See You Yesterday Review

Happy Publication Week to See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Thank you @ Simon & Schuster for my eARC copy of See You Yesterday.

What is this book about?:

See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon follows Barrett Bloom, who is hoping college will be a fresh start after a messy high school experience. But when school begins on September 21st, everything goes wrong. She’s humiliated by the know-it-all in her physics class, she botches her interview for the college paper, and at a party that night, she accidentally sets a frat on fire. She panics and flees, and when she realizes her roommate locked her out of their dorm, she falls asleep in the common room.

The next morning, Barrett’s finds herself back in her dorm room bed, no longer smelling of ashes and crushed dreams. It’s September 21st. Again. And after a confrontation with Miles, the guy from Physics 101, she learns that she’s not alone and that he’s been trapped for months.

As they work together to find a way out, they start falling for each other. But what will happen to their relationship if they finally find a way out and make it to tomorrow?

Overall Thoughts:

While See You Yesterday featured discussion and exploration of Judaism and different ways of being Jewish, explored interesting and complex family dynamics, featured well developed main and side characters, had an interesting plot surrounding time loops and travel time and was full of diversity as Barrett is a plus sized Jewish woman and Miles is a Jewish Japanese man and there are queer side characters, the book was way too slow at first and hard to get into. 3.5/5

Who would like this?:

Anyone who likes YA Jewish romances and/or romances about time loops.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: bullying, blood, panic attack, sexual harassment, anxiety attacks, mental health, body shaming, drug abuse, drug addiction, rehab

A massive thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for sending me an e-ARC of Rachel Lynn Solomon's "See You Yesterday"!

Do you get déjà vu when she's with you?
Do you get déjà vu?

Honestly, telling me that Rachel Lynn Solomon has published another story is enough to get me to preorder it, ARC unread. However, when the plot is "Groundhog Day" with a college coming-of-age twist and a cute romance between a Jewish American fat girl and a Japanese Jewish boy, I embody the Philip Fry meme where he is forking over a huge stack of cash. I am equally glad to report that "See You Yesterday" is an insanely sweet, smart, and sassy addition to the Solomon backlist. If you enjoy contemporary teen fiction with a smattering of romance and/or sci-fi, then you needed to grab a copy of "See You Yesterday" like yesterday.

[Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for my gifted e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions reflected are my own]

"Do you remember the 21st night of September?"

TL;DR:
If you're a fan of the movies Groundhog's Day or Palm Springs, and/or a sweet young college-age romance, this is THE book for you.

SYNOPSIS:
Barrett Bloom is a fat, Jewish young woman beginning her life at college. Her life always seems messy, full of mishaps, but college is the time for her fresh start! Her first day isn't exactly what dreams are made of, especially when her high school nemesis shows up, she makes an enemy in physics class, AND basically burns down a frat house at her first ever college party. Sigh, now if only she could get a do-over because none of this went according to plan. Fast forward to the next morning, her day begins like the one before. No... literally exactly like the day before. Somehow Barrett is stuck in a time loop, reliving September 21st over and over again. What's worse? That enemy she made yesterday, is somehow stuck in this loop with her.

RATING:
5/5 Stars, Rachel Lynn Solomon is one of my favorite modern-day romance authors, her characters are always diverse, real, and so developed. From the handful of books from her I've read already, I laugh and cry EVERY read. Highly recommend, would love to see this one become a film one day!

I love all of Rachel's books, but I ESPECIALLY loved how different this one was, and yet it still had that perfect touch of Rachel magic that made reading it feel like coming back to a world you already know. This book was the perfect blend of low sci-fi and romance that made everything about the world created feel possible and honestly I can't wait to pick it back up again to find parts I probably missed.

Rachel Lynn Solomon has been an auto-buy author for me since I fell in love with Today Tonight Tomorrow. In See You Yesterday, she captures the expectations of starting college and successfully utilizes a time loop to explore how emotionally challenging this experience can be. The story is more complex than the summary suggests, especially as the book delves into some difficult topics. At times, it was a little heavier than I expected and also heart-wrenching. Solomon provides sufficient introspection and adeptly addresses the topics with a lot of care.

I was rooting for Miles and Barrett throughout the book. Their relationship starts off rocky, but the time loop forces them to spend time with each other. It’s a reluctant friendship that slowly turns into something more between two individuals with opposing personalities. Miles is geeky and has his head in the books. He’s a cinnamon roll and very much on the straight and narrow. Barrett is a bit rough around the edges with her sarcasm and dry humor. In another universe, if she were real or if I was fiction, we would be great friends. Miles and Barrett make a perfect pair as they instill confidence in each other and validate one another’s feelings and experiences.

Read this if you’re looking for YA/NA novel with twist on the first day college experience that includes humor and introspection. If you’re a fan of Solomon’s work, you’ll enjoy the novel.

There was so much I loved about this book.

I loved the main character, Barrett Bloom. She was the kind of character you root for right from the start.

I loved the college campus setting. It was a fun choice for a time loop story.

I loved the Jewish representation and the sex/body positivity, of course.

The only flaw?

The story just didn't capture my interest.

I enjoyed the first half. Halfway through, I found myself skimming through the text. Then, at 85%, I put the book down, and...I forgot that I hadn't finished it. I went to write my review, couldn't remember how it ended, and realized I'd never finished it! I went back, and the ending was sweet, but the overall story wasn't memorable for me.

Such a sweet rom-com and I love Rachel Lynn Solomon. Time travel is always fun and thoroughly enjoyed this quirky book!

Did I immediately pre-order a physical copy of this book once I finished it? Yes, I did.

I have reviewed Rachel Lynn Solomon’s YA books, which you can find here too, and my reviews tend to follow the same direction when it comes to her books. Just the synopsis of See You Yesterday alone had me vehemently requesting an ARC to read and review. Additionally, having the premise of this Groundhog Day-like story set in college was so exciting. I have found college romance a new enjoyment for me reading-wise, and having Solomon write a college romance with a twist was the best news ever.

As I have written in my past reviews, Solomon has a unique way of writing her characters. Whether you are a reader of hers or a new reader, Solomon reels you in every time. I knew to expect new feelings, fun adventures, and witty characters going into See You Yesterday, and I was not let down in the slightest. Miles and Barrett were fun and heartwarming to read, and they were so perfectly imperfect that I loved seeing them overcome their past and find one another in their healing.

Miles and Barrett stand on their own wonderfully, and they each hold so much depth to their character that you realize that this book transcends solely romantic love. Solomon continues to showcase what it means to love another person so much that being stuck in a time loop is fun and life-altering in ways you could never expect. Solomon knows how to write about young adults who hold onto past trauma and pain, and she lets us follow their journey in finding joy, love, healing, and comfort.

See You Yesterday makes you laugh, cry, and yearn for the smallest joys in life. Miles and Barrett are a joy to read, and I hope you find them just as lovable as I did.

I love Rachel Lynn Solomon’s books and I love stories that feature time traveling or time loops, so you can imagine how excited I was to learn that Solomon’s latest YA novel See You Yesterday features a Groundhog’s Day style romance. I couldn’t hit that request button on Netgalley fast enough and I’m thrilled to share that this book was everything I hoped it would be and more!

The story follows Barrett Bloom, a college freshman who is really hoping this year will be a fresh start for her after a pretty rough senior year of high school. Instead of being a fresh start, however, her first day of classes is an absolute nightmare. She learns that she’s stuck rooming with an old friend she had a falling out with in high school. Then, an obnoxious know-it-all embarrasses her in Physics class, and she goes on to completely blow her interview to be on the school newspaper, and then as if all that isn’t bad enough, she goes to a frat party that night and accidentally sets the place on fire. All she wants to do is crawl in bed and pretend this day never happened. Instead, however, she wakes up and it’s the first day of classes all over again. Needless to say, Barrett is perplexed by this, especially when it keeps happening. After another encounter with Miles, the annoying guy from her Physics class, Barrett soon learns that Miles has also been similarly trapped and has been repeating the same day for over two months now. The two of them set out on an interesting quest to try to fix their timelines and free themselves from this endless loop.

I loved this story so much! Barrett and Miles are adorable together even when they’re plucking each other’s nerves. Their relationship also slowly transforms as they explore all avenues to freedom – researching at the library, trying to right wrongs from their pasts, trying to find closure from events where they’ve left loose ends, etc. While nothing they try works, what does happen is that the two of them get to know each other and grow close, first as friends but then as more than friends. I loved this so much for them because they’re both so lonely and out of sorts, even before being trapped in the loop. It was lovely to see them connect with each other and also so much fun to watch some of the antics they would come up with to pass the time while they’re stuck. There’s also tremendous growth for Barrett as she finally conquers some demons from her past and is able to move forward.

There’s also the huge question of what happens to Miles and Barrett if and when they finally come unstuck from time. Will they still be a couple, will they still know each other? Or will they go back to being alone? If you want to know the answer to those questions, you’ll have to check out See You Yesterday. You won’t regret it!

This book was freaking fantastic. It’s Groundhog Day meets the best YA novels out there.

I loved it from start to finish. The ending was freaking epic.

5 stars from me!

What a unique concept! I really loved the character development and the interactions! This is not the typical book that I would pick up but I have to say that I loved it!
Give this romance a chance!

This was SO good! I didn't pay too much attention to the mechanics of how the time loop occurred and how to deal with it, though it seemed plausible enough so as not to be distracting. My focus was much more on these lovely characters, their adventures, and their relationship. Both Barrett and Miles were compelling and sympathetic people and it was very easy to root for their happiness. I loved getting to know them and watching their relationship blossom.

I also LOVED how this book did not shy away from hard or messy things. Problems can't be resolved in one conversation. People don't always learn their lesson. I loved that the happiest outcome was a clearer sense of self, self-care, and connection. This would probably be considered New Adult, but both of the characters "read" a little older to me and it was easy to relate to them, even though college is waaaaaaay in my rearview mirror.

This was a fun, funny, and sweet read--I would encourage anyone to pick it up!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

Rachel Lynn Solomon crafts another sweet, quirky, funny, romantic young adult story that plays with time and is centered around irresistibly imperfect characters.

In See You Yesterday, Rachel Lynn Solomon explores the first day of college for Barrett Bloom, who desperately needs a fresh start.

Barrett's tenacity and passion for the truth led to a journalistic coup in high school, one that exposed cheating throughout her school's crown jewel of sports, the revered, state-champion tennis team--and ensured that she was reviled by many of her peers and some in her school's administration.

She was harassed and publicly shamed as a result, so her time at her state university is bound to be an improvement.

But on day one, Barrett's ruthlessly straightforward manner, defensive way of keeping others at a distance, and habit of speaking harsh truths before she stops to think seem destined to lead her to misstep and thwart her own chances of success and happiness. After being involved in multiple disasters in only her first day of classes, she fears college may become a ruination on par with the end of her high school career.

But she wakes up the next day...and finds that she's reliving her first day of college. She has the incredible chance to make the same decisions or to consider her choices and do things differently. The following morning, she gets yet another chance at reliving her first day. And there's an interesting boy she keeps running into, regardless of which paths and options she alters. He keeps challenging her and seems to know her somehow. Barrett can't decide if this time loop is a dream come true--or a living nightmare.

Solomon is excellent at building wonderfully imperfect characters and irresistible premises that play with time, as in her Groundhog Day -type setup for this romantic young adult story.

I loved Barrett and Miles's problem-solving and their discoveries about their own natures and capabilities, as well as the unorthodox team they make.

Solomon's matter-of-fact mentions of various body types, relationships, and emotional challenges (including anxiety, addiction, and self-esteem issues) allows for an overall warm and fuzzy inclusivity here--and throughout her books.

I love Rachel Lynn Solomon's stories, and I loved this story of Barrett and Miles and youthful adventure and finding themselves and discovering how to be vulnerable and ALL of it. Hook, line, and sinker.

Solomon is also the author of The Ex Talk, Weather Girl, and the wonderful young adult Today Tonight Tomorrow (link to review).

I received a prepublication digital edition of this book (published last week) courtesy of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and NetGalley.

4.5 stars

This is my third book by this author, and I loved it! It helps that I've always loved the movie Groundhog Day, and this was the college version of Groundhog Day, except this time, it was two people who were stuck in a loop. The author basically gets through the "rules" of the time loop pretty quickly and then concentrates the story on the two main characters as they try the usual things (both scientific--Miles' ideas and cinematic--Barrett's ideas) to break out of the loop. And of course, none of them work. The story is told entirely from Barrett's point of view, but you learn a lot about both of them and what it comes down to is that each of them is really lonely, but it's not something either of them has ever acknowledged to themselves, let alone to other people. The groundhog day stuff is absolutely fun, but it's the characters you fall in love with that make this book absolutely engrossing. There was something so absolutely sweet and endearing about Miles and Barrett was so funny and beautiful and observant and watching them fall for each other was a delight. The only possible negative part and this may have been because of the audio narration, was that I started getting tired of the phrase, "scratch that" which Barrett said every time she talked about doing something for the "first time". But that is a minor complaint and it absolutely did not take away from my enjoyment of this novel. I love this author and can't wait to see what story she writes next!

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I ABSOLUTLY loved this. This author is amazing and an auto buy for me so it’s no shock I loved it. It did take awhile for me to see the love between the two mcs but I still enjoyed it.

Rachel Lynn Solomon is a phenomenal author. She writes gold. Her voice her wit. her characters are all amazing. This was fun and sweet and emotional. So good.

It’s the first day of college and freshmen Barrett and Miles are stuck in a time loop, living September 21st over and over. Luckily they have each other as they try to figure how and why this happened and if they will be able to move on.

I really enjoyed this book. Both Barrett and Miles are complex, yet likable. The time loop is both a frustration and an opportunity for them. It’s interesting to imagine what you’d do in a similar situation. There are family relationships to explore, a sweet, slowly-developed romance and a past nemesis to conquer. See You Yesterday is an endearing, fun, witty, well-written YA novel with good characters and just enough science to keep things geeky.

Okay so this was good and the romance was cute but it can’t even compare to Rowan and Neil and it didn’t feel as well developed (but I was still rooting for them). I don’t really know what it was, but I have read some other YA romances this past month that I LOVED so maybe they’re in the back of my mind. Both of those were very very focused on the romance and maybe I just didn’t quite feel that here…

Because then the rest of the book was kinda just doing the same thing that got rather uninteresting. Also a lot of it was them trying to understand the time loop rather than Bill Murray just messing around. They did mess around don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t understand the rules of the time loop so it maybe would’ve been better to just yolo it and not have them try to explain it away.

In Groundhog’s Day, he’s a solid asshole at the beginning and makes a lot of change by the end. I understand where the change was here…but it wasn’t as interesting I guess. A lot of things they resolved in the past timeloop days just weren’t concluded once everything righted itself. I’m especially annoyed about the principal and high school bully that got zero mess-up-their-lives schemes smote upon them. No music was faced!

So she confronted the bully in one of the time loop days, so he doesn’t remember it when she finally stops reliving the same day. Also, the kicker is that she really didn’t even cathartically make him suffer in the time loop. He literally didn’t care about her or how he made her feel and she said the confrontation made her feel worse about the situation…same.

It also made me sad that Lucie also didn’t remember everything. There was obviously the hint of friendship at the end but it still felt unresolved because the book just ended (no time jump in the future). An epilogue would’ve been great here to see how everyone they interacted with in the time loop (for better or for worse) was doing.

As always, I do love how Solomon crafts her characters (main characters especially). They’re never cookie cutter and she seems to write representation very naturally and I love when you can casually hear about yourself, and see yourself represented and finding love in a traditionally published book.

Overall, I wasn’t as in love with this as I thought I’d be…it was good and cute but kinda boring and didn’t make me feel all cutesy and smiley like Today, Tonight, Tomorrow.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5*/5 🌶**/5.

**This is kissing the line of New Adult because the have pretty descriptive (for YA standards) sex. I was expecting this and don’t mind it but just so ya know. It was more detailed than T3.

CWs: for pretty major bullying in the past (recounted in the present)

Just when I think that Rachel Lynn Solomon cannot possibly outdo herself... she adds time loops. See You Yesterday has all the wonderful aspects of the usual RLS fare : incredible characters that you immediately fall in love with, a wonderful story that pulls you in, a great swoony romance, and a ton of humor and heart. You can literally never go wrong. But then! Then, we get a story with time loops. I love time loops! And I love them even more when added to all the aforementioned awesomeness.

I also love a "beginning of college" story, because I feel like that is such a tumultuous time in a person's life, and there frankly are not enough books about it. And as always, Barrett is just so, so relatable. She is just such a well-developed and enjoyable character, that you cannot help but root for her. And obviously, her relationship with Miles is fun.

Honestly, I could drone on and on about why I loved this book so much, but you should just read it at this point. It offers:

✓ Incredibly likable and realistic characters, well developed and perfectly imperfect.

✓ Great family dynamics, especially in terms of the changes that undergo familial relationships when moving out.

✓ A romance that will one million percent give you feels.

✓ A very entertaining plot point of the time loop, including the characters' filling days with a mix of fun and poignant shenanigans, and of course wondering when -or if- the loop will end.

✓ Characters navigating being away from home and starting over in college, figuring out what that entails and growing as a person.

✓ Tons of humor and heart, as always.

Bottom Line: I dare say this is Rachel Lynn Solomon's best work to date- and that is saying a lot, since they are all spectacular.

A beautifully written book about one of my very favorite tropes, featuring a fat mc? ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!! highly recommend to everyone!