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the_gare_bear's review
5.0
This is the first book I have read from Robbie Couch. I'm a 46 year old gay man with a love for sci-fi and movies and music etc (which is why this book was right up my alley). This book to me was so original and the storytelling was great.
As I was reading this, I could picture it playing out in my head like a movie and to be honest, this would be a great movie/show. I think the importance of this novel and how we experience different things is very welcome in the queer space.
Sometimes you don't know the effects things have on you, while others may be going through their own turmoil/journeys. Being receptive to what you know to be true while keeping aware of others is a hugely important aspect of life that everyone can continue to improve on. I highly recommend this great read.
As I was reading this, I could picture it playing out in my head like a movie and to be honest, this would be a great movie/show. I think the importance of this novel and how we experience different things is very welcome in the queer space.
Sometimes you don't know the effects things have on you, while others may be going through their own turmoil/journeys. Being receptive to what you know to be true while keeping aware of others is a hugely important aspect of life that everyone can continue to improve on. I highly recommend this great read.
bethany6788's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I AM A FOREVER LOVER OF A TIME LOOP TROPE. It is always *chef’s kiss* amazing. After reading Robbie Couch’s newest book (Another First Chance - out in May - preorder now!!), I decided to dive into his backlist and I am SO happy I started with this one.
Clark has woken up every day for 310 days, repeating September 19th. He had a deviation that morning when he getd
to school and spends the day with a new kid, Beau. Beau it turns out is also trapped in the time loop which Clark realizes quickly!
*spoilers!*
Things I loved about this book:
First of all - this audio was amazing. 5 stars.
Clark!! I totally guessed his anger at his mom was misguided (poor guy, dealing with a lot his senior year!), but I was able to easily relate to his struggles, fears, and crushing loneliness. I loved him.
Beau! I thought he was a sweet love interest even if he was a little mysterious sometimes. I hated that he pulled away but totally understood why.
That epic first kiss.
Mom/Dad/Brandy - Clark’s family 🩷
I loved Emory!! (I hope I spelled it right, I listened to the book. lol) he was such a lovable character in every iteration! And that last day!!
Clark’s vulnerability.
Loved the lessons learned in this book.
When Clark finds out how to break out of the loop.
The whole last two days 😭😭.
That ending!! 🥹🥰
I loved this so so much. Such a great YA romance but it’s so much more!!
Clark has woken up every day for 310 days, repeating September 19th. He had a deviation that morning when he getd
to school and spends the day with a new kid, Beau. Beau it turns out is also trapped in the time loop which Clark realizes quickly!
*spoilers!*
Things I loved about this book:
First of all - this audio was amazing. 5 stars.
Clark!! I totally guessed his anger at his mom was misguided (poor guy, dealing with a lot his senior year!), but I was able to easily relate to his struggles, fears, and crushing loneliness. I loved him.
Beau! I thought he was a sweet love interest even if he was a little mysterious sometimes. I hated that he pulled away but totally understood why.
That epic first kiss.
Mom/Dad/Brandy - Clark’s family 🩷
I loved Emory!! (I hope I spelled it right, I listened to the book. lol) he was such a lovable character in every iteration! And that last day!!
Clark’s vulnerability.
Loved the lessons learned in this book.
When Clark finds out how to break out of the loop.
The whole last two days 😭😭.
That ending!! 🥹🥰
I loved this so so much. Such a great YA romance but it’s so much more!!
jsncnrd's review
4.0
Well, here it is – another knockout by Robbie Couch, further cementing his status as one of my absolute favorite authors and one of the most talented YA authors in the game right now. I will read anything by him at this point.
The Sky Blues was something special, and is one of my favorite books. It explored difficult topics with grace and levity. It was such an eloquent YA novel that brought me to tears. I could not believe it was a debut.
Blaine for the Win was the perfect blend of tones – it was serious when it needed to be, but it was also light-hearted fun with plenty of emotion.
If I See You Again Tomorrow is yet another fantastic body of work.
I loved the premise. Robbie Couch can add “sci-fi / speculative fiction” to the “skills and abilities” section of his resume, because he has more than proved that he can do that with this novel. The time loop plot was so well-done. It was complex, but not overly so. The mystery of how to overcome the loop was intriguing as well. It was claustrophobic, adding to the urgency of overcoming it as the story unfolded.
Clark was a fantastic protagonist – multi-faceted and layered, loveable, and big-hearted. You were rooting for him from page 1.
More so than the romance aspect of the book, I think the most important part of the story – and what I was most invested in – was watching Clark develop into an even more thoughtful, empathetic person who wanted to help others as he ran the daily errands.
My one thing – I didn’t care too much for Beau, and I was indifferent towards the romance. I was also a bit skeptical over the fact that in totality, maybe 20 pages of the entire book had actual real-time interactions / appearances of him, but at the end of the book they professed their love for each other.
Everything else? Perfection. The story. The supporting characters. The writing. The themes. The uniqueness.
I’ve come to expect brilliance from Robbie Couch – and he continues to deliver exactly that. Highly, highly, highly recommend.
"It only feels this raw right now, lost in the labyrinth of my mind. / I'm falling in love -- I thought the plane was going down, how'd you turn it right around?" - Labyrinth // Taylor Swift
The Sky Blues was something special, and is one of my favorite books. It explored difficult topics with grace and levity. It was such an eloquent YA novel that brought me to tears. I could not believe it was a debut.
Blaine for the Win was the perfect blend of tones – it was serious when it needed to be, but it was also light-hearted fun with plenty of emotion.
If I See You Again Tomorrow is yet another fantastic body of work.
I loved the premise. Robbie Couch can add “sci-fi / speculative fiction” to the “skills and abilities” section of his resume, because he has more than proved that he can do that with this novel. The time loop plot was so well-done. It was complex, but not overly so. The mystery of how to overcome the loop was intriguing as well. It was claustrophobic, adding to the urgency of overcoming it as the story unfolded.
Clark was a fantastic protagonist – multi-faceted and layered, loveable, and big-hearted. You were rooting for him from page 1.
More so than the romance aspect of the book, I think the most important part of the story – and what I was most invested in – was watching Clark develop into an even more thoughtful, empathetic person who wanted to help others as he ran the daily errands.
My one thing – I didn’t care too much for Beau, and I was indifferent towards the romance. I was also a bit skeptical over the fact that in totality, maybe 20 pages of the entire book had actual real-time interactions / appearances of him, but at the end of the book they professed their love for each other.
Everything else? Perfection. The story. The supporting characters. The writing. The themes. The uniqueness.
I’ve come to expect brilliance from Robbie Couch – and he continues to deliver exactly that. Highly, highly, highly recommend.
"It only feels this raw right now, lost in the labyrinth of my mind. / I'm falling in love -- I thought the plane was going down, how'd you turn it right around?" - Labyrinth // Taylor Swift
claire_melanie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
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
The audiobook of this was amazing. I have never finished one so quickly. Kept on finding ways to listen as much as possible. There was so much depth in the main character and his struggles with loneliness. Highly recommend.
ryanpfw's review against another edition
4.0
I’m of a couple of minds about “If I See You Again Tomorrow.”
Parts of it worked exceedingly well, better than I could have hoped. Parts didn’t meet expectations because the story pivoted from how it was sold. I pulled a lot of good from it, but some parts just didn’t settle well in the end. Let’s get into it.
This is the story of Clark, a 17 year old boy who after a night out at a concert finds himself reliving the same day over 300 times, without explanation. Couch does a good job at world building here. Clark rallies, panics, becomes dejected, and eventually just settles into the routine. It’s not quite Groundhog Day, but it’s close. He never tries to kill himself or injure anyone, but eventually he gives in to the loneliness that any action he takes vanishes within a few hours. He is dispensable.
On his 310th day, he encounters Beau, an off the wall fearless kid who is going on about his day. A lot of my issues with this story center around Beau. We don’t get a good sense of his character, as he’s literally played as other worldly, and obnoxious to boot. Clark realizes too late that Beau is also reliving the same day and sets about teaming up with him, but Beau insufferably refuses to speak to Clark, or provide him with any information whatsoever, dramatically disappearing from the plot for massive chunks of time.
Clark, inspired to make the world a better place by Ms. Hazel, his therapist, focuses on Beau’s friends - Otto, Dee and Emery and helps them improve their lives in ways big and small. At the same time, he becomes a better human, forges stronger relationships with his parents, sister and best friend. At the same time, he is connected to a woman who once was trapped in a time loop herself and is able to impart some knowledge to Clark. She and her friend were trapped together, as all trapped are trapped in pairs, due to a mistake that the universe is leaving the door open for them to correct. Clark and Beau are trapped together because something in their meeting at the concert failed, and he has until the 365th day to get it right before disaster strikes.
Clark’s relationships with those around him are the high point of the book, his growth as a human specifically. The plot hinges on he and Beau being soulmates, destined to be together and repair their relationship, and that’s just unfortunate because we don’t receive Beau’s perspective in the storyline, when we do see him he’s insufferable and his pigheaded refusal to even have a conversation with Clark for the sake of extending the plot is really difficult to slog through. He has plot based reasons for trying to go out on his own path, but “because it would be too hard” is his excuse for sprinting away from Clark down the street before Clark can ask a question or give him information. (The idea that Clark’s mother’s browser lock prevented him from finding a plot device was the one freebie you get away with, but Clark literally couldn’t find Beau at his own house over weeks because Beau was going out of his way to avoid being found, for the sake of plot. That’s infuriating.)
There’s a plot line about the happily ever plot device and how it’s not realistic, and part of me wishes the growth Clark went through in this story was enough, that Beau was right and Clark was just excited to meet someone new and different and wasn’t his soulmate, which is somewhat crazy given how little they know each other. Clark didn’t need Beau to be true to his family and his friends and his life, and at the very least they could have had a new beginning, and not a declaration of eternal love after how weak Bo’s character was to that point.
All in all, I thought this was going to be the story of a boy trying to start a relationship with a daily reset and the other partner being unaware, and it was eventually not really about Bo at all. That misdirection is okay. This isn’t like the time “Man of the Year” promised a slapstick comedy and delivered a badly edgy suspense thriller. I’ll take it. Beau just dragged it down, as did the fact that the healing with his parents was undone by the final day. I’m sure he can go have those conversations again, but not being able to cram everything into one day was understandable, but was a bit odd as written.
The world building and the so many things done well makes this four easy stars. Beau loses it a star. I should be grateful we got as little of him as we did.
Parts of it worked exceedingly well, better than I could have hoped. Parts didn’t meet expectations because the story pivoted from how it was sold. I pulled a lot of good from it, but some parts just didn’t settle well in the end. Let’s get into it.
This is the story of Clark, a 17 year old boy who after a night out at a concert finds himself reliving the same day over 300 times, without explanation. Couch does a good job at world building here. Clark rallies, panics, becomes dejected, and eventually just settles into the routine. It’s not quite Groundhog Day, but it’s close. He never tries to kill himself or injure anyone, but eventually he gives in to the loneliness that any action he takes vanishes within a few hours. He is dispensable.
On his 310th day, he encounters Beau, an off the wall fearless kid who is going on about his day. A lot of my issues with this story center around Beau. We don’t get a good sense of his character, as he’s literally played as other worldly, and obnoxious to boot. Clark realizes too late that Beau is also reliving the same day and sets about teaming up with him, but Beau insufferably refuses to speak to Clark, or provide him with any information whatsoever, dramatically disappearing from the plot for massive chunks of time.
Clark, inspired to make the world a better place by Ms. Hazel, his therapist, focuses on Beau’s friends - Otto, Dee and Emery and helps them improve their lives in ways big and small. At the same time, he becomes a better human, forges stronger relationships with his parents, sister and best friend. At the same time, he is connected to a woman who once was trapped in a time loop herself and is able to impart some knowledge to Clark. She and her friend were trapped together, as all trapped are trapped in pairs, due to a mistake that the universe is leaving the door open for them to correct. Clark and Beau are trapped together because something in their meeting at the concert failed, and he has until the 365th day to get it right before disaster strikes.
Clark’s relationships with those around him are the high point of the book, his growth as a human specifically. The plot hinges on he and Beau being soulmates, destined to be together and repair their relationship, and that’s just unfortunate because we don’t receive Beau’s perspective in the storyline, when we do see him he’s insufferable and his pigheaded refusal to even have a conversation with Clark for the sake of extending the plot is really difficult to slog through. He has plot based reasons for trying to go out on his own path, but “because it would be too hard” is his excuse for sprinting away from Clark down the street before Clark can ask a question or give him information. (The idea that Clark’s mother’s browser lock prevented him from finding a plot device was the one freebie you get away with, but Clark literally couldn’t find Beau at his own house over weeks because Beau was going out of his way to avoid being found, for the sake of plot. That’s infuriating.)
There’s a plot line about the happily ever plot device and how it’s not realistic, and part of me wishes the growth Clark went through in this story was enough, that Beau was right and Clark was just excited to meet someone new and different and wasn’t his soulmate, which is somewhat crazy given how little they know each other. Clark didn’t need Beau to be true to his family and his friends and his life, and at the very least they could have had a new beginning, and not a declaration of eternal love after how weak Bo’s character was to that point.
All in all, I thought this was going to be the story of a boy trying to start a relationship with a daily reset and the other partner being unaware, and it was eventually not really about Bo at all. That misdirection is okay. This isn’t like the time “Man of the Year” promised a slapstick comedy and delivered a badly edgy suspense thriller. I’ll take it. Beau just dragged it down, as did the fact that the healing with his parents was undone by the final day. I’m sure he can go have those conversations again, but not being able to cram everything into one day was understandable, but was a bit odd as written.
The world building and the so many things done well makes this four easy stars. Beau loses it a star. I should be grateful we got as little of him as we did.
rimestock's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was okay. The romance development was a bit too fast for me I think? I mean, I guess because of the circumstances it's hard not to fall in love too fast, but still, lol.
I do love the true nature of the timeloop here.
I do love the true nature of the timeloop here.
mdelao630's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
juicetowne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is like “They Both Die at the End” but with time loop. Introvert meets rebel, who shows him how fun life can be if he just puts himself out there. ending felt too abrupt? Like the letter is what convinced Beau to change his mind about everything and we don’t see that happen, it’s just Ope! He’s on board now and everything works out. I wish there was some follow up or describing the next few days. .