By Melissa Khan
Barrett Bloom’s first day of college is disastrous, to say the least. The sheer embarrassment she faces would be enough to make anyone wish for a do-over. So, when Barrett wakes up the next morning—not in the place she fell asleep, but back in her dorm room—she’s surprised to find that it’s September 21st…again! After living through the day again and again, Barrett starts to suspect that she isn’t alone in this frozen pocket of time. She forms a tentative relationship with Miles, the snarky boy from her Physics 101 class, who she discovers has been trapped there for months. Together, the two embark on a journey through time, trying to find their way out of this infinite loop and back to their regular selves.
I’ve always been wary of Groundhog Day-type books because I worry they could become repetitive. The days as Barrett experiences them are interesting and adventurous largely due to how bold Barrett is as a character. Her humour feels authentic, and her voice is charming. From the beginning, I wanted to root for this character. Her feelings about being trapped in a time loop were realistic, whether in her incredulousness, feelings of despair, or hopefulness for all the possibilities it could bring.
The most well-paced and thought-out aspect of the novel was her relationship with Miles, who she couldn’t stand at first. He was the rude boy who humiliated her in class for seemingly no reason and slowly but steadily became closer to her than anyone else had in years. The trauma Barrett experienced from high school that isolated her in the first place didn’t feel like a plot device thrown in just to give her a personality. When the secret of what happened to her unfolded, I found myself near tears, enraged for her. And I wasn’t surprised to learn that Miles shared my reaction. Their romance was sweet and tender, and I loved watching their friendship blossom and grow.
My trick with time travel stories is not to pay too much attention to the hows and whys of what is happening and just enjoy the story for what it is. Suspension of disbelief is the name of the game. I was delighted by the banter between Barrett and Miles and their different approaches to figuring out their predicament. It was so interesting and totally didn’t send me down an existential spiral. However, I do feel like the ending could have been stronger if it didn’t rely as heavily on the “magical” element of theoretical physics. I felt not for the first time reading that some things happen a little too coincidentally, which can take away from better-explained aspects of the story.
I felt giggly reading this story. I smiled countless times as I lived each new day with these characters. It was heartwarming and funny and gave us characters who learned how to be brave and embrace the parts of them that made them unique. I encourage everyone to get to know Barrett and Miles as I did.
Thank you, Simon & Schuster Canada, for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.