book review: see you yesterday by rachel lynn solomon
genre: YA contemporary romance/time travel
rating: 5 ⭐️

oh, rachel lynn solomon… how do i love thou’s books?

i knew barrett bloom and i were going to get along when we had the same pair of socks. i thought i was the only one?? if you want to know the deal with the socks, then you’re gonna have to read the book, sorry i don’t make the rules.

speaking of rules, i was a little wary going into this read because i’m not a huge fan of time travel books (note: this book isn’t all about time travel, but it plays a heavy hand in the plot). why, you ask? i always feel like i get lost in the rules of it. like this person is in X time because of the thing they did in X time line and oye my brain hurts. that was not the case here, solomon made the time loop (and its dynamics) very easy to follow, which meant i could focus on what i felt were the more important aspects… such as.

barrett’s character arc. wow, this was touching. i loved how the time loop reflected barrett being stuck in things that had happened in her past and i loved the many ways she tried to work through them. i felt like her defensive humor, her sweet side, and her inherent kindness were all so well articulated in every single action. solomon has perfected the art of “show don’t tell,” and it makes her characters jump off the page. (it also makes the reward of slow burn *chef’s kiss*)

last thing because this caption is going to get cut off! i applaud solomon for the diversity in her books. sometimes i feel like a character’s background is not woven into their actual character, it’s an ornament someone stuck there because they felt they had to. i never feel that way when i read solomon’s books. it’s a part of who they are just like it’s apart of who we are ❤️ i could keep waxing…

ok go pre-order this book now! out may 17 🤩🤩

thank you to NetGalley and simon and schuster for my e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

I ADORED this book! It was so so cute! It's the perfect light-read; don't get me wrong, it does deal with some heavier topics, but it handles it very gracefully. I was very interested in the time loop plot with 2 people stuck in it, but I was nervous because I HATE the movie "Groundhog Day!" Luckily, this book never bored me with its repetition, and I really really liked the main character! I love Barrett Bloom with my whole heart! And Miles deserves the world. <3

I loved all the little "You Only Live Once" trips Miles and Barrett took together. And maybe (just maybe) I'm biased because I live in Washington state, but I loved all the things they did in Seattle and even in Oregon and Vancouver. There were moments when I was like, "omg, I've been there!" Many elements of this book are a love letter to the PNW. Also, I loved that Barrett and Miles went to the University of Washington! I have a friend who goes there, so I visit the UW campus all the time, and it was so cool to read about them exploring UW. I enjoyed that the main characters were both in college and dealing with everyday college stressors (weird new classes, roommate issues, funky dining hall food, comfort mozzarella sticks, and being nervous about joining new clubs). Barrett also talked about joining Hillel at UW, which I thought was super cool because I've attended Yom Kippur services there.

Also, as always with Rachel Lynn Solomon's books, the Jewish representation was PHENOMENAL! Barrett is a plus-sized Jewish girl whose mom is bisexual and dating a woman. Her love interest is Jewish (and he's patrilineal, which makes me so happy), and Japanese and his parents are both professors at UW! The way they talk about their Jewish identities with each other is so beautiful. I especially liked the way Miles talks about being a patrilineal Jew because it was very relatable. His relationship with his mom ALSO! There is a very, very sweet scene involving a private Shabbat dinner, and it was so beautifully written and such a lovely moment between Miles and Barrett. <3 Getting to see Jewish college students being Jewish in college was so amazing. I, a Jew in college, have decided that I need to read more books about Jews in college!!!

I want this book to be a movie so badly! The montage in the middle of all their antics they get up to trying to live each day to the fullest and slowly falling for each other would be the best thing ever. I will use as few words as possible to avoid spoilers, but: building a ball-pit on campus! Icecream truck! Tattoos! Adopting dogs! I loved it!

Reading about Miles and Barrett slowly, slowly falling for each other was so much fun, and this book brought me so much joy!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me (a Jewish reviewer) with an ARC of this book via Netgalley! All opinions are my own.

Content warnings provided by the author: PTSD, panic attacks, sexual harassment (past), bullying (past)
Content warnings I'd add: there are some conversations about a family member who struggles with addiction, and a brief instance of fatphobia in a fraternity

This book was an absolute delight.

A time-loop romance a la Groundhog Day, this book follows Barrett Bloom on her first day of college. Everything that could go wrong that day does, including her literally setting a frat house on fire and getting locked out of her room. When she wakes up the next morning, Barrett realizes she's not on the common room couch she crashed on the night before—she's in her bed, living the same day over again. And again. And again.

Then Barrett discovers Miles, a student in her physics class, is also stuck in the time-loop and has been for months. They decide to team up to figure out how to get back to normal time. As they continue to relive the same day together, the two grow close, pushing each other to grow and change and face their fears,

If you loved Today Tonight Tomorrow, you will love this book. Rachel Lynn Solomon sets the perfect pace, and the concept was interesting without being too verbose or repetitive. I loved the characters and really empathized with them.

Would definitely recommend!

One of my new fave Rachel Lynn Solomon books!! The writing and story aren't anything poetic, but they're fun and it flows easily. Genuinely couldn't find much I didn't like about this book.
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If you like:
☁️ adorable duo solving their way out of a time-loop
☁️ NA story with a university setting
☁️ Jewish rep in both MCs
☁️ sweet, slowburn romance
☁️ for fans of Happy Death Day, Russian Doll, and Palm Springs
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Thank you Netgalley and Simon Teen for this ARC. See You Yesterday is out 5/17!!

I’m a sucker for time loops and time travel and this one did not disappoint. It was great fun to follow Barrett and Miles in their attempts to fix their time loop and to fall in love.

Rachel Lynn Solomon is officially an automatic read for me. I'm not a huge romance or YA reader, but Rachel writes such real characters with amazing representation and I have yet to read a book of hers that doesn't plaster a huge grin on my face.

See You Yesterday is no exception. This book took me back to the start of college and the desire to reinvent oneself was very relatable. Our MC and love interest were adorable. I think the "groundhog day"/time loop trope was really well done without being too repetitive. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

There is a reason why Rachel Lynn Solomon is one of my favorite authors, because her books, whether YA or adult, are just so good in my opinion. She is also the only author who can fill a book with time loops and science terminology, and make me love it!

See You Yesterday was such a fun story to read. While I definitely felt bad for Barrett and Miles that they were stuck in what felt like a never ending time loop and having to relive September 21st over and over again, I also loved seeing how they were going to spend the day and how it was going to shape both of them. Having read some books in the past where a time loop was involved and not liking them, I was so worried that I wouldn't connect with this book, but I should have known that Rachel will never let me down because her books go so much deeper, and I was so invested in both Barrett and Miles' journey. These are two characters who are destined to meet and need each other in ways they don't even know yet, and I loved discovering this along with each of them.

Barrett is dealing with trauma from high school of being bullied and Miles always felt like he had to be the best of everything because of his brother. My favorite parts of See You Yesterday were when they start to break their walls down and become vulnerable to each other by vocalizing these things, something they were always afraid to do. I loved the representation in this book with Barrett being a plus-sized and Jewish, I was able to see so much of myself in her, and Miles being half Jewish and Japanese. There was such a great message throughout this book of learning to love yourself and learning to trust others with things that we sometimes think we need to keep secret.

When Barrett gets stuck in a time loop on her first day of college with the strange yet intriguing guy from her Physics class, she struggles to overcome her past and build up the courage to step into the future. This book is like if Groundhog’s Day and Palm Springs had a baby that turned into a ya romance and I really enjoyed it. Even though it touched on heavy topics (addiction, bullying, body shame), it still felt light hearted. I have noticed a trend with Rachel Lynn Solomon’s main characters: they hyper focus on one aspect of their love interest’s appearance. For Barrett, it was Miles’s jaw; For Rowan, it was Neil’s freckles; for Ari, it was Russell’s weight. This hyper focus pulls me out of the story every time. I’m sure that’s not a sticking point for literally anyone else though.

So much of this story is absolutely delightful. Barrett Bloom, is Jewish, a little pudgy and starting her first day of college. The day includes an unwanted new roommate, a physics class she plans to drop, a bad interview for a job at the school newspaper and a disaster at a rush party. But the next day she wakes up and it is the same day again. In this reimagined Groundhog’s Day Barrett finds she is not alone. Miles, is Jewish/Japanese and the son of two college professors. He has been stuck even longer in this time loop. Eventually they decide to work together to find a way out of the perpetual same day.

I love the various ways they try to solve the mystery. They read science text books, confronting enemies, do bucket list activities, celebrate things they feel they missed and do investigative journalist research. I found Miles having them celebrate the Sabbath and finding a way to participate in Barrett’s mom’s marriage proposal especially sweet. And their first kiss is memorable.

Barrett is also dealing with the bullying she experienced during her high school years. She also had a bad experience in losing her virginity (consensual and not graphic). I like where this ends up in the story with her finally talking with her mother and seeking help. But because of this more serious part of the plot I would move the recommended reading age to 9th grade and up and not younger YA readers.

This is my third book by the author and first that is YA/teen. The writing is wonderful and characters are sweet. I will gladly read anything from Rachel Lynn Solomon in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. (4.5 stars)

At this point, Rachel Lynn Solomon is becoming an insta-buy author for me. I'm not always a fan of the groundhog day trope, but this book really gives off Palm Springs vibes, and it was amazing. As always, RLS has killed it with the jewish rep and the curvy girl rep. Ya love to see it. It felt amazing to be seen in this book. And I loved Miles and Barrett's love story. It was cute and genuine, the way that it developed was really sweet.

WOW. I’ve loved everything that I have read so far of RLS, the ex talk being my favorite. But this one is giving the ex talk a run for it’s money. The writing evolution of Rachel has been incredible to watch and something about the depth of this story just got me.

I’ll be honest in saying I’m not the biggest fan of time loop plots. But this one was done so well. It didn’t feel repetitive. It felt like the characters, Barrett and Miles, kept moving forward and evolving; learning together as they tried to solve the mystery of how they got stuck in the time loop.

I always happily read Rachel Lynn Solomon's releases and I'm never let down.

See You Yesterday is the non-horror Happy Death Day I didn't even know I wanted (I'm sure there's other time loop stories I could have compared this to BUT I like Happy Death Day the most so idc) There's just enough science to somewhat explain why Barrett and Miles are stuck in September 21st, but most of the book is fun and sweet.

So basically Barrett has a hellish first day of college classes, wakes up after it's all said and done, and the day has reset. She has the first few days of panicking as any old time looper does, and in the midst of that, she finds out that Miles is the only one who isn't quite acting the same way every time. They meet up and turns out Miles is already a seasoned time looper, already weeks into the same day and Barrett has finally somehow joined him.

They have lots of days spent together - trying to research physics related to time travel, trying to live out their bucket list, and just spending a lot of time getting to know each other.

Miles has the backstory of being a perfect rigid studious person in fear of following in his addict brother's footsteps - his brother isn't villainized at all for his addiction in this story, so it's handled well, but there's still a lot of complicated feelings behind it for Miles.

Barrett on the other hand is a mess, doesn't confront her true feelings and instead just covers them up with humor, and is coming fresh out of a truly awful high school experience. Something happened to her in high school that I genuinely think didn't get enough attention - Barrett acts like it was just this catastrophic thing for her social status which it definitely was, but also it was like, sexual assault. She lost her virginity under false pretenses and I think that COMPLETELY is assault and the fact that she never mentions that aspect of it is mind-boggling to me.

Miles is Japanese and Jewish, Barrett is also Jewish and is fat, and Barrett's mom is in a relationship with a woman. This story, though, more than some of RLS's other novels, seem to use white as the default, only listing someone's race who isn't white. I may have picked up on this incorrectly, but still it felt a little lacking in that department just from someone who is such a champ at writing inclusive character casts from diverse walks of life. We'll see if that changes at all for the final copies.

The romance is great - they are annoyed by each other at first, then get to know each other due to this odd forced proximity of being stuck in a day together when everyone else's memories are wiped clean at the end of each night, and then they realize they love each other. This book is sex positive as are RLS's other YA romcoms and there's some steaminess on page, but it's not like a "spicy" book.

I guess I'm docking a star because, for one, Miles has a thing about smiling and not fully smiling at 100% or something that Barrett is PAINFULLY repetitive about. There is soooo much about his jaw muscles and half smirks and quarter smirks. That's not the only thing deducting the star lol but it definitely got under my skin pretty quick. I'm also just really left with a bad taste in my mouth about Barrett's high school/virginity experience. Like the way it's just treated as something bad that happened to her and not a literal CRIME is so confusing! I guess it's a kind of teenage way of thinking, like not always seeing the whole picture but just how it affects you in the moment, but I think it could overall not only not help, but even be a little harmful to people in certain situations reading this. And there were also just time loop escape methods that didn't get brought up that made me irritated lol. Why didn't she just ask Miles "what happens if you stay up all night?" or "what happens if we die in the loop?" Like both of those things would be very high up on my list to ask if it happened to me and I wanted her to ask soooo bad

But most of those critiques are surface level and a little silly and I think this book was really fun and sweet. I still think Rowan and Neal are my favorite couple from RLS, but Barrett and Miles have a really good back and forth, both before they really get to know each other and then after they start to fall for each other. The main conflict (other than the whole time loop thing) is kind of odd, but the way it's handled is really good, and the communication in this book overall is really good and healthy.

There's also a side plot about Barrett's ex-friend from high school Lucie, and I think their relationship got appropriate time in the spotlight without having the book be about them fixing their friendship (or trashing it forever)

I think this is totally worth a read, especially if you're intrigued by the Groundhog Day-esque time loop concept. But even if you're not into sci-fi aspects, stay for the romance and characterization (and them adopting a shelter full of dogs on one of their bucket list days)

This was such a fun book honestly I loved the Groundhog Day plot and miles is so freaking adorable- it took me about 50% of the book to start really getting into it but that’s probably because it was very much a slow burn

I really thought the premise of this one was unique, and I liked the characters! Overall, I would definitely recommend this book!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

This was such a fun new adult romance! I am a sucker for time travel shenanigans and this time loop story was particularly well done, in my opinion. I feel like a couple potential plot threads were dropped that could have been something (the girl who was supposed to be Barrett's roommate in particular should have been given more to do) but overall it was a delight just to read about Miles and Barrett's relationship growing as they looped over and over.

I have read some pretty fantastic books this year, but this one-- this one right here-- has made me feel on a whole other level.

It was perfect.

I was so impressed by the writing, and also so *feeling* of it. I went through a whirl of emotions-- goosebumps and teary eyes featuring heavily in the last half of the book. I just felt this book so much. The time loop really was more of a fun background feature that centered Barrett and Miles on twining journeys of self-discovery.

I felt this book so much, and it had everything to do with our protagonists.

For as unreal as the situation they found themselves to be-- Barrett and Miles were such real-feeling character.
And with her narration to lead us, Barrett felt real to me.

Every feeling Barrett experienced felt like I was experiencing it as well-- her confusion as she entered her time loop, her confidence in her passion for journalism, her insecurity with her weight, her hurt as she unpacked what happened to her in High School, her rage when she let it all come out, her fear of the day just infinitely repeating....and her love. She's a very loving character behind her quick wit and jokes, but her wall is high and mighty, but funnily enough it starts to come down thanks to a boy who is just as guarded and weary.

Mile. Beautiful, sweet Miles.
I won't talk too much about him so you can discover him as Barrett does, but what a fantastically layered character was he as well. I can't imagine any other character partnering with Barrett in this crazy time loop they find themselves in.

I felt it so much, and it felt so deeply real.

This book was simply magical.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Rachel Lynn Solomon has quickly become one of my favorite authors in previous years. Everything from her adult romcoms to her YA contemporaries -- they're all great, and SEE YOU YESTERDAY is fantastic!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for granting me permission to read this digital ARC>

I was so excited to be approve to read a Rachel Lynn Solomon book prior to publication! First off, I do love a good YA novel (even as an almost 40 yo LOL). There's just something about living these stories after actually living through a YA life already.

What a fun, unique story! If you love rom-coms and Groundhog Day, you will love this book! our MC Barrett has a bad first day of college - and then low and behold, wakes the next day to repeat it again...and again....stuck on Sept 21st in a total life even played on a loop. I love the interactions between Barrent and Miles, the cutie she meets in physics. This fun and organically written book with charm you with its love and witty moments

TW: Bullying

Highly recommend this one!!!

This is the third book I've read by Rachel Lynn Solomon. And all of her books are now on my TBR list. This is something so warm and endearing about her writing style and something unique about each of her characters.

In this book, Barrett and Miles are two college freshmen students who get trapped in what can only be described as some kind of time loop. They do anything and everything they can to figure out how and why this is happening to them. When you're the only two people who wake up realizing you're repeating the day, chances are you might get close to one another. And while the day and everyone is repeating itself, these two are definitely moving forward. They are growing, changing, understanding each other and themselves, and they are learning how to be friends and maybe more.

One of my favorite quotes from the book "I love you. And I promise I'm going to love you tomorrow, too." What a promise, when you don't know if when you wake up tomorrow will even remember the last couple of months of repeated Wednesdays.

CW: panic attacks, bullying (past), family member battling addiction, car accident
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Okay, this is officially my new favourite RLS book! I had a *blast* reading this. Rachel knows how to draw out every emotion out of you. I genuinely couldn’t stop smiling, I was so giddy reading about hese two fools.
I’m always excited for a new RLS book, but I was a little apprehensive going into this one. With it being a time loop story, I was slightly worried I’d get bored if it was too repetitive. I did not have to worry. There wasn’t a single second where I wasn’t fully entertained.
I’m also completely in love with both Barrett and Miles. Barrett is unapologetically herself, and Miles is so endearing. I actually enjoyed every single character (minus the high school bullies, of course).
This was just the perfect story for me— fast paced, full of love and self growth, courage and drive. I loved the way Barrett comes to appreciate her body, and the way they connected over Shabbat. I don’t even know what else to say. This is definitely one of my top 2022 reads. Please, read it! Tell me what you think! 💕
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5/5 stars, SEE YOU YESTERDAY by Rachel Lynn Solomon is available May 17! Thank you to Rachel and the publisher for providing me with an eARC to review.