A review by cc_shelflove
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

adventurous hopeful inspiring sad 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? No

4.0

If you are looking for a novel that you can read without your head spinning, gears turning, and smoke coming out of your ears, this is the book for you. While “light” might not be the correct descriptive term to use as the center of our story is the death of a parent, This Time Tomorrow is the perfect companion to sun rays and sunscreen. The day after her fortieth birthday, Alice wakes up to find that she is sixteen again. She begins to examine all of her life’s choices. Why hadn’t she found love yet? Was her job good enough? And the most important question, can she stop her dad from dying? I really enjoyed Straub’s examination of father-daughter relationships and single parent relationships. My interest was piqued from start to finish, and I was left with a sense of hope. Negative points for originality, however. 

“One store full of beautiful sweaters was having a sale, and Alice tried one on in the aisle. It was two hundred dollars—on sale—but she bought it anyway, because it was her birthday.”

“‘But I will tell you, in terms of a life plan, you don’t need one. That’s my advice. It’s real life. It’s your real life. Plans don’t work. Just go with it.’”

“This was how Alice imagined marriage, and family—always having someone to float through the day with, someone with whom it didn’t take three emails and six texts and a last-minute reservation change to see one another. Everyone had it when they were kids, but only the truly gifted held on to it in adulthood.”

“That was next-level friendship—locking someone in through marriage.”
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