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A review by themermaddie
The Girl I Was by Jeneva Rose
4.0
listen time travel books don't always HAVE to make sense alright??? sometimes it's just about CATHARSIS
seriously this book takes some insane liberties when it comes to the science of time travel and interacting with your previous self, but if there's one thing jeneva rose is good at, it's character relationships and making insufferable characters actually kind of lovable. i think she understands the core of what makes time travel books so compelling (at least for me), so i felt like this story was so cathartic. i loved watching lexi and alexis interact with each other, their relationship with each other/themselves? was by far the standout highlight of the book. you don't often find time travel stories where the main character is ALLOWED to punch her 18 year old self in the face, but boy does it sure feel satisfying to watch it happen! they both grow so much from each other, learning to be both better (and sometimes worse) from each other was lovely, especially all the family scenes (except the unfortunately necessary accidental incest trope. nothing happens, i'm just saying it's sort of a genre staple at this point. i'm looking at you marty mcfly).
even though the ending was a little too quick and conveniently resolved for my tastes, it didn't spoil my overall enjoyment of the book. i'd recommend this as a fun contemporary hot-mess-sorts-her-life-out story for fans of Really Good Actually and Happy Death Day (but with less death), but only if you won't be too annoyed with time travel inconsistencies.
seriously this book takes some insane liberties when it comes to the science of time travel and interacting with your previous self, but if there's one thing jeneva rose is good at, it's character relationships and making insufferable characters actually kind of lovable. i think she understands the core of what makes time travel books so compelling (at least for me), so i felt like this story was so cathartic. i loved watching lexi and alexis interact with each other, their relationship with each other/themselves? was by far the standout highlight of the book. you don't often find time travel stories where the main character is ALLOWED to punch her 18 year old self in the face, but boy does it sure feel satisfying to watch it happen! they both grow so much from each other, learning to be both better (and sometimes worse) from each other was lovely, especially all the family scenes (except the unfortunately necessary accidental incest trope. nothing happens, i'm just saying it's sort of a genre staple at this point. i'm looking at you marty mcfly).
even though the ending was a little too quick and conveniently resolved for my tastes, it didn't spoil my overall enjoyment of the book. i'd recommend this as a fun contemporary hot-mess-sorts-her-life-out story for fans of Really Good Actually and Happy Death Day (but with less death), but only if you won't be too annoyed with time travel inconsistencies.