mtngirl4 's review for:

Maybe Next Time by Cesca Major

4.0

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I really enjoyed this book. I almost made it a five star book but about 3/4 of the way through it started to drag a little bit. Essentially, we are reading of the beautiful love story of Emma and Dan, how they met, the sweet family they create, the conflicts they navigate, the way they support each other through family drama, and the enduring, life-giving love they have for each other. This story is told in such a creative way: through letters that they write to each other every year on the day that they met, recounting the year and the lessons that they learned. The plot unfolds like Groundhog Day: 15 years after they meet, Emma and Dan have two children and busy life styles. Emma is so over committed in her work life that she is beginning to neglect things at home, and forgets she and Dan's special "meet-aversary" night (something that truly endeared me to this book because my husband and I celebrate our Meetaversary every year as well). After tragedy strikes that evening, Emma wakes up in a time loop of the same day, reliving the day and hoping to make things right. This continues for months of Emma's life. During this time, we see all the different ways that Emma changes the day, trying to fix things, and we see how she herself changes and grows. It is truly lovely. And we learn the story of their lives as we read a different letter from over the years. It is super beautiful really. I also very much related to Dan and Emma, as the stable relationship in the family, and the relationships that they have with their parents and siblings being similar in my own life. The end is not what I expected, but well done. Seriously, my only complaint is that I felt the repetition of days was just a smidge too long in the second part of the book. I highly recommend!