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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Super cute, light read. I felt the characters were well developed for this book & grew to love them.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4/5 ⭐️ So, I binged this book in a day. I am such a sucker for a good time traveling romance.
What to Expect
✨ Time travel
✨ Brother's best friend
✨ Friends to lovers
✨ Slow burn
✨ He falls first
✨ Single POV
✨ Found family
✨ Be careful what you wish for
Synopsis
Sadie has had a VERY BAD YEAR. She lost her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend of 3 years and spent half the year wallowing and reflecting on her mistakes. The cherry on the top of her awful year is kissing her brother's best friend on New Year's Eve, which he definitely seems to regret. There's a wish from a fortune teller in there somewhere and what do you know? Sadie wakes up the next morning on Jan 1st of the year she just finished! She gets to do it all over again and has the opportunity to fix all of her mistakes.
What I Liked
I loved the time travel aspect of this book and the fact that it takes place over an entire year! I've read other plots like this that only cover a few weeks or months. There are a few chapters dedicated to each month, which moves the story along quickly while also conveying that the main character isn't making rash decisions with her do-over. She's really trying, for months, to make things better. There are a few times where she recalls events that she has been through before, but also plenty of new situations brought on by the consequences of her altered decisions.
I adored the side characters in this book. There is a small cast of quirky characters that Sadie comes to know and love, and they are all great. This includes Jacob, her brother's best friend. While he is a love interest, I would consider him mostly a side character in this story. The romance takes a backseat to the other lessons Sadie needs to learn. I think it was done very well. We get little glimpses of romance throughout (enough to keep you wanting more), but it isn't always what matters most in this book, it's about Sadie accepting who she is. That being said, I did enjoy the slow-burn, friends to lovers. I was downright giddy in the last few chapters.
What I Didn't Like
Like I said, the romance takes a backseat, so you don't get a lot of conversations, banter, or fundamental moments that may get you more invested in the couple. He shows up for her, so cute, but that's not all someone falls in love with. I would have loved to see more sides of Jacob's personality.
I do support the themes in this book, like speaking out against sexual harassment. However... you get bombarded with conversations about sexism and how misogynistic nearly every line of work can be. I personally work in one of the industries mentioned in this book (not in NYC, but that shouldn't matter). I feel like things were overdone to make a point, women are respected way more than what this book portrays.
Overall, this is a fun, quick read. This comes out in December, but it's the perfect book to start out your 2024!
Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
What to Expect
✨ Time travel
✨ Brother's best friend
✨ Friends to lovers
✨ Slow burn
✨ He falls first
✨ Single POV
✨ Found family
✨ Be careful what you wish for
Synopsis
Sadie has had a VERY BAD YEAR. She lost her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend of 3 years and spent half the year wallowing and reflecting on her mistakes. The cherry on the top of her awful year is kissing her brother's best friend on New Year's Eve, which he definitely seems to regret. There's a wish from a fortune teller in there somewhere and what do you know? Sadie wakes up the next morning on Jan 1st of the year she just finished! She gets to do it all over again and has the opportunity to fix all of her mistakes.
What I Liked
I loved the time travel aspect of this book and the fact that it takes place over an entire year! I've read other plots like this that only cover a few weeks or months. There are a few chapters dedicated to each month, which moves the story along quickly while also conveying that the main character isn't making rash decisions with her do-over. She's really trying, for months, to make things better. There are a few times where she recalls events that she has been through before, but also plenty of new situations brought on by the consequences of her altered decisions.
I adored the side characters in this book. There is a small cast of quirky characters that Sadie comes to know and love, and they are all great. This includes Jacob, her brother's best friend. While he is a love interest, I would consider him mostly a side character in this story. The romance takes a backseat to the other lessons Sadie needs to learn. I think it was done very well. We get little glimpses of romance throughout (enough to keep you wanting more), but it isn't always what matters most in this book, it's about Sadie accepting who she is. That being said, I did enjoy the slow-burn, friends to lovers. I was downright giddy in the last few chapters.
What I Didn't Like
Like I said, the romance takes a backseat, so you don't get a lot of conversations, banter, or fundamental moments that may get you more invested in the couple. He shows up for her, so cute, but that's not all someone falls in love with. I would have loved to see more sides of Jacob's personality.
I do support the themes in this book, like speaking out against sexual harassment. However... you get bombarded with conversations about sexism and how misogynistic nearly every line of work can be. I personally work in one of the industries mentioned in this book (not in NYC, but that shouldn't matter). I feel like things were overdone to make a point, women are respected way more than what this book portrays.
Overall, this is a fun, quick read. This comes out in December, but it's the perfect book to start out your 2024!
Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I honestly didn’t think I’d like this as much as I did. I don’t usually like magical realism books if they’re completely centered around romance, but this was great!
2.5⭐️ - In The Second Chance Year, Sadie makes a wish to restart the previous year and in trying to grow as a person and put her life back on track, she kind of degrades to a spineless boring lady. There’s a lot of my least favorite thing… miscommunication and then a lot of “things perfectly falling in to place” going on at the end.
This was the exact definition of mediocre. The characters were fine. Their choices were a bit odd. The writing is decent so I can see this author pulling off a better story.
This was the exact definition of mediocre. The characters were fine. Their choices were a bit odd. The writing is decent so I can see this author pulling off a better story.
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5⭐️
I enjoyed the story overall just didn’t love the “fortune teller” / “redo a year” aspect. i’ve decided these type of books just aren’t for me. give me a “real life” story. does that make sense?
I enjoyed the story overall just didn’t love the “fortune teller” / “redo a year” aspect. i’ve decided these type of books just aren’t for me. give me a “real life” story. does that make sense?
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was a fun afternoon read on a day when I didn't want to read anything too heavy and knew there would be a happy ending. It delivered.