About the Book
-
Author:
- Chatham Greenfield
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- Jewish
- Lesbian
- Non-Binary
- White
Cover Story: Cute
BFF Charm: Big Sister
Talky Talk: Time and Time Again, and Again, and Again …
Bonus Factors: Disability Representation, Found Family
Relationship Status: See You August 7
Cover Story: Cute
This is one of those rare illustrated covers that stands out from amongst the crowd. It’s a perfect description of the two main characters and the blue Volkswagon Beetle that is almost a character in itself. It also shows the prettier side of Florida, which can be hard to do these days. (And I mean no disparagement to anyone who lives in Florida; I mean, I live in Texas …)
The Deal:
Phoebe has been stuck living August 6 over and over again for more than a month. She’s not sure how she got stuck in a time loop, nor how to get out. Some days she’s fine living through yet another August 6, but others she spends cooped up in her room, suffering from her debilitating IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Most every day, though, she passes by her old friend Jess on her walk to her dad’s house. They don’t speak, but it reminds Phoebe every day of The Incident, when Jess kissed her freshman year during a questionable game of school-wide Assassin.
Then one day Jess bumps a distracted Phoebe with her car. And then everything changes.
BFF Charms: Big Sister
I feel, almost physically, for Phoebe. I’ve had my fair share of embarrassing moments, anxiety attacks, body issues, and stomach problems, so I can empathize with her plight(s). That said, I know nothing of pain that’s so bad it makes me black out, and I have never been kissed by a person I could love, then dropped like a hot potato. Phoebe needs a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold, and I’ve love to be that person for her, even if I’d forget and reset like everyone else in her life the minute the clock strikes 6:40 a.m. (or thereabouts) every August 7 morning.
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Time and TIme Again is, at its heart, a romance. And it’s a very sweet romance, filled with some very swoony moments. But the swoon took a back seat, for me, to Phoebe’s issues. And although Jess is a great person and they make a great couple, I wanted more from their chemistry.
Talky Talk: Time and Time Again, and Again, and Again …
I love me a good time loop story. I love reading/watching the various antics people get up to when they know they’re just going to wake up in the same place every morning. Time and Time Again has some of those antics—one in particular is particularly fist-pumpingly cathartic—and I love that Jess tries their best to push Phoebe out of her comfort zone. (I know if I were to ever get stuck in a time loop, I’d likely let the monotony drag me down, too.) Although they live very different lives than mine, Phoebe and Jess are both well-rounded, complex individuals. And Greenfield makes Florida sound like a lovely place to visit, which surprised me, given that the main characters are a fat lesbian with a chronic illness and a nonbinary lesbian with a disability. (Again, I live in Texas.)
Bonus Factor: Disability Representation
Phoebe’s IBS is terrible, and she spends a lot of the book in the bathroom. At times, the bathroom talk got a little too graphic for my taste, but I understand why Greenfield wanted to make it clear that invisible disabilities are just as hard as the more obvious ones. Jess, too, has a form of Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, that necessitates the use of a can or walker to get around. I’ve not a read a book that featured either of these issues until now, and I appreciate that Chatfield wanted to draw attention to lesser-known conditions.
Bonus Factor: Found Family
Through hanging out with Jess, Phoebe’s introduced to her brother and her brother’s band, all of which are the best of friends. Jess doesn’t have much in the way of a good support system at home, other than her brother, and it’s great to see how she lights up around the band members. Phoebe, too, feels an immediate kinship with them. And even when she has to meet them over and over again, she knows that she has found a place to belong.
Relationship Status: See You August 7
It was great spending so many August 6ths with you, Book. I know it was a struggle for you, but you’ve come out the other side the better for it—and we would never have met if it weren’t for the loop!
Literary Matchmaking
Rachel Lynn Solomon’s See You Yesterday is another time-loop romance.
Robbie Crouch’s If I See You Again Tomorrow is another queer time-loop romance.
Justin A. Reynolds’s Opposite of Always is another time-loop romance with more dire consequences.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Bloomsbury YA, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. Time and Time Again is available now.
