Reviews with content warning for Death - The Do-Over

i wrote this review back in february 2023 but i have recently learnt the author is a zionist, so fuck her <3

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i don't know how i found out this story takes place during valentine's day but once i did i knew i had to read/finish it on february 14th. so that's what i did!
i did not hate this story but it's not going to become my favorite book so i think this rating gives it justice. but i have to say that if i had read this a few years ago i would have probably loved it more.

the whole time loop trope is okay but it's always predictable. you always know that, soon or later, it's going to end. of course there's things that you can't fully predict but the plot was lowkey predictable

like i think it was so obvious how the day the main character decided to just not give a fuck about anything would be her final day in the loop. and even eric's death happening on valentine's day was predictable, if you think about it. i am guessing the only weird thing is the fact that the ending implies that somehow he was the one to bring his brother and emilie together. i guess i can "turn off" my scepticism for some magic realism but i couldn't help but think that proposed cause was unbelievable. like out of all people in that city, why would emilie be the chosen one?

anyways, there were some funny moments that made me giggle and some fluffy scenes that made me giggle too but in a romantic way, you know HAHA. it's obviously not the best romance i've ever read and i guess it could be labeled as some kind of insta-love? and also the character development wasn't that huge.

like, ok, emilie learnt how to stop making lists for everything, planning her whole life and just letting herself live without any kind of scheduling, which is cool (and probably one of the main morals of the story), so good for her! on the other hand, nick was just coping with grief? i am guessing by the end he learnt how to take risks and became a little bit more of an extroverted but that's it.

as i said at the beginning, it was not a super great story for my 19-year-old ass but it wasn't bad so, yeah, if you want to read it maybe you can give it a shot!

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keelymorgan23's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

Lynn Painter knows how to write YA!

Our MC, Emilie Hornby, has big plans on Valentine's day but the day goes awry so when she wakes up the next day and its STILL Valentine's day she launches her mission to change the outcome of the day. Each day is somehow worse than the next and she is unable to avoid the inevitable - her boyfriend cheats on her, she crashes her car, she loses her scholarship, and her Dad announces his job is moving them. Finally, after multiple days with the same crash and burn Emilie decides to take a different approach, since it won't matter anyways.

The banter was so fun and the chemistry between characters was amazing. If I read this 15 years ago I would have been obsessed. Alas, I am in my early 30's and YA doesn't always hit home the way I want it to. Nonetheless, this is a solid read but not my favorite Lynn Painter book.

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icapturethecastle's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.5

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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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sophiesometimesreads'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
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am absolutely obsessed with this book. Was it cheesy? Yes. Was it predictable? Yes. Did I have an absolute blast reading it? Also yes.

The concept of the time loop is not new and the overarching concept and storyline wasn’t by any means unique, but I was so invested in the characters that I didn’t even care about the predictable storyline. This is a book you can really easily read for a bit of a fun, lighthearted read.

There were SO MANY contemporary references, so if that’s not your thing you may not enjoy this. With the amount of times I squealed over the subtle Taylor Swift references and ended up jamming to a song halfway through a chapter, I could’ve read this in half the time. I counted about twelve TS references through the book but there could’ve easily been more that I forgot to tally cause I was having so much fun identifying them.

I really enjoyed Nick and Emilie’s characters and how they grew and opened up over the course of the story. I felt like I really got to know them and was so happy with the people they had become. Also, whoever recommended this to me with the tagline “Jess Mariano vibes” was absolutely correct and I am here for it!

Overall, this was a fun and lighthearted read. It was probably a 4ish star read if I rated it more objectively but I had so much fun I just HAD to bump it up. I’ll definitely be checking out Lynn Painter’s other books, too!

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