The Do-Over

The Do-Over #1

by Lynn Painter

A New York Times Bestseller

In this “unequivocally hilarious and delightful” (Kirkus Reviews) young adult romp for fans of Recommended for You and A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, a teen girl has the worst Valentine’s Day ever—only to relive it over and over again.

After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine’s Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother’s house for some comfort and a consolation pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s back home in her own bed—and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And the next day? Another horrendous V-Day.

Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare that she can’t wake up from as she re-watches her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. In addition to Josh’s recurring infidelity, Emilie can’t get away from the enigmatic Nick, who she keeps running into—sometimes literally—in unfortunate ways.

How many times can one girl passively watch her life go up in flames? And when something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Audiobook, Fiction, Rom Com, Young Adult Romance

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

everyone watch out.

i'm back in my YA contemporary era.

lately i have been in that awful scary terrifying horror movie-esque liminal threshold that is: i'm not currently in a reading slump but i have spent a large chunk of the last 5 months in one and i am forced to live in fear that my smallest mistake or ill-timed decision could send me plunging back in, doomed to a fate of failing my reading challenge for the first time and facing derisive laughter the world over.

or at least the book internet world, which is bad enough if you ask me.

so i have been seeking out books that are not short (who cares about completing my reading challenge if there are napkins with more pages than my average book length) but feel short. quick, easy to read, and above all (as i face down the monster that is Seasonal Depression): fluffy.

enter the YA contemporary.

when i first reentered this space in, like, 2016 or some made-up sounding year like that, i made my name in reading this lil ol genre.

which might sound nice, until you remember that i made my name (such as it exists, meaning barely and not in a nice way) in being a hater.

fairly recently, i forced myself to stop reading so many teen romances (lol) and focusing on the unthinkable...books i actually stood a chance of liking.

but here we are. falling back in.

the publisher sent me this book and...i liked it.

welcome to the waking nightmare of chaos and malfeasance that is my daily life.

this book is cute! it's fun! it was silly and goofy and easy to read! at a time when above all i needed all of those things! what else is there to say.

beyond, you know, all the stuff i said about myself.

bottom line: we're back, baby.

------------------
tbr review

when i used to read exclusively YA contemporaries, i was never in a reading slump. something to think about.

(thanks to the publisher for the copy)

[Haley pham · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of her books get a special 6 star rating in my heart because they are just another level. It’s always bittersweet reading them because I love them SO much immediately and I don’t get this magical feeling often. But we are 2 for 2 with her young adult romances so far 🥺 I don’t want to pit her books against each other but I can confidently say I loved this one JUST as much as Better than the movies 🫶⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Ali Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I read this book in february but somehow forgot to review it on here?!! Anywayyyy This book was so freaking cute!! Time Loop books are so so fun and Lynn Painter never fails to make me grin like an idiot while I read her books. Was it a little cheesy? A little predictable? Yes but I loved every second of it.

[brooke (hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

➸ 4 stars

“i fell in love with you on valentine’s day, emilie,
but i need more than just seven minutes.”

this book is giving groundhog day meets ferris buller’s day off

this is my second lynn painter read, and i am proud to say she is slowly becoming one of my favourite authors!! she absolutely knocked it out of the park with BTTM, and i expected another phenomenal YA romance novel, and that’s exactly what she delivered.

— the plot focuses on emilie (h), she lives by rules, lists and wants to please everyone and live a perfect, set out life to avoid conflict—but then she has a not-so-perfect valentine’s day.
she is stuck in a time-loop having to relive her shitty valentine’s day over and over again, a day she had planned out perfectly but it went HORRIBLY wrong.
even though she has to relive valentine’s day constantly she is given so many chances to right that terrible day and live it differently. she also keeps crashing (literally) into cold and distant nick stark. i love how she finally has had enough of being this perfect girl and gets this “fuck it” attitude and starts living for herself.

MY BELOVED NICK STARK, oh he is so swoon worthy and absolutely dreamy. 💓💗💕
— he is emilie’s chem partner who gives off this grumpy exterior at first. the way he pretends to not know who she is but is obsessed with her, sold, sold, sold!!! he literally agrees to do everything emilie wants, he is so smitten with her from the very start!
the banter between nick and emilie had me giggling out loud and swooning, it was perfect!

this was a fun, enjoyable read and very well written—and the taylor swift references *chefs kiss* i highly recommend this book if you love fluffy, insta-love novels <33

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this e-arc!

[jasmine •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ (semi-hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

⤷2.5! Not the biggest fan of the pacing, as it felt quite repetitive. Their relationship went too fast at the end rather than like a good buildup 😭 Nick Stark felt more like an asshole than a grumpy guy, and Emilie was too naive with her ex. They were both hypocritical in the end imo, and it annoyed me a bit. Also a little too many Taylor Swift references... There were some cute moments, but overall, kinda cringe + not a new fav :')

[jolie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

lesson learned: never listen to me if i say that i dnf’d a book. it never lasts

“Why would I wait for fate to lend a hand, when I had two perfectly capable hands of my own?”

this was such a pleasant surprise! i had low expectations going in given that i didn’t like bttm, but this definitely exceeded them. after going through a routine of continuously picking it up and putting it down for over a week, i’m so happy to say that i thoroughly enjoyed this book!! and i definitely believe it deserves more hype than bttm.

”It won’t count tomorrow and it’ll be like I never said it, but on this Valentine’s Day, I fell in love with you.”

my main problem with this book, which seems to often be present in all of lynn painter’s ya books, was the fmc. she was more tolerable in this one, but she’s still got her quirks. in the beginning, she was this over controlling person who wanted to live her life perfectly and planned everything out. she was obsessed with the idea of love and i didn’t find her to be annoying until a few chapters in.

i loved her character development!! she became this badass person who stopped caring about pleasing others and worried about herself. despite this, it took awhile for me to grow on her bc her personality was difficult to put up with. emilie placed her ideas of love on nick which pissed me off. she acted like a know-it-all and it felt as though she was applying her delusions to real life. she also acted judgmental and there were many instances where i didn’t like her. she was the definition of a pushover. lynn painter has this ability to make a fmc annoying but also add these little elements that make her relatable at times.

“I love your hair and your sensible shoes, you annoying pain in the ass. Please say you’ll prom me.”

i loved the bond between nick and emilie. watching them get together and just live a day where they did what they wanted during the donc (day of no consequences) and risking their lives while simply having fun was so cute!! the promposal was definitely my favorite part. i found the plot to be so entertaining and the fact that they could not escape one another. there was everything mixed into this, from fun adventures to deep talks between them. it was all put together in one day and i loved it. they basically took everything and did it in one day.

“Fuck ‘em, Emilie.”

“I fell in love with you on Valentine’s Day, Emilie, but I need more than just seven minutes.”

spoiler alert from this point on !!

nick stark was absolutely amazing! he had this brooding personality at school and i loved him. he had this grumpy demeanor but once you get to know him he was such an amazing character! he definitely grew on me and i found the reasoning behind the time loop to be incredibly sweet. his personality was just everything and he was such a strong person. he never lost his personality and i always admire people who can do that.

the side characters didn’t play a huge role but i did love them. and it’s clear that emilie loved them too. i loved the way she perceived them and believed that they deserved the absolute best. chris gave off such an amazing energy and he was so enjoyable as part of the book. grandma max and her role was also amazing! the way they helped nick make it up to emilie on her birthday and cheer them on was incredibly sweet. this book makes me feel so single.

the third act conflict was giving miscommunication on emilie’s part. it definitely wasn’t my favorite part bc it was just nick ignoring emilie until she got sick of it. she then had the audacity to get mad at him even after her friend made her realize that nick said from the beginning he didn’t want to suffer the consequences of kissing her knowing he wouldn’t have time for a relationship. i wish she didn’t stay mad after bc it was just unreasonable especially since her friend told her what she needed to hear.

I had a marvelous time ruining everything

the way they made up definitely improved how i felt about this book. i thought the ending was perfect and it was just an amazing finishing touch. in this instance, i did find it to be a happy ending and it was pretty cute. i wish they touched up on the fact that emilie’s stepmother hated her bc i would’ve wanted to know more and had their ‘conflict’ resolved. everything else i did happen to like tho. this definitely raised my standards!

i was never the biggest fan of josh. but i have to admit she got me intrigued the moment she described him as a timothee chalamet lookalike. i’m so glad they became good friends afterwards and had a strong bond even after everything. the way they understood what happened and realized that they would make amazing friends shows character development on both parties. it felt as though nothing problematic went down with them and it was a peaceful break up which i appreciated.

pre-review

leave it up to lynn painter, the queen of writing annoying female main characters, to ruin a book but single-handedly fix it by giving us an amazing mmc to make up for it !! can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next (i swear i’ll write an actual review soon)

pre-read review

the fact that new romantics is in the playlist for this book means it’s made for me. praying it’s better than bttm

soo.. one of my mutuals unfriended me and i’m pretty sure it’s bc i said i didn’t like bttm 💀 i wish ppl understood that everyone has different opinions.

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m in my rom-com era (aka living my best life) and Lynn Painter’s The Do-Over made for a sugary sweet dose of joy that warmed my heart in these chilly winter months. When a perfectly planned Valentine’s Day descends into a heartbreaking mess of car wrecks, crushed dreams and cheating boyfriends, Emilie Hornby just wants to go to sleep and start the next day fresh. But when she awakens she discovers that it is Valentine’s Day…over and over and over again like death by a thousand cuts with her dreams repeatedly dashed despite her daily attempts to avoid disaster. Filled with a lot of charm, Taylor Swift references and perhaps an overabundance of cuteness, The Do-Over is a delightful time-loop story that manages to mostly balance out the over-caffeinated plot and underdeveloped supporting cast with its exploration into heavier themes of fractured families, and the pressures of expectations from society on one’s own self. It gleefully charges into chaos but it polishes up real nice in this touching story about confronting your own life and living for yourself as well as a romantic collision with love where you least expect it.

‘This wasn't about boys and girls and love and attraction, this was about a human soul needing to feel seen.’

I have a soft spot for rom coms and while I think I still preferred Painter’s Better Than the Movies which still lingers like a tattoo kiss, this made for a perfectly cute Valentine’s Day read. Its cozy like a warm embrace of like an old cardigan under someone’s bed. The Do-Over reads like an adorable time-loop blend of Groundhog’s Day meets Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with the casting budget of a teenage after-school special so don’t expect too much from the side characters. I did enjoy the brief subplot about her friend trying to get with the boy from his cross country team but most of the cast is fairly ornamental since you can’t have too much character development in a time-loop story. Even the main cast is a bit flat, though we do see some growth with Emilie as she goes from the rather stereotypical follow-the-rules teen to embracing her own destiny. Emilie has seen this story before and she didn’t like the ending, but each day she keeps trying to avert the inevitable to no avail, yet her morning car-wreck with Nick each day seems to point towards another path her life could take, even if he is a bit of a prick (but a prick with a devilish smile, that James Dean, daydream look in his eye and scent of..*checks notes* clean soap). I found Nick frustrating but I did enjoy that he has only been pretending to not know Em out of a shyness and his fear of vulnerability makes him rather thorny, something my former teenage self can certainly empathize with.

‘Josh was the perfect boyfriend for me on paper…but I didn’t realize until I watched him kiss Macy that the paper didn’t always translate.’

I enjoy that, like Better Than the Movies, this story explores how life can’t be perfectly packaged and planned because life will always throw the unexpected. And while these surprises can bring heartache—her parents divorce, the recinded program, Nick’s grief over his brother—they can also open doors to greater joys than we ever imagined. Em lives by checklists and checking boxes but the road not taken looks real good now that she’s caught in an endless loop of downfall.

‘No matter how it turns out—good or bad—I’m going to start living for me and what I want, instead of for other people and what I think they want me to do.’

This is a story about accepting the unexpected and living for you. I do have to admit the Day of No Concequenses being referred to as DONC in the text and speech (do they say the letters or pronounce it “donk”?) was irritating, but I liked the idea that Em decided to rip the Band-Aid off and skip town school like an asshole outlaw. Her and Nick embracing the chaos and living free for themselves was cute as they have a marvelous time ruining everything. And they come together when her reputations never been worse so he must like her for her.

But also. Painter does something with names in her book. Em Hornby + Nick seems a reference to rom-com writer Nick Hornby much like how in Better than the Movies the couple adds up to a reference to Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice.

While a bit more a great romantic concept than actual execution, The Do-Over is a heartwarming, cuddly good time with lots of laughs. I felt the relationship was well orchestrated even with the aspect that Nick never remembered the previous runs through the recurring day and they remain to each other a stranger whose laugh they could recognize anywhere. I also really loved the insertion of confessions at the start of each chapter that gave hints into the loneliness Em tries to swallow down. But i suppose if this story is over why am i still writing pages, so in conclusion, this is a cute book full of fun.

3.5/5

[Avery · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I fell in love with you on Valentine’s day, Emilie, but I need more than just seven minutes.”

I'm not going back into the book to find more quotes, so this is what I'll be supplying for now, unless I suddenly want to go back and find some quotes.

So this was my Christmas book for this year. I started this book on Christmas and ended it on Christmas, meaning it's my Christmas book. Which was kind of self-explanatory so I didn't have to explain, but whatever. Last year it was How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories which I ADORED.

But anyways, my expectations were through the roof with this one. Better Than the Movies is one of my favorite contemporaries and it was so cute and fun and adorable but this one just annoyed me.

I can be a little particular with my romances, like I don't want something overly cheesy unless I'm in a mood where I want extra cheese, I don't want insta-love, I don't want certain tropes, but all of this really depends on my mood.

If you can't somehow tell, I'm a huge mood reader.

But this book definitely didn't meet the expectations I'd set. The romance felt way too rushed (WAY too rushed) and I really didn't like the characters. The one thing I did like were all the Taylor Swift references. I would definitely get "I had a marvelous time ruining everything" tattooed on my arm, I adore that song.

The Plot



The plot was simple enough. There wasn't anything spectacular except for the whole time loop thing. I knew immediately once DONC came along that she would wake up the next day on the 15th, it's just a very easy thing to predict.

Speaking of which, I despised the DONC. I thought it would be fun, because I love when the characters do rebellious stuff thinking that they would get no consequences in a time loop, but Emilie was literally getting on my final, fraying nerve, which ruined the entire experience. Not to mention the insta-love that came along with that but we will not be discussing that right now.

Also, the writing actually annoyed me. I typically don't care much about writing but this writing felt just really immature to me. The way words were stretched out with extra letters, italicized a lot, it just irked me. I just hate writing like that, and I can't actually remember that happening in Better Than the Movies. I was probably blinded by my love for that book to notice anything, whereas with this book I wasn't liking it so I picked up on all the flaws.

So yeah, the plot was fine. It could be cute at times, but nothing much happened except for the typical rom-com drama.

The Characters



I'm sorry to say that I didn't like any of the characters except Chris and Rox. And they were hardly in the book.

I must say, the only thing I liked about Emilie was that she liked Taylor Swift.

No, I suppose I do like her because of the fact that she can be relatable at times, and she seemed somewhat sensible. But she just very much annoyed me at times, with things she said and did, ESPECIALLY on DONC. I got such bad secondhand embarrassment that I had to close the book and close my eyes because I literally couldn't stand the embarrassing thing she'd just done.

I was meh about Nick the entire book until he did what he did at the end and it made me HATE him. I don't actually hate him, but he literally shouldn't have done it and I even felt bad for Emilie, even though I don't like her either. I also hated his personality around other people, and he was really rude and said very unnecessary things. Also, Emilie called him sultry way too much. I don't really nitpick on words being repeated much but this one I noticed and it annoyed me.

The Romance



Now this was my least favorite part of all. I can understand how Emilie could grow to "fall in love" with Nick, since she talks to him every single time in the time loop and she remembers everything, but I didn't quite get how Nick could fall in love with her when he doesn't remember any of that but oh BOY does he fall in love with her.

IN ONE DAY.

ONE FREAKING DAY WHEN THEY HAD HARDLY EVER SPOKEN TO EACH OTHER BEFOREHAND.

And it makes literally no sense, because this is the worst kind of insta-love, when one of the characters ADMITS to loving that character, because that just means it got very intense very fast. And it made me so mad, because how is it actually possible to fall in love with a person in a day? How is it even possible to fall in love with a person in the amount of time Emilie was in the time loop?

I don't even have a clue how long Emilie was in the time loop for, or, again, HOW IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR HER TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM.

I HATE THESE TYPES OF ROMANCES, GIVE ME WES AND LIZ BACK.

So yeah, I'm VERY disappointed in this book and writing this review makes me angry, so I'm going to rate it even lower than I initially was going to, which was 3.5 stars. I wish I'd enjoyed this more, but I just couldn't.

3 stars

<><><><><>
My disappointment is huge

Rtc

<><><><><>
my friend just got me this for Christmas, I'm so excited to read it! 🫶

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This totally hit the spot! LP writes the sweetest, cutest, most cuddly cinnamon roll men- I swear. I can't even.

“I had a marvelous time ruining everything”

“Also—thanks to Taylor Swift, for writing songs that feel like books.”

⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Connect with me on Instagram ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite time loop movie concept Groundhog Day meets my favorite playing hooky YA movie concept Ferris Bueller’s Day off! This book was talking to my Gen X soul !

I have to write Netflix executives a letter to inform them instead of spending so much money for nonsense concepts with full of cliches and buy the rights of this book! This is a dreamy YA fantasy plot line they shouldn’t miss!

Here’s the plot line:
Emilie Hornby ( not related with brilliant author Nick Hornby) is straight A student, people pleaser, having long lists and check boxes to control her future. Even her boyfriend Josh is chosen after he clicked all the boxes. She needs guarantee not to fail in relationships like her parents did. After the divorce her parents chose the other significant others. Her father married, with twins and as her mother lives with her boyfriend.

Let’s get to the chase: on her Valentine Day, bad things start hitting Emilie incessantly. First she bumps her car into her broody and handsome lab partner Nick who gives her ride to the school. Then she finds out the fellowship in Chicago for this summer she has been excited is taken away from her. And the worst one is the next: she catches Josh kissing his ex!

When she gets home crying out, her dad tells her something that will change their lives forever.

She finally finds herself at her granny’s house, praying this worst day of her life will be over sooner!

But the very next day she realizes it’s still Valentine’s Day and she’s trapped in a worst kind of time loop!

She tries so hard to change the outcomes! But what if she accepts things she cannot change and learn more about mysterious Nick she keeps bumping into! There might be a reason he gets in her way! She has to find it by experiencing same day by making different decisions!

Overall: it’s easy to devour, enjoyable pop corn read I highly recommend!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster’s Children Publishing / Simon& Schuster Books for Young Readers for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

[Nikola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mega słodka

[anna ୨୧ · Rating 1 out of 5]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ DNF


{the do over 👎}
{ 1 ⭐️}
{page count: 381}
{age rating: 13+}
DNF on page. 158 (skimmed the next few chapters)


~ “I had a marvelous time ruining everything.”
-i’m sure you did bc you ruined this book.


~ if i had a million copies of this book i would burn them all in my fireplace 🥰🥰 me giving this one star is way too generous.


~👎 first DNF of the year! wow did not think it was going to be this book. i did not think this book would be this bad but here we are! 🤸‍♀️ no wonder it took me so long to read 🧍‍♀️


here’s some things that led me to DNF:

👎- repetitive (EXTREMELY) I get that it’s the books plot but I could not do it.
👎- insta-love- I HATE THIS IN BOOKS
there’s little to no chemistry between the two.
👎- they use curse words but somehow they act so childish???
👎- every time i would go to read this book it actually felt like I was reading a book. like the words were there and it felt so weird to read it. i was not comprehending it normally 😭
👎- the pacing was off, we would randomly switch to a different scene so quickly??
👎- unrealistic. if my car went up in flames I would not get into the car with someone else and go onto school like nothing ever happened. let alone do it repeatedly day after day and you know it’s going to happen. that’s just me tho! 🤸‍♀️ (girlie literally does not use her brain 😭)
👎- i started skimming pages. when I do that it’s a sure sign I don’t like it.
👎- nick stark. lowkey got on my nerves and there’s nothing special about him.
👎- fmc was annoying 😭
👎- predicable to the point where I was questioning why this book even exists. back to the repetitive plot why did that need to happen???
👎- i just REALLY dislike Valentine’s Day 😇
👎- BORING.
👎- fmc had no common sense whatsoever


👍- i did like the New Romantics reference, but that’s literally it.

quotes: no quotes bc idc 😀

-idk how she could go from writing BTTM to this 🧍‍♀️

-ik a lot of people enjoyed this book but it was not me unfortunately. I’ll probably read “betting on you” I just don’t know when. ik i’m in the minority here but this was not enjoyable ☹️

-y’all i actually had the e-book for this longer than I was supposed to 😭 that’s crazy 🤸‍♀️ thanks for reading this review, overall i don’t recommend.

[podczytany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tytuł mojej znienawidzonej bohaterki książkowej idzie do Emilie….

Jeżeli lubicie słodkie romanse, pętle czasowe, i hot chłopców to jest szansa, że ta książka się Wam spodoba!!!

Nie była to pozycja dla mnie, widzę bardzo wiele głupot jakie zrobiła Em, nie zgadzam się z jej wyborami i po prostu jej nie lubię🙄

Nie podobał mi się brak przedstawienia mechanizmów pętli, jakiegoś chociaż zarysu. Samo jej zakończenie też było dla mnie niezrozumiałe….

Nick miał swój mocny moment, gdy mówił o szczęściu i za to dostanie pół gwiazdki🫦

Ocena: 1,5.

[lydia ‧ ia · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ☆

❝ I have to confess that I think I’m obsessed with this. With you. With us. ❞

🎧~ everything has changed
all I know since yesterday,
is everything has changed <3

🩷 ~ opening thoughts :
I have to confess that I think I’m obsessed with this book. With Nick. with emilienick. Will I be attacked by crazy fangirls if I admit that I liked this better than bttm?? It was truly a perfect read.

🩵 ~ the characters :

⤷ emilie hornby:
She was awesome and just the right amount of delulu and level-headed. I can’t really think of many words to describe her, but she was fleshed out beautifully and was a very well-rounded character. Her reactions to everything were hilariously relatable, including the repeating valentine’s day and her decision to take advantage of it. Overall, she was a wonderful protagonist and I would have gladly spent more time inside her head!

⤷ nick stark:
Live laugh love nick stark for all eternity. He was introverted in a totally hot way, moody but also sweet, he drank tea and HE SAID THAT IF HIS GIRLFRIEND WAS BOOKISH HE WOULD BUY HER A SPECIAL EDITION OF HER FAVORITE BOOK FOR V-DAY. I wanted to wrap him up in a blanket like a burrito and protect him from his sadness and fear I’m mentally stable dw
I hadn’t been experiencing life to the fullest until I read the bonus chapters from his pov. My life is now complete. Thank you for that, lynn painter.

Emilie’s friends were also cute and in the end, I did like josh! Also, we stan the security guards who let Emilie and Nick basically trespass because they thought Nick was doing a promposal.

🩷 ~ the romance :
YOU GUYS. THIS IS THE IMMACULATE COUPLE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.

Just like in bttm, Emilie has a different male friend (except this time, they’ve already started dating) who she thinks is the one for her because he “checks all of her boxes” and is “perfect on paper.” she would never fall for the totally rude, arrogant nick stark. So why, oh why does she get butterflies whenever he looks her in the eye or calls her by her last name??

They aren’t exactly enemies-to-lovers, as Nick has been a simp from day one and Emilie only disliked him at the very beginning, but their falling for each other was totally believable. Their banter was everything to me and I cried actual tears at some of their sweet moments. I wasn’t bugged by the third-act breakup because there was actually a good reason for it and it made their reunion at the end that much sweeter! Nick was just the most thoughtful boyfriend. I love them so much.

🩵 ~ the writing :
I adore Lynn Painter’s writing! It’s so fun and easy-to-read. She writes completely realistic dialogue and banter. I will admit that there was a bit too much swearing and innuendo for my taste, which is stuff that’s always unnecessary, but she makes up for it with the excessive t swift references. also, she writes the best kissing scenes 🔥

🩷 ~ the plot :
The repeating Valentine's day was a totally unique idea! other than that it reminded me of an episode of Sophia the First that I was obsessed with when I was younger. I especially loved the last half of the book, where Emilie and Nick have the DONC and do all kinds of crazy and romantic stuff. It was a very fast-paced plot in all, with things happening left and right, and it got a little crazy at times, but I loved every minute of it! I also liked the side plot about both Nick’s brother and Emilie’s parents– it added a little depth to the book in general.


🩵 ~ overall,
Something about Lynn Painter’s books are just so whimsically and perfectly romantic. This is my second book by her and I am already starting to believe that she can do no wrong. It was cute, fluffy, funny, and easy to read. Like any good romcom does, it made me scream and squeal and hyperventilate. I read this at just the right time to avoid a reading slump, even though I’m a little late for valentine’s day, and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a cutesy, easy book!

❝ I absolutely expect love in my life, but there is no way I'm going to sit around and wait for fate to make it happen. ❞

[cherie ^_-★ (semi-ia + comment restriction) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars ⭐️
⤷ minor spoilers ahead!! ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

“For The Lonely, The Daydreamers, The ones who find their friends between the pages of books — YOU MATTER, and your happy ending WILL come. Sometimes the wait is just longer in real life than in fiction.” 💌💘💞💋

i was worried i wouldn’t enjoy this book because of the groundhog day trope, but i ended up loving it!!

i loved how it made emilie realize she could do whatever she wanted instead of what she thought she should do. consequences be damned, period.

“It was that no matter how it turns out — good or bad — I’m going to start living for me and what I want, instead of for other people and what I think they want me to do. Because if I don’t, who will?”

ᡣ𐭩.ᐟ emilie and nick
EMILIE AND NICK WERE SO FREAKING CUTE TOGETHER 😭😭😭 i couldn’t stop blushing, smiling, and giggling like crazy 🥴 their banter and chemistry?! AAAAH!!! my heart also broke for them both and i actually teared up a few times 🥲💔 their situations were so similar yet different, and i loved how they related to and supported each other.

“Existence is the default. Merely existing, emotionally, is the baseline. Happy is like, this floating, fluid thing that’s impossible to hold on to. Elusive as fuck. Sometimes you get lucky and have it, but it’s only a matter of time before it slips back out of your hands.”

“I used to hang with my friends a lot more. But somewhere along the way, I stopped caring about everything high school. It just feels so… pointless. Not the learning, but all of the games. Sometimes I try to power through it so I’m not a ‘hermit’ — as you so delightfully put it — but it just feels meaningless.”

i was soooo close to giving this 5 stars, but i found emilie a little unreasonable when she got upset with nick. she told him she loved him, but said it wouldn’t count the next day and it’d be like she never said it, so WOULDN’T HE BE UPSET?!! i couldn’t understand why emmie and her friends kept “blaming” nick for pushing her away because of his cynical heart. yes, that was part of it, BUT SHE DID TELL HIM SHE ONLY LOVED HIM ON THAT PARTICULAR DAY, DIDN’T SHE??!! DID I MISS SOMETHING??? 😵‍💫

ᡣ𐭩.ᐟ josh
anywayyy, i felt a little bad for josh. he felt like emilie was never interested in him, didn’t actually kiss macy on the last valentine’s day, and then got dumped through the INTERCOM 😭😭😭 poor guy…

overall, this book was such a fun and cute read. lynn painter's books do not disappoint and i can’t wait to read betting on you next 🥰

[ella ˚୨୧ ⋆｡. (interactive hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 ❝ I have to confess that I think I'm obsessed with you. With this. With us. ❞

ᡣ𐭩 This review is spoiler free <3

After reading a Lynn Painter book, I'm always left feeling a bizarre combination of giddiness and depression. Giddiness because of the adorable story I just read, and depression because I know I will never find a guy quite like Nick or Wes 🤧

The Do-Over was seriously the most perfect v-day read! I knew it was going to be amazing from the beginning, when I read the dedication: ❝ For the Lonely, the Daydreamers, the ones who find their friends between the pages of books. YOU MATTER, and your happy ending WILL come. Sometimes the wait is just longer in real life than in fiction. ❞ Like how sweet and cute is that 🩷 Also the amount of Taylor Swift references is this book gave me life. I'm a Swiftie, so ofc I marked them all so I could include them in this review 🤭 you can find them down below, along with a Taylor playlist for this book. Okok, now for the actual review part of this review 😘

break down from here ↴

(the) Plot:

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 ❝ This wasn't about boys and girls and love and attraction, this was about a human soul needing to feel seen. ❞

»-♡→ The plot kind of reminded me of that one Sophia the First episode, called The Birthday Wish. In the episode, Sophia wishes to re-do her birthday, because so many things went wrong. (But in the end, she learns that its ok if her birthday isn't perfect, as long she has fun!) Expect, obviously, Painter made it way less cheesy lol. It was so fun and bingeable! Never a dull moment with Nick and Emilie 💓

(the amazing) Main Characters:

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 ❝ I like knowing you, Emilie Hornby. ❞

»-♡→ Emilie: Emilie is a Swiftie, bookworm, coffee addict, and a terrible driver (no offense 😉). She also struggles with being a child of divorced parents, and often feels like she's invisible to both of them. I didn't love her as a MC at first, but as I got to know her better, she definitely grew on me. We also got to see some great character growth in her during the novel. I'm so happy she found Nick, he's perfect for her. Speaking of...

Nick: Like Emilie, it took me a while to really love Nick. But guys... get this. Nick has read Pride and Prejudice over 200 times! And not only that, but he prefers tea over coffee 🥺 what a green flag omg. He's also funny and caring, and so sweet towards Emilie. He really makes her feel seen. I LOVE HIM 🥰

Honorable mentions: Rox and Chris! They're such good friends to Emilie. Also Emilie's twin baby brothers (bc I'm a twin too 💖)

(the) Romance:

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 ❝ We’re not stranger, Nick Stark. ❞

❝ That’s right- we’re partners. ❞

ᡣ𐭩 trope: lab partners/acquaintances to lovers

»-♡→ My favorite part omg. But gah, I don’t know if I can even do this part justice. Nick and Emilie’s love story was just perfect. They have so much chemistry, and are seriously made for each other. I lovelovelovelovelovelovelove them. They’re the kind of couple that really makes you believe in true love 🥹 I could probably rant about Nick and Emilie forever, but I’ll spare you haha. But they are so Lover coded 🩷 ALSO THEY HAVE SO MANY ADORABLE QUOTES, I ran out of tabs because I wanted to tab them all 🤧 my hearttt 💓

(my) Conclusion:

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 ❝ I fell in love with you on Valentine’s Day, Emilie, but I need more than just seven minutes. ❞

»-♡→ I think I’m going to make it a tradition to read this book every Valentine’s Day. Lynn Painter’s books just hit different 🫶🏻 this book was everything I wanted it to be! Now I’m super excited to read Betting on You 🤭 (I’ve heard that one is also super Taylor Swift coded. Lynn Painter knows the key to my heart 🗝️) anyways if you’re still here, ILYSM and thank you for reading this review! I hope everyone had a very special v-day this year, whether you celebrate with fictional or real life friends.

ᡣ𐭩 P. S. For anyone wondering why I rated this 4 stars: I loved it, but it felt like more of an amazing 4 star read than a 5 star read. Also, (and this may sound dumb to some people) this book had an excessive amount of cussing, which bothers me. I strongly believe books can be just as good without all the language. So please respect my opinion, thank you 🙏🏻 🫂

Special Features:

»-♡→ I love how Lynn Painter always includes some special things in her books! My copy had a playlist in the back (which is where I got some of my inspo from 😉) and also two chapters in Nick’s POV. Yes, they were adorable. Plus, the ‘confessions’ Emilie shared at the beginning of each chapter were hilarious lol. I’m so glad I decided to buy this book during my last B&N trip 😍

~Ella

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 ❝ Yes, Emilie Hornby, I’m here to tell you that I’m a little obsessed with you. With this… with us. ❞

➽─────────❥

🎧 ~ Mood of the book (taylor’s version):

ᡣ𐭩 Lover
‎♪ New Romantics
ᡣ𐭩 The Last Great American Dynasty
‎♪ I Forgot That You Existed
ᡣ𐭩 Everything Has Changed
‎♪ Today Was a Fairytale
ᡣ𐭩 Coney Island
‎♪ It’s Nice to Have a Friend

(the) Taylor references:

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃I hummed “Lover” as I put on my glasses and consulted the day’s list.

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃❝ We don’t cry tears of mascara in the bathroom, remember? ❞ he said, giving me an empathetic pout.

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃Taylor Swift was singing about Coney Island while I drove as carefully as a student driver on a test day.

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃I glanced down at my arm and smiled. I couldn’t see the tattoo through the sweater and jacket, but I could almost feel it buzzing. …I had a marvelous time ruining everything.

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 Also- thanks to Taylor Swift, for writing songs that feel like books.

[Belle₊˚⊹♡ (for keeps ∞♡) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars!! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

(Spoiler free review!🐵)💝


~“𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.” 💞


Lynn Painter’s books ALWAYS hits every single time 😭💝

This was a re-read and I absolutely loved this as much as I did the first time I read this book!
Nick and Emilie have my heart and I love them sm 🥹💞

The romance is done so well in this book,
One of my favorite Young adult romances for sure 🤭

Love love this book and this will always have a special place in my heart fr 🥲❤️🩷


⭐️Rating: 5/5
🔥Spice: 0/5
📚~age rating: 13+

🎧Songs:

~Run (feat. Ed Sheeran) ~Taylor Swift

-Lover ~Taylor Swift

~Message in a bottle -Taylor Swift

~Everything has changed -Taylor Swift

~Today was a fairytale -Taylor Swift

~Style -Taylor Swift

~Long Story short -Taylor Swift

~Begin Again - Taylor Swift

~Must be love -Niall Horan

~Birds of a feather -Billie Eilish

_______________________


🩷💛💜Preread:

I read this last April and have the sudden urge to pick this book up again 🥲💝
This was my first ya romance I read and this automatically was a 5 star read, so this has a special place in my heart 🥹💞
I need a good comfort fluffy book after reading Binding 13 tbh 🤠💘

[rei ‧₊˚✩彡]

pre-read:

reading another physical book! second physical book of this year and i’m still getting used to it (i love my kindle so much). i just love lynn painter so much and i just hope i end up loving this one too 🌷💌

[vanessa ⋆.☕︎ [semiᝰia] · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.25 stars.
I honestly can’t tell if I enjoyed this book or if I just dragged myself across the finish line out of pure stubbornness. Because here’s the thing, I loved the story, I loved the characters, and the pacing was actually doing its job. Everything was lining up so nicely… except the romance. Absolutely not. What kind of alternate-universe emotional logic was this operating on? There is no world where I fall in love with a man in one day and then turn into a clingy, devastated mess the very next day because he rejected me. That’s not romantic, that’s just painful and embarrassing. It completely yanked me out of the story and made everything feel wildly unrealistic, like this universe runs on emotional fast-forward and I simply do not exist there.

And the worst part? This was so close to being a 4.5, maybe even a full 5 stars. So close. Then one scene happened and I completely lost it. Like genuinely stunned. How is this written by the same woman who gave us Nothing Like the Movies? I’m still flabbergasted. It felt like pure whiplash, everything was working, everything was clicking, and suddenly I’m staring at the page like, excuse me? That single moment knocked the rating right out of my hands and left me questioning reality.

── .✦

This might genuinely be the best 'fun' and worst book I’ve ever read, and I hate that both statements are true at the same time. Because why would you build a relationship like that? The way their dynamic developed was straight-up miserable to sit through. I was irritated more often than not, and I’m not even going to pretend otherwise. Yes, I was giggling and having a good time at the very beginning, those first moments? Cute, fun, full of potential. But the second the story hit around the 20% mark, everything started going downhill fast.

The charm that initially drew me in just… evaporated. The characters slowly turned into versions of themselves that I didn’t recognize and definitely didn’t enjoy anymore. What started as something light and promising became frustrating and exhausting, and instead of rooting for them, I found myself annoyed, confused, and honestly disappointed. It hurts more because the potential was right there, but the execution completely fumbled it.

── .✦

Okay, now let’s talk about the characters, because this is where my patience truly snapped. I have so many thoughts, and none of them are peaceful.

First of all… why would you make the FMC emotionally attached to someone for the entire first part of the book, only to flip a switch and have her fall in love with someone else in the span of one single day? I’m genuinely asking. How did that make sense in the author’s head? Because for me, it was just confusion stacked on frustration stacked on straight-up disgust. It felt rushed, sloppy, and emotionally whiplash-inducing.


°˖➴ Emilie:
Let’s start with Emilie. At first, I actually liked her. She’s kind, soft, a people-pleaser, the kind of FMC we usually connect with easily. And I did connect with her. She was patient, loyal, quietly devoted, especially with Josh. She was obsessed with him, yes, but she never complained, never pushed, just existed in this sad little emotional corner that honestly made me feel for her.

And then… everything changed. Out of nowhere. Suddenly, a man she barely knows turns into her “prince,” and I’m sitting there like ??? Excuse me??? The sudden shift in her feelings made no emotional sense. I wouldn’t have even minded her growth or change if it had been gradual, but this was instant, and it completely ruined her character for me. That switch alone lit a fire in my veins.

°˖➴ Nick:
Now let’s talk about Nick.
At first? Oh, I was gone. Kicking my feet, giggling, smiling like an idiot. I loved the enemies-to-lovers energy. He reminded me so much of Wess from Nothing Like the Movies, and I had such high hopes. I really thought, okay, this is it.

And then he ruined it. Completely.

He went from charming and caring to someone I would absolutely slap if I saw him in real life. Yes, he had sweet moments. Yes, he cared about her. But why, in the name of everything,would you refuse to be with someone because of your brother’s accident, only to emotionally string her along anyway? I understand grief. I understand trauma. I understand that kind of pain never truly leaves you. But the way he handled it? The way he treated her? It felt wrong. Off. Like the character suddenly forgot who he was supposed to be.

── .✦

In the end, both of them just got on my nerves. A lot. What could’ve been a compelling, emotionally satisfying dynamic turned into frustration after frustration. I wasn’t rooting for them anymore, I was just annoyed, tired, and wondering how something with so much potential managed to derail this badly.

>>> ──────── .✦

⋆｡‧˚ʚ🌺ɞ˚‧｡⋆ Okay… this already feels like the exact kind of chaotic rom-com disaster I live for. A girl trapped in a Valentine’s Day time loop, forced to relive her boyfriend cheating on her over and over again? The universe said, “Character development, babe,” and hit repeat.

Honestly, I’m expecting messy emotions, chaotic comedic timing, slow-blooming something between Emilie and Nick, and that bittersweet moment when she realizes maybe the loop wasn’t punishment… but a push toward something better. <𝟑 .ᐟ

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️ casually reading a valentine’s day book in november was very much a vibe.

this was so cute but that comes as no surprise considering i love lynn painter <3

the plot was so much fun. emilie was really likable and funny. AND NICK STARK? the jess mariano vibes were strong w this one. and as a team jess girly.. i was very pleased.

i wish we got a lil epilogue but regardless i was giggling and kicking my feet the entire book. + the ending was adorable.

“i had a marvelous time ruining everything.”

[kitkat (semi-hiatus ♡︎)]

~currently reading~
the time has come (2 weeks after valentines 😌)

~preread~
somebody yell at me. it’s valentine’s day and i haven’t started this. 🆘👹🥀

with valentine’s day coming up, i fear it is finally time to read this one ❤️💋💌🌹

[Uswah · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK WAS SOOOO CUTE LIKE SUPER CUTE AND I WAS LITERALLY HOOKED🥹🌷

[⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆ Kim ⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I love you, Nick Stark." I blinked fast and was surprised by how emotional I felt. My throat was tight as I said, "It won't count tomorrow and it'll be like I never said it, but on this Valentine's Day, I fell in love with you."

✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡✗♡
To start this review, I'm not a big YA Contemporary reader these days. It's nothing against the genre itself! I think I just grew out of it now that I'm in my mid-twenties and I'm not necessarily the target audience anymore. I feel like a lot of the issues that the main characters face in a YA contemporary novel seem...juvenile in a sense? Now that I have more life experiences under my belt it just makes everything that I experienced or complained about in high school feel so insignificant when there are much bigger issues and bigger fish to fry.

I know the genre has evolved so much since I was in middle school/high school reading these books--just look at Ace of Spades for example--but I swear I remember reading YA contemporary books growing up where the main character has a falling out with a best friend or is trying to get their crush to notice them at school by getting a massive makeover or something along those lines. Reading the premise, I had a feeling The Do-Over was going to be one of those YA novels where it was going to be super cheesy and I would cringe at every interaction that happens in the story. Needless to say, I was skeptical going into the story and I had a feeling I would groan and complain over everything that happened.

So now, after reading it, why and how am I, a 24-year-old woman, giggling and kicking my feet over two teenagers falling in love?

Yes, this was super cheesy and cringy, but this was also a cute read and a good palate cleanser and I actually ended up enjoying this more than I thought. I finished the entire book in about 2.5 hours; it was super easy to read and it also helps that the book isn't even 300 pages long. I think I would describe it as "Groundhog Day meets Ferris Bueller's Day off with a dash of The Sun Is Also a Star and Before I Fall." (Yeah, I know those last two titles are probably some old backlisted YA contemporary books I'm sure some people forgot about; Before I Fall was published 15 years ago and The Sun is Also a Star was published almost 10 years ago! Time really flies lol.) I saw elements of all of those movies or books in this one, and I thought it was an interesting take on all of them!

Groundhog Day: Emilie relives the same day over and over again
Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Nick and Emilie take on her DONC (Day of No Consequences)
The Sun is Also a Star: Nick and Emilie get to know each other over the course of 24 hours
Before I Fall: Emilie relives the same disastrous day over and over again until she finds out a way to break the time loop...also just so happens that Before I Fall also takes place around Valentine's Day (February 12th) and the main character of Before I Fall, Samantha, also has a crappy boyfriend.

Nick and Emilie had me giggling and kicking my feet throughout the story. I literally don't remember the last book couple that's made me feel that way. Their banter was funny and their moments together were adorable. He gives her piggyback rides? The balcony? The way Nick eats her pizza crusts because she doesn't like them? The very last scene in the book?! It was all so adorable. If you want more content, I highly suggest reading the chapters from Nick's POV which are posted here for you to read! I also had the Barnes & Noble exclusive edition of The Do-Over (it was the only edition available at B&N lol) which included ANOTHER 3 chapters from Nick's POV that aren't posted on Lynn Painter's website. It was cute to see everything from Nick's POV and good Lord, he is down bad.

With all of that being said, I did feel like something was missing from the story. The pacing felt very off, with some chapters being rushed through as Emilie wakes up and keeps repeating Valentine's Day over and over again, and then once Emilie and Nick go off and do the DONC the pacing slows. I get that the DONC was a pivotal scene in the book, but it felt like the rest of the story flew by at 80 miles an hour and the DONC went like, 30 miles an hour in comparison. Because the entire story takes place over a few days--technically speaking it was only one day but it kept repeating--we don't really get to know a whole ton about Emilie and Nick beyond the surface-level information we get from them throughout the story. I wish there was more about Nick and Emilie's family dynamics since a lot of their intrapersonal conflicts stem from them, but they felt like an afterthought in the whole story. Although I don't get attached to fictional characters, I feel like people who tend to do that might feel like this element is missing so I thought it was worth mentioning.

Also, I think the third-act breakup was unnecessary. I get WHY it happened and Emilie and Nick both had their reasons for ending things the way it did--even if Emilie's reason was something that she couldn't necessarily explain to Nick without sounding like a lunatic--but it seemed pretty obvious that they both didn't want to end things the way they did and it resulted in them being weird about it for weeks afterward. I'm big on "if the couple in the story is happy, why ruin their happiness?" so I know this comes from a place of bias because I think most third-act breakups are unnecessary.

Last but not least, Josh...he needs a kick in the nuts and a bonk over the head with a baseball bat. What kind of high schooler calls his friend group "The Bards?" Like okay, William Shakespeare wannabe. Chris is right- Josh IS a tool. He reminds me too much of the valedictorian of my high school class- stuck up, a know-it-all, and a try-hard. He's also an asshole for not remembering something as simple as WHAT EMILIE IS ALLERGIC TO. I was rooting for Emilie the entire time to break up with him. Like girl, if he wanted to, he would, and clearly, he doesn't want to.

In conclusion, I hope Emilie had a marvelous time ruining everything as much as I enjoyed reading the story.

3.5 stars
--
Trigger warnings: divorce, cheating, death of a family member

𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹: I know, I know, I'm late to the party reading this book lol. I'm buddy reading this with a few of the amazing girlies I've met from the hot girls read books Goodreads group!✨ Buddy reading this with Cealie, Luna, Nikki, Stvrlightt, and Naiomi-Arrianna!

[nina ʚïɞ (hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I had a marvelous time ruining everything.”

4 Stars!

I watched Groundhog Day a few years ago for the first time and loved it- and I’m not a huge Bill Murray fan, so it was mainly the hilarity of the trope. I’ve seen a few other movies with this repeating timeline before and found them all decently enjoyable, but I’ve never read a book with one, so when I saw that this was similar my interest was immediately piqued.

I related to Emilie so much it hurt, but like, in the best way- I felt so seen. I usually like to read to escape reality, right? So reading about Emilie’s home life and having such similar thoughts and feelings to her was wild, but not unwelcome. The idea that she had to make herself smaller in any situation to not rock the boat is so relatable. I loved seeing her grow more confident and put herself first throughout the repeating days.

Honestly, both of her parents suck. Even at the end. Emilie is so sweet and thoughtful, and she’s just an afterthought to them and it was so frustrating to read, but it also felt very real. Emilie just deserved better.

I think this story hinged on insta-love, but it kind of comes with the territory? Being that this is YA and a romance taking place in high school, I feel like it’s plausible that the feelings are just that big so I was okay with it.

Subpar conflict resolution is always a downfall for me and I think with the ending being so abrupt we missed out on some things that I would’ve liked to have more fleshed out scenes for. Also, there wasn’t an epilogue and that made me incredibly sad, but oh well. I enjoyed this book immensely anyway.

Also, the confessions at the beginning of each chapter? Loved it. Lynn Painter is quickly becoming an author I love.

Now I think I’m gonna end my day by re-watching Groundhog Day.


Ahh my library came through with this hold! I’ve only read BTTM so I’m excited to read another LP book. Can’t wait to dive into this Valentine’s Day version of Groundhog Day 🤸🏻‍♀️🤸🏻‍♀️

[aira · Rating 2 out of 5]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ummmm 🤨

2.5!! I liked the first half, but the second half got a little boring and I had to skim some of DONC. I think the concept of the day repeating was really cool, although when they went on that adventure during DONC, it just didn't give me the same feelings that the time loops did.

Emilie Hornby. I didn't completely hate her and she was definitely way better than Bailey, but I didn't love her either. I think people who try to act quirky are infuriating. Why are you trying to annoy the people around you?? Her parents are a lot worse in my opinion and I truly felt bad for her. Neither seems to really care about her because they seem extremely caught up in their own lives. Although, the fact that she plans out her love life was hilarious. Like, she really was with Josh because he checked all the boxes and she was planning to confess her love on Valentine's Day.

Nick Stark. I liked him a lot more than the clown, Charlie, but he's not on Wes level. Nobody could reach Wes anyways, Nick was pretty cute at the start like when she would bump into him and stuff. However, as the book went on, this man got on my last nerve. I really like how he accompanied her on the DONC, even though he only technically knew her for a few hours, but the way his personality took a drastic turn on the 15th gave me whiplash. Where was the cute, charming, care-free man and who is the imposter?

The Plot. Like I said above, I loved the time loop part of it, but the DONC, I didn't love as much. I get it, but I didn't like it. I didn't mind the repetition and I think that would actually have to be my favorite part of the book since it's a really unique concept. The pop culture references will be the end of me. For the love of God and everything holy, please no more references to Taylor Swift. We love her, but I don't want to keep reading about her in my books.

In conclusion: Yes, it was cute and entertaining. No, I will not be reading this again unless I am possessed or something. Check this out for sure if you like time loops with a insta-love relationship between the two main characters.

square 12: character has powers ✔︎

I'm not going to be reading a fantasy book for this square because I know I can't make it through that, so I'll count the time loop thing as having powers. Yeah, don't mind me bending the rules a little bit here. 😌😔

| o | o | o | o | ⨯ |
| ⨯ | o | o | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| ⨯ | ⨯ | ⨯ | o | ⨯ |
| ⨯ | o | ⨯ | ⨯ | ⨯ |
| ⨯ | ⨯ | ⨯ | ⨯ | ⨯ |

Side note; I'm almost done with BINGO 😭😭

--------

pre-read: I don't remember requesting this book from the library, but apparently I did so might as well read it. 🤷‍♀️

[mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I fell in love with you on Valentine’s Day, Emilie, but I need more than just seven minutes."

i'm not a contemporary romance girlie so take my rating seriously jk but this was so easy to read. honestly, if you want a vibes only book that's fast paced and cute- read this <3

reading this felt like a nostalgic teen movie from the early 2000s.

[chloé ✿ · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf @ page 134

i tried. it’s only 286 pages long and i couldn’t do it.

never imagined a YA rom com that requires 0 brainpower and is under 300 pages would start putting me in a slump, but there’s a first time for everything. 🫢

fmc annoyed me, there was too much cussing, and i cringed too often

(adored better than the movies btw)

[Hannah B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨It’s giving “see you in chemistry” from Drake and Josh, Before I Fall*, Easy A**, every Taylor Swift song ever, and that one scene in Santa Clause 2 where Scott gets Carol the baby doll.✨

*less tears for sure and there’s absolutely an HEA
**basically just the vibes of Olive not giving a fuck

✨

Isn’t it lovely when a most anticipated read is truly worth it? Especially since Better Than the Movies was That Bitch. Both books do different things, but they both do what they do very well.

In a possibly ill-fated attempt to describe how they’re related, I’m going to rely on Mean Girls because it is a timeless beauty and for some reason I’m in an early 2000s mood. For our purposes, The Plastics have been replaced by their cousin, The Papers. Better Than the Movies is Regina George because again, That Bitch. And it is here before you today that I present The Do-Over as Karen Smith. (Lynn I dare you to mention toaster strudels in book 3.)

✨

The Do-Over just made me feel really happy and fluffy. It was a super quick read and I definitely read it in one sitting. There’s a 30% chance I’m already recommending it (I’m a pusher, I push people). Easy, breezy, beautiful, hardcover girl.

The DONC (day of no consequences) had me STRESSED like girl 90+ in a 45??? Ricky Bobby could never 😮‍💨 We never got to see her day in court lol but my gawd thoughts & prayers. On the DONC note, I love how The Do-Over played with the time loop trope. It’s chaotic and somehow very nostalgic.

As stated in the summary, the loop stopped after the day when Emilie finally lost her moral marbles and went off the rails, dragging Nick with her. (Who are we kidding there was no dragging necessary.) It also didn’t spend too much time recounting the previous days she’d relived, so you didn’t feel like you were rereading pages upon pages.

ALSO he called her good girl during the DONC and really any form of good girl is a win in my book.

✨

I will only compare children once: I wish we had more insight into Nick’s feelings towards Emilie prior to the start of the book. We definitely got a hint of it (hello pretending he didn’t remember her) but they made it pretty clear neither had given the other much thought prior to the DONC.

On one hand, this means that the book did a very impressive job building their relationship in a very short amount of space. On the other hand, I’m a greedy gremlin and I always want there to be major secret pining by the love interest (if they’ve gone to school together or are otherwise mildly aware of each other). Like our sweet love sick boy Wes, for example.

The grand gesture here was ADORABLE but I did think we were going to get Nick’s own hastily put together confession box with a hundred scribbled confessions of things he’s loved about Emilie over the years. Endless pining is just something I always want to see, so I can’t not advocate for it here. Again, there were hints but the depth of his previous feelings was never revealed.

✨

Overall, this was such an enjoyable take on the time loop. I already can’t wait to read Lynn’s next YA because there’s just something so relatable and real about her characters. I’ve found both Liz and Emilie to be so wonderfully complex and not pigeonholed into one character type. Younger me feels so at home in a Lynn Painter YA.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thanks so much to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley! I’m also mutuals with the author on social media and I happen to think she’s amazing. However, my review/opinion is honest and my own!

[agapi ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’m between 4 and 4.5 stars but…
all i know is we said hello and your eyes look like coming home all i know is a simple name and everything has changed all i know is you held the door you'll be mine and i'll be yours all i know since yesterday is everything has changed

[Grace Quan · Rating 5 out of 5]

· ˚ 🍒 ⊹ ⌇ 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔻𝕠-𝕆𝕧𝕖𝕣

ᴀɢᴇ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: 13-15+

╰┈➤ˎˊ˗𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 ~ The Last Great American Dynasty -Taylor Swift
3:07 ─────〇─ -0:43
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

⋆✴︎˚｡⋆I have a marvelous time ruining everything

5 stars. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

˚₊ ⟢┊𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓈: 🌷┊⊹࣪⋆

✾Ground hog day trope
✾high school romance
✾self discovery
✾family drama
✾grief
✾grumpy x sunshine
✾VERY academically driven fmc

˚₊ ⟢┊𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈: 🧁┊⊹࣪⋆

I hear people say "I want my man to be written by a woman." Forget that. I want to be written by Lynn Painter. Seriously, I think I fall more in love with her fmcs than with the mmcs. I'm currently in high school so I absolutely fell in love with the setting and the aesthetic, but I think this book could speak to all ages. Especially Emilie's character. I think were all familiar with the people pleasing 'bend over backwards to make everyone comfortable' character and that of course spoke to me in a way that felt a bit to real.

Towards the middle of the book, I was getting a bit bored of the repetitiveness. I will say, I do think the repetition was necessary for the eventual progression of the plot. Emilie experiences Valentines day over and over so naturally it felt a bit flat, but by the end I didn't want to leave the magic of this story.
I think this was, most of all, a self discovery story. Learning to take life by the reins and live to the fullest without worrying about what others will think of you. I think it's an important lesson and LP did a really good job capturing it in this adorable rom com.
Of course there were the niche T. Swift references that my swiftie brain automatically picked up and even though I don't think Taylor Swift references belong in every page, LP somehow made it work.

Let's take a moment just to appreciate Nick Stark. A MAN A MAN A MA-E-A-A AN. IM BREAKING DISHING UP IN HERE!!! He's the man, there's no way a dude in high school acts like this because he was freaking perfect. The sweetest, most perfect boy and I want him to marry me. 🥹💍 I want someone who's as head over heels for me as Nick was for Emilie. Boys, take notes, be like Nick.


˚₊ ⟢┊𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝑜𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈: 🚗┊⊹࣪⋆

❝ This wasn't about boys and girls and love and attraction, this was about a human soul needing to feel seen.❞

❝ Yes, Emilie Hornby, I'm here to tell you that I'm a little obsessed with you. With this... With us.❞

❝I remember everything about you, Em. ❞

❝ I absolutely expect love in my life, but there is no way I'm going to sit around and wait for fate to make it happen.❞

❝Everything in my life had changed, but I had zero regrets.
I had a marvelous time ruining everything. ❞

❝ I fell in love with you on Valentine’s Day, Emilie, but I need more than just seven minutes.❞

I definitely could go on for pages of these adorable quotes but these were my favorite. 🫶🏼

────୨ৎ────
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨🍓୧⋆ ˚｡⋆𝓹𝓻𝓮-𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭:

I've been saving this one for a rainy day, I want to kick my feet and giggle and Lynn Painter always delivers. 💝🫶🏼 I haven't been loving reading as much lately, and I think I need something easy and fun. If anyone has any god-tier recs to remind me why I love reading, feel free to comment or pm me 💖