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bookishbcgirl's review
3.0
Five First Chances by Sarah Jost
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read: 02/01-02/03
Pub date: 04/18/23
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read: 02/01-02/03
Pub date: 04/18/23
heather626's review against another edition
3.0
Imagine Groundhogs Day but instead of repeating the same day over and over, you get to repeat the same two years over and over. Louise can't decide which is worse, to have loved and lost or not to have loved at all. In Chance one, Yuki, her best friend, suffers a huge loss. Her friend Ben dies a devastatingly young age. Lou can't wrap her head around it. This loss makes Lou question her own choices over the years and suddenly she finds herself, magically, back in time. She gets another chance to do things a different way. And this continues to happen throughout the book.
Sarah Jost is a new author and Five First Chances is her debut novel. I think Jost is off to a very good start! I love the premise for this book and was hoping to find a little something else in her writing. I think the five chances was a little long and I think Lou would have made drastic changes with the knowledge that she had gathered from the repeated trips back to the future. I can appreciate the character growth Jost showed with Louise (Lou) as the book progressed. I'll be honest, I thought she was kind of sappy in the first part of the book, a poor lost soul, running to find her future. I would love to read additional work by Sarah Jost, especially if she continue to bring a little magic touch into her work. Special thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Jost, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced digital Copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 3.5 stars for me #NetGalley
Sarah Jost is a new author and Five First Chances is her debut novel. I think Jost is off to a very good start! I love the premise for this book and was hoping to find a little something else in her writing. I think the five chances was a little long and I think Lou would have made drastic changes with the knowledge that she had gathered from the repeated trips back to the future. I can appreciate the character growth Jost showed with Louise (Lou) as the book progressed. I'll be honest, I thought she was kind of sappy in the first part of the book, a poor lost soul, running to find her future. I would love to read additional work by Sarah Jost, especially if she continue to bring a little magic touch into her work. Special thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Jost, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced digital Copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 3.5 stars for me #NetGalley
whit_reads22's review against another edition
3.0
No spice! But was a good book about living your best life in the time you have. Take chances and relationships are the true meaning of life! Not just romantic relationships but all relationships! Beautiful but felt the pace was slow for me and wanted something more out of it.
erikars's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, this was a quick and amusing read, but not something that will stick with me. Compared to other novels with time loops, the time loop in this one was a bit of a gimmick. However, it was a gimmick well used. The more substantial limitation for me is that the genre of "characters who start out really annoying and then go through personal growth" is not my thing most of the time. That development was well done in this, but I rarely find that the story of growth is enough to make up for my lack of enjoyment of a character's initial immaturity. In this case, the main character by the end felt like a completely different person rather than just a person who retained some core of their old self and matured.
charlee92's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
a cute read. groundhog day for romance. very sweet.
christinaj1021's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
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
5.0
I sobbed. I sobbed like an actual baby. I have never had a book make me cry this much. Emotional damage.
favouritepages's review against another edition
3.0
Five First Chances is a Groundhog Day esk story. This was a different take on the Groundhog Day theme though, its starts with a chance encounter and resets every two years when an extremely painful event happens for our main character. This seems to trigger the do over.
In Five First Chances, the main character isn't aware that she is getting a do over at first. Instead, she has this overwhelming sense of deja vu. Not knowing she is getting these do overs means she can't consciously make different choices, but unconsciously, she seems to sense where she needs to do things differently. This actually makes her a stronger person, without even really realizing it's happening to her. She starts out as this really awkward person that just lets life happen to her, to becoming someone who takes charge and makes life happen. But at some point, when she does realize what is happening, she tries to force things, which only makes things worse, but finally helps her to achieve some clarity in order to get out of her loop.
What I really liked about the story - I liked that it was a very different take on the Groundhog Day type theme. I think the ending came together really nicely. It ended the way it should, even if it was incredibly bittersweet.
What I struggled with - I found it could be a bit confusing because we were following over a couple of years each do over. It was hard to keep track of what had been significant to that day in the last do over. A major challenge with a Groundhog Day type theme is the repetitiveness of the story, which affects the pacing. I think if this story had been just a bit shorter, it would have helped it move along at a better pace and could have avoided some of that repetitiveness.
The ending of this story was just so well written that overall, I ended up coming away with a good feeling about the book.
In Five First Chances, the main character isn't aware that she is getting a do over at first. Instead, she has this overwhelming sense of deja vu. Not knowing she is getting these do overs means she can't consciously make different choices, but unconsciously, she seems to sense where she needs to do things differently. This actually makes her a stronger person, without even really realizing it's happening to her. She starts out as this really awkward person that just lets life happen to her, to becoming someone who takes charge and makes life happen. But at some point, when she does realize what is happening, she tries to force things, which only makes things worse, but finally helps her to achieve some clarity in order to get out of her loop.
What I really liked about the story - I liked that it was a very different take on the Groundhog Day type theme. I think the ending came together really nicely. It ended the way it should, even if it was incredibly bittersweet.
What I struggled with - I found it could be a bit confusing because we were following over a couple of years each do over. It was hard to keep track of what had been significant to that day in the last do over. A major challenge with a Groundhog Day type theme is the repetitiveness of the story, which affects the pacing. I think if this story had been just a bit shorter, it would have helped it move along at a better pace and could have avoided some of that repetitiveness.
The ending of this story was just so well written that overall, I ended up coming away with a good feeling about the book.
lizsauce's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5