Am I an e. lockhart fan boy? I keep reading her books and I enjoy them enough to keep reading them, and frankly this was one of the most interesting that I’ve read so far. Why? In part because of the unabashed way it simply shows alternate universes without overtly explaining that what is going on is a philosophical and physical and emotional existence of multiple universes. There are just multiple universes. And it’s not overdone. And I’ve seen some criticism of the book in the form of “but which one is the real universe… what actually happens?”
Well that’s the thing, isn’t it. I really like the un/certainty.
The book is more complex than it could be, if it just held on tight to the central plot. That’s often my experience reading YA. If you think you know what is happening in the YA universe and you aren’t reading any YA whatsoever, you are likely wrong.
Honestly confronting the interior lives of young people is good, fun, interesting work, and I like to read it. I liked reading this. I’m apparently an e. lockhart fanboy and I’m not apologizing for it. I’m reinforcing it here, there, and everywhere.

Adelaide Buchwald lives at a preparatory boarding school where her dad teaches while her mother and brother, Toby, rent a house in Baltimore as her brother undergoes rehab. Her summer job is walking dogs for professors over the summer. Her boyfriend, Mikey Double L breaks her heart after promising to spend the summer together. She meets a cute boy at the dog park. Things happen that lead to other things. In multiple parallel universes. With different people sharing the spotlight in the story.

2/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc!

Expected a lot more seeming at their other works were stellar

In this story, we follow the life (lives?) of Adelaide Buchwald following a break up and her brother’s struggle with drugs. As we follow Adelaide through her summer, we are provided a glimpse into a multitude of alternate realities. It was a bit difficult to get into the story because my brain didn’t immediately compute that we were reading alternate realities. There wasn’t anything in the book that gave any indication that this is what was occurring and it took longer than I would like to admit to catch on. This might just be how the ARC was formatted; it could very well be corrected in the final text. Without any sort of explanation, it was a bit confusing and fuzzy initially.

I also struggled to connect with Adelaide or any of the side characters. It just felt there wasn’t any real depth to any of them and they were all slightly unlikeable. But again, I think with reading the same scenario several times with differing outcomes played into that quite a bit. It was difficult to feel attached to someone when they are constantly doing and saying different things. It was hard to get a sense of their actual character.

The ending portion of the book is where I really started to enjoy the read. There is more information and interaction with her brother and family that I really liked and connected with. We also weren’t continuously pulled out of the timeline to view multiple realities. Unfortunately, this was a small portion towards the end and it was a bit of a struggle for me to get to that point.

I've tried to read this book four to five times since I got approved for this ARC months ago, and I never could get through it, it just didn't work for me as a reader, it was unique and I see where she was trying to go with it, but it was SO incredibly repetitive and got to be monotonous. I finally finished it and just was so disappointed. Didn't seem to be written by the same author who wrote We Were Liars, one of my favorite books of all time!

Another excellent book by E. Lockhart. They manage to keep me entranced through the whole novel... and after having read We Were Liars, I've learned to second guess everything I'm told or shown - whether I need to or not. Again Again is a bit difficult to review because it is very unique and just... strange? But a good strange. It's not what I expected, but I almost never know what to really expect from this author - not that that's a bad thing! I look to Lockhart to give me something different, something special, something... memorable.

Highly recommended for young adult collections.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I... what did I just read? I have never been more confused by a book in my life. I don't even know what to say.

I liked all the side characters. But my god the main character, I just couldn't. I really just did not like her. I could not connect with her. And she really upset me a lot.

I was really hoping to like this because the cover is so cute, but wow. I am sad to say that I didn't.

I still want to read We Were Liars cause I know that one is amazing. But this one was just a miss for me.

I always forget how much I appreciate E. Lockhart's writing until I pick up another one of her books, and Again Again is no exception. Her poetic style always makes me happy, and I always find writing samples to save and use in the classroom. While I think many of my students would struggle with following what's happening in the story, I can think of a few who would deeply appreciate the relatable depiction of recovery from addiction.

This one was a little slow to grow on me, but by the end I was crying. Adelaide has just been broken up with by Mikey L-L, and she meets a cute boy named Jack at the dog park. From there, different scenarios spin out. If that had been the whole book, I might not have been able to keep up with it. In between these chapters that show different universes, there are linear chapters that show just one aspect of life. That helps anchor the book for me. I also think it has an excellent description of dealing with a sibling struggling with narcotics abuse.

I'm conflicted on how I actually feel about this book! I think E. Lockhart did some things right, but was lacking a bit in some places. I liked Adelaide as a character. I enjoyed her art and her fondness for dogs, as well as her desire to be loved.

The actual premise of the book, the alternate parallel universe bit seemed to both make the story both repetitive as well as seeming too short. Each part of the story didn't feel fully fleshed out. By about 2/3 of the way through the book I was determined to keep reading and see Adelaide get her happy ending. But alas, like life, the ending was melancholy and bittersweet.

I do feel like Adelaide had some character growth towards the end of the book, but that unfortunately the end seemed rushed. Probably because by that point we'd heard most of it 5 times already and there was a need to drastically shorten it. Sadly, that was my favorite bit of the book and we didn't get enough of that "world."

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's Delacorte Press for the ebook ARC of this. Unfortunately, it took me a while to get around to reading it. It was published on 02 Jun 2020. So I listened to the audiobook version from the library.

It reminded me a bit of Replay by Ken Grimwood because Adelaide is living different lives in a way. At times it was hard to keep track of what was happening in which reality but not so much that I didn't enjoy it. I was along for the ride and knowing all the details at all times didn't really matter. It makes you think about your own life and how different things could be if you made different decisions or even said things in a different way. I did connect with Adelaide because in high school I also put my happiness and talkativeness on like a mask. It's been a while since high school but when I can connect with a character, I always enjoy the book more.

The banter between characters was great so I'll definitely be checking out what other books E. Lockhart has written.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I like the sadness and truths of all the characters, but I find the way and execution of how it was told quite peculiar.

I really tried to like this one. I have read E. Lockhart's books before and really enjoyed them. I think this one had a really unique premise but I just couldn't connect to it. I really liked Oscar as a character.

TW: Drug Addiction/Overdose

This book was so interesting. It book explores 3 main things: Love and dealing with a break up, how drug addiction affects more than just the addict, and all those what ifs in life and how a decision can change the course of where your life is going. The first 2 topics felt really well explored and well done. So much so that I'm not sure the third was needed? In order to explore the "what ifs" Lockhart literally shows us. At almost every decision the main character, Adelaide, makes we're shown a bunch of the other decisions she could've made. In the beginning it was a bit confusing and sometimes it felt gimmicky, especially in the last part. I think it was supposed to make it stronger, but I felt it made it weaker.

Overall I enjoyed and resonated with the story itself, just wasn't too sure about the device used to tell it.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for honest review

Even though I'm super behind on reading and reviewing Again Again, let's just pretend that I did all of this way before the book was published. Okay? Sounds good.

Now this book was filled with so many 'What If's and the possibilities of having so many chances to do things differently. It was honestly so addicting to read because how many of us had gone down this road. Especially when you come to something so significant in your life and thought.. well, what if this happened..?

Or is that just me? If so, it's cool.. I'll keep thinking this way for the rest of my life.

In it, you will meet Adelaide (which if I'm being honest - I love this name). She is all kinds of sad right now but she is trying to look and be positive. She wants so many things, like: her brother and her to be closer again, someone to love, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I mean, who wouldn't want any of those things?

Along the way, she runs into Jack while dog walking. Of course, she remembers something from their past and it kind of makes her brain go on a tangent. In the end, this book was hands down completely interesting and made me brain think so much. It even hurt towards the end with all the scenarios. Definitely recommend!!
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In Again and Again Adelaide Buchwald spends the summer following her junior year at Alabaster Prep experiencing a recent breakup, her brother Toby's opioid addiction and a new attraction to Jack in various timelines. She meets Jack while walking five dogs for teachers at the prep school. She has never forgotten his writing her a poem at a party two years ago. The narrative explores various possibilities as to how their relationship will progress. At the same time, she is working on a set design for Sam Shephard's Fool for Love, mourning her lost love and reconnecting with her brother. The question of reality versus imagination is not always easy for the reader to determine but is worth the work.

As always, Lockhart's writing is a joy. Poignant, wistful, and with a sliding doors-esque plot that harkened back to some of my favorite movies, Again Again has more than earned its place on my shelf next to We Were Liars.

E, Lockhart is very hit and miss for me. She tried something new with this one, it just didn't grab me.

Excellent realistic love story with an alternate history twist. Forgive me if this review is a little spoilery.

I love e. lockhart for always trying something new in her writing; her latest books have all had unique narrative devices or twists to them. (Genuine Fraud--a book written backwards! Whoa!) This book is no exception and for the most part it works well, but you have to be willing to stick it out to Part IV in the story, and I don't know how many teen readers will be that patient. I couldn't give it 5 stars because I was annoyed by the repetitive nature of the alternate history scenes leading up to Part IV (where everything then came together). It was almost like reading a book where the author saved all of her rough drafts of certain scenes and kept them in the finished book--it was supposed to show different versions of the same scene as if they took place in alternate universes, or as if they were the main character's imaginings of how she wished she had reacted, a common thing for insecure teens--but it just annoyed me! I would have preferred longer chapters if you're doing it that way, as I've seen done in several other YA novels that have the alternate universe conceit; having only one paragraph rewritten two or three times in a row, with slight changes in dialogue or action, and indicated as alternate universes by a different typeface, made me want to just skip those scenes so that I could see the "real" story unfold. Maybe I'm a lazy reader, I don't know. But when I got to the last part of the book, I really liked it--maybe because it finally did away with the multiple universes thing. In any case, it's a sweet romance and also a good book about coping with depression and the addictions of a loved one.

I didn't love this. The alternating time-lines felt off and I absolutely hated the random pieces of verse all over the place. It made it an overall confusing experience that I personally don't have the brainpower for right now. The premise sounded great but I feel like the execution could have been a lot better.