Note: I received an advanced copy of this book – and these are my honest thoughts.

Publication Date: May 17, 2022

Blurb

Barrett Bloom is hoping college will be a fresh start after a messy high school experience. But when school begins on September 21st, everything goes wrong. She’s humiliated by the know-it-all in her physics class, she botches her interview for the college paper, and at a party that night, she accidentally sets a frat on fire. She panics and flees, and when she realizes her roommate locked her out of their dorm, she falls asleep in the common room.

The next morning, Barrett’s perplexed to find herself back in her dorm room bed, no longer smelling of ashes and crushed dreams. It’s September 21st. Again. And after a confrontation with Miles, the guy from Physics 101, she learns she’s not alone—he’s been trapped for months.

When her attempts to fix her timeline fail, she agrees to work with Miles to find a way out. Soon they’re exploring the mysterious underbelly of the university and going on wild, romantic adventures. As they start falling for each other, they face the universe’s biggest unanswered question yet: what happens to their relationship if they finally make it to tomorrow?

Review

I genuinely just really enjoyed this book a lot. The first few chapters, when we experience Barrett’s first real day of class, brought up some seriously realistic memories of the awkwardness of arriving at college with no friends, some dreams, not a ton of fitting in, some awkwardness, and the fear that you won’t be able to become who you were meant to be. I was slightly relieved when I made it through that first day, because, once upon a time, I felt literally everything Barrett was.

I found myself laughing and crying, two of my favorite emotions to feel as a reader. I just really rooted for Barrett as a main character, a heroine of her own life, a true main character babe. I also rooted for Barrett and Miles as adventure buddies, researchers, freshmen in time-loop misery, figuring out how to move forward while they were literally stuck.

These characters were smart in their own way. It was inspiring to see how Barrett moved through her own grief and mistakes each day, even if the person she processed with wouldn’t remember them. How many times in life do we wonder, if I’d have made a different choice, how would things be different? Barrett and Miles get to experience that, and it’s such a fun and insightful part of this story.

I also loved that they worked through all the standard, “WHAT WOULD YOU DO?” scenarios if you were ever stuck in a time loop – spend all your money, adopt all the dogs, buy the ice cream truck, travel to a bucket list destination, change someone’s life, kiss, eat the food, and so on. Their adventures, which eventually just turned into Barrett and Miles doing things together, reminded me that time is precious. I loved that, for a moment, they stopped trying to get out of the loop and instead enjoyed the time they were given.

The final thing I really enjoyed about this book was how Miles and Barrett both interacted with people. They were both OBVIOUSLY 18-year-olds in some moments, but in others, they shared some hard truths and really big life experiences with the people they love. Their circles might be small friend-wise, but they both have people in their lives that meant a lot to them. It was a great reminder that we don’t need a huge circle of friends to be happy and fulfilled. Sometimes, you just need your mom to be your best friend and a special someone who helps keep your life interesting. And that’s OKAY.

I don’t read a ton of YA, but I loved this story so much. It was mature, with all of the angsty, lovey, hopeful feelings that I loved. A big fat five stars. I will be purchasing this book to have on my shelf – I loved it that much!

Rating: 5 Stars