Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

17 reviews

lauraelovesbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.5

It’s official: Lynn Painter is the queen of YA. Full of whimsy, pop culture references, and romance swoonier than it has any right to be, the Do-over is a real winner.

I generally really enjoy time loop stories; it’s an interesting storytelling device that can lead to some stellar character growth. It can get overused, though, and it doesn’t always land. Thankfully it worked really well in this story and never felt repetitive.

Emmy and Nick were so adorable, I loved their dynamic. Lynn Painter’s banter is always top-notch

I do wish the ending had been a tad more fleshed out. I really would have liked to see a little more how some plot points turned out. The last line was great though!

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rybass08's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

isabelvegga's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

“I fell in love with you on Valentine’s Day, Emilie, but I need more than just seven minutes.”

Such a cute read!!!💓💓💓

I enjoyed so much, I laughed and smiled but also almost cried.

I felt identified with both of them, Em and Nick, I love them🫶🏻

✨

“For
The Lonely,
The Daydreamers,
The ones who find their friends between the pages of books—
YOU MATTER, and your happy ending WILL come. Sometimes the wait is just longer in real life than in fiction.”

“I adored my dad.He just sometimes forgot about me if I wasn’t standing right in front of him.” x2

“Love is not what is, but what isn’t.”

“I was fascinated by people whose parents were still together. It seemed surreal and impossibly beautiful to me, the idea of living out all of your childhood years with both parents, together in the same house.” x2

“Existence is the default. Merely existing, emotionally, is the baseline. Happy is, like, this floating, fluid thing that’s impossible to hold on to. Elusive as fuck. Sometimes you get lucky and have it, but it’s only a matter of time before it slips back out of your hands.”

“Then, um, I have to confess that I think I’m obsessed with you. With this.” I swallowed and said, “With us.”

“I like knowing you, Emilie Hornby.”

✨

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calamitywindpetal's review against another edition

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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

5.0

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samone2's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

4.75

"I remember everything about you Emi" is giving Pacey Writter saying "I remember everything" to Joey

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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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chloelj27's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-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

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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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alisonreadsitall's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

Ughhh this book had me in my feels. 🥰🫠

TSwift references + groundhogs day scenario + emotional family dynamics + happy ending makes the perfect kind of book!! 😍🥰🥳

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samchase112's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

Every so often I'll dip my toes back into YA. Sometimes I enjoy it, but oftentimes I don't. This one was delightful! Even if I'll soon forget it, I greatly enjoyed my time reading, and simply couldn't put it down — definitely gets a recommendation from me.

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