The Do-Over

Lynn Painter's Better Than The Movies is one of my favourite Teen RomComs. It has humour, heart and a cute couple t'boot so I had high expectations for Painter's latest book, The Do-Over. I even bought a copy for my bookshelves.

This was a cute read but didn't check all the boxes. It just wasn't the funny, swoony romance I was hoping for. I found Emilie to be pretty dull (while her friends Chris and Rox stole the show!) and even though Painter did a good job despite the repetitive nature of Emilie reliving the same day over and over, I wanted to understand why it happened. I also expected Emilie and Nick's crazy DONC (day of no consequences) moments to have more of a Ferris Bueller's Day Off vibe, but they came off as rather meek.

Thankfully, the book finally hits its stride in terms of banter and finally getting to a connection between the characters in the last three-quarters of the book. But readers beware that the romance goes from bland to Instalove in the matter of ONE day when you remember that Nick has no idea about the time loop. It was too much of a wait and not enough romantic payoff for this reader. 

Overall, this was an okay, predictable read that was equally sweet, fluffy and cheesy. For me, the strength of this book isn't the romance or the banter but in Emilie's personal development and learning to stand up for herself.

Note: You know you're a Canadian reader when you see the word 'poutiness' and mistakenly see it as a misspelling of the word for multiple 'poutines'. Oh lawd!

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Lynn Painter

Genre: RomCom, Teen

Type and Source: Trade Paperback (personal copy)

Publisher:

First Published:

Book Description from GoodReads: 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?