Again Again by E. Lockhart Published by Allen & Unwin on June 2nd 2020
Source: Publisher
Genres: Young Adult, Magical Realism, Contemporary
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From the New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud comes a complex novel about acceptance, forgiveness, self-discovery, and possibility, as a teenage girl attempts to regain some sense of normalcy in her life after a family crisis and a broken heart.
If you could live your life again, what would you do differently?
After a near-fatal family catastrophe and an unexpected romantic upheaval, Adelaide Buchwald finds herself catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will fall in and out of love a thousand times--while finally confronting the secrets she keeps, her ideas about love, and the weird grandiosity of the human mind.
A raw, funny story that will surprise you over and over, Again Again gives us an indelible heroine grappling with the terrible and wonderful problem of loving other people.
The Good Things
- Loved the idea of the multiverse! I was keen to see how it worked in a contemporary, since it’s usually more of a sci-fi thing.
- I’d also heard a lot about E. Lockhart’s thrillers so was excited to try one of her books.
- The dogs! They’re hilarious. Each had its own personality. They were my favourite part.
- The way the multiverse was used was interesting. Rather than parallel worlds progressing alongside the plot, it was more exploring the different outcomes of potential actions.
- It was more than a fluffy romance. There are deeper issues, like family members with an opioid addiction and depression.
The Not-So-Good Things
- I wasn’t connecting with the story or the characters at all. I was bored.
- There are parts written in verse, which I’ve never particularly liked, but it was also inconsistent and kept throwing me off.
- The multiverse was kind of underwhelming. I usually prefer multiverse stories that have the different worlds more involved in the plot.
- It was also confusing at times. The multiverses were illustrated by using different fonts but three different potential worlds all used the same font.
- Instalove. In the first chapter. I can’t.
- Angst about a first breakup was also getting old.
- I was just not feeling it. Maybe I’ll try it again someday and have a better experience…
I couldn’t get into this book. I read 100 pages but didn’t care about the characters. I found the concept of the multiverse/ parallel worlds interesting but not so much the way it was being done in this. Will I try this again one day? Maybe. But I’ve heard so many mixed things I doubt it. It just wasn’t for me.
Rating: DNF @ 35%
Have you read this? Did you have a better time with it than I did?
