3 stars!

Again Again was one of my most anticipated books of this year and it made me really sad that it unfortunately didn't live up to the hype. The reason this rating is 3 stars and not lower is because I truly enjoyed the concept of it, despite all the things I didn't enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Again Again follows Adelaide Buchwald during a summer when anything can happen. Her home life is difficult and having just broken up with her boyfriend, she is finding it hard to be happy. This book is made up of multiple timelines of all the different ways a conversation or a moment can go and that is one of the most refreshing concepts I've seen in a long time.

As with any E. Lockhart book, this is filled with surprises and twists and turns and has a great ending. The different timelines take getting some used to but once you settle into it it becomes quite exciting.
The biggest downside in this book for me was the fact that I just absolutely couldn't handle the main character. Adelaide's character development proves worthy toward the end but for the majority of the book I found her to be an insufferable protagonist.

All in all this was an enjoyable read with an interesting concept.

I have an interesting relationship when it comes to E. Lockheart. I've read a couple of her books now, and I have liked every one I've read, but also I have never had as strong feelings as most others have. Despite all of this I was super excited to receive a copy of Again, Again to read and review (thank you publishers/NetGalley). I had it as a 5 star prediction, and unfortunately it didn't make the 5 stars, but I did enjoy it.

Again, Again is a story about Adelaide Buchwald, a 17-year-old who had just had her heart broken and had to deal with some troubling family issues and how she copes and loves and loves again in the summer. Firstly, I didn't like the name Adelaide Buchwald - I have a think with names, and this was one I just couldn't connect with. It was a slow moving story about love across parallel universes, and going into it I wasn't expecting that. I tried to get into the book without knowing too much as I wanted to just read and see the story unfold. Unfortunately, this lead me to some confusion. As I had an ARC, I thought I had got a copy with mistakes/rewrites left in. I did catch on pretty quickly after the fact and had a big 'OOOH' moment, but I felt it didn't work as well in a book as it could have in a movie. It would make an excellent movie, in my opinion.

I did enjoy the way it was written, the quirky and annoyingly indie way the characters spoke and thought. It felt clever and hipster at the same time, but I enjoyed it. It was like a slice of life story of finding your self-worth and learning to love yourself before loving someone else. It was bittersweet and good, but didn't blow me away and wouldn't be a book I'd think about much after the fact. I think the book tried to focus on the growth of the characters, but at the same time didn't give too much of them away. I just kind of felt sorry for Adelaide but not overtly so. I felt like the other characters could have been explored more too, and it would have enriched the story. Stacy, she seemed great. Her brother had such a rich story too, maybe this story would have been better if it was about him.

All in all, I love the concept of the book. Parallel universes and what if's are a trope I adore, I just don't think it was captured as well as it could have been. Maybe once I have stewed over it some more, my feelings may become stronger one way or another.

An unsure and tentative 3 stars.

When I first heard people talking about Again Again, it sounded like it was going to be a Sliding Doors-esque YA novel with some Groundhog Day vibes, and my interested was piqued. I was hoping to discover something similar to Jason A. Reynold’s Opposite of Always, which was one of my favourite releases of last year, so it’s safe to say that my expectations were high.

The multiverses come into play very quickly: Adelaide is walking five dogs at the dog run in the local park where she meets Jack. This encounter plays out in a few different ways, jumping back to a specific point and running slightly differently each time. In one world Adelaide accidentally offends Jack, cutting their friendship extremely short, while in another they begin falling in love as soon as they meet.

I was reading an eARC of this book via NetGalley, and to start with I did think it was a formatting issue because it happens so suddenly. All of a sudden the characters are repeating themselves and you’ve got a horrible case of deja vu, before you realise ‘ohh, that’s the whole point!’. I don’t know how I expected the multiverses to play out – possibly in alternate chapters, jumping from one sequence of events to another – but this really did pull me up short, and I had question marks popping up around my head for the first few occurrences. I’m not sure if this is the case in the physical copy, but I’m not sure I read this one in the easiest format!

That being said, once I got my head around the abrupt nature of the multiverses I found myself very absorbed in this story. Because the timeline keeps changing and the previous events are linking up with the current events, you have to concentrate very hard: there’s no chance to put your brain on autopilot and speed read, because you need to try and work out ‘wait, is this the version of Jack and Adelaide who kissed in the bathroom or went and hung out on the hammock?!’. I’m still not completely sure I’ve managed to unravel it all perfectly, but it was a lot of fun to think you were with a Jack and Adelaide who had one version of their history only for them to reference something else which had played out earlier on.

This is a very short story, coming it at under 300 pages, but the themes that it tackles are really powerful. Adelaide’s brother Toby has recently come out of rehab, having been addicted to drugs since he was fourteen. His addiction has a huge impact on who Adelaide is as a person, and this is played with cleverly by exploring a few multiverses surrounding Toby, too. The portrayal of his addiction is painfully realistic, and shows the impact it has on the entire family. There’s also an in-depth exploration of first love and loss and the effect that both of those can have.

This is a book which makes you wonder ‘What if?’. With such simple alterations sparking huge changes in the events which occur, this is the butterfly effect in action, and although it can be a bit startling at first it is very cleverly written. I would absolutely love to see Again Again get the adaptation treatment, because I think this would be extremely effective on the screen: it would be far easier to keep track of everything, that’s for sure!

It’s hard to rate this book after a first read, because I think this is a title which I’d get a lot out of rereading, but I eventually settled on giving it 4 stars (rounded up from 3.5!). There are some aspects which I really wanted E. Lockhart to explore more thoroughly, only for that multiverse to be dropped and for the story to shoot off in another direction, but considering the limitations of the written word it’s impressive that she’s managed to convey a story like this so wonderfully and with the minimum possible amount of confusion.

I’m starting to wonder whether there’s something about Lockhart’s writing that just gets under my skin. All of the books I’ve read by this author have elements that I like or which I can see are done well, but there’s always something about either the characters or the story that just doesn’t quite gel. This was another one that didn’t quite do it for me.
Again Again is the story of Adelaide, a teenager whose brother is a recovering addict and who has just been dumped by her sort-of boyfriend. She asks us to follow her through the summer period following the break-up as she tries to salvage her academic studies. Along the way we watch her set-up alternative scenarios for the events that happen.
Whimsical, perhaps, and for some this will be a meaningful romantic soul-searching read. I found Adelaide horribly narcissistic, incapable of seeing anyone else’s view and the switching realities really drove me mad. What’s wrong with telling a story?
So, this irritated me in ways that I really wish it hadn’t. There’ll be fans of this, but I’m not one of them. I’m grateful to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication, and I’m sure I’ll have many students berating me for not loving this.

'"You seemed happy"
"I thought i was happy"
"isn't that the same thing?"

What would you do if you could live your life over and over again till you got it right? Adelaide's mind works exactly like this, she replays every different possible scenario in her head while she's experiencing the real thing. We follow Adelaide post break up, dealing with her brother's drug addiction, and being away from her mum and brother because she has failed school and has to stay over summer to make up the credits. I really sympathized with Adelaide, she is a chronic overthinker and i definitely relate to that. I think we've all played out possible scenarios in our head at some point and imagined how it could have played out.
I didn't love every decision Adelaide made, but she's only human and dealing with a lot, especially for a 17 year old.
I requested this book from netgalley because I am familiar with E.L Lockhart's work, but was surprised to find this is nothing like We Were Liars or Genuine Fraud. However, I really enjoy Lockhart's writing style and once I got past the first 30ish pages this story really sped up for me and was a very easy read that dealt with difficult topics.

I have enjoyed E. Lockhart's last two books so when I saw this was coming out, I jumped at the chance to read it. While I thought this was going to be one of my favourite reads of the year, it offers a new and interesting take on the time-travel genre.

First I want to say that I got a copy from Netgalley and I had a physical copy and I was swapping between the two of them. I found that the physical copy has clear differences between the parts where times change and this does not happen on my copy. I was then a little confused about the changes happening so a little warning.

One of the reasons why I enjoyed this book so much was the focus on family. I think the relationship with her brother was really special and I love a good sibling relationship but we don't often get a lot of them in YA that I have read before. I also really liked Toby as a character and as a whole, I think the characters are really complex.

I think it is safe to say that Adelaide goes through a lot in this book and I think E. Lockhart shows this and how messy life can be. She is failing school and we are very aware that her boyfriend was not the best and that she is just trying to make the best out of her situation. In this respect, I found her very easy to connect with.

With Jack and the other relationships, it was so easy to see that there was hope with her relationship and that things could be better. I also liked Jack most of the time but the changes allow us to see how different the outcomes can be. This is where a lot of the different outcomes come from and I liked that it was often a small change that could create this massive ripple effect and change. This was a nice way to do the changes and I liked it as part of the story.

I am going to admit that I was so hyped for this book and I was so ready to fall in love with it but it did not happen. It's sad because her writing is so good in parts and I could feel myself being head over heels in love with the book but then it didn't happen. I think some of this might be to do with the ending because I think for me it came out of left-field and the romantic element was really surprising. I think because I was so off guard I couldn't appreciate the story fully and this hindered my enjoyment.

I think that this is one book where I need to reread it because I feel like I would gain so much more on a reread especially because it's a short read anyway.

The Verdict:

Again Again is a new addition to the 'new futures' genre that intertwines family and relationships to create a pitch-perfect contemporary about how the smallest decisions can change everything.

I have loved every book E.Lockhart has written and this proved to be no different, my only complaint is that I finished it too soon!
I'd be lying if I hadn't played through important scenarios in my mind, imagining all the different outcomes and how my life could change with each one. Incredibly thoughtfully written and comfortably explores teenage angst without downplaying the intense emotions we all felt at that age

DNF at 50%

I struggled with this Contemporary YA quite early on. It's a plot of alternating realities, what-ifs, maybe it could have played out another way. It was confusing initially, but even when I settled into it, I didn't gel with the idea of these characters replaying events and finding different ways to end a scene or situation. Because of this, I basically didn't really care about the characters so I decided not to push on. I think if you like the idea of repetitive scenes played out differently, this might work for you. Ultimately, it just wasn't my style.

I've decided to rate this one because I got halfway and had a good feel for the book.

Thank you to Hot Key Books for the early review copy. I'm just sorry this one didn't work for me.

This book just was such a disappointment for me and it kills me to say that.

I want to say that I went into this book with high expectations. I have read three of E. Lockhart's book and loved We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud (Fly on the Wall was a meh book for me but was one of her first books so I let it slide). As soon as I saw a new E.Lockhart book I knew I needed to read it but honestly, I wish I hadn’t.

Whilst I loved the premise and trusted E. Lockhart's beautiful writing style, this book felt all over the place and honestly, I ended up skim reading most of the book up to the end. I was adamant that I wasn’t going to DNF it but I really should have. I did not enjoy this book, I did not like the style nor the alterative realities. It was confusing and I had to keep going back to figure out what had actually happened.

I only like instalove when it’s done in a unique way and for me, this book missed the mark. It felt weird and I just did not like it. I also didn’t like the relationship she had with her ex-boyfriend. The only thing that kept me reading this book was for the relationship between Adelaide and her brother but even then I began to loose interest.

I hate writing this review because I have really liked E. Lockhart’s most recent books but this book just wasn’t for me. It’s been getting a lot of good reviews from other people so please don’t let me review influence your decision if you’re an E. Lockhart fan.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK – Hot Keys Books for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

‘Again, Again’ is a quick read partly told in multiple universes. This choice from the author made it a very interesting read and it was definitely a unique spin on young adult writing. I had a love hate relationship with the multiple universes. On one hand, I loved seeing the story play out in different ways but on the other hand, I sometimes found that it felt a little disjointed and confusing.

This book is a story of young love, hope and family and I really liked how well the author addressed addiction with the storyline of Adelaide’s brother Toby. The relationship between the siblings is what kept me invested in ‘Again, Again’.

If you’re looking for a fast, young adult read then I would definitely recommend this one. You may also like it if you enjoyed ‘The Unexpected Everything’ by Morgan Matson.

As a fan of E Lockhart since reading We Were Liars, although I wasn’t expecting anything similar, I think she is trying something very different with the telling of this story.
Although interested in what was going to happen in Adelaides life, the repeating plot with slight variations made the story tricky to follow and there were times when I wasn’t actually sure what had happened.

Overall, a good story, but in a complicated way of being written.

‪A mind-bending, chaotic, sad, romantic and desperately beautiful book. I love Lockhart’s writing and the way it can be so simple yet devastating. ‬

I went into this book knowing nothing about it and was captivated by the first page. Lockhart manages to take a complex idea (multiverses) and turn it into an engaging and beautiful story.

The relationship between Adelaide and Toby was heartbreaking to read but felt so true to life.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this!

I really liked "Again Again". It's a YA, but it reads like an "adult" novel, the themes that are discussed are so real and raw, both tragic and beautiful, in an amazingly "grown-up" voice. I really enjoyed reading this, and I found it quite different from her previous books I've read before. It can get a bit confusing being that the reader can read different scenarios at once, but once you catch on to that, it's less confusing.
Overall, I would definitely recommend it.

After recovering from difficult times with her family, and first heartbreak, Adelaide Buchwald is spending her summer walking dogs for money, and trying to catch up on her school work to fix her failing grades. She meets Jack, and immediately feels a spark between them.
The difference in this story is that we see several different versions of meetings, texts, conversations, in order to show how they would have worked out - the multiverse theory. This happens on a smale scale throughout the book, then also the larger story is split into two large versions.
It took me a while to fall into a rhythm with this book, due to the style it was written in. The best thing about Again Again for me was the storyline between Adelaide and her brother Toby, a recovering drug addict. I really felt Adelaide's anger, disappointment, and sense of grief at the relationship with her brother she has lost, while trying to have compassion and start a relationship with this new brother.

DNF @ 34%

I loved We Were Liars by this author but I just could not get into this.. I didn’t get what was going on the entire time and it took too long to get answers.. I also wasn’t a fan of the writing at all, and the layout of the e-arc made it even harder to read/fully get into it. A shame, but I didn’t see the point of continuing this for the moment.

I have never been so captivated by an author's writing style as I am by E. Lockhart's. 'Again Again' returns to the style of writing- somewhat poetic, metaphorical and at the same time, often very simplistic- that she uses in 'We Were Liars,' and it is a style that never fails to impress me.

This story is about Adelaide and a summer spent at Alabaster Prep, navigating through life in a variety of different ways and discovering who she truly is and what she is looking for from life. The different paths that her life takes in this time vary from minutely different to entirely life-altering as she finds herself falling in and out out love, grief and happiness in a variety of scenarios.

The content of this story is incredibly simple and realistic, to the point that it maybe shouldn't have been as captivating as it was, but I found myself desperately turning the pages to keep going and find out what happened next. I cared about every alternative possibility as much as the first and found that the changes between universes were perfectly timed to keep me interested. I also found that the short chapters and 'parts' of this book kept it very fast-paced and easy to read.

In terms of the setting, I was thrilled when I realised that it's the same school that appears in 'The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.' The various subtle references to this book reminded me that this is a setting that has been explored before and that I am now desperate to revisit. And the characters, though obviously entirely different to those in Lockhart's other book, fitted into this setting very well.

This book is very intelligent in a lot of ways, but I think I was most impressed by the character development, which was certainly one of the most important parts of the story. Although I found the majority of the characters to be fascinating, Toby resonated very strongly with me. His voice is so clear, even in short message threads, and when he speaks about how he feels about his former self, it is raw and believable to the point that it is almost painful to read. Adelaide herself similarly speaks with raw honesty and it makes her one of the most accessible protagonists I've ever read. When Adelaide falls in love in this story, you can't help but believe that it's real. And when she realises her mistakes, you realise them too. I felt very much in tune with her, as though I was living her story, rather than just reading it.

There are so many words I could use to describe this book that I find it difficult to sum up. 'Again Again' is somehow both beautifully poetic and painfully realistic, with poignant, comedic and heart-breaking moments scattered throughout. I can tell that this is a book that I'll be forcing everyone I know to read and, despite only finishing it an hour ago, I'm already considering picking it up and starting again.

Again Again is beautiful and poignant exploration love. Be it learning to love others or yourself and the forms love can take, the highs and the lows and how it shapes you as a person,