The premise of this book sounded so fun and I always enjoy a good parallel universe/time travel-ish story. Mary wishes she can undo one of her biggest regrets and because she's a Mulligan, she can. How lucky?

Through the first part of the book, it was a bit hard to get into the story because I didn't like any of the characters. Mary is extremely whiny and naive for a grown woman, she reads like a 16 year old. Dean has no personality what so ever and Kendra for some reason is hella aggressive and rude to her mom (Mary). Darbi who is Mary's cryptic cousin tells her about the Mulligan curse so matter of factly and did almost nothing to stoop her that I wanted to punch her in the face.

Then when Mary wakes up in her younger self's body, things start to pick up. I liked the young characters later introduced. They really are what kept me going because I still didn't like Mary and wasn't rooting for her one bit. This woman seemed like she didn't enjoy herself a single moment in either of her lives. What's the point of getting to redo the past 30 years if you're still moaning and yapping all the time!

However, I really started enjoying myself when we meet Dean again. I loved the tension and the drama. I loved that he gets a little bit of personality and backstory. I wish we could've gotten more of that. I also loved her relationship with the fireman, and the party scene was soo fun.

Overall, I didn't hate the book, but I feel like it still needs a little work. I want to like the characters and not feel like they could literally be swapped with one another and it wouldn't even matter. I want to have reason to root for Mary and be sad and happy for her. I want to see her enjoying herself a little. I want to know more about the random uncle that's just mentioned in passing. I want Darbi to be a proper mentor.

Mary Mulligan unknowingly suffers from the Mulligan Curse. As she begins to regret her past decisions, her wisdom teeth start to emerge, causing her significant pain. Despite her cousin Darbi's pleas, she decides to remove the teeth herself. When she wakes up, she finds herself in her early twenties, no longer in her fifties with a husband who irks her and a grown daughter moving across the globe. This unexpected opportunity allows her to change her biggest life regret, but the catch is that her previous life never existed.

The Mulligan Curse serves as a poignant reminder to never take those we love for granted. Life can change in an instant, and it is too short to harbor regrets or to remain silent about our needs. Mary's adventure through the past, along with the lessons she learns, is both endearing and enlightening for any reader, especially for those who may feel a bit lost.

Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 ⭐

Nice concept. Good execution. 

A bit heavy on the "How hadn't she realized that?" and "Dean's wife and Kendra's mother" sometimes. But otherwise quite good. 

Reminded me of the film "About Time" with time travel being an important but not too important an element and the focus more on the character and character development than a complicated plot. 

Recommended. 👍

I really loved reading this book. Following Mary at the start living with regrets and then the second chance to go back and change her life but is it for the better ?
I found it an easy book to read and was able to follow the story without any issues. So pleased I got to read it . Thanks NetGalley

I enjoyed the premise of this book. I am a sucker for anything time travel related, particularly when it is about what one can learn from going on such an adventure. I immediately fell in love with the main character - Mary and couldn’t wait to see what decisions she would make. This is a sign of a well crafted and written book. 📕 An enjoyable read!

Mary Mulligan's life seems to be in a rut—her relationship feels stale, her career is stagnant, her daughter is moving overseas to escape her overbearing presence, and to top it off, her wisdom teeth are causing her pain. When she learns that removing those teeth could erase 30 years and take her back to a critical moment in her past, she decides to take the leap. Suddenly, Mary finds herself in the present but with a younger body and a fresh start in her career.

While the book offers a heartwarming exploration of second chances and appreciating what you have, it didn’t quite resonate with me. The time travel aspect didn’t captivate me, and I found it difficult to connect with Mary as a character. Despite the decent writing, it wasn’t enough to fully engage me in the narrative. I can see how this story might appeal to others, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

This is a light chick-flick, breezy and extremely fast to read. I had expected more fantasy rather than a quick Crazy Friday gimmick, so I was a little disappointed. I'm definitely not the intended audience, I was not very interested or sorry for Mary which explains why I wasn't very much into it, a shame since I think we need more books with mature heroes.

I loved this time slip novel. The main character, Mary Mulligan, is so well drawn - I completely believed in her regrets and insecurities. There's a lesson to be learnt from the way Mary blames her dissatisfaction with her life on one 'wrong' decision. Life is never that cut and dried, as Mary discovers when the 'Mulligan curse' allows her to go back to do things all over again. Maybe it would be good for all of us to have the chance to see our lives from a different perspective the way Mary does! All time slip stories require the reader to suspend her disbelief, but I willingly and easily did so for The Mulligan Curse, tearing through the pages, eager to find out how it ended. Fabulous stuff!

This was a fluffy, light page-turner that was perfect for the beach. I was a little disappointed because it was billed as sci-fi - the main character is feeling dissatisfied and chooses to "reboot" her life before a major decision. However, it was much more of a domestic, chick-lit type novel, and the time-travel aspect didn't really make sense. Mary is in her 50s and regrets giving up her chance at a major news network to stay with her fiance and have a family. She is told about an Irish family curse where she can restart her life, and jumps at the chance with an annoying lack of prepearation or details, and a large number of chapters are just about her realising the very obvious consequences of her actions. When she wakes up as a 24 year old, she is still in the present day but now has the chance to become a TV anchor. The whole premise seemed a little out of date as becoming a nightly TV news anchor doesn't seem like the ideal career for an ambitious woman in 2024! In addition, Mary is only really interested in fluffy feel good news pieces about lost dogs and ice cream. It becomes very clear early on that Mary hasn't appreciated her previous life, husband and daughter, and the rest of the novel is her working hard to get them back. It's a light hearted book with a very strong message of appreciating what you have.

I like the idea of The Mulligan Curse - the ability to go back in time and have a do-over and make different decisions. However, the main character, Mary, was quite naive to not think it through that this would alter her life path. I did skim over some of the chapters as it felt repetitive but overall a pleasant light read.

A delightful and thought-provoking read! Mary Mulligan's journey is a relatable and charming exploration of identity, family, and the choices we make in life. I loved how the author weaved together themes of love, loss, and self-discovery, all while maintaining a lighthearted and humorous tone.

Mary's character development is fantastic, and I found myself rooting for her from the very beginning. Her struggles with loneliness, regret, and the search for meaning are deeply human, and her growth throughout the story is inspiring.

The premise of the Mulligan curse is clever and adds a fun touch of magic to the narrative. The writing is engaging, and the pacing is well-balanced, making this a quick and enjoyable read.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a heartwarming and uplifting story about embracing life's second chances. Mary's story will resonate with anyone who's ever wondered "what if?" and will leave you smiling long after the final page is turned.

From the author of All We Could Still Have comes a charming tale about one woman who embraces a family curse, laying bare the dreams we give up—and the chances we take to get them back.

First of all, I would like to thank Lake Union Publishing for giving me this free Arc and especially Netgalley. Thank you to these publishers for the opportunity to read this book for free and in advance. I would like to thank the author of this book for writing this story. I really appreciate your work, and I hope you create and write more stories!❤️❤️

I've never heard of this book before, and when I was searching for a book to read on Netgalley, I found this one. The title captured my interest in reading this book because I also liked reading mystery and adventure books, so I tried to read this one. After reading this book, I liked the story and the plot. It was witty and had a touch of humor, and it was kind of appealing. I like the main character here, which is Mary, because she's a kind of funny person😍😍.

I will give this book 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars because the story is good and because of how the author wrote it. I recommend this book for readers who love to read mystery books, adventures, and sci-fi. I like the plot of this book, which is more interesting, and it hooked me up for some chapters of the book. I love time travel books because they are interesting and imaginative.📚

Mary Mulligan is in her mid-fifties. She resides with her husband, who is obsessed golfer. Not long ago, Kendra, her daughter, relocated to London. Mary regrets giving up the chance to become a news anchor on a popular television show, and has a strained relationship with her husband and daughter.

When reflecting on her life as a homemaker and regrets about missed chances, her wisdom teeth begin to throb. She goes to her cousin Darbi, who alerts her about the Mulligan curse.

The Mulligan curse is no laughing matter; when wisdom teeth are extracted, the individual is transported back in time. Mary had her wisdom teeth taken out and is now in her 20s working as a reporter at a local news station. Her husband and daughter are nowhere to be found, and the only individual who can assist her at this moment is Darbi.

Mary must choose between remaining in the present or returning, knowing that it could drastically alter her life.

I won't give away the ending, but the story was enjoyable and the plot was easy to foresee. I believe the conclusion was hastily done. However, the quality of the writing is excellent.

Mary Mulligan has bad toothache, having her wisdom teeth out will fix it but her cousin, Darbi, warns her that a family curse means that by doing so she will be taken back in time to undo any regrets she has from past decisions. Apparently the teeth were causing her pain because of her unhappiness, but she didn’t feel she could resolve it, so happily went back to her 24 year old self to re-do the past. The story then unfolds with Mary in a world that she knows, but also no longer properly fits in.

Mixed thoughts on this novel, but overall I did enjoy it and happily read through to the end. Some things were a little predictable, but the storyline gives you a reminder to look beyond what we regularly gripe about in life, see things from another’s perspective and be grateful for our blessings. Not only that, if we are unhappy get on and try to resolve things rather than moan about them and think ‘if only’. So a good storyline with some likeable characters and a satisfactory ending.

Mary Mulligan is in a bit of a bad spot. Her relationship is meh, she didn't do anything with her career, her daughter is feeling smothered and moving overseas, and her wisdom teeth are hurting. Then she finds out from her cousin that if she has them taken out, the years will be erased to return her to the thing she most regrets - following her boyfriend instead of her dream job.

So she has her wisdom teeth removed, and finds 30 years erased - she's in the present time, but in a younger body with a career ahead of her.

Of course, she finds that having a chance to do it all over isn't all she thought it would be. Of course, she realises that her relationship was pretty great, and she misses her daughter.

I won't spoil it and say how it ends. I will say that this was a nice read and it was lovely to read the reflection on an actually quite good life.

A good, positive, feel-good story.

A middle-aged woman discovers that she carries a genetic marker that causes her to get wisdom tooth pain when she starts to regret the decision she made in the past. This pain would end up in an extraction and after the extraction she would wake up back at the age before she made the regretted decision.
I love a good time travel novel and this is a complicated one as although the main character travels back in
Age, she is still in the same universe as her friends and family who have not gone back in age . I think this is the first time that I’ve read it on novel that works quite like this. It adds an additional complexity as the main character then has to Ilavoid people who already know her as they would notice that she suddenly looking 20 years younger.
The author has a clear easily read writing style. The novel was a fun enjoyable read which I read in one sitting.
I think they book could write make a good TV series or film. I wouldn’t be surprised if the rights were taken up quickly.
I’d recommend this novel to lovers a quirky time travel concept.

I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 4th of February 2025 by Lake union publishing
this will appear on NetGalley Goodreads and my book blog bionicSarahS books.WordPress.com after publication will also appear an Amazon UK

If you had the chance to go back in time, would you?

Mary Mulligan, the main character, is in her mid-50s. Her husband is always out golfing, and her daughter has just left home. Feeling downtrodden, she wonders why she chose to sacrifice her career to be a stay-at-home mom. The story follows her through her "family's curse," which takes her back to her 24-year-old self, giving her the chance to change history.

This book made me realize not to take anything for granted.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which was about second chances and family bonds. It was a very easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley.co.uk and Lake Union Publishing.

Mary Mulligan, an unhappy, mid-fifties stay-at-home mom, gets a chance to go back and undo one of her biggest regrets through a strange family curse triggered by the removal of her wisdom teeth.
Mary’s journey of self-discovery goes to show that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
The book is a charming, easy read, perfect for a summer holiday, and it raises interesting questions about life choices, making it a great pick for book clubs too📚

What would you do if you had the chance to go back and undo one of your life’s biggest regrets? Would you jump at the chance?

Well that’s what Mary did, without realising the consequences. Unhappy, mid fifties, stay at home mum Mary was given the opportunity to go back and make a different choice - in quite an unusual way I have to say! At first I thought the way she went “back” was so far fetched that I’d struggle to continue reading, but I’m so glad I did. However, the time travel to a different “time zone” confused me - it seemed odd that she was now 24 but everyone else was the same age.

I found this a really easy read, perfect for a summer beach holiday and read it so quickly. It definitely made me think about my own life choices over the years and if I would make the same choice as Mary. It would be a good choice for a book club as it would raise so many questions.

A sweet book, with a cute message behind it to see the positives in life - a lesson most of us could do with being reminded of!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mary is fifty-four years old and suffering from empty-nest syndrome. Should she have made different decisions in life? Maybe becoming a stay-at-home-mom wasn't the right decision after all? Fortunately, the family curse can help her here. All she needs to do is have her wisdom teeth extracted and she gets a chance to live her adult life anew. She gets thrown back in time to the point she's been mulling over and can make different decisions now with the full knowledge of her old/already lived life.

We need more books with (peri-)menopausal female leads. But can we please see strong women who support each other?

Mary was naive to think that she could travel back in time to try this other life on for size and then come back to her actual life with a golf-obsessed husband and a daughter in college. Mary's cousin Darby, who told her about the curse and that she had travelled back in time herself, deliberately kept information to herself, which felt like a very malignant plot device.

I gave up on the book at about 50% because the story was predictable from the start and I lost interest.