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meridith_bex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Minor: Child death and Grief
schweibertsm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, and Pregnancy
bookish_leslie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Romantic tension, under clothes groping, sex scenes that fade to black before anything explicit happens
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My Thoughts
This book wasnโt at all what I was expecting, but I liked it. The cover design had me expecting a typical romcom, and while there was a romance subplot, this book was no romcom. It was a character-driven story about choices, family, identity, grief, and self discovery; a story about regrets, acceptance, love in all its myriad forms, second chances, and the both/and of life.
I think what I loved most about this book was how thought-provoking it was. What makes us who we are? What truly matters in life? If I could forget the experiences that have led to my grief - would I? Or in doing so would I lose parts of myself Iโd want to keep? What matters more - remembering or living? What are my current choices saying about what my future will be like? What bright spots in my life might I be overlooking amongst the grievances? What role does the philosophy of โfake it until you make itโ play in personal and professional growth? These are just some of the many things this book prompted me to think about.
But the relationships between the characters really shone for me in this book, too. Sure, the main character, Lucy, acted questionably and immaturely at times, but I think her reactions to what happened to her were very real too. I especially loved her interactions with 7-year-old Felix, but it was heartwarming to see her grow into her relationships with Sam and Amy, as well.
This probably isnโt the book for you if youโre a plot-based reader, as it was largely character driven, but I do think it would be a good fit for people who like a bit of depth to their stories, philosophizing about life, or who are feeling nostalgic for old 90s movies like 13 Going on 30 (although in this case it was 26 going on 42).
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content
acalla7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Child death and Grief
peanutporridge's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
I really appreciated the simple, yet profound message of this book which is to live in the here and now to the fullest that you can.
Minor: Child death and Grief
spellbindingtomes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
๐๐ข๐ง๐ข ๐๐ฒ๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ:
26 year old, Lucy Young, is tired of her mundane life. One day she stumbles upon a wishing machine and wishes to skip to the good part of her life. The next day, she wakes up to find herself in her forties with a handsome husband, a high-level job, and two children. Unsure if it's real or if she's skipped a chunk of her life, Lucy must decide if she wants to go back to her past or embrace her new reality.
โข
โข
โข
Skipping to "the good part" sounds great, but in actuality I think it would be pretty scary waking up one day to an entire life you have no memories of making.
Sophie's writing had me completely invested in Lucy's predicament. I understood her struggles adjusting to her future life โ suddenly becoming a wife and a parent to two kids, learning about how her old relationships and friendships held up through the years. On top of all that, the daunting possibility that maybe the wishing machine wasn't real to begin with and instead she might have memory problems. I was getting so anxious and overwhelmed for her!
But what balances this terrifying situation are the side characters, especially Sam and Felix. Sam was incredibly supportive and understanding with Lucy and Felix was so sweet, trying his best to help Lucy out so he can get his 'mom' back.
๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด โ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ?
Though this took me a while to get into, once I was one-third of the way through, I was completely hooked! At first, Lucy wasn't super likeable but her character growth was well done that by the end I was rooting for her. I wanted her to be happy whether that was going back to the past or staying in the future.
Read if you like:
๐บ 13 going on 30 movie
โณtime travel
๐บ magical realism
โณ self-discovery
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Grief
mrsvroreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Medical trauma
samlyn90's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Dementia, and Grief
annaforthebooks's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Death and Grief
ladyflash's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Moderate: Death