Second (and third) chance to get love right... Groundhog Day rehash of a teenager's first love.

"All the time travel in the world can't save the people you love." Jack is in love with his best friend Jillian (who is happily dating their mutual friend Franny) when he meets college girl Kate, who instantly gets under his skin and connects with the senior.

Getting to know each other, he realises this may be love. But then Kate dies (this is NOT a spoiler, by the way)... and Jack then finds himself meeting her all over again at the same party and reliving their months together all over again... It's not madness, it's not a dream. So why is Jack reliving the relationship - is there something he should be doing?

A twist on the Groundhog Day repeating-time theme (see recently released Pretty in Punxatawney), Jack's issues with his feelings for best friends, Franny's convict father, Jack's perfect parents (not at all annoying, actually, great role models), all balance alongside his relationship with the lovely Kate. It could get annoying, his constant falling in love with her, reliving the same events, but we see different moments and discussions.

I did wonder how the repetitive angle of this idea would work for Jack - he surely must be attending the same classes multiple times, completing the same homeworks again and again, having the same dinner-time conversations with his parents, but this never gets mentioned. A shame, I thought.

I liked seeing Jack experiment with other realities and fulfilling his fantasies, even though he didn't seem to learn from mistakes and remains a pretty poor friend for many of his attempts. The author manages to keep what could be an incredibly saccharine sugar-sweet love story from becoming overly so, with Jack and Kate remaining likeable and their feelings for each other more sweet than sickly.

Fresh look at the genre and idea, worthy YA read that could make a great film/series.

For ages 13 and above.

With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.

Sweet and quite humorous in place but very much YA fiction, which I didn't realise before I picked it and I'm definitely not the right demographic. I did think it was a bit derivative of The Fault In Your Stars though - adding a time travel element doesn't lessen that!

I loved this book!
the characters are easily imagined by the excellent descriptive writing, something that always helps me immerse myself in the story. The time travel aspect of the story is excellent, with the groundhog day - like repetition of a series of events being quite different to other books I have read tackling time travel throughout life times and/or history. I liked the fact that Jack tried to fix things in a number of different ways, each time having to rectify the changes he makes that negatively impact on other people dear to him, making each iteration new to read.
A lovely love story with an excellent twist in time, some unexpected turns and a great ending!

“Let’s see… uh, I sorta want to write a book, or several books, I guess.”
If that was your dream Mr. Reynolds, I have only two words for you – WELL DONE!

This is a debut novel by the author and it is absolutely stunning. It is a story about love, friendship, family, and time-traveling, of course. What are the possibilities in front of you if you go back in time with a chance to alter the future? I had everything I want from a book – I laugh my arse off with Kate, feel sad about her death, and was hyper enthusiastic about traveling back in time. But I felt it right to go back and spend some extra time with somebody you love for one last time. To have the chance to tell them everything you didn’t have time to before, even if they don’t remember you. Or even to try to save them.

Long story short. Jake meets Kate in the party in the university camp he is going to attend next year. Something click inside them and things between them goes on with ease. Until Kate dies. And Jake’s adventure begins. He is supposed to figure out how to save Kate’s life. But he makes great mistakes, hurts people he loves, just to save her. Until he realises that it is pointless to make attempts to change the future. You have to live the life in its best, appreciate people who got you back and will always stand for you. And everything will be fine.

“So the earth rotates around the sun, right? And it would be super weird for it to start happening the other way around, right? Like, suddenly the sun starts revolving around the earth. Except that’s sorta like what loving someone is all about. You’re moving along life, doing your thing, managing your priorities and commitments.
And then suddenly you meet THE ONE.
And you fall completely out of the orbit you’ve been spinning in.”

Jack, as a character, is amazing. I can’t imagine someone who is going to fit better than him. He is well developed and vigorous. He always put under questions everything he makes and this is half charming, half annoying. But he is devoted and smart, as well. After every failure, he comes up with new ideas how to save Kate. At the same time he is corny and lovable, there is no chance you not falling for him.

I felt in love with Kate from the first sign. She is witty and sarcastic, with sharp tongue and no filter between her brain and her mouth. Actually she reminds me so much of myself. I can be so bitchy sometimes (okay, almost all the time) and definitely speak what I’m thinking. It is one of these characters, full of life and you have the feeling you know them or you can meet them at any moment of your life.

Jillian, on the other side, drives me nuts. How can you be so blind for the past three years and didn’t see that Jack is mad about you? And at the very same moment another girl catches his eye to begin overreacting, acting bitchy and protective like he is in your possession.

“People always say they’re happy you’re happy until they’re afraid that maybe your happiness is affecting their happiness and then they’re not so happy about you being so happy.”
But what is this, Jake is going through? Is this a parallel universe? Or just ‘variations how to screw up your life’? Why the universe gave Jack such an opportunity? Why we cannot go back in time and fix the mistakes we made? Is this a gift or a curse?

“Because who would care about what happens to me enough to send you back in time? Like, what’s so special about me?”

I was captured by the plot and really enjoyed the book. So roughly, the plot is divided into different sections for every time Jack goes back in time to when he first meets Kate at the stairs. With every part of the book, there are more layers added to the story. But coming down the end, last two sections fells more like repetitive than offering something new. But this didn’t spoil the pleasure this book brought me.
(I felt last two chapters-like parts needless. As for me the book was going to have a strike of an end if it finished with Jake’s wake-up.)

“When you’re a kid, you think your parents have it all together. That they know what they’re doing. And then one day you realize they’re just as screwed up as you. They are just old and screwed up.”

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I would. It was funny and insightful and interesting. The concept is fantastic. And Jack and Kate are beyond adorable.

I honestly don’t know how Jack kept going and also how he didn’t break and tell anyone! I think the third story, where he did something quite different hit home for that first reason. That was hard to read but beautiful.

I also liked how little things changed each time and it wasn’t clear why - that felt real - frustratingly so at times!

I also loved his friendship with Franny (and to a lesser degree Jill, as that is coloured by his previous feelings for her and not massively addressed) and Franny’s relationship with his parents. That was serious friendship goals.

And while the book is very definitely about saving Kate, and how not to fuck up friendship on the way, it’s also about Jack learning a lot about himself. I hope he realised how awful some of his decisions were even if no one else knows he made them (again story 3!) However, he has a good heart and good intentions.

4.5 stars for this lovely contemporary read with a Groundhog Day twist. If you could do it over again, what would you do?

—

Review will go live on 1st april on my blog

Opposite of Always made me nostalgic for my teen years. I'm the kind of person who re-reads books over and over again. Opposite of Always reminds me of a book that I read until the pages nearly fell out, Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall. Both books deal with a character reliving a death... although in this case it is the death of Jack's love Kate that is trying to be avoided.

Jack meets Kate on a college visit and falls head over heels in love. And then she dies.When he wakes up before they ever met he has the chance to put things right. Save her. This novel shows his attempts to be the hero and find a way back to the young woman he met on the stairs at a party.

This novel had a lot of positives. Jack is a funny and likeable character, with a supporting cast of great friends. His friend Franny's dad, The Coupon, is in prison. I really appreciated reading a novel where the characters surrounding the main character are more than just Back-Up 1 and Back-Up 2.

The way Jack interacts with the central premise is really fun. He doesn't just presume that the only path available to him is to stay in a relationship with Kate. It might be possible to save her in another way...


The diversity rep in Opposite of Always was also really impressive, both in terms of the representation of people of colour and the discussion of health conditions. I learnt about sickle cell anaemia in this novel, a condition which I didn't really understand about before.


There were a few aspects that I found frustrating though. The relationship between Jake and Kate is explained much better in some of the later iterations. I have a better sense for why they care so much for each other, whereas in the first go around I do question a little what made Kate seem a better choice than Jillian - the girl Jake has known for years. I also felt that some parts of the book dragged a little and wonder if it would have been a little snappier if it had been shorter.

How did I feel about the ending? That's a trickier question! I am curious to see how other readers find the conclusion to Jack and Kate's story.

My overall rating, 4.5/5, reflects the fact that I know that teenage me would have jumped up and down in joy for this book. Figuratively, at least! It gives me the same feeling that the books I used to love back then did, allowing me to escape my worries and fears for a little bit.Jack and Kate: a teen romance for the post-millennial generation.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Justin A. Reynolds for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review.

The opposite of always is a love story which asks the question, if we had our time again could we change the outcome?

Jack and Kate meet at a party and instantly connect, their relationship progresses but then Kate dies and it should all end there.

It doesn’t and what follows is a nice enough story of friendship, love and second chances.

I found the story easy to read but I didn’t emotionally engage with any of the characters. This didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the story and I think this is one the young adult market will enjoy.

Jack meets Kate at a party, they fall in love, then she dies and Jack has to relive the six months they had together over and over to try and save her and his relationships with his friends. In one variant, he screws up all his friendships in his desperation to save Kate - those friendships are a good touch for a YA novel where it's often all about the romance and the supporting characters aren't well drawn. Franny and Jillian are both well-drawn characters with their own problems, some of which Jack contributes to as he struggles to get things right.

It's a really clever idea - like a teenage Groundhog Day - and Jack is an appealing main character. I'm not sure that it completely works, the middle section dragged a little and the romance is a little too perfect (but then, it is YA). And there's never any explanation of why/how Jack is able to do this, no hint of where it might have come from, he has no power over it - that's a little frustrating.

Overall, worth a look for something a bit different and I'm glad I read to the end.

An extraordinary roller-coaster of a story, with characters who whisk you through their joy and pain without stopping to see if you can keep up. They are unique and yet they are all of us. Superbly written, joyously different, full of hope and love and all that good stuff. Brilliant.

A YA/Contemporary time travelling tale of love and loss and love and loss and so on!

Jack loves Kate, Kate dies and Jack gets a chance to go back and start again at the beginning. Can he save Kate, will his choices change the outcome of not just his story but everyone's story??

I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would, at the beginning the insta-love was nearly too quick but then as I read on I realised I loved them too!

I found all the characters engaging and likeable although Franny really needs to work on that temper and I was definitely rooting for a happy ending!

I feel like I've read something special and this is gonna be a firm favourite with the masses, I can't wait to see more from this author

I like quirky and different books and I like writers who think outside the box and this slotted into that category.I give it 5 out of 5 for originality.I wish I'd liked the characters more, but you can't have everything.I did think the story was quite different to anything else out there and it was worth a read.thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.

Opposite Of Always – Justin A. Reynolds
Book Review
Okay, I requested this book because I heard about it on some blog’s list. So anyway, I wasn’t much enthused about it from the beginning because the plot actually deals with time-travel and reliving the whole six months again and again, which is something I am not really a fan of. And I have to say that this book was so different from all those YA books out there. It made me think about a lot of things, about time and all those small things we do that change, affect and determine our future.
So basically the plot is all about how Jack King’s life is turned upside-down after he meets Kate at a party. They interact and they grow closer and Jack can’t help falling in love. Everything is going great between them and their chemistry is awesome, only for Kate to die. This coincidentally sends Jack back to the same moment in time, when he first met Kate. So Jack is like reliving the past , only to relive it again and in the midst of it, trying to save Kate and trying to prevent the future from happening…
To begin with, I really liked the protagonist, Jack. He was so lovable and cute, genuine and witty. I liked Kate but more than that I liked Jack’s two best friends, Franny and Jillian. They were pretty great friends to Jack and they added a lot to the story.
And the authors writing style is great, like there is so much wit and sarcasm and humour , despite the low-key plot. I am sure some people wouldn’t be able to dive into the book as much as I did (they might find it boring) but I admit that it is unique.

Beautiful sad and uplifting. I really enjoyed the time travel element. Although it's a relatable contemporary novel, the time travel element made it extremely gripping at the same time, so I found it hard to put down.

I also really love the core message: that being present is more important than fixating on the future.

And what a lovely main character! Sweet, relatable, flawed and so incredibly well written.

I really recommend this book.

I can't seem to stop hearing about this book - and have to say the hype is real! I was drawn in by the quotes on the cover so I knew what I was getting into, but such a lovely read.

It was a cute contemporary but I wasn't enthralled by it. A solid 3/4 stars - I'm not quite sure.

It's definitely worth a read, and it has to be commended for its representation, but something just fell flat for me. I was reading more for the side characters than for the main romance/dilemma

Full review posted at: https://kirstysbookblog.wordpress.com/

When I first seen this book on Netgalley, I was drawn in by the cover and then I read the synopsis and was instantly hooked in finding out the story this novel held. Now usually I'm not the biggest fan of stories were the main character just instantly falls in love at first sight but the way Reynold's created this romance was just so sweet and special and I loved it straight away. I've read a couple of books with time travel as a theme in it however, it didn't involve the character having to repeat the same day over and over again and I must say, I enjoyed it taking a different turn to what I was used to and it also made me extremely intrigued to see how the author would handle it without repeating the same thing constantly.

The beginning of this book actually starts at the end of the story so right from the get-go you're wanting to find out how we got to where we are. From here we're then taken to the beginning of Jack and Kate's story. Everything about their first meet is just dorky, cute and made me all warm and fuzzy when I read it. Watching their friendship and relationship grow was such a lovely thing to experience and then all of a sudden, all that happiness is ripped from us as Kate then dies. We're then taken back to the first night they met and we see things grow again however this time, we follow Jack as he tries to figure out a way to save Kate. The plot overall was well thought out and Reynold's did a great job in making sure he wasn't repeating events over and over again. Each time something happened, he made you want to continue on to find out what was going to go wrong that time - whether it be with Jack's parents or his friendship with Franny & Jillian - and also to explore the other ways that Jack and Kate's relationship grows.

Characters in this book were just so likeable and great. Franny was probably my favourite because no matter what hit him, he always tried to stay positive and was extremely forgiving for certain things (more than I would've been anyway). His whole backstory was heartbreaking and I just wanted everything to go right for him for once. Jillian was another lovable character and at times I felt sorry for her because she was always stuck in the middle of any arguments both Franny and Jack had which wasn't really fair on her. Kate was such an outgoing, positive and extremely uplifting character. No matter what she was going through, she remained positive and just enjoyed herself and made sure she was always having fun! Lastly, we come to the main character Jack. I really did like him as a character and seeing him grow throughout the novel was inspiring. Each time he went back in time he seemed to become so selfless and each time he was always worried more about how his actions would affect everyone else rather than himself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think that Justin Reynolds has done such a fantastic job on his debut novel. It was just a really unique take on time travel (for me anyway) and I just loved everything about it. I highly recommend this if you're a fan of all things YA/contemporary! I look forward to seeing what else Justin has up his sleeve for future releases.

Thank you again to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with a review copy of this book.

This was such a wonderful read. I absolutely loved the concept from the get-go but worried it could get too repetitive. It was far from it, and I was completely hooked the entire way through. Jack is such a loveable main character, and I loved reading about his realationship with Kate, and his friendships with Jillian and Franny.

Another brilliant YA novel for 2019, and a fantastic debut from Justin.

I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Right from the very beginning you are actually thrown in at the end, and trust me you NEED to know what is happening with these characters. I won’t lie, I would love to know what chain of events had led to that opening scenario (as we learn later on there may have been different events but it all led to the same ending)

There is quite a bit of character development considering they are living out the same few months over and over yet only Jack knows about it- yet amazingly he doesn’t use this knowledge for selfish reasons, I mean how many people would decide to go do the lottery because they knew the winning numbers? yet he doesn’t, he knows his purpose is to try and help Kate and he does everything he can.

Unfortunately this does lead to a few different types of arguments during each of the replays- so yes Jack does take his knowledge of each of the replays to try and be there for all of his loved ones.

Ultimately the main message I took away from this is to be there for your loved ones and remember to live your life. Kate didn’t let her illness hold her back, she went out there and lived her life, she fell in love with the same boy over and over again. Jack finally got what he wanted, he got the girl, over and over.

Time really is fleeting and unlike Jack we don’t get a chance to do things over again. Becky Albertalli has been quoted saying that this novel is “wise, heartfelt and infinitely charming” and I most definitely agree.

Jack is a wonderfully believable main character; with each repetition of time he learned and changed, sometimes for the best and sometimes for the worst, but each time his personality and sparkling narration of events made it fresh once more. This book truly presents a heart-wrenching portrayal of what would you do if you had the chance to repeat a stage of life.

Each time Jack travelled back in time to his first meeting with Kate everything changed. Sometimes it was his friends, or his parents, or Kate, but it was always the result of Jack’s actions – something he learned quickly which was incredibly refreshing. There was no endless cycle of repeated mistakes here. Instead we saw Jack grow as a person in a beautiful character arc; developing as a friend and a son, and a teenager each time. Justin’s writing was so realistic; I completely forgot I was reading a book about time travel and felt my heart break a little bit every time he reached the end. I rooted for Jack the entire book, and honestly loved every page.

I couldn’t put it down I was so invested in the story – the entire cast of characters is intriguing, and I was as absorbed in their lives as I was in Jack’s which, for me, is the true mark of a fab book.

3.5 stars

Jack and Kate meet at a party, immediately they bond and Jack instantly knows he is falling in love. Kate also meets the approval of Jack’s best friends, Jillian and Franny, that is when Jack knows she is the one. However, every love story is complicated. Kate has an ongoing illness, and dies. That is where the love story should end right? Wrong. Kate’s death sends Jack to the beginning again, right back to the moment that they first meet. Jack now has the chance to prevent Kate’s death, however his new choices cause different problems for his loved ones. Everything happens for a reason; is it worth trying to alter the course life will take.

I was lucky enough to be given a copy of this book by Netgalley and Katherine Tegen Books. The synopsis immediately drew me in because I felt that it was very unique. I did enjoy this book, it continued to intrigue me throughout and the message that it portrayed to the reader was like no other book I have ever read. That alone is a big reason I would recommend it to people. However, it was very long and I did find myself skipping over the more trivial parts as I just wanted to get to the interesting parts. Which is a shame because I loved the idea of this book. It could have been at least 100 pages shorter. I believe that this book would make a great film and Im intrigued to see if that will happen. I really enjoyed the unique synopsis of this book, the plot and the ending was fantastic. I would recommend this book and I would definitely read another book by this author.