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emily_mh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? No
4.0
I really liked the romance here between Barrett and Miles. Miles was sweet and dorky and respectful and I’m learning that I can only do allocishet romances when the guy is like that. I thought him and Barrett had lovely chemistry and their banter wasn’t obnoxious or annoying but felt kind of natural and loving.
I loved that character development was a huge part of the novel for both Barrett and Miles. Barrett is realising her self-worth and processing some trauma related to bullying, while Miles is learning to engage in life without fear. I think it’s super important to me personally to see romances where the people involved have their own things going on outside of the relationship. It makes the overall story much fuller, and the characters involved so much more dynamic.
The time loop underpinning the whole plot was essential to my enjoyment of this book. It is honestly one of my favourite sci-fi tropes. I just love seeing how the same day can produce totally different results, and the characters involved get to take risks and be playfully chaotic. I thought Solomon did a pretty good job with the trope here; it definitely gave the story the direction it needed. I do think certain parts could have been cut out or pruned, because the middle did start to sag with repetitiveness.
Finally, I loved the college setting! Solomon captured the campus vibe really well, especially how that first day of college feels. Reading this has really urged me to seek out more new adult stuff.
So this book was sitting around a 4.25/4.5 stars, but then the ending happened. Without spoiling anything, I believe a large part of it wasn’t necessary, but if Solomon really wanted to include it, it could have been done in a much better way. So I dropped my rating to a four. I did consider dropping it lower but this book is genuinely good and my reasons for disliking the ending in particular are probably down to personal taste.
Rep: Jewish MC, Jewish Japanese-American LI, sapphic Jewish SC, questioning SC
Graphic: Bullying and Car accident
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, Racism, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
Minor: fainting