Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

20 reviews

modernhobbitvibes's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

genevieve_eggleston's review

Go to review page

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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jesse_5's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It is an amazing story but I did find the first few chapters a bit hard to follow due to the time junping about so muc

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

micaelamariem's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional 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? It's complicated

3.0


I just finished one of my first books of the month, a Book of the Month pick from a few months ago, Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds.

Essentially, Opposite of Always is a Groundhog’s Day retelling. Jack, the main character, meets Kate, the girl of his dreams. They could have had a whirlwind romance. But she dies. And while that should be the end, Jack finds himself back to the same day he met Kate. Again and again, stuck in this endless time loop trying to save Kate.

The author, Justin A. Reynolds, is an author from Ohio. Opposite of Always was his debut and it won the Indies Introduce Top Ten Debut Title and became a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Apparently, it’s also being adapted for film.


My initial impression is that while I enjoyed the book, I’m not sure I’m the kind of reader that likes time loops or time travel. I wasn’t sure before, but now I think those are things I’m just going to steer clear of. That being said, the story was still compelling. Particularly because the crux of the narrative lied with the characters.

Jack, the main character, always feels like he doesn’t measure up, especially against his two best friends. Kate is working against an illness she doesn’t want to define her life. Both Jillian and Franny are coming to terms with nontraditional families and troubles with their respective fathers. Through it all, Jack is working on who he is, how he can save his love, and how he can be a good friend. The main lesson, or theme, I took from the storyline was that sometimes instead of fixing the issue, it’s important just to be there and do what you can.

“Don’t be afraid. Take chances. And when those don’t work out, take more.”

For the most part, the book was also well-written. As a YA romance/science fiction, the chapters were short and sometimes, the main character was frusturating in his shallow thoughts and mistakes he made. But hey, that’s being a teenager. I think, perhaps, the main thing that annoyed me about Jack was how quickly he changed from the girl he was pining after to claiming affection for a new girl. It was all very “insta-love” and I really am not a fan of that.

Overall, however, I think the book met my expectations, if a little frusturating at times. I suppose I didn’t have as high hopes for this one and was still entertained. Still, I’d give the book three stars and I’d recommend to those who do like time loop stories.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bujo_bellel's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring 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

3.5

I quite liked this book, it was rather slow at the start which I think could have been made quicker. I liked the build-up and how it teaches us the morale that time is precious and that we should never give up. I quite like the relationship between Jack and Kate. I really hate the pet name (baby) that Franny and Jillian called each other which is one of my pet peeves. This book was kind-of anti-climatic but it might be because I was reading this book for a long time and thus was in this world for very long.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

peachani's review against another edition

Go to review page

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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Oh my goodness! I'm so happy I finally got around to reading this book. The friendship, the romance, the banter, the importance of family all in one book. Chef's kiss! It was so sweet! I loved almost every minute of it. The representation in this book was phenomenal. Of course, whil the book wasn't 100% perfect for me I'd stil definitely recommend this book to anyone. Oh my goodness this book will have you feeling all the feels. 

But it sucks because this could've definitely become a comfort read for me if it weren't for the "3rd act breakup"
the betrayal that Jack commits again Francisco is callous. He literally goes on to date his best friend's girlfriend. I just found it to be so out of character for him. He knows how much Franny has struggled in life and the one person he though he could count on shatters his heart. I also don't like how easily Franny forgives Jack the first he screws up when he goes behind his back to "negotiate" with his dad. And also I don't like how Jillian liking Jack the whole time while she's dating Franny isn't addressed. Like she didn't even stop Jack when he kissed her. It made me look at their relationship differently and like Jillian a little less. She should be honest with Franny with her feelings because given what Franny has gone through he deserves someone that's willing to give him 100%.
I would lowkey like a sequel where we get Franny's story. I really liked his character.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ludmireads's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Giving this book 4 stars because I think this is what I’d rate it when I was 17 (a. k. a. when I was the target audience). 
I didn’t enjoy this book as much now.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

so uh i really don't know where to start. i can't say i didn't like this book because that wouldn't be true. and, even if i really liked it and i am currently reading its webtoon i'm not sure how to describe the way i feel about it. 

like, i don't think i actually have any negative things to say. i can understand how kate and jack's relationship has not appealed some people, as it was a bit rushed and he catched real feelings after a night of talking. but i have to say that i am a sucker for romantic cute shit so yeah i absolutely tabbed many quotes throughout the book which made me feel so <333
i know some people did not like jack's friends and i can understand why they did dislike jillian... but franny? i think he owns a piece of my heart, he is such a softie who deserves a better dad tbh.

it was frustrating how jack couldn't fix everything all at once and everytime he thought something was fixed, something else would happen to mess up everything.
i'm glad that everything ended up being okay and that, at the end, he could make ammends with his friends cause i would have been very mad if he didn't
oh! i also think that something very cute at the ending was
when jack said that, instead of becoming a writer, he wanted to focus on science to cure diseases


so it may not be your favorite book ever but i believe it's pretty entertaining and that you could definitely give it a shot, x

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

grizzlysnack's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? Yes
The good things about this book:
  • the concept
  • Jack's support system
The bad things about this book:
  • the execution of concept
  • characters
  • character interactions & dialogue

This book is very forgettable, to be honest. If I didn't write out the different scenes for this review and journal entries I probably wouldn't be able to tell you anything significant from the plot

Expand filter menu Content Warnings