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A Second Chance for Yesterday
Created by historian and futurist sibling authors, {::} A Second Chance for Yesterday is a time-twisting story of family, redemption and queer love, for fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife .
Nev Bourne is a hotshot programmer for the latest and greatest tech invention out SavePoint, the brain implant that rewinds the seconds of all our most embarrassing moments. She’s been working non-stop on the next rollout, even blowing off her boyfriend, her best friend and her family to make SavePoint 2.0. But when she hits go on the test-run, she wakes up the next day only to discover it's yesterday. She's falling backwards in time, one day at a time.
As things spiral out of control, a long-lost friend from college reappears in her life claiming they know how to save her. Airin is charming and mysterious, and somehow knows Nev intimately well. Desperate and intrigued, Nev takes a leap of faith. A friendship born of fear slowly becomes a bond of deepest trust, and possibly love. With time running out, and the whole world of SavePoint users at stake, Nev must learn what it will take to set things right, and what it will cost.
Nev Bourne is a hotshot programmer for the latest and greatest tech invention out SavePoint, the brain implant that rewinds the seconds of all our most embarrassing moments. She’s been working non-stop on the next rollout, even blowing off her boyfriend, her best friend and her family to make SavePoint 2.0. But when she hits go on the test-run, she wakes up the next day only to discover it's yesterday. She's falling backwards in time, one day at a time.
As things spiral out of control, a long-lost friend from college reappears in her life claiming they know how to save her. Airin is charming and mysterious, and somehow knows Nev intimately well. Desperate and intrigued, Nev takes a leap of faith. A friendship born of fear slowly becomes a bond of deepest trust, and possibly love. With time running out, and the whole world of SavePoint users at stake, Nev must learn what it will take to set things right, and what it will cost.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 29, 2023
30 people are currently reading
422 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
September 9, 2023
Time travel stories can come in so many forms! It has been a while since I’ve read a Benjamin Button–style story. A Second Chance for Yesterday has its protagonist, Nev, hurtling backwards in time. The title is everything: sibling authors writing under the name R.A. Sinn ask us if a person can reform simply by having the chance to do things over, albeit in reverse. Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Solaris for the eARC.
Nev Bourne is the lead programmer on a technology that lets people rewind time a few seconds. An accident at work causes her to relive, successively, each previous day of her life. Nev is going backwards in time, yet no one else is aware of this. It’s only through an unlikely team-up with a former college associate that Nev manages to wrest some semblance of control from this chaos and work to fix the glitch—before it can happen to the millions of people who will soon use this tech.
This novel works best when you don’t try to peek underneath the hood and question the mechanics behind the time travel. Sinn posits that Nev’s employer has a “quantum mainframe” that can somehow reset the universe a few seconds into the past whenever someone triggers an ocular implant. OK, sure. If you can handwave past that, the story itself is quite enjoyable. They take some time developing the mystery behind Nev’s reverse chronological experience. Once she understands her predicament and enlists Airin (or rather is enlisted by them, convinced by their memory of Nev’s … futurepast?), the story ramps up in intensity.
I think what makes this story so interesting is the way that it gradually morphs from “I have to escape this fate for myself” to “I have to protect others and prevent this from happening at all.” Sinn is clearly trying to make Nev out to be a flawed, somewhat selfish person who needs to learn a lesson as she travels backwards through her life. It’s a valuable idea, though I’m not sure it is executed very well.
The same can be said for the antagonist (if that is what you want to call him) and the eventual resolution of the glitch. In the eleventh hour, Nev confronts the antagonist. It’s a pretty tense moment, yet the result is anticlimactic. The same goes for the ending itself. Not quite a cliffhanger yet also not quite conclusion, the ending might be Sinn’s attempt to say, “It doesn’t matter what happens to Nev from here on out.” It might be an attempt to ask the reader to imagine Nev’s futurepast. I’m not sure—and that’s the problem.
This is a book with a very cool premise and a lot of glimmers of brilliance. But everything from characterization to plot to the final lines feels half-finished. Underwhelming. Far from crisp. A Second Chance for Yesterday has great ideas, but it never comes together to become a truly entertaining or enlightening read.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
Nev Bourne is the lead programmer on a technology that lets people rewind time a few seconds. An accident at work causes her to relive, successively, each previous day of her life. Nev is going backwards in time, yet no one else is aware of this. It’s only through an unlikely team-up with a former college associate that Nev manages to wrest some semblance of control from this chaos and work to fix the glitch—before it can happen to the millions of people who will soon use this tech.
This novel works best when you don’t try to peek underneath the hood and question the mechanics behind the time travel. Sinn posits that Nev’s employer has a “quantum mainframe” that can somehow reset the universe a few seconds into the past whenever someone triggers an ocular implant. OK, sure. If you can handwave past that, the story itself is quite enjoyable. They take some time developing the mystery behind Nev’s reverse chronological experience. Once she understands her predicament and enlists Airin (or rather is enlisted by them, convinced by their memory of Nev’s … futurepast?), the story ramps up in intensity.
I think what makes this story so interesting is the way that it gradually morphs from “I have to escape this fate for myself” to “I have to protect others and prevent this from happening at all.” Sinn is clearly trying to make Nev out to be a flawed, somewhat selfish person who needs to learn a lesson as she travels backwards through her life. It’s a valuable idea, though I’m not sure it is executed very well.
The same can be said for the antagonist (if that is what you want to call him) and the eventual resolution of the glitch. In the eleventh hour, Nev confronts the antagonist. It’s a pretty tense moment, yet the result is anticlimactic. The same goes for the ending itself. Not quite a cliffhanger yet also not quite conclusion, the ending might be Sinn’s attempt to say, “It doesn’t matter what happens to Nev from here on out.” It might be an attempt to ask the reader to imagine Nev’s futurepast. I’m not sure—and that’s the problem.
This is a book with a very cool premise and a lot of glimmers of brilliance. But everything from characterization to plot to the final lines feels half-finished. Underwhelming. Far from crisp. A Second Chance for Yesterday has great ideas, but it never comes together to become a truly entertaining or enlightening read.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
June 9, 2023
The story in A Second Chance for Yesterday is woven around an intriguing and novel twist on time travel. When Nev finds herself going back through time, one day at a time, she has to enlist the help of an old hacker acquaintance from her past to work out what is going on and how to fix it.
The small cast of characters are very well written, with Nev and Airin having a depth and real emotional presence. Their relationship is beautifully told, with the nuances and difficulties caused by the time travel handled in an satisfying and believable way. I was very invested in their relationship, and cried at one poingant point towards the end of the book. The minor characters of Maddy, Jared, Christina, and Kusuma are nicely distinct, and help support the plot - with some very gratifying moments of clarity for Nev in these relationship as she sees them develop in reverse.
I would have liked a little more detail around the parts that Kusuma and Jim Bone played in the background of why the time travel glitch happened, as these were left frustratingly vague - although this is a minor point, and the plot was richly described and had a good pace. The ending left room for a sequel (please?), and I would definitely enjoy learning more about this background if a sequel is written.
Thank you #NetGalley and Solaris for the free review copy of #ASecondChanceforYesterday in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The small cast of characters are very well written, with Nev and Airin having a depth and real emotional presence. Their relationship is beautifully told, with the nuances and difficulties caused by the time travel handled in an satisfying and believable way. I was very invested in their relationship, and cried at one poingant point towards the end of the book. The minor characters of Maddy, Jared, Christina, and Kusuma are nicely distinct, and help support the plot - with some very gratifying moments of clarity for Nev in these relationship as she sees them develop in reverse.
I would have liked a little more detail around the parts that Kusuma and Jim Bone played in the background of why the time travel glitch happened, as these were left frustratingly vague - although this is a minor point, and the plot was richly described and had a good pace. The ending left room for a sequel (please?), and I would definitely enjoy learning more about this background if a sequel is written.
Thank you #NetGalley and Solaris for the free review copy of #ASecondChanceforYesterday in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
August 18, 2023
4.5*
The world-building in this book is so incredible and thought provoking! It's 2045, and humans have figured out how to rewind a few seconds to undo cringey situations. Sounds cool and also incredibly messy, right? Well, something is happening to Nev, who is working on the 2.0 version. She finds herself moving backwards a day every day, so when she wakes up in what is supposed to be the next day, it's actually the day before. She figures this has to be some kind of glitch happening since she is working on the program, and she needs to get to the bottom of it.
That is literally all I will tell you about the plot, because the whole fun of the story is figuring out what the heck is happening, and what fun it is! It is written in such a great way, because it isn't too scientific for the casual fan to read, but it is complex enough to be really intriguing and perplexing- in the good way. And I absolutely fell in love with Nev, she becomes so much more self-aware and likable as the story goes on, too. She has to do a lot of introspection during the course of the story, and it makes her all the better for it.
Nev is, when we meet her, living a pretty isolated existence. Her life revolves around work, she's on the outs with her family (her only close family member, her beloved grandmother, has just passed), and she's in a non-relationship with some crappy guy. As she starts to travel in reverse, however, she sees the opportunity to perhaps change some of that. She is reacquainted with Airin, who she knew a bit from their college days, but never stayed in contact with. But since Airin is moving forward and Nev is moving backwards, they are always at different stages of their understandings of the situation, so it makes things even more complicated.
Now, my only qualm (legit, the only thing keeping me from giving this the full five) is that ending. I needed more! I have read a few reviews that say it might be a series? If it is, I will come back here and provide that last half a star without hesitation. I have done a lot of investigating (too much, frankly) and can find nothing labeling it as a series, so. I beg of you, someone out there, tell me it will be a series! Hell, lie to me at this point, I need more!
Bottom Line: I loved this book, and I really hope that the story continues, because if not, I shall be left with sadness at never knowing Things™.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
The world-building in this book is so incredible and thought provoking! It's 2045, and humans have figured out how to rewind a few seconds to undo cringey situations. Sounds cool and also incredibly messy, right? Well, something is happening to Nev, who is working on the 2.0 version. She finds herself moving backwards a day every day, so when she wakes up in what is supposed to be the next day, it's actually the day before. She figures this has to be some kind of glitch happening since she is working on the program, and she needs to get to the bottom of it.
That is literally all I will tell you about the plot, because the whole fun of the story is figuring out what the heck is happening, and what fun it is! It is written in such a great way, because it isn't too scientific for the casual fan to read, but it is complex enough to be really intriguing and perplexing- in the good way. And I absolutely fell in love with Nev, she becomes so much more self-aware and likable as the story goes on, too. She has to do a lot of introspection during the course of the story, and it makes her all the better for it.
Nev is, when we meet her, living a pretty isolated existence. Her life revolves around work, she's on the outs with her family (her only close family member, her beloved grandmother, has just passed), and she's in a non-relationship with some crappy guy. As she starts to travel in reverse, however, she sees the opportunity to perhaps change some of that. She is reacquainted with Airin, who she knew a bit from their college days, but never stayed in contact with. But since Airin is moving forward and Nev is moving backwards, they are always at different stages of their understandings of the situation, so it makes things even more complicated.
Now, my only qualm (legit, the only thing keeping me from giving this the full five) is that ending. I needed more! I have read a few reviews that say it might be a series? If it is, I will come back here and provide that last half a star without hesitation. I have done a lot of investigating (too much, frankly) and can find nothing labeling it as a series, so. I beg of you, someone out there, tell me it will be a series! Hell, lie to me at this point, I need more!
Bottom Line: I loved this book, and I really hope that the story continues, because if not, I shall be left with sadness at never knowing Things™.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
July 18, 2023
Great set up for the rest of the series.. but that CLIFFHANGER? Rude! Time travel is such a great read and I like how each chapter has the date/time. I just kept thinking.. how/when will Nev break this cycle??
I received this ARC and am leaving this review voluntarily, all thoughts/opinions above are my own.
I received this ARC and am leaving this review voluntarily, all thoughts/opinions above are my own.
August 21, 2023
Excerpt from my review - originally published at Offbeat YA.
Pros: Intriguing, inventive sci-fi twist on the Merlin Sickness trope. Relatable lead.
Cons: Requires some suspension of disbelief. The temporal disruption and its consequences can get confusing. The family issue resolution feels unearned. The ending doesn't give straight answers (if that's something that bothers you).
WARNING! A few scenes involve vulgar/inappropriate male nudity.
Will appeal to: Those who enjoy narratives that play with time. Those who love redemption arcs and star-crossed romances.
First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.
SERIOUS FUN
Here's the thing: I love narratives that play with time because they're great fun (even the tragic ones, if you get my meaning). But I also love them because, at the same time (no pun intended), they're perfect to vehiculate philosophical concepts, or simply, to make you think. This one, while I'm not thrilled about the direction it went with regard to the family angle (more about that below - I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum), had a lot to say about ethics, redemption, and becoming, if not the best, at least a better version of yourself - and mind you, it managed to stay entertaining and to throw a few surprises at the reader in the process (though I should probably have seen at least one of them coming - but even if I didn't because I was engrossed with the story, and not because the twist was difficult to figure out, that's still a good thing!). [...]
Whole review here.
Pros: Intriguing, inventive sci-fi twist on the Merlin Sickness trope. Relatable lead.
Cons: Requires some suspension of disbelief. The temporal disruption and its consequences can get confusing. The family issue resolution feels unearned. The ending doesn't give straight answers (if that's something that bothers you).
WARNING! A few scenes involve vulgar/inappropriate male nudity.
Will appeal to: Those who enjoy narratives that play with time. Those who love redemption arcs and star-crossed romances.
First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.
SERIOUS FUN
Here's the thing: I love narratives that play with time because they're great fun (even the tragic ones, if you get my meaning). But I also love them because, at the same time (no pun intended), they're perfect to vehiculate philosophical concepts, or simply, to make you think. This one, while I'm not thrilled about the direction it went with regard to the family angle (more about that below - I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum), had a lot to say about ethics, redemption, and becoming, if not the best, at least a better version of yourself - and mind you, it managed to stay entertaining and to throw a few surprises at the reader in the process (though I should probably have seen at least one of them coming - but even if I didn't because I was engrossed with the story, and not because the twist was difficult to figure out, that's still a good thing!). [...]
Whole review here.
July 6, 2023
I AM SO MAD THAT THE ENDING WAS A CLIFFHANGER. Besides that, I really enjoyed this read! It was a very fun and unique science fiction novel. Nevaeh is a coder at Qbito, a company that created SavePoint, a software which allows you to 'undo' your actions by time traveling 5 seconds into the past. Unfortunately, some code goes awry, and Nevaeh starts traveling backwards in time, day by day. She begins working with Airin to fix the Glitch, thus sparking a complicated love story in which Airin is moving forward in time, while Nev is moving backwards.
I really liked the plot of the book, but I wish some things were explained better. There is a lot of cool gadgets and technologies (such as a viz), but inadequate descriptions of such technologies made the book hard to understand at some points. Also some of the language (i.e. futurepast, yestermorrow, etc.) tripped me up a bit. I was obviously a bit confused with some of the science-heavy parts of the book like the references to relativity and quantum physics, however, I do think the fictional stuff could have been made easier to grasp.
I really liked the plot of the book, but I wish some things were explained better. There is a lot of cool gadgets and technologies (such as a viz), but inadequate descriptions of such technologies made the book hard to understand at some points. Also some of the language (i.e. futurepast, yestermorrow, etc.) tripped me up a bit. I was obviously a bit confused with some of the science-heavy parts of the book like the references to relativity and quantum physics, however, I do think the fictional stuff could have been made easier to grasp.
September 3, 2023
I'll add my review to the others saying the ending is intensely disappointing. The author(s) focused on one storyline and seemed to rush wrapping that one up at the last second (from screaming in someone's face to crying and hugging them in the space of one middling speech) while the others were just left to dangle. So much potential with such little payoff. I feel like the two-writer problem may have contributed to that. One may have said "I want to talk about THIS angle!" and the other said "no, this one."
The technology also might as well have been magic. People can skip backward in time five seconds by doing hand gestures? Because of an implant? That might as well be magic. Just make it magic.
Also people have mentioned how much they live the time stamps at the start of each chapter. I'll go the other way, because I HATED them. They're fine in a book where your eyes can just skim over them. But in an audiobook where the poor narrator has to read EACH AND EVERY NUMBER EVERY SINGLE TIME... it gets tedious very fast. There's also a scene where Nev counts down the seconds. Every. Single. Second. I admit skipped ahead on that nonsense.
The technology also might as well have been magic. People can skip backward in time five seconds by doing hand gestures? Because of an implant? That might as well be magic. Just make it magic.
Also people have mentioned how much they live the time stamps at the start of each chapter. I'll go the other way, because I HATED them. They're fine in a book where your eyes can just skim over them. But in an audiobook where the poor narrator has to read EACH AND EVERY NUMBER EVERY SINGLE TIME... it gets tedious very fast. There's also a scene where Nev counts down the seconds. Every. Single. Second. I admit skipped ahead on that nonsense.
June 19, 2023
Lots of things can go wrong when exploring time-travel, as the characters in this novel can attest. But that holds true for authors as well. Here there is a novel approach to time travel, playing with the ideas of predetermination and free-will without committing too strongly to any specific answer being exactly right. If this was a hard sci-fi novel then some of the vagaries, and unanswered dilemmas that come up, might get in the way of the story. But this isn’t a hard sci-fi novel. This is a novel about what it means to discover yourself, and who and how you want to be in the world. It asks questions about what kind of ripple effects we can have as we move through time and space, and time-travel is simply a plot device to look at myriad sides of a quantum entanglement simultaneously.
And realizing that, the story, and the journey it takes us on, whether forward or backwards, is both moving and satisfying. Our protagonist feels real and solid, and her change and growth feels natural, as opposed to mere acquiescence to plot contrivances. And the writing feels intimate and personal without being contrived. There are characters that work in parallel but with mirrored story-arcs, as they are moving in different directions through time, and the way those two journeys are explored, the journey from inexperience to knowledge for one and the reverse for the other, was done well. Although the story was wrapped in sci-fi concepts and futuristic ideas of how computing will undoubtedly invade our private lives, nothing felt impenetrable or hard to follow, which can happen when futuristic ideas are not the main part of a story but the dressing for a different story. Here they were a welcome and exciting way to go deeper than a less futuristic narrative might allow.
Some parts of the story did feel a little slow, and sometimes the backwards narrative structure did force the authors into corners that were occasionally repetitive. There is ambiguity throughout the story, about motivations and intended outcomes and so forth, and in most cases it felt earned, complimenting the story, instead of feeling like questions the authors weren’t sure how to answer. It is understandable that this may not be the novel for everyone, but if you are interested in heartfelt, genuine introspection delivered with an interesting sci-fi/time-traveling wrinkle, there is a lot to enjoy and think on in this wonderful novel.
I want to thank the author, the publisher Rebellion, Solaris, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
And realizing that, the story, and the journey it takes us on, whether forward or backwards, is both moving and satisfying. Our protagonist feels real and solid, and her change and growth feels natural, as opposed to mere acquiescence to plot contrivances. And the writing feels intimate and personal without being contrived. There are characters that work in parallel but with mirrored story-arcs, as they are moving in different directions through time, and the way those two journeys are explored, the journey from inexperience to knowledge for one and the reverse for the other, was done well. Although the story was wrapped in sci-fi concepts and futuristic ideas of how computing will undoubtedly invade our private lives, nothing felt impenetrable or hard to follow, which can happen when futuristic ideas are not the main part of a story but the dressing for a different story. Here they were a welcome and exciting way to go deeper than a less futuristic narrative might allow.
Some parts of the story did feel a little slow, and sometimes the backwards narrative structure did force the authors into corners that were occasionally repetitive. There is ambiguity throughout the story, about motivations and intended outcomes and so forth, and in most cases it felt earned, complimenting the story, instead of feeling like questions the authors weren’t sure how to answer. It is understandable that this may not be the novel for everyone, but if you are interested in heartfelt, genuine introspection delivered with an interesting sci-fi/time-traveling wrinkle, there is a lot to enjoy and think on in this wonderful novel.
I want to thank the author, the publisher Rebellion, Solaris, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 13, 2023
This book didn't resonate with me as much as I thought it would. It had all the elements of a story that would absolutely wreck me (in a good way), but small bits of the execution chipped away at my emotional investment in the story.
Let's start with the elements I liked. The cute, queer, star-crossed romance was my favorite part of this book, and it was easily the element I was most invested in. The romance has a similar vibe to that in This is How You Lose the Time War, so I do think people who liked that book will also enjoy this one. I also appreciated that this book didn't get bogged down in the minutia of the speculative tech while still at least hinting at enough speculative computer science to keep tech-savvy readers engaged.
However, one of the elements that took me out of the story was the way the tech company, Qbito, was treated by the narrative. It seemed to me like an unequivocally awful place to work (and I've spent a lot of time around employees of VERY dysfunctional tech companies), but nobody seemed to acknowledge that Nev's actions prior to that book were a product of her environment as much as of her own making. I couldn't help but feel like one characters anger at her was at least partially misplaced.
Also, one part of the ending didn't really sit right with me. As someone who has a fraught relationship with religious parents, I was invested in how Nev's conflict with her parents would resolve. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get behind Nev's decision in the end. I've struggled with science denier parents, and IMO some things are simply unforgivable. I think the ending would have made more sense if the book devoted more time to how Nev decided to do what she did instead of having a course of action just explained to her. As it stands, I just can't wrap my head around that part of the ending.
The book still hit me in the feels, so to speak, and I'd still recommend it to people who enjoyed This is How You Lose the Time War and other time travel romances.
Thank you to Rebellion and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Let's start with the elements I liked. The cute, queer, star-crossed romance was my favorite part of this book, and it was easily the element I was most invested in. The romance has a similar vibe to that in This is How You Lose the Time War, so I do think people who liked that book will also enjoy this one. I also appreciated that this book didn't get bogged down in the minutia of the speculative tech while still at least hinting at enough speculative computer science to keep tech-savvy readers engaged.
However, one of the elements that took me out of the story was the way the tech company, Qbito, was treated by the narrative. It seemed to me like an unequivocally awful place to work (and I've spent a lot of time around employees of VERY dysfunctional tech companies), but nobody seemed to acknowledge that Nev's actions prior to that book were a product of her environment as much as of her own making. I couldn't help but feel like one characters anger at her was at least partially misplaced.
Also, one part of the ending didn't really sit right with me. As someone who has a fraught relationship with religious parents, I was invested in how Nev's conflict with her parents would resolve. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get behind Nev's decision in the end. I've struggled with science denier parents, and IMO some things are simply unforgivable. I think the ending would have made more sense if the book devoted more time to how Nev decided to do what she did instead of having a course of action just explained to her. As it stands, I just can't wrap my head around that part of the ending.
The book still hit me in the feels, so to speak, and I'd still recommend it to people who enjoyed This is How You Lose the Time War and other time travel romances.
Thank you to Rebellion and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
August 30, 2023
Oh, I really wanted to unreservedly like this book. It had all the tropes/ideas that normally speak to me: time travel, saving the world, multiple timelines/alternate versions of reality, and fate vs. free will...
In the end, I spent more time trying to figure out the mechanisms of the timeline changes, how the technology even worked, and being distracted by the "futuristic" names for things than I did being engrossed by the story. And the characters never felt real and whole. It almost felt as if I were observing from a distance, being told things rather than being able to discover them in the actions of the plot or the people. I get that the disjointed, abrupt nature served the conceit of the timeline changes, but it made it hard to settle in and get into a rhythm with the story.
There were the makings of a great narrative about technology and choice and turning lives and data into corporate profit (even more than is done in the present day). So many threads to explore, and yet nothing seemed to stick long enough to make an impression. Even the love story felt jagged and unfinished. To a degree, I think this was meant to happen, but it still felt very much unresolved. There were so many unanswered questions, and plot threads left unraveled, that the book was more underwhelming than the premise set it up to be.
If you are a lover of alternate timelines and technology glitches, there is enough here to be intriguing. However, I wish it were constructed in a less jumbled manner and with more (or at least equal) emphasis on how the technology worked as much as there was on Nev and her complicated relationships with her family and Airin. Because it was the technology that set up the conceit of the time glitch, from which everything else seemed to spiral.
*I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for review. All opinions are my own.
In the end, I spent more time trying to figure out the mechanisms of the timeline changes, how the technology even worked, and being distracted by the "futuristic" names for things than I did being engrossed by the story. And the characters never felt real and whole. It almost felt as if I were observing from a distance, being told things rather than being able to discover them in the actions of the plot or the people. I get that the disjointed, abrupt nature served the conceit of the timeline changes, but it made it hard to settle in and get into a rhythm with the story.
There were the makings of a great narrative about technology and choice and turning lives and data into corporate profit (even more than is done in the present day). So many threads to explore, and yet nothing seemed to stick long enough to make an impression. Even the love story felt jagged and unfinished. To a degree, I think this was meant to happen, but it still felt very much unresolved. There were so many unanswered questions, and plot threads left unraveled, that the book was more underwhelming than the premise set it up to be.
If you are a lover of alternate timelines and technology glitches, there is enough here to be intriguing. However, I wish it were constructed in a less jumbled manner and with more (or at least equal) emphasis on how the technology worked as much as there was on Nev and her complicated relationships with her family and Airin. Because it was the technology that set up the conceit of the time glitch, from which everything else seemed to spiral.
*I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for review. All opinions are my own.
January 26, 2024
i really wanted to like this one more. lovely writing. i think perhaps my main struggle was that i found the time-travel mechanic convuluted, purposely confusing. and as creative as the time-travel is, for me it seemed hard to buy into the relationship/attraction between nev and airin. like, they're moving in time in different directions, so they never seemed emotionally on the same page. (who is, though, she says) that said, the world-building is so neat, and i found the emotional punch about Nev reconnecting with her family to be really lovely.
June 28, 2023
A Second Chance for Yesterday by R.A. Sinn will be published August 29, 2023. Solaris Books, an imprint of Rebellion Publishing, provided an early galley for review.
I have always been drawn to time travel tales, so this one jumped out to me. And as someone who spent three-plus decades in a software development career, the tech side of this one intrigued me as well.
First impression: each chapter is denoted by a date-time stamp rather than a simple sequential numbering. That's something new (for me). Next impression: the "do-over" aspect of the SavePoint application also seems innocuous enough (on the surface). But good sci-fi knows how to warn of such things. As the story unfolds, I found myself empathizing with Nev's situation as it grows more and more frustrating. I was also pulled into the whole mystery of it all: what was causing this to happen to Nev? And, more importantly, how was she going to break this cycle?
Jumping back a day at a time might seem simple enough, but it relies on the author really tackling the story in a different way. We often think linearly going forward, where here Sinn (a pseudonym for siblings Rachel Hope Cleves and Aram Sinnreich) must craft their story so it makes sense in reverse. A fun exercise indeed.
Without spoiling anything, the ending was fitting for the narrative and themes but did leave me with several unanswered questions (and thus not being fully as satisfying as I would have liked).
I have always been drawn to time travel tales, so this one jumped out to me. And as someone who spent three-plus decades in a software development career, the tech side of this one intrigued me as well.
First impression: each chapter is denoted by a date-time stamp rather than a simple sequential numbering. That's something new (for me). Next impression: the "do-over" aspect of the SavePoint application also seems innocuous enough (on the surface). But good sci-fi knows how to warn of such things. As the story unfolds, I found myself empathizing with Nev's situation as it grows more and more frustrating. I was also pulled into the whole mystery of it all: what was causing this to happen to Nev? And, more importantly, how was she going to break this cycle?
Jumping back a day at a time might seem simple enough, but it relies on the author really tackling the story in a different way. We often think linearly going forward, where here Sinn (a pseudonym for siblings Rachel Hope Cleves and Aram Sinnreich) must craft their story so it makes sense in reverse. A fun exercise indeed.
Without spoiling anything, the ending was fitting for the narrative and themes but did leave me with several unanswered questions (and thus not being fully as satisfying as I would have liked).
August 14, 2023
A Second Chance for Yesterday - R.A. Sinn
Things I loved:
+ The premise of this book is incredibly cool. If you’re a fan of the multiverse, like me, and love alternate realities and time travel - this book could be a winner for you!
+ I loved the plot and the romance subplot, the futuristic language and imagery!
+ The way in which the story is told - through “loops” that begin with the date and time.
+ Nev’s character arc was great! Watching her grow backwards was incredibly interesting!
Things I wished were a bit different:
+ I felt like the family drama secondary subplot was just a bit too much going on
+ I wish there had been more of a resolution to the Anissa and Jim Bone plot lines. Actually, I feel like the only plot line that was resolved was the family plot line.
+ The overall tone of the writing was not my style, but that is entirely personal preference!
Overall a 3.5 star read for me! Worth reading for sure if you’re interested in the topics I mentioned above! Hopefully there will be a sequel so we can find out what happens to humanity!! 😅
Things I loved:
+ The premise of this book is incredibly cool. If you’re a fan of the multiverse, like me, and love alternate realities and time travel - this book could be a winner for you!
+ I loved the plot and the romance subplot, the futuristic language and imagery!
+ The way in which the story is told - through “loops” that begin with the date and time.
+ Nev’s character arc was great! Watching her grow backwards was incredibly interesting!
Things I wished were a bit different:
+ I felt like the family drama secondary subplot was just a bit too much going on
+ I wish there had been more of a resolution to the Anissa and Jim Bone plot lines. Actually, I feel like the only plot line that was resolved was the family plot line.
+ The overall tone of the writing was not my style, but that is entirely personal preference!
Overall a 3.5 star read for me! Worth reading for sure if you’re interested in the topics I mentioned above! Hopefully there will be a sequel so we can find out what happens to humanity!! 😅
April 16, 2023
This wouldn’t been an easy 5 star reading but the ending for me ruined it. Without giving any spoilers it is simply unacceptable and made me go “what?! That’s it?!”
Nev has lived a complex life, from her religious mother, her sister passing from a plague, running away from home, self teaching herself to get into further education to the point she is at today. Nev is a coder and a damn good one, her love life is lacking but her work is beyond expectation. So when she finishes the final coding for SavePoint 2.0 shes pleased with herself.. until she wakes up and finds she’s living her life in reverse days. Through this she strikes a connection with Airin, who to her she just met, but for them they’ve been working together for weeks. Time is a construct and these two are working to fix the “glitch” and save millions of people from being thrown into the same situation as Nev, but these things are never easy when your going in the same direction and even more so when time literally isn’t on your side
Nev has lived a complex life, from her religious mother, her sister passing from a plague, running away from home, self teaching herself to get into further education to the point she is at today. Nev is a coder and a damn good one, her love life is lacking but her work is beyond expectation. So when she finishes the final coding for SavePoint 2.0 shes pleased with herself.. until she wakes up and finds she’s living her life in reverse days. Through this she strikes a connection with Airin, who to her she just met, but for them they’ve been working together for weeks. Time is a construct and these two are working to fix the “glitch” and save millions of people from being thrown into the same situation as Nev, but these things are never easy when your going in the same direction and even more so when time literally isn’t on your side
August 28, 2023
This is a unique plot. Usually, it's about reliving the same day again and again, but this time Nev wakes up the day before, while everyone else is still waking up like normal.
It had me all in from the first page right to the end. The author must of have had fun with all the research and easter eggs.
I liked the way that Nev fell for Airin, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the next book.
I hope she finds all her answers to get her back to day zero, so she can save the world and her love life.
Thanks to Netgalley for the copy of the ebook, This review is left voluntarily.
It had me all in from the first page right to the end. The author must of have had fun with all the research and easter eggs.
I liked the way that Nev fell for Airin, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the next book.
I hope she finds all her answers to get her back to day zero, so she can save the world and her love life.
Thanks to Netgalley for the copy of the ebook, This review is left voluntarily.
June 18, 2024
I really enjoyed this time travel novel. Nev finds herself waking up each morning to live that day, but she's moving backwards, waking up in successive yesterdays, trying to find a way to stop it happening.
It explores the obvious time paradoxes, but also gives her chances to re-explore her relationships, but in reverse.
I enjoyed the whole concept, and the characters were good.
Overall, I'll give it 5 stars (prob is 4.5).
(I think there was a missed opportunity to word process the whole book so that you had to read the pages successively backwards....but I suspect it would have degenerated into the Warlock of Firetop Mountain!)
It explores the obvious time paradoxes, but also gives her chances to re-explore her relationships, but in reverse.
I enjoyed the whole concept, and the characters were good.
Overall, I'll give it 5 stars (prob is 4.5).
(I think there was a missed opportunity to word process the whole book so that you had to read the pages successively backwards....but I suspect it would have degenerated into the Warlock of Firetop Mountain!)
March 27, 2023
A second chance for yesterday by R A Sinn.
Thank you Netgalley for an arc for an unbiased review.
This was an interesting premise, as time travel is an oft used genre in sci-fi books. This also has a queer element to it. But that made it right up my street.
Nevaeh (Nev) is a coder working for a company that has a product - SavePoint - that allows you to undo the last 5 seconds of your timeline.
She is tasked with getting SavePoint 2.0 up and running. As she hits the final code, she wakes up the following day to discover she is going backwards in time.
From there, we begin to find out more about other characters, most notably Anissa, who used to work for the company but was fired after they tried to warn others something was amiss.
Airin is also introduced. Although mentioned, they take a little time to arrive into the story properly, but once they do we really begin to get much more of what is going on around Nev's life.
That ending though. It was a lot to process. I'm not sure how much I liked it to be honest. And yet somehow it was very in keeping with the book as a whole, and that's why I am still okay with it overall.
I'm happy to give this 4/5 stars.
.
Thank you Netgalley for an arc for an unbiased review.
This was an interesting premise, as time travel is an oft used genre in sci-fi books. This also has a queer element to it. But that made it right up my street.
Nevaeh (Nev) is a coder working for a company that has a product - SavePoint - that allows you to undo the last 5 seconds of your timeline.
She is tasked with getting SavePoint 2.0 up and running. As she hits the final code, she wakes up the following day to discover she is going backwards in time.
From there, we begin to find out more about other characters, most notably Anissa, who used to work for the company but was fired after they tried to warn others something was amiss.
Airin is also introduced. Although mentioned, they take a little time to arrive into the story properly, but once they do we really begin to get much more of what is going on around Nev's life.
That ending though. It was a lot to process. I'm not sure how much I liked it to be honest. And yet somehow it was very in keeping with the book as a whole, and that's why I am still okay with it overall.
I'm happy to give this 4/5 stars.
.
March 11, 2024
Another book I couldn’t put down this weekend, and another that reminded me of a favorite: “The Time Traveler’s Wife”
January 1, 2024
"Now, the heat in their eyes was almost incendiary."
Wow - I really enjoyed A Second Chance for Yesterday. The book follows Nev, a gifted programmer, as she tries to prevent the world collapsing with the release of her company's latest rollout, SavePoint 2.0. In doing so, Nev gets stuck travelling back in time and ends up enlisting the help of hotshot hacker Airin as the two become slowly intertwined in trying to save humanity as they know it. A Second Chance for Yesterday is a lovely and fascinating story of family, queer love and redemption. I don't read many sci-fi books but found myself really enjoying it. Thank you Net Galley and Rebellion for the ARC of this one!
Wow - I really enjoyed A Second Chance for Yesterday. The book follows Nev, a gifted programmer, as she tries to prevent the world collapsing with the release of her company's latest rollout, SavePoint 2.0. In doing so, Nev gets stuck travelling back in time and ends up enlisting the help of hotshot hacker Airin as the two become slowly intertwined in trying to save humanity as they know it. A Second Chance for Yesterday is a lovely and fascinating story of family, queer love and redemption. I don't read many sci-fi books but found myself really enjoying it. Thank you Net Galley and Rebellion for the ARC of this one!
December 27, 2023
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I read most of it in a 2-day period, which I almost never have the time for these days, so just the opportunity to binge-read was welcome. But binge-reading also helped keep track of the 1-day-forward / 2-day-back time looping, because that was disorienting for quite awhile. I thought to myself, "Okay, this is straight-forward. Wake up today. Live the day. Wake up yesterday. Live yesterday. Got the concept." But clearly, I did not "got the concept", because I kept losing track of what (will have) happened when. It was a surprisingly obstinate (but rewarding) plot device.
Like others on these forums, I grew to like the main characters. Airin more than Nev. Nev is a bit too hard-drinking and self-destroying for me to relate to, but I found Airin quite relatable. The romance was lovely, and I wouldn't change it one jot... and I don't come to books for the romance. Clearly, the authors wanted to explore the challenges of having an inter-personal relationship of any sort with anybody when traveling backward in time. The two characters share no past and no future. Yet, it is oddly helpful that all days (except today) are in somebody's past. It creates short-cuts for building trust. But the timelines also mean the characters are emotionally at different points in the relationship.
I also appreciated the authors' exploration of how the 1-forward, 2-back plot device impacts Nev's understanding of causality and free choice. Really, this became the overriding theme. I appreciate that the authors made a hard decision here by forcing the present (in rollback time) to conform to the futurepast... which meant that Nev had to live her choices in accordance with the consequences she has already observed. It would have been easier to allow her to continue re-writing her past, I think. Nev could have more completely re-written her life and redemptive arc. So, kudos for making a hard choice and sticking with it.
I think it reflects well on a book when my chief complaint is, "I wanted more" (the other complaint is, "that was too convenient"). I wanted more about Kusuma and Jim Bone, in particular. There is obvious backstory there and likely a sequel. I wanted some more details about the SavPoint 2.0 coding process itself. Understandably, an author cannot explain how to write code for a fictional technology, but the main character loves coding, and yet the entire work-side of the collaboration with Airin is mostly ignored and presumed to flow obstacle-free. From my experience with coding, that is waaaaay to clean. Moreover, I think a little more struggle in their work would have grounded the relationship. Maybe I'm wrong.
Finally... I want to be controversial and say liked the ending. First, I sat with it and turned it over in my mind for a while. But I decided I liked it.
Like others on these forums, I grew to like the main characters. Airin more than Nev. Nev is a bit too hard-drinking and self-destroying for me to relate to, but I found Airin quite relatable. The romance was lovely, and I wouldn't change it one jot... and I don't come to books for the romance. Clearly, the authors wanted to explore the challenges of having an inter-personal relationship of any sort with anybody when traveling backward in time. The two characters share no past and no future. Yet, it is oddly helpful that all days (except today) are in somebody's past. It creates short-cuts for building trust. But the timelines also mean the characters are emotionally at different points in the relationship.
I also appreciated the authors' exploration of how the 1-forward, 2-back plot device impacts Nev's understanding of causality and free choice. Really, this became the overriding theme. I appreciate that the authors made a hard decision here by forcing the present (in rollback time) to conform to the futurepast... which meant that Nev had to live her choices in accordance with the consequences she has already observed. It would have been easier to allow her to continue re-writing her past, I think. Nev could have more completely re-written her life and redemptive arc. So, kudos for making a hard choice and sticking with it.
I think it reflects well on a book when my chief complaint is, "I wanted more" (the other complaint is, "that was too convenient"). I wanted more about Kusuma and Jim Bone, in particular. There is obvious backstory there and likely a sequel. I wanted some more details about the SavPoint 2.0 coding process itself. Understandably, an author cannot explain how to write code for a fictional technology, but the main character loves coding, and yet the entire work-side of the collaboration with Airin is mostly ignored and presumed to flow obstacle-free. From my experience with coding, that is waaaaay to clean. Moreover, I think a little more struggle in their work would have grounded the relationship. Maybe I'm wrong.
Finally... I want to be controversial and say liked the ending. First, I sat with it and turned it over in my mind for a while. But I decided I liked it.
September 8, 2023
Inventive, heartfelt, disquieting - a heckuva journey that will stick with you
October 5, 2025
This book was ... weird! I was intrigued by the premise and lured in by the promise of a queer love story, and it ended up being--more complicated than both of those things, and not necessarily in a good way (though not entirely in a bad way, either!). I can see why some people would really respond very positively to this, but unfortunately despite some engaging bits and a mystery that did make me want to keep going, it was largely not really for me.
First and foremost: I absolutely could not get past the fact that this book is set TWENTY YEARS INTO THE FUTURE. TWENTY FUCKING YEARS!!! I know all SFF requires some degree of suspension of disbelief, especially the reality-altering variety, but ... come on. Come on!! I cannot fathom these authors sitting down in 2022 and being like, you know what, in 23 years some tech company IS going to figure out how to send someone back in time and harness the technology for widespread use. I'm sorry, but I'm already out on your premise!! I'm just out!! That's not far enough into the future!!! And even apart from that premise, the worldbuilding itself is just ... two decades is not enough time for the world to become this unrecognizable!! For this kind of tech to be so omnipresent, for this number of disasters and new terminology and unrecognizable administrations and ... it's just too much. I know that probably some of it is due to wanting it to feel more urgent and also wanting to be able to still use recognizable cultural touchstones, but like... bring it forward a bit! 2080s or so! People are still referencing media from 60-70 years ago, you'd be fine!! I just simply could not get over this hurdle, and when you fail to buy me in to such a core aspect of your story, you've just already lost me to some extent no matter what else happens.
Now, having said that: the premise of the book is interesting, the way that Nev gets to know herself and grows and develops in reverse and so both has to live with the consequences of her actions before they happen and meets people who get to know her with gradually less and less character development. Honestly, it hurts a little to keep that reality in your head, but I think that's a really intriguing way to construct and write a story. It does make it a little harder to follow and a little harder to be fully invested in -- I did find Nev both kind of bland and kind of insufferable, though she got a bit better as things went on -- but I have to respect the hustle on this front. I also did enjoy the doomed romance aspect of it, where the two of them get to know one another in reverse and so can never be together; it didn't feel as developed as it could have been, but I love a good doomed yearning, so that aspect of it definitely worked for me.
On the whole, though, I just ... did not feel super connected to anything happening in this story? I was intrigued by the premise and curious to unravel the mystery and enjoyed the romance, but my disbelief at the premise kept me from getting fully immersed in the world and not really loving the main character stopped me from getting too attached to anything she was doing or any of her relationships. Ahem. So--really bold premise for a book that I appreciate, but between a bizarre choice of setting and inadequately engaging character work, largely really not my jam.
First and foremost: I absolutely could not get past the fact that this book is set TWENTY YEARS INTO THE FUTURE. TWENTY FUCKING YEARS!!! I know all SFF requires some degree of suspension of disbelief, especially the reality-altering variety, but ... come on. Come on!! I cannot fathom these authors sitting down in 2022 and being like, you know what, in 23 years some tech company IS going to figure out how to send someone back in time and harness the technology for widespread use. I'm sorry, but I'm already out on your premise!! I'm just out!! That's not far enough into the future!!! And even apart from that premise, the worldbuilding itself is just ... two decades is not enough time for the world to become this unrecognizable!! For this kind of tech to be so omnipresent, for this number of disasters and new terminology and unrecognizable administrations and ... it's just too much. I know that probably some of it is due to wanting it to feel more urgent and also wanting to be able to still use recognizable cultural touchstones, but like... bring it forward a bit! 2080s or so! People are still referencing media from 60-70 years ago, you'd be fine!! I just simply could not get over this hurdle, and when you fail to buy me in to such a core aspect of your story, you've just already lost me to some extent no matter what else happens.
Now, having said that: the premise of the book is interesting, the way that Nev gets to know herself and grows and develops in reverse and so both has to live with the consequences of her actions before they happen and meets people who get to know her with gradually less and less character development. Honestly, it hurts a little to keep that reality in your head, but I think that's a really intriguing way to construct and write a story. It does make it a little harder to follow and a little harder to be fully invested in -- I did find Nev both kind of bland and kind of insufferable, though she got a bit better as things went on -- but I have to respect the hustle on this front. I also did enjoy the doomed romance aspect of it, where the two of them get to know one another in reverse and so can never be together; it didn't feel as developed as it could have been, but I love a good doomed yearning, so that aspect of it definitely worked for me.
On the whole, though, I just ... did not feel super connected to anything happening in this story? I was intrigued by the premise and curious to unravel the mystery and enjoyed the romance, but my disbelief at the premise kept me from getting fully immersed in the world and not really loving the main character stopped me from getting too attached to anything she was doing or any of her relationships. Ahem. So--really bold premise for a book that I appreciate, but between a bizarre choice of setting and inadequately engaging character work, largely really not my jam.
April 14, 2023
As I re-read this time-twisting story, I could put the pieces together, and it mostly made sense. I enjoyed the journey, due to Sinn’s clever interwoven plotting, tech wonders, and luminous descriptions, especially when the mysterious ‘Glitch’ took over the protagonist’s existence: Sentences such as, “the biotechs lagged microtemporally one behind the other, like reflections in a hair salon mirror. A line of eels, waving their electric tails in her face” – great. Some of the reality-bending descriptions, in fact, reminded me of how our field of vision starts to spin when drink or drug takes over. And by the way, plenty of alcohol-soaked scenes here. It’s true that plenty of people block out the past with alcohol, sure, and maybe that was the point?
Anyway, the past takes center stage here, but it took me awhile to understand the ‘rules’ even though the author states them early. Still not easy to understand, until I saw the ‘rules’ in action. On my reread I could see it, but on first read some of the necessary ‘plants’ of events and objects left me puzzled but not necessarily curious. Long paragraphs of backstory in the first third of the story slowed down my page turning significantly. I always know an author has ‘hooked’ me when I stop counting the pages, but I didn’t stop counting until at least halfway through. Lots of setup, but where was it going?
When the story picked up in terms of the time flips and I got a handle on the premise, I started to understand better how this odd new world worked. The story quickened then, especially the last 1/3, as I read to see if Nev would accomplish her goal in time.
Plenty of unexplained mysteries, though, and dangling plot lines (the end!). What about the alarm hacker? Jared? Jim Bone? I did enjoy the snarky references to the Carlson administration, but didn’t buy the ‘password’ plot line. By 2045, I would hope we would be far beyond passwords. And to have a plot depend on the old ‘guessable password’ thing? I found that a bit cliché, as well. Nev, and the authors, often do such a fantastic job inventing future technologies for us. Why not something better than passwords? (Please, something better than passwords – hah!). One other niggle – when Nev accomplishes her goal, I almost missed it – seemed very understated and anticlimactic. She just walked away, and that was it?
I appreciated the thoughtful “past and present” themes – definitely made me think, especially times when the authors helped me think about how I would behave, if it really was my last day on earth - how we’d do things differently, if only we knew. The major family resolution scene, though, didn’t stick – too simple, and why was she the only one who needed to change, in the face of a toxic family situation? I wouldn’t go back to Eastern Washington either, considering what we learned about how that family operated.
A good read, especially if you like time-disruption speculative fiction stories, which I certainly do. Thank you, Rebellion and Net Galley, for providing me with an ARC for my unbiased review.
Anyway, the past takes center stage here, but it took me awhile to understand the ‘rules’ even though the author states them early. Still not easy to understand, until I saw the ‘rules’ in action. On my reread I could see it, but on first read some of the necessary ‘plants’ of events and objects left me puzzled but not necessarily curious. Long paragraphs of backstory in the first third of the story slowed down my page turning significantly. I always know an author has ‘hooked’ me when I stop counting the pages, but I didn’t stop counting until at least halfway through. Lots of setup, but where was it going?
When the story picked up in terms of the time flips and I got a handle on the premise, I started to understand better how this odd new world worked. The story quickened then, especially the last 1/3, as I read to see if Nev would accomplish her goal in time.
Plenty of unexplained mysteries, though, and dangling plot lines (the end!). What about the alarm hacker? Jared? Jim Bone? I did enjoy the snarky references to the Carlson administration, but didn’t buy the ‘password’ plot line. By 2045, I would hope we would be far beyond passwords. And to have a plot depend on the old ‘guessable password’ thing? I found that a bit cliché, as well. Nev, and the authors, often do such a fantastic job inventing future technologies for us. Why not something better than passwords? (Please, something better than passwords – hah!). One other niggle – when Nev accomplishes her goal, I almost missed it – seemed very understated and anticlimactic. She just walked away, and that was it?
I appreciated the thoughtful “past and present” themes – definitely made me think, especially times when the authors helped me think about how I would behave, if it really was my last day on earth - how we’d do things differently, if only we knew. The major family resolution scene, though, didn’t stick – too simple, and why was she the only one who needed to change, in the face of a toxic family situation? I wouldn’t go back to Eastern Washington either, considering what we learned about how that family operated.
A good read, especially if you like time-disruption speculative fiction stories, which I certainly do. Thank you, Rebellion and Net Galley, for providing me with an ARC for my unbiased review.
August 1, 2023
One of my Kindig Gems for 2022 was Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister which told the story of a lady travelling backwards in time, day by day as she tried to prevent a crime and stop the anomaly from happening. I was excited to read a book with a very similar premise – A Second Chance for Yesterday. Perhaps having a prime example of doing this storyline well fresh in my mind did not help my enjoyment of this book…
Nev is a programmer, working on a 2.0 of a software that allows you to rewrite mistakes, creating a SavePoint in time and space which you can easily go back to if you do something which you regret. As Nev triggers the test of the updated version, she wakes up to find it is yesterday, and so on going backwards through time, trying to find a way to stop it. An almost Groundhog Day like scenario.
One of my issues with the book is that I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable and didn’t have any empathy with them. We seem to be kept at arm’s length throughout, with Nev making silly decisions and generally messing up. The love interest Airin is also a bit bland, and we don’t really understand Nev’s infatuation with them, particularly in the latter half of the book, when they don’t seem to have had much of a relationship.
Due to the fact that the whole premise of the book revolves around changing space time and rewriting the past as a key and integral part of everyday life, with most people able to trigger it for themselves, it seemed odd that this glitch was kept a secret. Nev doesn’t really tell anyone, even outside of the company, but actually I don’t think it would have raised many eyebrows. The book also got very confusing, particularly in the middle, and some of the ‘rules’ that the author creates seem to be contradicted against, muddying the premise and confusing the audience. I think that if the book had started with a normal day, and then the replay happened so you could see the differences, this would have helped to bring us into Nev’s world. Unfortunately, because we didn’t know the original timeline, other than what Nev remembers in bits and pieces, it just all felt a bit pointless.
The ending is almost a cliff-hanger it is so abrupt and there is a lot left undeveloped and not wrapped up. In particular, the mysterious Jim Bone character we have been introduced to throughout doesn’t get any kind of pay off. I also didn’t understand why or how the timeline ended as it did and there’s no resolution given to any of the questions or plotlines throughout the book which seemed like a major waste of time!
Overall, A Second Chance for Yesterday is a great premise but it’s confusing and the ending leaves us with more questions than answers. Thank you to NetGalley & Rebellion – Solaris for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out www.kindig.co.uk
Nev is a programmer, working on a 2.0 of a software that allows you to rewrite mistakes, creating a SavePoint in time and space which you can easily go back to if you do something which you regret. As Nev triggers the test of the updated version, she wakes up to find it is yesterday, and so on going backwards through time, trying to find a way to stop it. An almost Groundhog Day like scenario.
One of my issues with the book is that I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable and didn’t have any empathy with them. We seem to be kept at arm’s length throughout, with Nev making silly decisions and generally messing up. The love interest Airin is also a bit bland, and we don’t really understand Nev’s infatuation with them, particularly in the latter half of the book, when they don’t seem to have had much of a relationship.
Due to the fact that the whole premise of the book revolves around changing space time and rewriting the past as a key and integral part of everyday life, with most people able to trigger it for themselves, it seemed odd that this glitch was kept a secret. Nev doesn’t really tell anyone, even outside of the company, but actually I don’t think it would have raised many eyebrows. The book also got very confusing, particularly in the middle, and some of the ‘rules’ that the author creates seem to be contradicted against, muddying the premise and confusing the audience. I think that if the book had started with a normal day, and then the replay happened so you could see the differences, this would have helped to bring us into Nev’s world. Unfortunately, because we didn’t know the original timeline, other than what Nev remembers in bits and pieces, it just all felt a bit pointless.
The ending is almost a cliff-hanger it is so abrupt and there is a lot left undeveloped and not wrapped up. In particular, the mysterious Jim Bone character we have been introduced to throughout doesn’t get any kind of pay off. I also didn’t understand why or how the timeline ended as it did and there’s no resolution given to any of the questions or plotlines throughout the book which seemed like a major waste of time!
Overall, A Second Chance for Yesterday is a great premise but it’s confusing and the ending leaves us with more questions than answers. Thank you to NetGalley & Rebellion – Solaris for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out www.kindig.co.uk
August 30, 2023
This mind-bending and emotive sci-fi read tackles the potential of quantum time travel and of parallel universes, all of which will leave your mind reeling in somersaults to keep up.
The year is 2045, and our heroine Nev Bourne is the top coder for innovative brain implants that enables users to skip back 5 seconds in time. This device, called SavePoint, proves super popular as it allows you retract something wish you had not said or done, so much so that most of humanity has it installed.
As Nev starts an update of new code for SavePoint 2.0 at 11:33 p.m., she awakens to the morning of that same day. From there, losing consciousness every day at 11:33 p.m., Nev starts to her life in reverse. There’s a glitch in the code that has warped quantum space, and it’s up to Nev to sort it out. She’s both inventive and stalwart, and had me laughing out loud as she internally thinks of her team of male coders as the “brogrammers.” Nev seeks out help from the company CEO, having to sneak into his office to accost him, only to have him throw his hands up in the air without a denial of what is going on, and promptly check himself into a monthlong wellness retreat.
Nev stumbles upon an old college friend from Stanford, the androgenous Airin Myx, who is desperation she persuades to help her figure out what’s wrong with the code. Sparks fly as Airin, a notorious hacker, and Nev have to figure out how to work together with Nev as they both proceed away from each other in time. As Airin moves forward in time and Nev moves backwards, it often gets confusing. Even as Nev falls backward and starts reliving days of her life, Nev can remember all she’s learned since the glitch happened.
Along the way, Nev gets to repair her relationship with a wrongfully ousted colleague, her beyond-needy and arrogant boyfriend, and her deeply religious mother. She also gets to finally stand up to an oppressive C-level manager. Nev also solves the story behind the mysterious, homeless Jim Bone who seems as lost in time as Nev finds herself.
Nev emerges both savior of humanity, and far from the loner she started on Glitch Day.
And the book ends setting up book 2, so we’ll have to wait for the dynamic sibling team of authors to come up with the next installment.
Thanks to Rebellion, Solaris and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.
The year is 2045, and our heroine Nev Bourne is the top coder for innovative brain implants that enables users to skip back 5 seconds in time. This device, called SavePoint, proves super popular as it allows you retract something wish you had not said or done, so much so that most of humanity has it installed.
As Nev starts an update of new code for SavePoint 2.0 at 11:33 p.m., she awakens to the morning of that same day. From there, losing consciousness every day at 11:33 p.m., Nev starts to her life in reverse. There’s a glitch in the code that has warped quantum space, and it’s up to Nev to sort it out. She’s both inventive and stalwart, and had me laughing out loud as she internally thinks of her team of male coders as the “brogrammers.” Nev seeks out help from the company CEO, having to sneak into his office to accost him, only to have him throw his hands up in the air without a denial of what is going on, and promptly check himself into a monthlong wellness retreat.
Nev stumbles upon an old college friend from Stanford, the androgenous Airin Myx, who is desperation she persuades to help her figure out what’s wrong with the code. Sparks fly as Airin, a notorious hacker, and Nev have to figure out how to work together with Nev as they both proceed away from each other in time. As Airin moves forward in time and Nev moves backwards, it often gets confusing. Even as Nev falls backward and starts reliving days of her life, Nev can remember all she’s learned since the glitch happened.
Along the way, Nev gets to repair her relationship with a wrongfully ousted colleague, her beyond-needy and arrogant boyfriend, and her deeply religious mother. She also gets to finally stand up to an oppressive C-level manager. Nev also solves the story behind the mysterious, homeless Jim Bone who seems as lost in time as Nev finds herself.
Nev emerges both savior of humanity, and far from the loner she started on Glitch Day.
And the book ends setting up book 2, so we’ll have to wait for the dynamic sibling team of authors to come up with the next installment.
Thanks to Rebellion, Solaris and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.
March 24, 2023
I received a copy of A Second Chance for Yesterday book to review. Other folks have drawn a comparison to The Time Traveler's Wife, but I enjoyed this more. It's faster-paced, the stakes are higher, and I think it demonstrates more character development while highlighting more interesting aspects of time travel. As soon as I finished A Second Chance for Yesterday, I started recommending it to people.
It took me a little while to get into this book but when I finished it I was left with a serious emotional hangover. The premise is that in the future quantum mechanics and an innovating tech firm have developed an implant that grants users the ability to jump backwards in time by 5 seconds whenever they make a mistake. But right before the rollout of a new version of the code, the lead programmer finds herself trapped in a glitch that causes her to live her life backwards. Each morning she wakes up and it's the day before.
What I really loved about the book is how it shows the main character, Nev, confronted with her mistakes and choosing not to repeat them. I appreciated that so many times the sequence of events was: 1) Nev learns she did something she wouldn't have done and has a moment of 'why did I do that' 2) some action happens 3) Nev does the thing she wouldn't have done because she's grown as a person, but she never says 'aha! that's why I did the thing!' She changes as a person without even realizing it and I just thought that was neat.
I'm so heartbroken about Nev and Airin never getting their moment, though. I thought the way the authors handles the relationship was very poignant and beautiful. Nev starts out not caring about Airin, who has already fallen in love with Nev. Then by the time Nev is in love with Airin, they don't care about her. It was a really compelling love story without any kind of resolution or even acknowledgment that there IS a relationship between the two characters.
It took me a little while to get into this book but when I finished it I was left with a serious emotional hangover. The premise is that in the future quantum mechanics and an innovating tech firm have developed an implant that grants users the ability to jump backwards in time by 5 seconds whenever they make a mistake. But right before the rollout of a new version of the code, the lead programmer finds herself trapped in a glitch that causes her to live her life backwards. Each morning she wakes up and it's the day before.
What I really loved about the book is how it shows the main character, Nev, confronted with her mistakes and choosing not to repeat them. I appreciated that so many times the sequence of events was: 1) Nev learns she did something she wouldn't have done and has a moment of 'why did I do that' 2) some action happens 3) Nev does the thing she wouldn't have done because she's grown as a person, but she never says 'aha! that's why I did the thing!' She changes as a person without even realizing it and I just thought that was neat.
I'm so heartbroken about Nev and Airin never getting their moment, though. I thought the way the authors handles the relationship was very poignant and beautiful. Nev starts out not caring about Airin, who has already fallen in love with Nev. Then by the time Nev is in love with Airin, they don't care about her. It was a really compelling love story without any kind of resolution or even acknowledgment that there IS a relationship between the two characters.
May 2, 2023
"I mean, it's less about determining your fate in the cosmos, and more about recognising that you're a part of the cosmos. Just this little, tiny conscious fragment of totality, infinitesimally small but infinitely important."
A wickedly clever high-stakes adventure through time and space — A Second Chance For Yesterday was electrifying and exciting but also triumphantly human and brimming with heart.
This strange new world we explore was mesmerising — similar enough to ours for a faint sense of familiarity but twisted in the most alienating of ways, with futuristic technology that we may only dream of and advancements that take humanity to another level of being, but also a new level of technological reliance and monitoring. The world building was masterfully vivid and highly descriptive — a perfectly polished utopia or a dystopian nightmare depending on where you’re looking from.
I adored Neveah; she was bold, smart but deeply caring. She was calculated and controlled so when everything spiralled, her own emotions and confusion were the real driving forces of this story as she tried to balance her fear with her duty to the world. As for Airin, I instantly fell in love with this brilliantly clever, mysterious hacker — and It was absolutely refreshing to have an authentic NB love interest that didn’t feel like an afterthought. As they journey through their timelines, we uncover more not only about the dangers they’re racing to prevent, but about her personal demons that have followed her throughout history and into her future.
Her storytelling was like her work — it was smooth, clean, sterile and fast, but it still had that human element despite the clinical coldness that we initial feel in her narration. She left some questions behind, a few strands left still hanging - which both frustrated the hell out me and also made me smile as I thought about the possibilities.
This was a spellbinding sci-Fi, with the perfect mix of tension and tragedy balanced with such deep humanity and heart that it left a part of it with me long after the last page.
A wickedly clever high-stakes adventure through time and space — A Second Chance For Yesterday was electrifying and exciting but also triumphantly human and brimming with heart.
This strange new world we explore was mesmerising — similar enough to ours for a faint sense of familiarity but twisted in the most alienating of ways, with futuristic technology that we may only dream of and advancements that take humanity to another level of being, but also a new level of technological reliance and monitoring. The world building was masterfully vivid and highly descriptive — a perfectly polished utopia or a dystopian nightmare depending on where you’re looking from.
I adored Neveah; she was bold, smart but deeply caring. She was calculated and controlled so when everything spiralled, her own emotions and confusion were the real driving forces of this story as she tried to balance her fear with her duty to the world. As for Airin, I instantly fell in love with this brilliantly clever, mysterious hacker — and It was absolutely refreshing to have an authentic NB love interest that didn’t feel like an afterthought. As they journey through their timelines, we uncover more not only about the dangers they’re racing to prevent, but about her personal demons that have followed her throughout history and into her future.
Her storytelling was like her work — it was smooth, clean, sterile and fast, but it still had that human element despite the clinical coldness that we initial feel in her narration. She left some questions behind, a few strands left still hanging - which both frustrated the hell out me and also made me smile as I thought about the possibilities.
This was a spellbinding sci-Fi, with the perfect mix of tension and tragedy balanced with such deep humanity and heart that it left a part of it with me long after the last page.
August 20, 2023
Okay: this one is not the book’s fault. This is entirely on the publisher, because the blurb Second Chance For Yesterday had on Netgalley at the time I requested it comped it to This Is How You Lose The Time War.
Which obviously made me pounce on it!
(When am I going to learn?)
Someone in the marketing or publicity department realised that was a WILDLY INACCURATE AND MISLEADING comp, and it’s not in the blurb anymore, which I am very glad of because, as I said: WILDLY INACCURATE AND MISLEADING.
Taken for what it actually is, as opposed to holding it up against Time War and finding it extremely lacking, Second Chance For Yesterday is another book that is objectively excellent: the prose is quick and addictive, the characters are wonderfully human (even if I don’t love Nev as a person, she’s a great character and I enjoyed her antics), and the future the authors have come up with is very believable, including all the probable ramifications of and uses for extremely short-term time travel.
Second Chance For Yesterday also dodges the time loop trope, since Nev isn’t reliving the same day over and over but progressively going backwards – much more interesting, imo.
Unfortunately time travel in general is not actually my jam – I never would have picked this up without the Time War comp, which led me to think Second Chance For Yesterday was going to have the same kind of…untraditional framework and storytelling style that Time War did. That’s what I was here for, and alas, Second Chance For Yesterday doesn’t have that.
So I’m DNF-ing it, but if you DO love time travel stories, then it’s very likely you’ll enjoy the hell out of this. It’s clearly a really great book; it’s just one that’s not for me!
Which obviously made me pounce on it!
(When am I going to learn?)
Someone in the marketing or publicity department realised that was a WILDLY INACCURATE AND MISLEADING comp, and it’s not in the blurb anymore, which I am very glad of because, as I said: WILDLY INACCURATE AND MISLEADING.
Taken for what it actually is, as opposed to holding it up against Time War and finding it extremely lacking, Second Chance For Yesterday is another book that is objectively excellent: the prose is quick and addictive, the characters are wonderfully human (even if I don’t love Nev as a person, she’s a great character and I enjoyed her antics), and the future the authors have come up with is very believable, including all the probable ramifications of and uses for extremely short-term time travel.
Second Chance For Yesterday also dodges the time loop trope, since Nev isn’t reliving the same day over and over but progressively going backwards – much more interesting, imo.
Unfortunately time travel in general is not actually my jam – I never would have picked this up without the Time War comp, which led me to think Second Chance For Yesterday was going to have the same kind of…untraditional framework and storytelling style that Time War did. That’s what I was here for, and alas, Second Chance For Yesterday doesn’t have that.
So I’m DNF-ing it, but if you DO love time travel stories, then it’s very likely you’ll enjoy the hell out of this. It’s clearly a really great book; it’s just one that’s not for me!
March 5, 2024
This book was very much not what I was expecting, but I found myself enjoying it a great deal more than I had thought I would. I wouldn't have categorised it as a romance myself - indeed, the first third or so of the book doesn't have any romance at all and reads like a straightforward scifi horror kind of novel. When the romance is introduced, it is decidedly of the star-crossed variety and never really comes to fruition, an inevitable side effect of a relationship between one person travelling forwards in time and the other going backwards.
I really liked the way the book was written. There was something about it that just made it so easy to keep reading once I had started, and I found the sci-fi aspect, the time reversal and everything that came with it, something fascinating to observe and consider. The mysteries that Nev slowly uncovered from her futurepast actions were impressively constructed, and I really liked how the book played around with causality.
My main criticism of this book is that it appears to be written like a romance but played out like science fiction, so it's hard to say whether fans of either genre would really enjoy it. Personally, I liked it because it was more minimal on the romance and seemed to focus on the sci-fi, but the writing style was something I would more expect from a romance. This wasn't a dealbreaker for me since I rather liked the way it was written, but it means that anyone looking for something more traditionally sci-fi might not be so much of a fan. All in all, it was a very interesting book.
I really liked the way the book was written. There was something about it that just made it so easy to keep reading once I had started, and I found the sci-fi aspect, the time reversal and everything that came with it, something fascinating to observe and consider. The mysteries that Nev slowly uncovered from her futurepast actions were impressively constructed, and I really liked how the book played around with causality.
My main criticism of this book is that it appears to be written like a romance but played out like science fiction, so it's hard to say whether fans of either genre would really enjoy it. Personally, I liked it because it was more minimal on the romance and seemed to focus on the sci-fi, but the writing style was something I would more expect from a romance. This wasn't a dealbreaker for me since I rather liked the way it was written, but it means that anyone looking for something more traditionally sci-fi might not be so much of a fan. All in all, it was a very interesting book.
August 23, 2023
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Set in a near-future, a tech company has established SavePoint, revolutionary tech that allows users to undo the last five seconds of their life at any point of their choosing.
Expanding on this success, the company are looking to launch a SavePoint 2, which will allow users to roll back even further. However, Nev, the leader programmer is experiencing some unforeseen consequences… Those being that she’s moving backwards in time.
I absolutely loved the premise of this. I was instantly gripped. The tech, the glitch, the awkwardness of working with someone who is moving through time in the opposite direction to you. Absolutely thrilling stuff.
Unfortunately, I think the second half is less engaging than the first. The intentions of the characters is hazy and it’s not always fully developed what they’re actually doing. Some of this can hide behind the mechanics of the two main characters’ space in time. They never know the full picture so neither do we, the reader. But there’s no aha! moment that ties it all together either, which is missed.
As with all time-travel creations, there are some rules the traveller must follow (Nev can only wake up in the place she awoke in her original timeline, etc). Unfortunately, some of these rules are distracting at times and pose more questions.
Overall, a really solid sci-fi with an excellent premise.
Set in a near-future, a tech company has established SavePoint, revolutionary tech that allows users to undo the last five seconds of their life at any point of their choosing.
Expanding on this success, the company are looking to launch a SavePoint 2, which will allow users to roll back even further. However, Nev, the leader programmer is experiencing some unforeseen consequences… Those being that she’s moving backwards in time.
I absolutely loved the premise of this. I was instantly gripped. The tech, the glitch, the awkwardness of working with someone who is moving through time in the opposite direction to you. Absolutely thrilling stuff.
Unfortunately, I think the second half is less engaging than the first. The intentions of the characters is hazy and it’s not always fully developed what they’re actually doing. Some of this can hide behind the mechanics of the two main characters’ space in time. They never know the full picture so neither do we, the reader. But there’s no aha! moment that ties it all together either, which is missed.
As with all time-travel creations, there are some rules the traveller must follow (Nev can only wake up in the place she awoke in her original timeline, etc). Unfortunately, some of these rules are distracting at times and pose more questions.
Overall, a really solid sci-fi with an excellent premise.
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