Adelaide Buchwald is a “fac brat” (child of a faculty member) at a boarding school. She has just broken up with her boyfriend and is spending the summer walking dogs, and she is going to spend her summer walking dogs. On her third day at the park, she meets a boy.

The narrative splits into three different possibilities (accentuated by bold text) of how the conversation could proceed, before the real possibility plays out.

To say much more would be delving into spoiler territory, but needless to say, this is a summer where anything can happen. This book is so much more than the classic tale of “girl meets boy”.

Adelaide is a likeable protagonist. Her troubles are fairly typical, and she’s just trying to figure out what she wants out of life, while all these possibilities play out around her.

I read this book at the same time period as a watch-through of Community, so I appreciated the major role that different timelines played in the development of the narrative. There’s an endless amount of “what if’s”, and I found it impossible to contemplate the alternate timelines playing out instead of what actually happens.

I would absolutely recommend Again Again. I thoroughly enjoyed Lockhart’s We Were Liars, so I was excited about the opportunity to read this book. I was not disappointed—this book is just as good! It’s like a choose-your-own adventure, except with all the options laid out in front of the reader…and without the possibility of choice either. It’s more the concept of choice, which I suppose means it’s somewhat like predestination. Either way, this was a good book, and I hope to see it on a lot of summer reading lists this year.




I received a copy of this book from Random House Children’s/NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars.

I loved this. I absolutely loved it.

This was my first E. Lockhart book. I knew the name from We Were Liars but I never got around to picking it up. But Again, Again called out to me as it was a contemporary YA book. While I tend not to pick up YA books anymore, I am so glad I did for this one, as it reminded me why YA books are so special and can be as powerful and impactful as any other genre.

This book had everything. It had cute moments that made me smile, it had moments where I laughed, it made me cry, it made me frustrated. I felt so many emotions throughout this entire book and enjoyed the entire process. Adelaide resonated with me and I so appreciated her as a character. I related to her, and her feelings and reactions to what was happening around her, on a deep level.

I think this is a great book for everyone. Contemporary lovers will enjoy the fresh spin, and everyone will appreciate the family aspect and what it means to trust and love again.

This book just did not work for me.
I understood what the author was trying to do but I was mostly confused.

It got to be too much work trying to figure it out that I gave up on the book.

In theory this book could have been great. I really enjoyed the premise. Especially the idea of alternate realities. The execution was a little off. It was difficult to figure out what exactly was going on. I did enjoy the last part, but the beginning was so confusing that I almost didn’t stay around for the end.

I think this book will do great things for the right reader. For me it was too abstract, but again that will absolutely work for someone who is looking for a poetic, lyrical, whimsical book that actually deals with some pretty hard-hitting topics. I’m very interested to see how this compares to E. Lockhart’s other books, one of which I already own and am planning to read in the near future.

This book was great! It was so easy to lose yourself in the story, and kept you turning pages to see what happened next! Will definitely be recommending!

This book did some cool things with "alternate paths" and realistic life issues, but ultimately fell flat. While the main character Adelaide was fleshed out and I felt I could understand her motivations and feelings, most of the other characters were one-note. The piecemeal way that the different "realities" were presented made it hard to care about the results of any one of them, let alone all. I can envision a book that's written such that the reader ends up torn between what ending she wants to be real/successful - this was definitely not that.
2.5

Every E. Lockhart book gives me this particular feeling of deep thought/reflection with a mix of deja vu. Again Again, was truly a book that was thought-provoking for the heart (feeling provoking?). I could not put this book down.
This is not a book where I need to praise the plot, because that is clearly not the focus. The characters are the stars of the show and each provides such a perfectly captured piece of the world we live in. Adelaide is going through so much in the story and the way E. Lockhart writes each situation in a multitude of possibilities provides an interesting glimpse into Adelaide's mind.
Adelaide is dealing with so much in her life and seeing her tackle everything that comes her way is refreshing because she is not that perfect hero that solves every problem with wit and strength. She is strong because she has faults and overcomes them with time.
As much as there is romance in this novel, I found the most important relationships in Adelaide's life is with herself and her family, which is developed throughout the story. Her relationship with herself is closely tied to art and there is so much more symbolism in all of the art that I can't even begin to try and untangle it. It is beautiful though.
Again Again is a story I will never forget.
ps: As a dog lover, I also feel the need to mention there are plenty of cute dogs in this story which is always a plus!

Again Again follows Adelaide Buchwald the summer after her break up. Or, it follows multiple Adelaide's after her break up. We see events play out differently throughout the main story, kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure type of book. The concept was different than anything I've read but I still found it easy to jump into. It was interesting to see how small choices, or even the words you say, can lead to a big change. While the main plot was Adelaide and her new, possible summer romance, I enjoy the plot of Adelaide and her younger brother Tody, who is a drug addict, more.

Adelaide Buchwald is a quirky teen who is always looking for love, whether from her boyfriend/ex-boyfriend, the cute dog walker, the dogs she walks, or her troubled brother. Join Adelaide for one special summer, or more accurately, lots of versions of a special summer, as she explores what it means to love, to hurt, and to discover herself.

Another surprising tale by E. Lockhart.

E. Lockhart's book "We Were Liars" has been on the summer reading list for ninth graders at my school for a few years, and so many of my kids love it. I was excited to see another book by her, so I picked it up on NetGalley (despite having 20 other books to read and review...)

During the summer leading into her senior year, Adelaide is struggling with her first heartbreak. Her junior year wasn't great -- she has struggles at home and issues with her own mental health that lead to her school work spiraling out of control. Now she has to spend the summer working on a project in order to remain academically eligible.

The plot and conflict of this book was simplistic and not incredibly engaging. But there is still real complexity with this novel, and not just in the form. Lockhart explores the idea that there may be alternate realities in which one decision could lead to an entirely different outcome. I found that aspect to be a little less successful (the alternate realities seem to follow their own plot line throughout, but it's confusing to follow). The real complexity to me was her work with the theme. In fact, I think she could have left out this whole multiverse thing out, and focused only on the relationship between Adelaide and her brother, Toby. Without spoiling anything, I thought that 300 pages for what she wanted to achieve with the timeline(s) was too ambitious. Even so, I did find myself enjoying the last quarter of the book, and even got a little teary-eyed.

I read this in (almost) one sitting. It's a quick novel and Lockhart's writing is great throughout most of the book. I think this would be great for younger high school readers, and even something that I can see as part of a literature circle in my classroom. It has a lot of resonance with some of the themes and essential questions we think about in that curriculum.

This book is creative but confusing. Its like Choose your own Adventure scrambled.
I requested this book a long time ago so I lost interest in reading it.
I did not finish it but I could see potential.

Thanks for the arc.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the advance Kindle copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Adelaide starts the summer after her junior year with a broken heart. After being dumped by her boyfriend of 8 1/2 months, her new summer plans aren’t giving her much to look forward to. Then she meets someone at the dog run, and finds herself falling for him. Over the course of the summer she imagines many worlds, many lives, and a chance to do things right. I wanted to love this one more than I did, but it felt like the author was trying to do too much. The extra scenes from other realities were too much for me, and I wanted her to focus more on Adelaide’s family troubles. I am not sure this one will hook middle school readers; perhaps high school readers will appreciate it. It is out 6.2.20.

This book starts with an interesting idea - following a teenage girl through her summer but periodically seeing alternative futures for her. The problem is that they are incredibly random and not always clear about which path we are following. And then, for some reason, the entire ending is one completely alternate path, unlike the others that were woven into the regular story. It was just a confusing way to read a story. I think this definitely would read better to a truly YA audience, as well.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever wondered... what if you did something different in the past? Would you be in the same place you are today? Could one small change alter your future course in life? This book, Again Again by E Lockhart is about these alternate realities. 🌎

Adelaide has your typical teenage problems- academic probation, a bad break up, a brother in rehab... ok so not entirely typical. This book is about her accepting a break up and moving forward. In one universe she talks to a boy, Jack, and then in alternate universe a different boy. Each story is played out and what would happen if you change one slight thing in your life. One thing is straight though, she is a dog person. Maybe she should give up on boys and just have a dog for awhile. I don’t understand why teenagers NEED a boyfriend all the time?! Anyway...

This book was ok. Not bad, but when I was done reading I didn’t have any substantial feelings toward it. Maybe I’m too old for young adult novels?.. boy problems always seem so trivial to me now. Adelaide just seemed so needy. There’s too much angst! 😂

This read like it was a ‘light’ book but then the brother with an opioid problem was thrown in, giving it more depth. Adelaides relationship with her brother (where they came from, how it’s changed, how they move forward) was probably the most interesting part of the book and it was just a side story. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @randomhousechildrens for the advanced digital copy of this book! If you like YA, teen angst and teen love pick this one up on June 2!

I went into this book not knowing a whole lot and I think that’s the right approach for this one. For the most part I enjoyed the reading experience, as the story is fairly simple while also being complex.

The plot follows Adelaide, a high school junior, who is working as a dog walker during the summer while on campus. After struggling at the end of the school year she must complete a final project for her set design class. Adelaide is navigating relationships while considering her future plans and processing her feelings about her family.

I liked the first half of this book, as it’s told in a unique way and it was interesting seeing how Adelaide processes her thoughts while narrating her life to the reader. The tone and setting were light and summery filled with opportunity and analysis.

The second half of the book took a turn and that’s where it kind of lost me. There’s a way the story is told, through a sort of “what if” scenario set up, which I could get behind, but those what ifs quickly became more alternate universes? And that’s where I fell away. This could partially be because of the ARC formatting, so I’m curious to see the final copy and how the story is presented, but overall what I liked about the first half was a bit lost to me in the second.

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes summery YA contemporary stories with a unique twist. The story is definitely complex and thought provoking, with the formatting supporting the ideas shared throughout.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher and netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Again, Again

Author: E. Lockhart

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended For...: romance lovers, second chance romance, and multi-verse storylines

Publication Date: June 2, 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, substance abuse TW, heartache, second chances)

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages: 288

Synopsis: If you could live your life again, what would you do differently?

After a near-fatal family catastrophe and an unexpected romantic upheaval, Adelaide Buchwald finds herself catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will fall in and out of love a thousand times—while finally confronting the secrets she keeps, her ideas about love, and the weird grandiosity of the human mind.

Review: For the most part I thought the book was well done. The story-telling is unique and I loved the attention to detail the author had when crafting the book. The character development for the most part was well done and the world building was amazingly well done. I also loved how thought provoking the book was and how much the book had me flipping back and forth between scenes!

However, I did feel like the book pacing was a bit slow in spots and that the book could have done a bit better on some of the side characters developments. I wished that the book focused on the brother than our main characters love life as well, but it’s still well done.

Verdict: Amazing read! Definitely a must read!

I'm a fan of E. Lockhart's earlier releases, and have been eagerly awaiting the chance to read Again Again. It was one of my most anticipated YA books of this spring, and I had high hopes for it. Usually I love the way Lockhart switches up her writing style with every book, but it didn't work for me here.

I'm sad to say hated the structure of this book. Again Again was trying to do too much. It was this odd blend of a "normal" writing style, prose, texts, and another dimension in bold letters. The prose felt out of place, even though Adelaide is into poetry. I found myself wanting to skip over the broken sentences. The bold dimensional stuff felt redundant, even though I knew what it was trying to accomplish after a bit. I liked the texts, but added in with everything else it just felt like just another thing added to make the story different. All of that made it hard to focus on what was actually going on with the story.

I am frustrated about that. There is a great story about Adelaide and her brother Toby somewhere within all this other extra stuff. It's a story about addiction and family. Even the romance of the story felt like it took away from time I would have rather spent with Adelaide and Toby's relationship than everything else going on here.

Hopefully, the frustration with Again Again is just a me thing. I hope other readers enjoy what this book has to offer more than I did.

I was really hoping to love this book because the concept of different possibilities in life and love could have been amazing.

"If you could live your life again, what would you do differently?"

However, I just found it confusing. I was unsure as to what exactly was going on, and why exactly it mattered. There were some examples of different scenarios/alternate universes (?) throughout, but I don't think it actually made sense the way it was written.

I did not connect to our main character, and the writing style was very random. It would change between very short, terse sentences, to very poetic descriptions and verse.

Part 4 of this book was completely different from everything else, and I almost wish that the whole book was just Part 4, but expanded upon.

I was disappointed.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, thanks NetGalley, E.Lockhart, and RandomHouse for the ARC.

This story deals with some serious topics like depression, addiction, and being a teenager. However, it's still written in an easy light way. I believe the idea behind the book was to show how the same situation can be perceived in different ways. Not the less, I didn't care much for it. I did enjoy Part III which was the revised story.