, you know, most of them have the character learning something about themselves)
I didn't find myself rooting for Emilie or Nick. I actually really hated the way the plotline with her parents ended. And overall I just feel like this was incredibly poorly written YA attempting to be relevant with ample music references and "relatable" memes. I'm not sure I would have even liked this had I read it as a teenager.
Anyways, I'm returning this to the store. And probably my other unread Lynn Painter book on my shelf.
Content warnings: grief, past trauma, abandonment, ample use of the word "fuck" by a bunch of kids, car crash/reckless driving, bullying, high school cheating plotline (that wasn't cheating but was also cheating? Wtf in the multiverse was that??)
Emilie Hornby is ready for the perfect Valentine's Day ever, she's going to tell her boyfriend that she loves him, she's going to give him the best present in the entire world, and it's all going to go according to plan, exactly how she's had it written in her schedule for months. Except she discovers her boyfriend kissing his ex, gets told she's not actually been accepted in the competitive internship she thought she was, oh, and her dad is moving to Texas, leaving her adrift a year before she goes off to college. When the day loops, Emilie sees it as the perfect opportunity to fix everything that went wrong, but then it loops again, and again, and she realizes that the universe might be showing her an option she never considered - or planned - for herself.
So I bought a copy of this, and I'm seriously going to take it back to the store and return it. Was this book morally reprehensible? No, but also, I had the worst time reading this. I truly expected a lighthearted YA read and instead I felt like I got 300 pages of the most insufferable inner teen dialogue and the blandest writing. This was my first Lynn Painter book and I just feel nothing towards her writing or characters. I didn't enjoy Emilie and I certainly didn't like Nick. Maybe I had too much of an adult view on this book, but I couldn't wrap my head around it and that disappointed me so much.
I LOVE time travel and time loop media. One of my favorite movies is Happy Death Day for this reason. I love when characters are forced to confront their problems by the universe stepping in and telling them to get their shit together. Instead... Emilie got a tattoo? And forced some guy she barely knew to reveal his trauma to her? It all felt so incredibly heavy-handed that I put this book down multiple times, but knew I had to power through in order to fully wrap my head around a review. She didn't grow at all, instead, arguably, I'd say Emilie got worse throughout this entire book. She went from being so neurotic that she was intolerable to the other end of the spectrum where she didn't seem to care about anyone's feelings but her own. I feel like the time loop ended on her "worst" decisions for no reason other than to make the plot different than other time loop plotlines. (Because, you know, most of them have the character learning something about themselves)
I didn't find myself rooting for Emilie or Nick. I actually really hated the way the plotline with her parents ended. And overall I just feel like this was incredibly poorly written YA attempting to be relevant with ample music references and "relatable" memes. I'm not sure I would have even liked this had I read it as a teenager.
Anyways, I'm returning this to the store. And probably my other unread Lynn Painter book on my shelf.
Content warnings: grief, past trauma, abandonment, ample use of the word "fuck" by a bunch of kids, car crash/reckless driving, bullying, high school cheating plotline (that wasn't cheating but was also cheating? Wtf in the multiverse was that??)
Graphic: Grief, Car accident, and Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, and Infidelity
imstephtacular's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Car accident and Grief
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Infidelity, Death, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail
dianaschmidty's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.5
Whenever someone “jokes” about how addictive Lynn Painter’s books are, they’re not joking! I have adored every single one of her books, and this one is no exception! I could not put this down! I read it in about six hours, which is the fastest I’ve read a book in a very long time.
This book was so adorable! Nick and Emilie’s banter was perfect in every iteration of Valentine’s Day. Their relationship overall was also really cute. I love how easy everything felt with him, especially on their DONC.
I also felt that her familial problems are very relatable to most people, myself included. I understand a world where that pressure and home life could make someone snap and act out, consequences or not.
I would have liked the ending to be a bit longer, since I feel like I didn’t fully understand some of Nick’s intentions, but overall, I loved this book!
Thank you so so so much to Simon & Schuester Books for Young Readers and Lynn Painter for sending me an ARC of this book!
Graphic: Abandonment and Infidelity
Moderate: Car accident, Death, Grief, Bullying, and Gaslighting
Minor: Toxic relationship and Vomit
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