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THE DO-OVER
Home is not merely a place, but also a time.Love calls neither master.Kimberly Ann “Kiki” Kinsler is a twenty-one year-old college student excited to be returning home to Portland, Oregon for summer break and eager to see her family. Instead of the happy homecoming that she anticipates, Kiki’s world is upended by an unimaginable tragedy. Her parents and younger sister are dead, victims of Little Mo Biggs, a tragically accidental monster, himself a victim of profound parental neglect and abuse.Kiki is also attacked and hospitalized but survives.In the hospital, when all appears lost, she is given an opportunity to wipe away the nightmare, to un-do it, and correct the senseless tragedy. A second chance, a wonderful, improbable, and miraculous gift, that doesn’t come easily.To reclaim her future, Kiki must first correct the injustices of Little Mo’s past, which only can be corrected at the root. In doing so, she learns that home is more than a place, it is also a time, and must confront the parallel challenges of life and love, past and present, in a love story with a foot in each world, 2012 and 1981.The Do-Over is a novel of hope, love and second chances.We all dream of a second chance.The question is how far would you go for yours?
289 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 9, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 3, 2019
Great sifi
Needs proof reading but a good storyline for sifi enthusiasts. Wish the ending followed up with the two main characters.
Needs proof reading but a good storyline for sifi enthusiasts. Wish the ending followed up with the two main characters.
July 30, 2012
May I say I'm in awe?
I just finished "The Do-Over" by Andrew Hessel and, well, it's been a while since I stopped what I had to do and did what I wanted to do: write this review. It's been a while since I finished a book by wasting one good hour of much needed sleep and then spent another 30 minutes laying awake thinking of it. It's been a while since I last ran to the computer to write a review.
That's not to say I didn't absolutelly love the books I finished reading before this one. That's just to say that The Do-Over has touched me. So let's do this!
Summary: Kimberly Ann “Kiki” Kinsler is a twenty-one year-old college student excited to be returning home to Portland, Oregon for summer break and eager to see her family. Instead of the happy homecoming that she anticipates, Kiki’s world is upended by an unimaginable tragedy. Her parents and younger sister are dead, victims of Little Mo Biggs, a tragically accidental monster, himself a victim of profound parental neglect and abuse. Kiki is also attacked and hospitalized but survives. In the hospital, when all appears lost, she is given an opportunity to wipe away the nightmare, to un-do it, and correct the senseless tragedy. A second chance, a wonderful, improbable, and miraculous gift, that doesn’t come easily. To reclaim her future, Kiki must first correct the injustices of Little Mo’s past, which can only be corrected at the root. In doing so, she learns that home is more than a place, it is also a time, and must confront the parallel challenges of life and love, past and present, in a love story with a foot in each world, 2012 and 1981.
Kiki is an ordinary undergrad student, with a best friend, two years out of her parents' house, just broke up with a crappy boyfriend... Until tragedy sets in.
Little Mo Biggs is a poor young man, with brain damage and badly abused.
Their paths cross and life will never be the same. Kiki will have to understand that evils can be undone, using The Gift, given by The Guardian.
There's also Jenna, who is Kiki's best friend and so much like my own best friend and my relationship with her that I could feel their relationship rather than reading it and there's Clark, who is Kiki's father's best friend and sort of like a favorite uncle to Kiki.
Now, I don't want to spoil anything, but I loved this book very badly. Just as the movie "Somewhere in Time" (which Kiki actually watched, back in 1981), we see, along with the people trying to fix the present/future, a love story. One that transcends time itself.
It saddens me. I don't understand people who think "Somewhere in Time" is a beautiful love story - it is a tragic love story, since whenthe guy goes back to his time, she is dead! I mean that's SO sad, she's lived all her life just to be able to give him the means to go back to her. It reminds me of Doctor Who (River Song's story, if anyone follows the series).
There's nothing just as tragic in The Do-Over, but there is something very similar and it broke my heart. The ending really hurt me and I hope we see more of Kiki Kinsler and that we actually see that part of the story fixed.
I only have one complaint and it is a minimal one... The descriptions of Oregon and the city of Portland are a bit too much and I got lost in them, since I don't know the city or the state and it made me feel strange reading all of that since it didn't add up to the plot. But still, it didn't bother me that much.
I really loved the book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good fantasy/sci-fi/love story. I mean, really, how can we have so many cool things all at once? :D
I just finished "The Do-Over" by Andrew Hessel and, well, it's been a while since I stopped what I had to do and did what I wanted to do: write this review. It's been a while since I finished a book by wasting one good hour of much needed sleep and then spent another 30 minutes laying awake thinking of it. It's been a while since I last ran to the computer to write a review.
That's not to say I didn't absolutelly love the books I finished reading before this one. That's just to say that The Do-Over has touched me. So let's do this!
Summary: Kimberly Ann “Kiki” Kinsler is a twenty-one year-old college student excited to be returning home to Portland, Oregon for summer break and eager to see her family. Instead of the happy homecoming that she anticipates, Kiki’s world is upended by an unimaginable tragedy. Her parents and younger sister are dead, victims of Little Mo Biggs, a tragically accidental monster, himself a victim of profound parental neglect and abuse. Kiki is also attacked and hospitalized but survives. In the hospital, when all appears lost, she is given an opportunity to wipe away the nightmare, to un-do it, and correct the senseless tragedy. A second chance, a wonderful, improbable, and miraculous gift, that doesn’t come easily. To reclaim her future, Kiki must first correct the injustices of Little Mo’s past, which can only be corrected at the root. In doing so, she learns that home is more than a place, it is also a time, and must confront the parallel challenges of life and love, past and present, in a love story with a foot in each world, 2012 and 1981.
Kiki is an ordinary undergrad student, with a best friend, two years out of her parents' house, just broke up with a crappy boyfriend... Until tragedy sets in.
Little Mo Biggs is a poor young man, with brain damage and badly abused.
Their paths cross and life will never be the same. Kiki will have to understand that evils can be undone, using The Gift, given by The Guardian.
There's also Jenna, who is Kiki's best friend and so much like my own best friend and my relationship with her that I could feel their relationship rather than reading it and there's Clark, who is Kiki's father's best friend and sort of like a favorite uncle to Kiki.
Now, I don't want to spoil anything, but I loved this book very badly. Just as the movie "Somewhere in Time" (which Kiki actually watched, back in 1981), we see, along with the people trying to fix the present/future, a love story. One that transcends time itself.
It saddens me. I don't understand people who think "Somewhere in Time" is a beautiful love story - it is a tragic love story, since whenthe guy goes back to his time, she is dead! I mean that's SO sad, she's lived all her life just to be able to give him the means to go back to her. It reminds me of Doctor Who (River Song's story, if anyone follows the series).
There's nothing just as tragic in The Do-Over, but there is something very similar and it broke my heart. The ending really hurt me and I hope we see more of Kiki Kinsler and that we actually see that part of the story fixed.
I only have one complaint and it is a minimal one... The descriptions of Oregon and the city of Portland are a bit too much and I got lost in them, since I don't know the city or the state and it made me feel strange reading all of that since it didn't add up to the plot. But still, it didn't bother me that much.
I really loved the book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good fantasy/sci-fi/love story. I mean, really, how can we have so many cool things all at once? :D
June 5, 2012
Kiki Kingsler could never have been prepared for the events that unravelled themselves when she arrived home. Finding her parents and sister dead and barely escaping with her life felt like she had been through hell and back. Things like this only happened to other people not yourself! But they did, and soon she is offered a second chance. A Do-Over if you will... With the help of a few friends, Kiki is prepared to go back 31 years in the past and fix the problem at it's root!
The Do-Over was very well written. The story started off focusing on the characters. This gave us a good idea of what we were getting into and who would lead the adventure. It then distributed the plot and jumped right into the details. Andrew Hessel did a marvelous job with his pace. he wasn't a step too late nor a step too fast! His ideas we're clearly stated and shown, they were well explained and given!
Okay guys, I just want to explain real quick how great the plot was! So from the summary I believe you caught on that Kiki Kinsler (the main character) was given a second chance to go back and do what's right to save her family and others. I'd like to point a few things here. While conflicts between two characters are good, Inner-conflicts are great! It's always refreshing to have those types of stories. Secondly, the whole second chance, go back in time and do what's right theme gave off an air of contradictions. Some people may believe in that stuff while others may not. the protagonist argued and debated with herself if she believed in that stuff. I think that a conflict, which makes the reader question and/or reflect afterwards are always top notch!
The author must have done some serious researching for his novel because the Oregon history was very well explained. I'm not fascinated by history in the slightest, but those who are will be overjoyed. It's also not to the point where you are bored out of your mind reading about it, but it gives you some background information on the environment. It also helps out since our protagonist must go back in the past, if you do not know about the past and the present then it might be a bit confusing!
The only negative aspect of this book is the romance. I'll try not to spoil anything here but I hated it. It was very awkward, and maybe it's just me but it really changed my perspective of the characters. Honestly, I would rather had replaced the romance sections with some fast pace action! Of course I've hated pretty much every relationships in every novel I have read of late. Maybe it's just I'm in a bad mood, who knows!
The Do-Over was very well written. The story started off focusing on the characters. This gave us a good idea of what we were getting into and who would lead the adventure. It then distributed the plot and jumped right into the details. Andrew Hessel did a marvelous job with his pace. he wasn't a step too late nor a step too fast! His ideas we're clearly stated and shown, they were well explained and given!
Okay guys, I just want to explain real quick how great the plot was! So from the summary I believe you caught on that Kiki Kinsler (the main character) was given a second chance to go back and do what's right to save her family and others. I'd like to point a few things here. While conflicts between two characters are good, Inner-conflicts are great! It's always refreshing to have those types of stories. Secondly, the whole second chance, go back in time and do what's right theme gave off an air of contradictions. Some people may believe in that stuff while others may not. the protagonist argued and debated with herself if she believed in that stuff. I think that a conflict, which makes the reader question and/or reflect afterwards are always top notch!
The author must have done some serious researching for his novel because the Oregon history was very well explained. I'm not fascinated by history in the slightest, but those who are will be overjoyed. It's also not to the point where you are bored out of your mind reading about it, but it gives you some background information on the environment. It also helps out since our protagonist must go back in the past, if you do not know about the past and the present then it might be a bit confusing!
The only negative aspect of this book is the romance. I'll try not to spoil anything here but I hated it. It was very awkward, and maybe it's just me but it really changed my perspective of the characters. Honestly, I would rather had replaced the romance sections with some fast pace action! Of course I've hated pretty much every relationships in every novel I have read of late. Maybe it's just I'm in a bad mood, who knows!
June 13, 2012
I received this book from the author, with a request for review.
The story is better than the writing. I experienced confusion with the first paragraph of the first chapter, where the sentence structure makes it sound like Kiki's younger sister butchered Kiki. In fact, she butchered Kiki's name. I had to read it a couple times before it made sense because I had difficulty figuring out how an entire book about Kiki was going to work if Kiki had been killed by her younger sister!
The story itself is interesting enough that I had trouble putting it down, but I confess that at the same time I skipped over much of the philosophizing that generates a significant amount of verbiage, and I found the ending anticlimactic.
There is a lot of potential for conflict in the story. The concept of someone traveling in time from 2012 to 1981 is an interesting one. The author touches on some of the issues, but the conflicts aren't ever fully developed. The side views into the history of Portland landmarks are interesting, but they don't add any tension or even much to the story. Kiki seems to sail through the transition to 1981. I was expecting her to encounter problems with an unfamiliar culture, obstacles transitioning into society, her living arrangements, her job, her co-workers - the possibilities were numerous. Instead, she slides in like she's on a greased track and the biggest conflict is her love affair with the young Clark Bannion, whom she knows in her timeline as her father's best friend, someone who is like an uncle. Even that fizzles in the end, although I imagine if this is a series it may be picked up in the next book. She returns from her "trip," has an awkward moment with Clark - then carries on with her life. I was rather hoping she'd return to her own time and find out she was pregnant with Clark's child. For me, the ending was a major fizzle. The conflict over whether or not someone should change the course of human events if they have the power hardly comes across as a conflict, in spite of the philosophizing. Of course Kiki is going to do it, because it has great benefit to her and she can see that it will also benefit the lives of Little Mo and his mother. Her few, brief hesitations aren't sufficient to even be considered bumps in the road of the story.
All in all, I found it a pleasant, mostly interesting read. I like the story concept, but felt it was underdeveloped, and the ending was disappointing.
The story is better than the writing. I experienced confusion with the first paragraph of the first chapter, where the sentence structure makes it sound like Kiki's younger sister butchered Kiki. In fact, she butchered Kiki's name. I had to read it a couple times before it made sense because I had difficulty figuring out how an entire book about Kiki was going to work if Kiki had been killed by her younger sister!
The story itself is interesting enough that I had trouble putting it down, but I confess that at the same time I skipped over much of the philosophizing that generates a significant amount of verbiage, and I found the ending anticlimactic.
There is a lot of potential for conflict in the story. The concept of someone traveling in time from 2012 to 1981 is an interesting one. The author touches on some of the issues, but the conflicts aren't ever fully developed. The side views into the history of Portland landmarks are interesting, but they don't add any tension or even much to the story. Kiki seems to sail through the transition to 1981. I was expecting her to encounter problems with an unfamiliar culture, obstacles transitioning into society, her living arrangements, her job, her co-workers - the possibilities were numerous. Instead, she slides in like she's on a greased track and the biggest conflict is her love affair with the young Clark Bannion, whom she knows in her timeline as her father's best friend, someone who is like an uncle. Even that fizzles in the end, although I imagine if this is a series it may be picked up in the next book. She returns from her "trip," has an awkward moment with Clark - then carries on with her life. I was rather hoping she'd return to her own time and find out she was pregnant with Clark's child. For me, the ending was a major fizzle. The conflict over whether or not someone should change the course of human events if they have the power hardly comes across as a conflict, in spite of the philosophizing. Of course Kiki is going to do it, because it has great benefit to her and she can see that it will also benefit the lives of Little Mo and his mother. Her few, brief hesitations aren't sufficient to even be considered bumps in the road of the story.
All in all, I found it a pleasant, mostly interesting read. I like the story concept, but felt it was underdeveloped, and the ending was disappointing.
August 18, 2012
I find the first quarter of the book slow. I could not easily get into it because too much information is revealed about Kiki's family and Little Mo's tragic life. That's my problem with reading a book not in first person pov. I easily get bored seeing long paragraphs.
The story picked up when Kiki is preparing to travel into the past, and I very much enjoyed reading facts about the 80's. I'm sure Mr. Hessel had fun writing this. It was really fun to read things about it, simple life, not much complication unlike today with computers and internet.
This is a good book to read. Though it would have been better if the author wrote more about Teddie Biggs and Little Mo's life before and after Kiki's time travel. There is a little romance, I'm a bit touched by it - more like Somewhere In Time. Now I want to watch that movie again!
The story picked up when Kiki is preparing to travel into the past, and I very much enjoyed reading facts about the 80's. I'm sure Mr. Hessel had fun writing this. It was really fun to read things about it, simple life, not much complication unlike today with computers and internet.
This is a good book to read. Though it would have been better if the author wrote more about Teddie Biggs and Little Mo's life before and after Kiki's time travel. There is a little romance, I'm a bit touched by it - more like Somewhere In Time. Now I want to watch that movie again!
May 28, 2012
My brother wrote this book so perhaps I'm a tad prejudiced, but it is really a page turner that you really should read. It also is a book that is empowering for women – especially young women. And, it has universal themes about resilience, redemption and courage.
June 26, 2012
Enjoyed so much, love to read a great book by an author that I actually know. Thank you sue's brother! I am very impressed!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews