This twisty novel from the New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud asks: What if there were infinite universes and infinite ways to fall in love?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 … 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.
“Inventive, philosophical and romantic.” –GAYLE FORMAN, #1 New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay
Don’t miss, Family of Liars, the eagerly anticipated prequel to the New York Times Bestselling phenomenon, We Were Liars. Available in May 2022!
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E. Lockhart has done it again in this twisty, inventive, philosophical and romantic story about the many ways a person can find, lose, and understand love.
Adelaide Buchwald is a student going through her summer vacation as a dog walker and finding her place in the world. She has an interesting backstory that affects her outlook on life and love. Adelaide’s family backstory is a loaded one, which most likely has contributed to how and why her character is what she is, aside from coming into an “impressionable age.”
I would like first to mention: this book got me confused and overthinking, given the many alternatives and “repeated scenes.” I understand that the author might want to do something “new” to storytelling, but the book can get a bit confusing as one follows a scenario then is brought back into the scene with another thing happening. I appreciate the possible innovation from the author. Yes, it is a very new take to the genre. The book reminds me of the movie Groundhog’s Day or the 80s/90s book series, Choose Your Own Adventure, with them having different choices to a scene. It is good to note that this technique might work in the movies. It is another for a book. For one, the book scenes when a “repeat” is not delineated or given a “heads-up” that comes from another end. So readers, like myself, who might already be invested in the scene and commit to the story, may get lost with having it repeat again with alternative scenarios to the story.
Sticking true to the theme of the young adult genre and navigating through a tenuous stage in life – college, peer pressure, friendships, addiction, and love, the author shows readers things are not simple. There are too many variables for anyone to state that Adelaide should have done it one way or another. The other characters interacting with her are very inconsistent. There are many times that I cursed out in frustration, not because of Adelaide but because of the people (her love interest) who make her feel invalid at times. If her love life is crumbling, her family life does get better with help from others, so that’s a good upside in the end.
The author’s introduction later on to alternative universes and outcomes is refreshing. Repetitive and tedious at times, but it resets the scenes’ tone. I liked how many other “paths” Adelaide could have taken (more than two in the book) that would have made an enormous difference in her growth and maturity in handling life and love. There were many angst and gut-wrenching moments that kept “rewinding,” even with different alternatives. It was consuming my whole outlook at times.
In summary, Again Again is a book about growing up, facing hard choices, and finding oneself without others how to live.
I love the many options/opportunities presented to readers. It gives us hope that in some alternative universe, our choice would have been made by Adelaide. There will be many outcomes, but Adelaide had to run through the possible “bad mistakes” to learn and grow. The ending made me feel that there are still many things that need to happen – like the ending is only the start of something bigger and better for Adelaide and the people.
This book was not for me, but I am sure other readers would enjoy this type of storytelling. Many confusing things were going in, and even after midway through, I still had to “push” myself, which is why it was a mildly frustrating and long read. Although the book is not something I expected, I finished it and understood Adelaide and the author’s points.
3.5 stars?? I’m having a hard time rating Again Again. I’m a fan of E. Lockhart, especially of We Were Liars, but her latest book didn’t capture my attention like I hoped it would.
I did enjoy the setup and plot of the story. I like Adelaide and her family. I like her friends. But, I found the alternate versions somewhat confusing. I do think I would have enjoyed it if I’d read it in print form as opposed to an eARC. I was also reading it mostly at night with a black background which made the different and bold fonts that delineated the alternate versions harder to detect.
This is a quick read, but I didn’t find myself wanting to pick it up much. Once I reached the halfway point of the book, I enjoyed it more. The story picked up and I felt more comfortable with the alternate story lines and the characters. The best part of the book is the relationship between Adelaide and her brother, Toby. I even found myself teary-eyed a few times. I do think this one deserves attention, and I hope everyone else has a better experience than I did.
In this book we meet Adelaide, a teenager on the summer before her senior year, her summer job is dog walking (dream job, right?). Right at the beginning of the book we know that Adelaide and her boyfriend of always a year have broken up and she is pretty sad about. But, at the park with the dogs she meets a boy and the book takes off from there. Adelaide, plays a few scenarios of what could happen with this boy, if she talked to him or if she ignored him, or if an accident with the dogs happened and he helped her or if he just ignored her. The world could go a lot of different ways depending on how one conversation starts or doesn’t start.
We also get to see Adelaide’s relationship with her brother, which in my opinion is the most important and the main point in this book. Adelaide’s brother has gone through something that changed their whole family, but especially change his and Adelaide’s relationship and throughout the book we see what happened and how she can do to change their relationship to be the way they were before or leave how it is now or making worse. What will she do?
Again and again life can change and you make can the changes however you want, you just have to be careful how you do it. Right?
E. Lockhart writes in a way that makes you think about life…think twice before you speak, and never forget to forgive!
4 out of 5 stars
My favorite books are those that are hilarious, poignant, utterly unique and brimming with realistic, lovable characters (preferably including dogs). This book doesn’t just have all these elements. It has them in multiple universes. I loved it.