Abby Willard, once a promising student at the Rhode Island School of Design, chose a more conventional path instead of pursuing her art. In her forties, she is married to Dennis, mother to teenagers Pete and Benjamin, and head of the design department of a pharmaceutical company.

One rainy evening, from the backseat of a cab, Abby sees a young woman leaving a club in a raspberry coat and silver shoes, clothes she recognizes because they were once hers when she was living in New York City with a taste for wild abandon, an “experience junkie.” At first, she thinks it might be her imagination, a fleeting memory, but she increasingly encounters her younger self who has a corporeality she cannot deny. Seeing “A,” unencumbered, Abby questions her choices, wondering why she abandoned her art.
Meanwhile, her marriage teeters on the brink as Dennis’s secrets are revealed and Abby yearns to explore, hearing “change the outcome,” repeated in her mind. When Pete becomes ensnared in a radical group, Abby at first forbids him to associate with it but then feels its pull.

On one level, A’s appearance, whether real or imaginary, leads to self-doubt and revaluation, but on another, her case presents a conundrum to others: if A is real, how is it possible? And if not, why did Abby conjure her?

I foundYou Again’s concept fabulous, and I was intrigued by the clues sprinkled throughout the novel as well as the author’s framing device to present the story. I liked, also, the resolution. I wasn’t sure, though, that Abby was the correct character to realize the plot. I found her older self irritating. Dennis didn’t have many redeeming characteristics as a husband, and I didn’t like her sons very much. So, it was difficult to have empathy for the family, and their behavior made this even more challenging.

The book did have interesting meditations on the excavation of memory, the elusiveness of the past, and the impact of mid-life crisis on the self.

How many times have you thought "I wish I could tell my younger self..."?
Hindsight is always 20/20, and I would love to tell my younger self things like "he's not the one" or "ask for that raise" but those are all hypothetical mental conversations I have between my current and younger self. Now, consider if you stepped out of a cab and literally saw your younger self? You'd think your mind was playing tricks on you. What if your younger self started showing up in your daily life? Who would you tell? People would think you are crazy! This novel really did have me intrigued with the concept and I was very impressed with how the author brought big themes (art, antifa radicals) to the otherwise formulaic thriller of late (mid-life/identity crisis, marriage problems, affairs). I thought this novel was very smart and unique. My suggestion is to read this in a physical format or check to see if the finished e-format has a full table of contents because I wanted to flip back a few times to check the dates of different events. ⁠

I loved the concept of this book but did not like the way it was written. I did not like most of the characters nor did I understand the motivations. Furthermore, I did not enjoy the way the book was set up which became very confusing at times. Thank you to netgalley for the book!

What did I just read? This should be labeled literary fiction instead of mystery or thriller. It's not my genre and this book was not my cuppa, but it seems like it could be a hit for others. If you like to read books where you don't like any of the characters at all, this is the book for you. The writing was very good and the premise was interesting--the main character SEES HERSELF, her younger self--how intriguing! I probably wouldn't have finished it but I wanted to know how the author was going to wrap that BS up in a bow. My smarty-pants husband is a science guy so I asked him some questions about some things near the end and he just about broke his face rolling his eyes. This was my first netgalley book; my thanks to netgalley and Harper Collins.

This was an interesting novel. Some plot threads worked better than others for me; while I think the emails were meant to amp up intensity and pacing, I actually thought Abigail's thread was strong enough to entertain on its own. I also found the handling of the antifa protests to be a little too surface-level, and felt that it was too easy. That said, I think a lot of people will relate to Abigail, as she journeys back into repressed/lost memories of a traumatic relationship in her twenties, and too, how she finds herself as an artist after focusing on her career and family for two decades. For a lot of readers, this book will very well be a page-turner, but for me, some of the threads just didn't hold up as well as others, and I wasn't consistently invested with Abigail's story. But I still recommend the book, especially if you're interested in aging, motherhood, and similar themes.

I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this book. From start to finish, it kept me wondering and debating whether Abigail was haunted by her younger self because 1) She was hallucinating and was suffering from some psychological break as a result of an unfilled artistic life; 2) She was suffering from symptoms that were physiological in nature and perhaps manifestation from traumatic injury to her brain or 3) From a physics standpoint, can she and her younger self co-exist in the same time and space. I rarely reread fiction once I am finished but I would definitely reread You Again because I want to make certain I didn't miss or gloss over some small clues here & there.

This book really touched my heart and felt close to home, maybe because I am a woman around her age with two teenage children. I saw parts of myself in her and felt connected to her mourning her lost dreams as well as feeling it was all worth it as she looked at her children. It captures the juxtaposition of both the loss and the joy of middle age. Loved it even though I felt a bit that the story line of the antifa clouded the picture unnecessarily.

You Again by Debra Jo Immergut is without a doubt one of the most bizarre novels I have ever read but I could not stop reading it. Until the very end I would have said it was a psychological thriller but the last few pages made me think more Twilight Zone than Gone Girl.

Abigail is a 46 year old working mom. A long time ago she was considered the future of painting and even had a gallery showing in SoHo, NY. But marriage, motherhood, bills and a mortgage have her working as an artistic director for a pharmaceutical company.

Then on a rainy day in NY she sees her. She is just as she remembers. The hair, the eyes and that look of invincibility that only the young possess. There is the younger Abigail before responsibilities of life. How can that be possible? Is she losing her mind? Has she walked through some time warp? Is this just a doppelganger?

As Abigail becomes obssessed with this younger version of herself we see her marriage falter, an affair with a police detective, a son become involved with violent protests, and her need to warn this young girl not to make the mistakes she did; especially that fateful night with her old boyfriend Eli.

Interspersed between chapters are correspondence between doctors and scientists about Abigail a year after she first sees herself. These were not helpful in understanding what was happening until the end but even then I still have questions.

Maybe that's the point of the story. We don't always have all the answers but we need to still keep living. Trauma has real effects on our mind and body and secrets never stay buried forever.

I want to say more but I don't want to giveaway the surprises, the OMG moments or the "wait what just happened" events. The author is brilliant at writing unique descriptive scenes that made me realize why I review books instead of writing them.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This one was just not for me. The stream of conscience writing was difficult to sort through. The storyline, seeing your younger self, was fascinating, but the disjointed family life was written in a flowery unreal way. With the oddly interjected discussion between doctors and emails between colleagues, it was just a jumbled mess of stuff I wasn't terrible drawn in to or cared about. When the affairs were revealed, I was just pretty well done with the book but still had 50% to go. I wish I'd loved it more.

In my personal rating system, no book earns five stars unless I'm *certain* that I will want to read it again. For You Again, make that NEED to read it again. The language is beautiful -- not showy, but with a casual depth. The premise is, well, "unique" seems too bland a word to convey its originality.

Abigail is a middle-aged wife and mother, who was an extravagantly gifted artist in her youth. She now designs marketing materials for a pharmaceutical company. These days, by way of affirmation, what she gets is a throwaway compliment from a coworker: "Color is your competency, Abby."

Early on in the story, Abigail is visited by -- what? hallucinations? apparitions? She sees a walking, talking version of herself from 20 years earlier, a period she can only dimly recall. And why is that?

Some other reviewers grumbled about the intrusion into the narrative of a psychiatrist's notes and snippets of an ongoing email conversation between a detective and a physicist. I loved these bits -- for me, they served as highway markers for what might come next, for the questions I should be asking myself along the road.

Everything was so informed, so intelligent: from the theory and production of art to the flirtations with the time-space continuum.

As to why I need to read this book again, I want to suss out the lingering mystery of You Again, to seek out clues I may have missed. What happened to Abigail, was it physical or metaphysical?

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an advance readers copy.

This book took me out. I went into this thinking this would be a light read of a woman in flux, seeing her younger self and realizing that life is fine as it is. What I got is a extremely high concept, suspenseful and scientifically confusing wonderful book.

Abby is the head of visual design at a pharma company - far from her dreams of being an artist. Then, she sees a skinny pair of legs in silver platforms and a pink coat and everything changes - because those legs are hers, from 20+ years prior.

What follows is a story of a woman searching for something, herself, happiness, the truth. This is an exploration in how brains work, how memories stay with us forever and how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

This is a terribly written review of a wonderful book. There are not enough words to talk about how wonderful and surprising this book from Debra Jo Immergut.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I cannot continue reading this book. It is difficult to follow the characters and the sequences sent by the author. I cannot determine if the writer is talking about real or imagined images and people. I would not be able to recommend or reject it.

You Again is the story of Abigail Willard a forty-six year old art director at a pharmaceutical company. One night on her way home from work she sees a young woman who she recognizes as herself at age twenty-two. As the story continues Abigail begins to question the stable life she and her husband, Dennis have built with their two teenage sons Pete and Benjamin. Both Abigail and Dennis have given up promising careers as artists to raise their family. Abigail continues to encounter her younger self, at first by accident and later by design. Meanwwhile her son Peter enters a rebellious stage remniscent of her own wilder youth. The story brings into question whether time past, time present and time future all exist at the same time but are not recognize by us because of the limitations of our own minds.The story becomes more and more compelling as Immergut weaves the plotlines and characters together leading to an intriguing conclusion.

What would you do if you encountered your younger self, at age 22, on a rainy night in NYC? This is what happens to Abigail Willard. She’s 46 when she sees her former self, wearing a raspberry colored coat and silver platform shoes, getting into the back of a cab. Abby used to be an artist, a free spirit, but she got married to a fellow artist, had two kids and gave up her dream. Now she’s a working mom of two boys and she works for a pharmaceutical company. Abby stopped painting long ago.
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So I began to wonder about Abby. Is this some kind of time travel story? Sci-fi? Is she hallucinating? Is she dreaming? As the weeks go by in Abby’s life, she sees her younger self more and more. Abby is convinced this is part of a deeper mystery in her life that has its roots in her past.
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Well, I will say this is well-written, literary fiction. Book club material. It’s thought-provoking. Abby is a flawed character who narrates the story .The NYC setting is also a character in this book because the city is so important to Abby. The story gets a bit bogged down and confusing as the book goes on which was unfortunate because I did enjoy the uniqueness of the story.

Abby Willard, 46, wife, mother of 2 teenage boys, graphic designer, finds herself in a work a day existence far from her younger days as an artist whose work was shown in galleries.

On her way home from work one rainy evening, her eyes are drawn to the cab window, where she sees a girl that looks just like she did in her 20’s. She gets out of the cab to get a better look and so begins this story.

Debra Jo Immergut does a great job alluding to the past and showing it’s intersect with the current day. I also appreciate how she highlights the struggles of identity, parenthood, and marriage. I loved the discussion of art, I could envision her using the ashes to add to her paint. Abby’s connection to One the fact that she carried a paint chip around with her really made her feel human.

The intersecting and overlapping layers of stories were interesting but didn’t quite resonate with me. I can see how Abby and A were both struggling to find happiness and validation both as artists and as people. I felt that there were too many extraneous characters that distracted from the thread of the story. I had a hard time sympathizing with any of the characters.

A midlife crisis, wrapped in a TBI, wrapped in….. prescience? Though well written, this just wasn’t the right book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Interesting but confusing look into the mind of Abby, an artist and mother who is having memory troubles and potentially identity-related troubles, and hallucinations of seeing her former self on the streets. I thought the author did a nice job conveying her mental state and how it began to slip and she became confused and withdrawn at times. However, the interspersing of the neurologist's notes at different time frames was confusing and didn't really work for me. The neurologist and her team never felt that interesting because they were given so little time and so little background. And they never found anything terribly interesting so I think it should have been included differently somehow.

YOU AGAIN by Debra Jo Immergut is a novel about Abigail who encounters her younger self. It’s a mystery as to whether these encounters are real or imaginary. The mystery elements throughout the book definitely kept me reading and I finished this book in one day! I liked the different points of view and the constant back and forth in the timeline was intriguing but I found the ending anticlimactic.

Debra Jo Immergut was nominated for an Edgar Award last year, which was what encouraged me to read this book. It was very interesting, as it jumped around a bit. These type of books, with the date of the day at the beginning of a section, are hard to read on the Kindle, as it is hard to remember what timeline you are in. That being said, this was enjoyable, trying to figure out what was going on. Will need to find her previous novel, The Captives.

This is such a unique and quirky little book. And a tough one to review due to the unique plot! First of all, the writing throughout is gorgeous, introspective and intense. It touches on so many deep and interesting ideas in a completely unique way. The basic plot of the book is that 46-year-old Abby has started seeing her younger 23-year old self around town, in some kind of wormhole to the past. She sees her younger self in her old favorite places, with an equally young version of her former lover.

The best parts of this book were unquestionably when Abby confronts her younger self. I loved these without exception and as someone who also lived in New York at that young age, I saw so much of myself in both the younger Abby of before and the older married one of today. This is such a genius idea of the book and these parts were really well done and lovely. I also really liked the parts where she examined her marriage.

The structure of the book was non-linear (which I realize is by design) but at times I found it difficult to navigate. It is perhaps a little ironic that at times this book seemed to be having an identity crisis about which version of itself it wanted to be - a thriller? A family drama? With many characters, some seemingly unrelated at first, popping in and out, and with two versions of the protagonist it could sometimes be confusing and hard to keep the timelines straight. Some of the subplots worked better than others. I liked the subplots relating to her present-day marriage, not so much the subplot with her son’s involvement in Antifa. The book is also broken up with doctor’s notes which, while an interesting idea, interrupted the flow for me. A lot of these characters are not fully explained until the end, where they are explained very well. But it still makes for a somewhat disjointed reading experience up to that point (which, you realize at the end, is fully intentional and has a reason).

Much of the confusion comes together at the ending, which is wonderful. I think upon a second read, knowing the ending, this book will be even better. Knowing the ending I marvel a bit at the different writing styles in different places vs. the end, and the reason that is ultimately revealed for that.

Overall this was a totally unique, if at times confusing, reading experience with so many interesting things to say about time, memories, love and the mind. If you can get through some of the disjointed parts you will be rewarded with a really neat ending that explains it. This book is fully quirky and definitely not for everyone and at times I was utterly confused but ultimately I found it to be a really unique and interesting reading experience. Talented author who does many neat things with language in this book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins and Debra Jo Immergut for the ARC of this interesting book.

Have you ever read a book and when you were done sat there and wondered what the hell did I just read? Well folks that was me and this book!
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It was supposed to be a thriller about a woman that sees her former self as she is going about daily life. Like 40 year old her ran into 20 year old her on the street. The adult her is married with kids and works in marketing for a pharmaceutical company creating art for advertising. In her former life she was an artist and self-described mess. She has an affair with the officer that arrests her teen son for being involved in some ANTIFA protests. Her husband has an affair with another artist their both friends with after losing his job for charging expensive stereo equipment to his company credit card.
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All in all, I finished this one and felt confused. There were some emails and therapy notes spaced throughout the book, as well as discussions about a possible brain tumor situation or damage from previous trauma. Possibly this is why she was hallucinating her younger self.
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All in all I hated it, felt confused and like maybe I wasn’t intelligent enough to get this book.
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The writing though disjointed topic wise did seem to flow well but otherwise I didn’t connect with the characters or the book.
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Thank you @netgalley and Ecco books for an advanced copy of the book for my honest review.
On sale 7/7/20