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modernhobbitvibes's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Pros: The focus on friend-love and friends-as-family was good. Time loop plots are always fun and this was a good example of that.
Less a con, more that it's "not for me": Sometimes the teenagers act like teenagers in a way that activated my secondhand embarrassment hardcore. Less a criticism, more a warning that those prone to such feelings might cringe at a few sections.
Con: Kate was SEVERELY manic pixie dream girl'd in her characterization. That's the biggest factor that knocked this book down a few pegs.
I'd say this is overall a pretty good book and worth reading, but the Kate characterization could've been better.
Less a con, more that it's "not for me": Sometimes the teenagers act like teenagers in a way that activated my secondhand embarrassment hardcore. Less a criticism, more a warning that those prone to such feelings might cringe at a few sections.
Con: Kate was SEVERELY manic pixie dream girl'd in her characterization. That's the biggest factor that knocked this book down a few pegs.
I'd say this is overall a pretty good book and worth reading, but the Kate characterization could've been better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Hate crime, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, and Racism
Minor: Car accident and Alcohol
Cursing: Two f-words that I can remember. Gun violence/hate crime/murder/racism: Occurs in thegenevieve_eggleston's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Chronic illness, Grief, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Cursing, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, and Car accident
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Vomit
peachani's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Medical content, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Car accident, Death, and Gun violence
Minor: Violence and Infidelity
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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
4.0
I really liked this book! There were so many laugh out loud scenes, moments that were so difficult to read. Great characters and fantastic writing!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Car accident, Infidelity, Violence, and Gun violence
Shooting based on racial profilingnickoliver's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Going into it, I was a bit cautious because I hadn't heard that many people rave about it, but the concept really intrigued me, so I still really wanted to read it. Unfortunately, though, it wasn't really for me.
I had issues with it from almost the beginning, which had mostly to do with Jack, the protagonist. Very early on, he said that he had a crush on his best friend Jillian and the only reason he didn't confess his love to her was because she was dating his best friend. Not even because she was in a relationship, but because she was in a relationship with someone he liked.
I don't have any close male friends and I'm also not straight, so maybe I don't know how relationships between straight girls and straight guys work, but guys who'd be perfectly willing to confess their love to their friend despite knowing that they weren't available don't seem like that good of guys to me to begin with.
Throughout the story, he just got worse. He treated his family and friends like shit, especially Franny (Jillian's boyfriend and his allegedly best friend), and it just got worse the more timelines happened. You'd think that after a few rounds of being stuck in Groundhog Day, he'd know how not to be an asshole to people he loved, but nope. He literally didn't learn a thing until almost the end and became a worse and worse friend as time went on.
Because of the way Jack acted, I found the romance to be very unrealistic and annoying. One of the things that bothered me the most was the fact that Kate always fell in love with Jack, regardless of his behaviour or the things he said to her. For example, the first time Jack landed back in time, he was understandably ecstatic to see Kate alive again and didn't realise that she didn't remember him, so he said some things to her that would only be alluring to someone who actually knew him. Seeing as Kate thought he was a stranger, though, all his talk about how awesome she was seemed extremely creepy; plus, he asked her to prom literally the day after they met and invited her to the woods shortly before that. And instead of being creeped out by this and slowly backing away, Kate ... liked it? And liked him?
And this happened so many times! No matter what Jack said or did, Kate always thought he was cute and wonderful and wanted to be with him. Add to that the fact that Kate was very underdeveloped and didn't really exist much outside of Jack - you do learn things about her, but a) not that many, b) mostly just things relevant to the plot, and c) things that make her alluring to Jack -, and you've got yourself a love interest that I didn't particularly care about.
She also made some infuriating choices, especially early in the book before you learn what would actually kill her eventually. Instead of telling Jack the truth, Kate drew that information out for waaaayyy too long; I was over halfway through the book and still had no idea. Like, one time Kate straight up preferred breaking up with Jack and getting back together with her ex instead of coming clean with him, which was just infuriatingSince Kate would die of a genetic disease and not, for example, from an accident, there wasn't that much that Jack should've been able to do to save her. I honestly would've preferred for Kate to die in a car accident or something, because I feel like you could've played more interesting scenarios with that? But because Reynolds went with a genetic disease, he kept delaying telling us, the readers, what she was suffering from, to make us stay intrigued and to have us stop asking questions he couldn't really answer.
There also wasn't that much chemistry between Jack and Kate to begin with. In total, Jack and Kate were together for four months, which I straight up didn't realise at first; I really thought they knew each other for a week, because they never seemed much like a couple to me. Since the entire story is based around this romance, it's kind of crucial to want them to be together. Which I didn't particularly want to.
Kate wasn't the only female character suffering from a lack of development. Jillian, too, wasn't much of a character to begin with. You actually learn even less about her than Kate, and those things were never really highlighted? She seemed to mostly exist for Jack and Franny and their development and less for herself. She barely had any personality, which just made me frustrated.
Apart from a missing character development, Reynolds also seemed like he tried too hard to make the characters ~weird~ and ~quirky~. Especially Jack and Kate kept talking about these funny little quirks they had and hahahaha, weren't they such weirdos? Honestly, they were, like, one step away from doing Jughead's 'In case you haven’t noticed, I'm weird. I’m a weirdo' speech.
The writing really emphasised this quirkiness in my opinion. I often felt like Jack and Kate didn't talk very ... authentically? Like, they'd use words no one their age would ever use unironically, and said things that just made me cringe. This was especially apparent in the emails they exchanged. The other characters were better, but Jack and Kate just really got on my nerves.
Then, let's talk about the plot for a minute, because oh boy!
First of all, the book was way too long. It took 150 pages for Kate to even die. And I'm aware that without a build-up of Jack and Kate's relationship, I'd probably be bitching about that, but it didn't have to be that long! And after she died and the timeline reset, the same plot points kept being repeated over and over in every single timeline . Characters kept talking about the same things, and even more infuriating, Jack never learnt a damn thing. He kept making the same mistakes several times, especially when it came to the way he treated Franny, and he even came to the same conclusion twice? Like dude, for the love of God, give me some character development, I'm begging you.
Next up, there were a few plot holes that bothered me immensely. The book starts with a prologue in which Jack stated that this was his third try trying to save Kate. Later in the story, you ended up in that exact timeline, except it ended way differently than it did in the prologue? Plus, there was a character who was first introduced as a nice guy in one timeline and as an asshole in the next, so like ... consistency? I don't know her.
Then, one timeline was a straight up nightmare that made absolutely no sense. None. Nada. Zilch. It was also at that point that I decided to give the book 2 stars, because nothing could be redeemed now.Basically, after not being able to save Kate yet again, Jack decided to not pursue her. And instead, he ... finally went after Jillian and kissed her? And they became a couple?
I think what I hated the most about that timeline was how much it tainted everything I had known so far about Franny and Jillian's relationship. Up until that point, they were a pretty cute couple who treated each other really well. I liked them together! But Jillian didn't even hesitate to kiss Jack back and dump Franny for him. Like, 'Oh, Jack finally kissed me? Great! Now I can finally dump this consolation prize of a dude!' And when that timeline finally ended and a new one started where Jillian was still dating Franny, I couldn't be happy about them anymore. I didn't care about them anymore. I always knew, at the back of my head, that Jillian would dump Franny without a second glance if she could be with Jack, so how was I supposed to root for them anymore?
There was also the fact that, again, Jack didn't act like a friend to Franny. Not only did he steal his girlfriend, for the rest of the timeline he also constantly talked about Franny like he was just being overly emotional and irrational and would always have to forgive Jack and Jillian for their betrayal. Which didn't sit right with me. SOMEONE SAVE FRANNY FROM THIS DUDE. Jack also somehow thought that he was the only one with a deep connection to Jillian, despite the fact that throughout the entire book so far, Jillian and Franny had way more chemistry than Jillian and Jack? And Franny always appreciated Jillian and treated her well? WHAT WAS HE ON.
What bothered me, too, was how Jack acted like he had no choice but to pursue Jillian. He basically acted like since he couldn't pursue Kate this time around - or didn't want to -, that he had to go kiss Jillian. Like he couldn't have ... just stayed single??? And because Jack still tried to help Kate from afar and therefore didn't even leave her alone, this entire relationship was also pretty unfair towards Jillian. He didn't even appreciate being with her; as a matter of fact, they didn't even like being together that much. I was pretty happy when that stupid timeline was finally over. It was a whole goddamn nightmare.
Last but not least, I also wasn't that big of a fan of the fact that it was never explained why these new chances happened to Jack. And like, I didn't really expect them to be explained, because I feel like they usually aren't in stories like these (at least not the ones I've read and watched), but it was still infuriating. Because why would Jack be responsible to save the life of a girl he barely knew? And not only that, but also improve the lives of his friends in the progress? Why did Jack just assume that this was the reason he was sent back in time? And that everyone's happiness relied on him?
In literally the last chapter, Jack also casually mentioned that there were over three dozens of repeats (you get to see five of them). Which just proved one thing to me: The reason these stories work sometimes is because the main character realises they're an asshole and they stop being one. They have character development. But Jack never really stopped being an asshole and never really learnt anything from his mistakes (hence why it took him so goddamn long). He never properly, wholeheartedly apologized for anything. To me, it felt like the universe just gave him a dozen of chances for literally no reason.
Overall, while I found the concept of the story intriguing, the execution was ... not done well. Jack as a protagonist was just a horrible friend who had no chemistry with his love interest and took way too fucking long to learn from his mistakes, the female characters were tragically one-dimensional, and the plot just dragged and had too many holes in it. Really disappointed with this book.
I had issues with it from almost the beginning, which had mostly to do with Jack, the protagonist. Very early on, he said that he had a crush on his best friend Jillian and the only reason he didn't confess his love to her was because she was dating his best friend. Not even because she was in a relationship, but because she was in a relationship with someone he liked.
I don't have any close male friends and I'm also not straight, so maybe I don't know how relationships between straight girls and straight guys work, but guys who'd be perfectly willing to confess their love to their friend despite knowing that they weren't available don't seem like that good of guys to me to begin with.
Throughout the story, he just got worse. He treated his family and friends like shit, especially Franny (Jillian's boyfriend and his allegedly best friend), and it just got worse the more timelines happened. You'd think that after a few rounds of being stuck in Groundhog Day, he'd know how not to be an asshole to people he loved, but nope. He literally didn't learn a thing until almost the end and became a worse and worse friend as time went on.
Because of the way Jack acted, I found the romance to be very unrealistic and annoying. One of the things that bothered me the most was the fact that Kate always fell in love with Jack, regardless of his behaviour or the things he said to her. For example, the first time Jack landed back in time, he was understandably ecstatic to see Kate alive again and didn't realise that she didn't remember him, so he said some things to her that would only be alluring to someone who actually knew him. Seeing as Kate thought he was a stranger, though, all his talk about how awesome she was seemed extremely creepy; plus, he asked her to prom literally the day after they met and invited her to the woods shortly before that. And instead of being creeped out by this and slowly backing away, Kate ... liked it? And liked him?
And this happened so many times! No matter what Jack said or did, Kate always thought he was cute and wonderful and wanted to be with him. Add to that the fact that Kate was very underdeveloped and didn't really exist much outside of Jack - you do learn things about her, but a) not that many, b) mostly just things relevant to the plot, and c) things that make her alluring to Jack -, and you've got yourself a love interest that I didn't particularly care about.
She also made some infuriating choices, especially early in the book before you learn what would actually kill her eventually. Instead of telling Jack the truth, Kate drew that information out for waaaayyy too long; I was over halfway through the book and still had no idea. Like, one time Kate straight up preferred breaking up with Jack and getting back together with her ex instead of coming clean with him, which was just infuriating
There also wasn't that much chemistry between Jack and Kate to begin with. In total, Jack and Kate were together for four months, which I straight up didn't realise at first; I really thought they knew each other for a week, because they never seemed much like a couple to me. Since the entire story is based around this romance, it's kind of crucial to want them to be together. Which I didn't particularly want to.
Kate wasn't the only female character suffering from a lack of development. Jillian, too, wasn't much of a character to begin with. You actually learn even less about her than Kate, and those things were never really highlighted? She seemed to mostly exist for Jack and Franny and their development and less for herself. She barely had any personality, which just made me frustrated.
Apart from a missing character development, Reynolds also seemed like he tried too hard to make the characters ~weird~ and ~quirky~. Especially Jack and Kate kept talking about these funny little quirks they had and hahahaha, weren't they such weirdos? Honestly, they were, like, one step away from doing Jughead's 'In case you haven’t noticed, I'm weird. I’m a weirdo' speech.
The writing really emphasised this quirkiness in my opinion. I often felt like Jack and Kate didn't talk very ... authentically? Like, they'd use words no one their age would ever use unironically, and said things that just made me cringe. This was especially apparent in the emails they exchanged. The other characters were better, but Jack and Kate just really got on my nerves.
Then, let's talk about the plot for a minute, because oh boy!
First of all, the book was way too long. It took 150 pages for Kate to even die. And I'm aware that without a build-up of Jack and Kate's relationship, I'd probably be bitching about that, but it didn't have to be that long! And after she died and the timeline reset, the same plot points kept being repeated over and over in every single timeline . Characters kept talking about the same things, and even more infuriating, Jack never learnt a damn thing. He kept making the same mistakes several times, especially when it came to the way he treated Franny, and he even came to the same conclusion twice? Like dude, for the love of God, give me some character development, I'm begging you.
Next up, there were a few plot holes that bothered me immensely. The book starts with a prologue in which Jack stated that this was his third try trying to save Kate. Later in the story, you ended up in that exact timeline, except it ended way differently than it did in the prologue? Plus, there was a character who was first introduced as a nice guy in one timeline and as an asshole in the next, so like ... consistency? I don't know her.
Then, one timeline was a straight up nightmare that made absolutely no sense. None. Nada. Zilch. It was also at that point that I decided to give the book 2 stars, because nothing could be redeemed now.
I think what I hated the most about that timeline was how much it tainted everything I had known so far about Franny and Jillian's relationship. Up until that point, they were a pretty cute couple who treated each other really well. I liked them together! But Jillian didn't even hesitate to kiss Jack back and dump Franny for him. Like, 'Oh, Jack finally kissed me? Great! Now I can finally dump this consolation prize of a dude!' And when that timeline finally ended and a new one started where Jillian was still dating Franny, I couldn't be happy about them anymore. I didn't care about them anymore. I always knew, at the back of my head, that Jillian would dump Franny without a second glance if she could be with Jack, so how was I supposed to root for them anymore?
There was also the fact that, again, Jack didn't act like a friend to Franny. Not only did he steal his girlfriend, for the rest of the timeline he also constantly talked about Franny like he was just being overly emotional and irrational and would always have to forgive Jack and Jillian for their betrayal. Which didn't sit right with me. SOMEONE SAVE FRANNY FROM THIS DUDE. Jack also somehow thought that he was the only one with a deep connection to Jillian, despite the fact that throughout the entire book so far, Jillian and Franny had way more chemistry than Jillian and Jack? And Franny always appreciated Jillian and treated her well? WHAT WAS HE ON.
What bothered me, too, was how Jack acted like he had no choice but to pursue Jillian. He basically acted like since he couldn't pursue Kate this time around - or didn't want to -, that he had to go kiss Jillian. Like he couldn't have ... just stayed single??? And because Jack still tried to help Kate from afar and therefore didn't even leave her alone, this entire relationship was also pretty unfair towards Jillian. He didn't even appreciate being with her; as a matter of fact, they didn't even like being together that much.
Last but not least, I also wasn't that big of a fan of the fact that it was never explained why these new chances happened to Jack. And like, I didn't really expect them to be explained, because I feel like they usually aren't in stories like these (at least not the ones I've read and watched), but it was still infuriating. Because why would Jack be responsible to save the life of a girl he barely knew? And not only that, but also improve the lives of his friends in the progress? Why did Jack just assume that this was the reason he was sent back in time? And that everyone's happiness relied on him?
In literally the last chapter, Jack also casually mentioned that there were over three dozens of repeats (you get to see five of them). Which just proved one thing to me: The reason these stories work sometimes is because the main character realises they're an asshole and they stop being one. They have character development. But Jack never really stopped being an asshole and never really learnt anything from his mistakes (hence why it took him so goddamn long). He never properly, wholeheartedly apologized for anything. To me, it felt like the universe just gave him a dozen of chances for literally no reason.
Overall, while I found the concept of the story intriguing, the execution was ... not done well. Jack as a protagonist was just a horrible friend who had no chemistry with his love interest and took way too fucking long to learn from his mistakes, the female characters were tragically one-dimensional, and the plot just dragged and had too many holes in it. Really disappointed with this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Gun violence
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