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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
When I was 40, the thought of going back to being 16 and fixing all of the poor decisions I made might have sounded very appealing. Now that I'm 51, the idea that I might have to relive the last 35 years (holy God I'm old) sounds exhausting more than anything. I thought this would be kind of a light romp with a romantic happy ending.
Instead, it was mostly about the love of a father for his daughter, and hers for him, and how the two would bend time, over and over again, just to be with each other for more time. And that really pierced my heart. I don't want to live those years over again. I couldn't possibly manage to re-route every wrong turn or fix every mistake. But if I could do just ONE thing over...it would be to spend a day with my dad. All day. Ask him all the questions. Pay full attention. Ask him if he wants to turn off the TV and go for a drive. Do something with him that he's never done. Or even without the grand gestures, just to hear his voice for an hour. See his hands, hear him clearing his throat, hear his distinctive, "Nyello!" as he answered the phone. Would I shorten my own life for another day with him? Or with my dear brother? Yes, yes, a hundred days yes.
The pacing of the book is jarringly inconsistent, from the slow time of revealing every small detail of her first foray back and then forward to the new 40, with all the delicious details of her palatial bedroom and Real Housewives wardrobe and hot husband who still looks at her with love, to countless entire forays back and forth reduced to single phrases. I can see why it wouldn't appeal to those looking for a tale about reliving your teenage years to find a better middle age - more money, more love, more satisfaction. But I was 100% emotionally invested in time travel just for the sake of having more time, and on that level, this was a great read.
Instead, it was mostly about the love of a father for his daughter, and hers for him, and how the two would bend time, over and over again, just to be with each other for more time. And that really pierced my heart. I don't want to live those years over again. I couldn't possibly manage to re-route every wrong turn or fix every mistake. But if I could do just ONE thing over...it would be to spend a day with my dad. All day. Ask him all the questions. Pay full attention. Ask him if he wants to turn off the TV and go for a drive. Do something with him that he's never done. Or even without the grand gestures, just to hear his voice for an hour. See his hands, hear him clearing his throat, hear his distinctive, "Nyello!" as he answered the phone. Would I shorten my own life for another day with him? Or with my dear brother? Yes, yes, a hundred days yes.
The pacing of the book is jarringly inconsistent, from the slow time of revealing every small detail of her first foray back and then forward to the new 40, with all the delicious details of her palatial bedroom and Real Housewives wardrobe and hot husband who still looks at her with love, to countless entire forays back and forth reduced to single phrases. I can see why it wouldn't appeal to those looking for a tale about reliving your teenage years to find a better middle age - more money, more love, more satisfaction. But I was 100% emotionally invested in time travel just for the sake of having more time, and on that level, this was a great read.
This was a lovely book! I don't want to give anything away because it's more delightful/resonant if you just let yourself be surprised. Also, don't throw in the towel until you get a ways in because it becomes a whole new book (and a better one) as it goes along.
(At first, I thought it was going to just be a rich-white-girl perspective of NYC. It is much more than that.)
Without giving anything away, the best parts are the depiction of a really beautiful father-daughter relationship, a fabulous sense of 90s nostalgia (the protagonist is almost exactly my age, so the childhood/adolescent parts are so spot on!), and a powerful look at what agency looks like and what its limits are.
There are so many things to love about this book. Perhaps my favorite is the way teens are portrayed as having all the angst and drama and short-sighted thinking that we know they have, but also having profound sense of wisdom, loyalty, and the ability to truly live in the moment. Sometimes adults-writing-about-teens give them the short end of the stick and look at them as partially-formed humans. In truth, they are these bright and vibrant people with dreams and fun and the best of friends, and this book did a great job at exploring their wholeness.
(At first, I thought it was going to just be a rich-white-girl perspective of NYC. It is much more than that.)
Without giving anything away, the best parts are the depiction of a really beautiful father-daughter relationship, a fabulous sense of 90s nostalgia (the protagonist is almost exactly my age, so the childhood/adolescent parts are so spot on!), and a powerful look at what agency looks like and what its limits are.
There are so many things to love about this book. Perhaps my favorite is the way teens are portrayed as having all the angst and drama and short-sighted thinking that we know they have, but also having profound sense of wisdom, loyalty, and the ability to truly live in the moment. Sometimes adults-writing-about-teens give them the short end of the stick and look at them as partially-formed humans. In truth, they are these bright and vibrant people with dreams and fun and the best of friends, and this book did a great job at exploring their wholeness.
This book was beautiful, and gave me a lot to think about about love and grief how all the little decisions we make influence our futures.
Has the feel of ground hog’s day, but ultimately tells us we need to tell the people we love how we feel. Clever and poignant- the final few chapters were the best.
This one really pulled on my heart strings. I could feel this from the POV of a 40+ year old with aging parents and from the POV of a parent myself.
“Why was it so hard to see that, how close generations were? That children and their parents were companions through life.”
“Why was it so hard to see that, how close generations were? That children and their parents were companions through life.”
there was so much i liked about this read, but it wasn’t a home run! content was my emotional kryptonite: the inevitably of aging, the slow and all at once slipping away of your time on earth, how when you’re young you don’t realize your parents are young too, and by the time you realize that they were, your time with them is limited. like, ouch.
BUT, the pace of this book was confusing: sometimes sluggish, sometimes warp speed, some things the author beat to death, other parts i was screaming for more resolution.
the ending was really somber but beautiful, so it redeemed a lot for me. it was so sad though :-)
3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
BUT, the pace of this book was confusing: sometimes sluggish, sometimes warp speed, some things the author beat to death, other parts i was screaming for more resolution.
the ending was really somber but beautiful, so it redeemed a lot for me. it was so sad though :-)
3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked it but it didn't blow me away!
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes