don't you want me was such a fun read! i loved the 80s setting, and the way the concept of time travel was tied to music was really well done. the pacing was great, i was never bored, and the writing was easy to get through for the most part (there were a few small errors, but i’m guessing those will be fixed in the final copy).

what didn’t work for me was the ending. without giving away spoilers, the way things wrapped up felt a bit too neat. it felt like the main character's problems were erased instead of actually resolved, which left me feeling a bit underwhelmed.

still, despite my mixed feelings about the way the book ended, i had a good time reading it—it’s easy to get into and overall just enjoyable, so i’m rounding up from 3.75 to four stars.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Talk about a reminder about being careful what you wish for! This book takes the time travel trope into the 1980s and it’s a wild ride - the twists of fate are consistently mixed in outcome and this makes for some tough decision points for the main character. The author focuses heavily on the action and there is not a lot of depth to the characters, but I found it didn’t really matter as I was so engrossed in what might happen with the next time jump - what might be lost and gained, I loved that no single outcome worked out for everyone as this lent some sense of credibility to the process. I also loved the time travelling trigger of a classic 80s pop song - too funny. It’s a really fun read.

Got this as an early arc from NetGalley! Thank you for the opportunity to have an early copy in exchange for a review.

I really wanted to love this because the premise is right up my alley. 80’s? I’m in! Time travel? Sign me up. Unconventional love story? Yes, yes. Unfortunately the writing for me felt like reading someone’s journal or middle school wattpad writing and needed a lot more edits. The dialogue was extremely flat and gave me no depth to these people. There was little to no character building with our FMC and MMC. I really didn’t understand what made Adam so appealing to begin with. Her best friend was incredibly harsh, but I also don’t know if I could support my best friend being in love with and having an affair with a married man while she’s cheating on her own husband.

I really hope this writer can come back with a better love story, but keep it within the same time period.

I love time travel books, and this one was definitely one good contender! I mean, I did cry at the end. While I didn’t love the characters, I really enjoyed the back-and-forth trips to the eighties. The writing was easy to read, so I flew through the book, and there was just enough tension to keep me hooked. Plus, I always love a good diner scene.

Overall, this was a great take on the time travel genre!

Thank you to NetGalley, Post Hill Press and the author, Derlys Maria Gutiérrez for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying one of my favorite genres in Time Travel, especially when the characters are about my age. So when I saw the description for this book, I knew I needed to read it. While I really liked the idea of this book, I found it a bit frustrating at times. Most of the characters are unlikable, which isn’t a deal breaker, but does not help. I also found it a bit repetitive especially within the same paragraphs. Again, not terrible. I loved that the book took place in NY and at a University for part of the book. I thought it was a very creative story. My rating is a 3.5 and rounded up.

Don't You Want Me is a quirky story of Lisa, a 40 year old married woman who after suffering the loss of her infant son, turns to an affair with Adam to help heal her pain. The story begins with Lisa waiting for her married lover at the train station, only to discover that he is not coming for their rendez-vous. Lisa is distraught and begins to wish that she had met Adam before he was married to his wife, Stephanie, and she was married to her husband, Adam. As she is daydreaming of what could've been, the 80's song "Don't you Want Me" by Human League begins to play and she is somehow magically transported back in time to the year 1982, where she, Adam, Stephanie and Marcus are students at Columbia University. Lisa uses this opportunity to alter the past, with the hope that she can curate the future she has wished for with Adam.

The story progresses with Lisa travelling back and forth in time between present day 2008 and back to 1982, with a series of changes to her life. The time travel is always prompted when hearing the song, "Don't You Want Me." Adding Stephanie, her married lover's wife, to her time-travel, Lisa and Stephanie form a friendship and their lives seem to reverse with each passage, sharing the role of wife, mother, and homemaker to Adam's family. Both women realize that their lives with Adam, who the both desperately want to be with, is not all they hoped for. Each passage through time leads Lisa through more drama as she struggles to bring her life, and Stephanie's back to normal in the year 2008.

I enjoyed the premise of the story and the 80's references. The story was fun and witty, but lacked a lot of substance. Nothing prolific for the reader, but a fun voyage back in time for the 40 and above age group.

What a journey!

<i>Don’t You Want Me</i> is about magic of songs. Well, one song. You might have guessed the title. You’ve probably heard it. But when you did, your reaction was unlike Lisa’s – you probably didn’t travel in time (not literally, at least) to discover your life, and later your unwilling companion’s, changed.

This book is a wild rollercoaster ride. Every time when I thought I finally knew what was going to happen next, the song came on… and things turned upside down. Lisa is bewildered and lost; so was I. This is magical realism at its finest – bordering on urban fantasy – and the Eighties are as vivid and hairsprayed as when I was a kid envying Phil Oakey’s hair with my entire self.

I am not entirely sure whether the version of the book I have read was final (I received a free ARC via NetGalley. This didn’t influence my opinion) but the prose was occasionally clunky, and the proofreader might have slipped once or twice. Apart from three continuity mistakes, but I can forgive those in a book so full of plot twists and time travel altering the realities, I really enjoyed <i>Don’t You Want Me</i>. I’d recommend it to fans of Marian Keyes, <i>The Knight Rider</i>, and Eighties’ pop culture, be it movies, speculative fiction, or The Human League.

<i>My ratings:
5* = this book changed my life
4* = very good
3* = good
2* = I should have DNFed
1* = actively hostile towards the reader*</i>

This book is lighthearted, it made me feel good. It gave me all the 80’s feel, which I loved. I really liked the female main character in this story, but I felt her best friend was annoying at times. It’s about time travel. She is a 40 year old woman that goes back in time as a teenager. This book gave me 13 going on 30 movie vibes, but in reverse. It had humor, romance vibes and gave me all the nostalgia feels. I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars!

Don’t You Want Me is a book about a woman named Lisa Williams, who is going through a failed marriage and cheats on him with a guy named Adam. Oh, and Adam is Married as well. She sits in her car and the song comes on “Don’t you want me baby” on the radio and gets transported back in the 80’s where she is in College. She is now an eighteen year old. She goes back in fourth time traveling, trying to convince her true love is Adam. Will this end in a happy ending or become completely disastrous?

Thank you to NetGalley, author Derlys Maria Gutiérrez, and Post Hill Press | Regalo Press for this digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review. All thought and opinions are my own.

This book is set to be published on April 29, 2025!