I picked up this book mainly because of the intriguing premise, but not expecting much as well, thinking it wouldn't really blow me away because I'd already seen this done before. However, this was a ver pleasant surprise.
After a weird night out Louise Doors wakes up six days later with no recognition of what has been going on with her life in the meantime- her parents are separating, her friends hate her and this random guy seems to know who she is all of the sudden. On top of that, her days start going backward (roll credits). She has to figure out what's going on and maybe do some retrospection on the way.
Firstly, I must admit that I was scared that all of her friends hating her after she woke up would mean the same old cartoonish slut shaming girl hate that I thoroughly despise in books (especially in YA). Thankfully, this wasn't the case. The relationships between our protagonist and her friends, inspite of not being the most human and real thing ever, felt grounded. As a matter of fact, all of Louise's bonds with people did, and this added many layers to the plot and the characters, which made the novel all that much more enjoyable.
In addition to this, even though maybe this book's premise sounds a bit chaotic, it was very well executed, with the confusing timelines and everything. Partly due to the pacing being so endearing.
Still, I did feel at times (mainly the beginning) that the writing stye didn't flow that well with me and once we reached the ending chunk it dragged on for a while.
In conclusion, I think that if you're looking for a fast-paced contemporary read with some sci-fi elements in it, this one is for you.

Told from a non-chronological timeline perspective, we follow Louise as she tries to fill in the gaps of what happened to her from Friday night to the following Thursday. When she wakes up and looks at the date she realizes she only remembers a small bit of what happened 6 days ago. Through an unpredictable chain of events, Louise moves backward in time through each day starting to put the puzzle together. As Louise tries to piece together the events and people, we as the reader are left just as confused as her. I found the plot and twist somewhat predictable and felt there were some big hints. However, I was compelled to continue reading to see if I was right.
Lousie’s memory came back fragmented and in chunks, as the novel wove forward, as the reader we slowly found out who some new people in her life at the same time Lousie did. This book is filled with mean girl antics, rumors, self-doubt, and a strong personal sense to find answers. This novel was intriguing at best and kind of dark at other points. We are witness to the struggling relationship between Lousie and her mom and some of the hardships of being a much younger sibling. There is also a sense of strong denial of what may or may not have happened, and I found that hard to connect with at times.
I did appreciate that it felt like a lot of theories of why Louise’a memory was gone was ruled out, trying to keep the reader guessing and interested. There was part of me that enjoyed the fragmented timeline and other parts in the book I was just confused. In the end, I would recommend this to others for the interesting unfolding of events and character development.

This was a fun twist on a time loop - I stayed really interested the whole time and couldn’t wait to find out what she’d missed!

thanks for the ARC. this was a sweet book with a heroine that we can root for. we watch her life go in a backward direction as she attempts to correct events and heal relationships and ends up growing up. It lightly explores philosophical questions

My Backward Life follows Louise who wakes up after she collapses only to find that six days have gone by, the story then deals with the events of the six days in reverse order.

I liked the writing style of the book and the characters especially the main character in the book. One thing I did find weird was that the main character easily accepted her situation, of the reversing days and the six day gap and was not freaked out that much. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the story and pace of the story. I did find it weird that in each day there was not much going on, maybe one important plot point and so the days went fast however near the end the character lives through the days again but in a chronological order which was done in a way that was not repetitive or boring.

I did find the friendships and the romance in the book cute and did like the side characters in the story, I felt they were well written and there was enough of their presence in the book to impact the story. However, the love interest makes a comment which was sort of victim blaming which I did not expect from his character.

3/5

I loved how this book made me feel just as confused as Louise! I felt like I was right there with her on her journey. When everything started to snap into place I was overjoyed!

It was an interesting concept watching Louise live the 6 days she lost backwards.

She finds out things about her family, friends and herself and deals with issues such as eating disorders, sexual consent and more. They are all dealt with sensitively and really adds some teenage angst to the story.

A really good read!

When Louise realizes she has lost several days of her life, she is desperate to find out what is happening to her. Her parents are divorcing, her best friend hooked up with Louise’s crush, and the other friends in her group ate ghosting her. Louise is distraught, but when she regains consciousness after fainting following a band concert, her life is saved by a mysterious boy named Dylan. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader. This is an excellent novel about taking chances in a life that might just be backwards.

A masterpiece of intricate proportions. Every part from the confusing beginning to the wonder as the pieces click together were amazing. I had almost started reading right in the beginning because of the confusion, but then I imagined being Louise and it could not be written any differently.

Highly recommend this time travel / parallel universe / mystery with a touch of romance!

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy in return for an honest review.
What a wonderful concept, travelling backwards one day at a time, from the future. I normally avoid books about time travel after studying it at Uni. I spend any time travel movie shouting at the screen and ruining it for everyone. But this works. Not only is it a really good idea, but it's probable too within the laws do physics. I love the uncertainty too, the not knowing whether Louise will die, and the teenage angst of being torn between wanting to be a better person and help others, and the knowledge that your own happiness might have to be sacrificed. This is really well written, has a good pace and is relatable to teens. Haven't we all wanted to tell someone what we think of them but stopped because we are scared of the consequences?
My only niggle, the ending. I was waiting for a sudden twist and had the Kleenex on hand. Not a real issue, just my opinion. Definitely worth a read.

Such a great book! The story and character development are fantastic, I was completely hooked. There was intrigue, family drama, friendship drama, the idolized secret crush, self discovery and growth, and finally THE boy! Being taken along for Louise’s, I was able to connect with a lot of the things she went through. The book ends with all loose ends tied up, which IMO is the perfect way to end a book.

*Thanks to Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review*

Never heard about this book before, but the title and description intrigued me. Finally, Finally, Netgalley agreed to approve me this copy, I am not sure but maybe after a year, I got an eARC from Netgalley.


My backward story is about, Lousie who slept on Friday night and woke up on Thursday morning, missing 6 days of her life. The stranger thing is that no one realises that. Everything took a turn of 360. Her parents are getting divorced, her friends are turned against her. She suddenly got a kinda boyfriend and a friend. Everything got more complicated when the next day she realized that her life is going backwards.

The concept of the story was fun, timelines weren't confusing, character development was good, pace of the story was good. It was writing which didn't go well with me. Though I enjoyed the book.

Good book...I enjoyed reading it. I was not expecting much from the genre as I have read many stories and watched films with this kind of opening but this book held my interest and made me turn the pages.

My Backward Life has a great premise and I admire Merle for going to task and making this plot line in 'retrograde' work. Louise and Dylan were exciting characters and I found myself rooting for them
I had a bit of a challenge following all of the school terms (since I live in the US) on top of all of the tangled plot lines. It all resolves in the end, and I am really astounded at how quickly Louise matures and gains perspective on her friends and family members. Sure, it's a little far fetched, but it is entertaining and thought provoking.

Merle has written a completely enthralling young adult novel with 'My Backward Life'. It reminded me of the wonderful 'Before I Fall' by Lauren Oliver, but managed to put a clever spin on the popular 'Groundhog Day' trope. Louise Doors attends a gig on Friday night and remembers collapsing in the street. When she wakes, six days have passed and her life has completely altered. As she lives those days backwards, she gets to know her mysterious saviour Dylan and grapples with drama in both her friendships and home life.

At first when Louise relived her lost day backwards, I was as confused as her. There are many baffling small details which make no sense... at first. This is the beauty of this book! The reader is right there with Louise on her journey of discovery and gradually realise the intricate details to the plotting pull themselves together beautifully. Merle manages to craft Louise's journey with a huge number of issues relevant to teenage life ranging from divorce to eating disorders to sexual consent; they are dealt with sensitively and as Louise matures as a character, we increasingly support her response to these situations. I fully expect my teenage students to find this book gripping but also as a springboard to some important conversations.

All in all, Merle has written an excellent young adult novel which will resonate well with its target audience. Let's hope Netflix snap this up to give it the TV series treatment too!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Backward Life by Claire Merle is geared toward a YA demographic, but as someone who is well beyond this target audience agewise, I really enjoyed it. The idea of living in reverse time is a unique one, and certainly something that proved a fun concept to explore.

Teenager Louise Doors collapses on her way home one night and vaguely remembers the boy who was trying to revive her. Six days later she wakes up, only to find herself having no memory of the previous week. Suddenly the lost time begins to play out again, this time in reverse, and Louise grows closer to a boy named Dylan, learning that he is the same boy who tried to assist her at the time of her collapse. The revelations that come are illuminating, and Louise feels that she has been given a second chance to make things in her life right.

This is an engaging story and, although it is one that will probably not stay with me, it is an altogether charming read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. Though I am not the target audience age-wise, I was intrigued by the premise of the book and decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed spending time with these characters, and had a hard time putting the book down. I really enjoyed seeing Louise grow throughout the book.

This was a little like a puzzle in book form, which I really like, but there were times I felt I might be missing a couple of the pieces, I found it a little confusing at times.

All in all, this was a great read. It was entertaining and fun and I would definitely recommend it.

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

This was a compelling read from start to finish! I honestly couldn't put it down, desperate to know what will happen next (or technically before?) in the protagonist's life. I was very intrigued by the reverse timeline and joining the dots became all the more exciting as a result.

My only qualm was the jarring use of American English spelling conventions when the story is set in England, but at least the writing seems mostly consistent in usage (I was too engrossed in the story to fully focus on that, but the Americanisms really jumped out at me personally). This juxtaposition of American English spelling conventions and British setting did not affect my enjoyment of the plot nonetheless.

Overall, I would ideally give this book somewhere between 4.5 and 5 stars as it's a really enjoyable, unique, and contemporary book which will keep you hooked! Would definitely recommend:)

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC copy of My Backward life in exchange for an honest review!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3408887517

It's interesting and unusual concept. Living backwards and given a second chance to return to the present to make positive changes.

Louise and her group of friends attend a party. It turns out that some of her friends are not as loyal as she thought. Feeling a little hurt, she leaves the party, but before she reaches her house, she collapses.

Dylan comes to her aid and during the time that she is unconscious, she goes backwards in time. She discovers things about herself, her family and her friends. Not all pleasant. During that time she builds a relationship with Dylan, but will he remember her when she returns to the present? Will she be able to use this second chance to right the wrongs?

I was kindly issued with an eARC from Netgalley and the views expressed are my personal opinion.

My Backward Life is an original and really fun read, that is best read in one sitting as once you start it you will find it very very difficult to put down.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a digital ARC of My Backward life in exchange for an honest review!

The plot of this book was so uniquely fun. I've read a lot of 'teen girl has accident gets chance to use a timeloop to fix her life & fall in love'" but I've never dealt with one where the timeline works in reverse.

It was really fun watch this MC try to piece things together backwards. If you're looking for a unique contemporary read with a twist, this is a really good choice.