The Do-Over was like the romance version of Groundhogs Day and I am here for it! Lynn Painter has become an auto-buy author for me and her most recent release, The Do-Over, just reminded me why. Her YA Romance in particular is right up my alley, because it's the magical messy romance I loved experiencing when I was in high school. Her characters are relatable! We all know a cute popular guy we wanted to date and felt googly-eyed over them.

Emilie is so excited to celebrate Valentine's Day and finally tell her boyfriend Josh the "L Word", much to her dismay her day is nothing short of a dumpster fire. When she seeks comfort in her grandma's house with a pint of ice cream, she hits an all-time low. Poor Emilie, right? Oh, but it gets worse. She awakes the next day only to realize she is stuck in some loop and has to relive through Valentine's Day all over again. With each chance to right the wrongs, Emilie tries to put her "best" foot forward. What becomes clear is that some parts seem unavoidable, including the mysterious Nick, her chem partner who doesn't seem to even recognize her.

I think I got a bit tired of the loop after several go around, but of course Painter sucked me right back in when things shift and then I could not put this one down. If you love YA Romance, this is a must read prior to Valentine's Day. I must admit the book got me choked up with some of its sweeter moments.

Emilie is having the WORST Valentine’s Day ever. She gets into a car accident on the way to school, she catches her boyfriend cheating on her, and to make it worse, she’s stuck in some crazy Groudhog’s Day loop and keeps reliving this awful day over and over again.

I adore Lynn Painter’s writing, she has a way of writing rom coms that make me laugh out loud and have me swooning. I loved Emilie as a main character - despite trying to appear to have it all together, she is a bit of a hot mess. It was so easy to relate to her and it was great to follow her on her journey to let go and figure out who she is. I also enjoyed slowly getting to know what was beneath Nick’s grumpy exterior and learning more about him.

This book was another win from Lynn, who has quickly become a favorite author over these past two years. If you want a book filled with fun pop culture references, laugh out loud moments, and a sweet love story, this one's for you.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the gifted copy.

This book definitely delivered on the groundhogs day. Poor Em repeating the same day over again until she made some big life changes, and boy did make some big ones. I love how the story went and how the “final” day played out.
Two issues I had were some transitions were hard to follow, not many but enough where I noticed. I also was confused on how long the valentines days repeated and how long was covered after she got after the loop.
Other than that I throughly enjoyed this book.

Short synopsis: Emilie has the perfect Valentine’s Day planned out, until everything goes wrong and she finds herself in a time loop repeating the same day over and over again.

My thoughts: Oh my goodness, after reading just one book by @lynnpainter I am officially a huge fan! It did have some mild language but I felt like this is totally acceptable for any Jr High or High Schooler to read!

I’m not normally a big time loop/groundhog day fan but this one worked out so well. I loved Emilie and I adored Nick! What a great guy, who knew her so well. His descriptions of what Valentine’s Day gifts he’s give was adorable!

Their banter was cute and funny, and I loved how they connected with each other on every Valentine’s Day. But the DONC (Day Of No Consequences) was my very favorite!

Also, any book that comes with an included playlist will rate high up on my list! This one has lots of T-Swift and some old school hip hop which is my jam!

Read if you love:
* Sweet YA romances
* Time loop
* Books set on Valentine’s Day
* Stepping outside your comfort zone
* Books with playlists

This one is available now, so run and grab it!

This is an adorable YA book about a Valentine’s Day in which the main character Emilie is stuck in a time-loop. While she had planned for the perfect Valentine’s Day, Emilie keeps experiencing problem after problem, and when she has to repeat the day the problems reoccur. Throughout the repetition, the reader gets to know Emilie and understand her ways of coping with her parents’ divorce and her new friendship (re-established each day) with her lab partner. Together they spend a DONC (day of no consequences) - but it leads to Emilie’s time-loop ending, which brings with it another load of decisions.
I enjoyed this one, and I can’t wait to recommend it to my high school students. I think they’d really enjoy it. Thanks to Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this book. I really enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the situations they got themselves into! I also really loved how the end of the repeating days sort of ended in a shit show. It felt different than most other repeating day stories i've read and i really enjoyed that! This book was overall a lot of fun and i definetly think readers will enjoy this one.

Emilie Hornby ​​dreams about having the perfect Valentine’s day. Everything is ready and checked. She found the perfect gift and hope today will be the day where I love you will be exchanged. As a matter of fact, nothing goes as planned. And the young woman finds herself stuck in a time loop where Valentine’s Day happens again and again.

For Emilie, it is a nightmare. For the reader, it is the opportunity to discover the heroine in different facets. It is a very enjoyable story. Super quick read. I really enjoyed it. Family, friendship and love are at the heart of the story. Even if the concept of the same day repeating itself again, and again, and again isn’t new (I am thinking about the movie Groundhog Day for exemple), Lynn Painter created a fresh and sensitive story, with a pinch of humor and a supernatural twist.

I was unfortunately a bit let down by this book. I really enjoyed Better Than the Movies but The Do-Over lacked the chemistry between the characters that I’ve come to expect from Lynn Painter. The synopsis sounded amazing because I love the time-loop trope but it unfortunately just wasn’t executed very well. It was still an entertaining and quick read but my expectations weren’t met.

I will read absolutely anything Lynn Painter writes, but her YA novels hold the softest of soft spots in my heart. Full of pure cinematic energy, classic 80s movie vibes, and all the feels, The Do-Over creates the same completely wonderful feeling of Better Than The Movies while tackling a totally new adventure. In The Do-Over, high-schooler Emile wakes up after a horrific Valentine's Day--where she discovers her boyfriend cheating on her--only to quickly realizes she's repeating the same day over and over again. After numerous repeated V-Days, she decides to throw caution to the wind and spend the day with the boy who's been thrown into her path in every iteration of her time loop, Nick.

I can't say enough good things about this book. It's certainly my favorite YA book of 2022, and probably in my top three reads for the year overall. And when a book tops my list like that, it really comes down to an indescribable feeling I get while reading it--one that definitely results in a book hangover. Fans of Better Than the Movies will undoubtedly love this one as well, and I encourage everyone to give both novels a go!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for my eARC and LibroFM for my ALC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

Though I tend to not be a fan of groundhog day style movies or books generally. I found myself while not loving this one, at least enjoying it. Because who can’t relate to having the worst Valentine’s day. And wishing you do it over and try to get it right. This one was a quick read. And I’ve also discovered that I enjoy this author’s YA books much more than her adult contemporaries.

LOOOOVED this was so adorable! I love Lynn Painter & this was just such a well-done concept. I sometimes struggle with Groundhog Day stories but this felt fresh. Highly recommend.

Lynn Painter is slowly making her way up my favorite author list. Her books are well thought out, fun, light, and a joy to read. As someone who also lives by lists I instantly fell in love with Emile. Don’t even get me started on Nick! He’s everything a love interest should be.

I can not wait to see what Lynn Painter writes next.

Another fun rom-com from Lynn Painter. I already have a copy of this in my classroom. Fun and relatable, my students love her rom-coms for the same reasons I do. Worth the read, epecially if you liked Groundhog Day (because in this one, it's Valentine's day over and over again).

Oh my gosh this was so cute.
I was worried because it's YA and I didn't realize that. and it's usually not my favorite. I was ALSO worried because repetitive days can get exhausting, but this was done SO WELL.

Very cute and easy to follow. I loved Nick, he was so cute. Written well and instantly likable for me. It was snowy and set in winter so it fit perfectly for my cold day.

If you're new to this author, I think this is her best one so far. Can't wait to see what else she comes out with.

Lynn Painter has figured out the perfect balance of a YA rom-com. Her characters are relatable, the parents are never cookie cutter stereotypes, there is a healthy dose of humor and a great deal of heart.
In this novel, fate keeps forcing Emilie into Nick every morning, on Valentine's Day, no less. After a few days Emilie just gives up and decides to live without concern for the consequences. Why would you when you *KNOW* the next day isn't coming. A fun 'Ferris Bueller"-esque day ensues and the universe is quickly unveiling that maybe Nick needs the day more than she does.
Between this and "Better than the Movies," Lynn Painter is becoming one of my most frequent recs in our high school library. (I enjoy her adult books, as well).
Thanks so much for the ARC!

Oh my god, not me requesting an ARC of a contemporary romance, being excited after being approved, and then absolutely loving the book after reading it! Sometimes I don't even recognize myself 😆 But honestly, I'm enjoying diving into and exploring this genre that just years ago I would not touch. And this book is probably one of my favorite contemporary books I have ever read! (To be fair, I haven't read that many, but still 😆)

This book was so freaking cute, I just can't! This book had me grinning the entire time, which made me look like a complete crazy person when I was reading in public! But you know what? I don't even care! 🤣 I can't believe I was such a romance hater back in the day 😞 What was wrong with me?? 😱🤣 Anyway, my point is: I loved the romance in this. I liked how the universe basically kept pushing Emilie and Nick together even though Emilie was, in the beginning, kinda fixated on her cheating boyfriend. Which I understood because they had been together for a little bit, but still. Lol. Nick though, the more we got to know him, the more I loved him! He was very broody and the reason behind that is so heartbreaking I swear I almost cried. But he was also sweet and very fun. And the banter between him and Emilie was one of my favorite things about the book! And I loved as they got to know each other and shared all these little stories with one another. It was just so heartwarming and sweet.

I really liked the time loop aspect of this book as well. Honestly, that's probably the reason why I even decided to give this a shot. It definitely gave me Happy Death Day vibes (one of my favorite movies), minus the whole murder thing, of course 😆 But that trope worked really well here! It was fun! And one of my favorite loops was the classic I Don't Give A Fuck loop, as I like to call it 🤣

You know, the loop where the characters do ALL the things because they know there'll be no consequence due to the reset the next day. And the IDGAF day Emilie had was great start to finish! The way she roped Nick into her shenanigans... 😍 That entire scene was amazing! And not to mention the end of that day 😍😍 It was SO good!

Another thing I liked was the setting in Omaha! I actually just visited there for the first time this past summer and I honestly loved it more than I thought I would! It is such a cute place! And I liked envisioning the places they talked about that I didn't visit. But there were some places they mentioned that I recognized, and I always love that. For example, they mention Spaghetti Works which I thought I went to, but I didn’t. I wanted to though! Every time we went downtown that place was always absolutely packed! We did end up going in once but the wait was so ridiculously long we ended up going to a pizza place down the street instead. Which is a shame because I do love me some pasta. Lol. And Emilie claims it’s amazing, and after seeing how packed it always was, I don’t doubt it. Oh, and another place that was mentioned was Ted and Wally's ice cream, which I did end up going to! Several times! The line always went out the door, but honestly it was worth the wait! Another place I went to that I absolutely loved was The Monster Club. This wasn’t mentioned in the book, but I’m mentioning it because it was horror movie-themed and it was awesome! 😆

But enough about my trip to Omaha, I loved this book SO freaking much! It was just so cute and the added element of the time loop was a definite plus. The end when Emilie pondered if this specific thing could be the catalyst to the time loop.... It made sense! And I almost cried. Again. Lol. I loved Nick and unwrapping the enigma there. I also loved the character arc Emilie went through. You really got to know the characters and understood why they were the way they were. I even liked the resolution with Josh there at the end! This book was just great all around! Right after finishing this I actually went on to read Better Than the Movies by this same author and omg... SO good! Honestly, I think I may have found a new favorite author! 🤩

Per my review on michigandaily.com: "In Painter’s “The Do-Over,” the people-pleasing main character, Emilie Hornby, is stuck reliving a disastrous Valentine’s Day. Over and over again, she watches her boyfriend cheating on her, she (literally) crashes into her cute-but-distant lab partner, Nick, and her father reveals news that changes everything. When Emilie finally starts to enjoy herself in the time loop, she finds out her do-overs are limited and learns to deal with the consequences of her actions.

Emilie isn’t one-dimensional by any means, but she reads like an average YA main character in high school — aiming to be perfect to make up for her complicated family situation.

Another aspect to consider is the romance... “The Do-Over” relied too much on the insta-love cliche for me. After Emilie comes to terms with her relationship and her cheating boyfriend, she quickly moves on and pursues Nick. Although Nick has a part to play each time Emilie repeats a day, their romantic interactions are overshadowed by the fact that he won’t remember what happens between them."

The Do-Over is a YA Groundhog Day like book where Emilie keeps living through the same day: Valentine's Day. Nothing seems to go the way she expects the first time, and with each iteration, she gets further and further away from her initial plans even as she's trying to fix things. But maybe all of the chaos will bring her towards something better.

I absolutely loved this book and devoured it in one sitting. The romance was beautiful, the characters nuanced, and the plot compelling. The book takes place during Valentine’s Day so it’d make for a great read on the day but really it can be read any time. Overall just a wholesome warm hug of a book.

This is one of those books that is hard to pinpoint why I loved it so much because it just worked so well as a whole, but I’ll do my best to do it anyways.

Plus, there’s a soundtrack that goes with it! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4gex4YF0tYiPSuhID55dEY?si=c2e6ec2c38f24f36

👍
+ I totally adored the main love interest! He was a total grumpy cinnamon roll. Plus he had very valid reasons for his grumpiness. I loved seeing him get out of his shell and let people in.
+ The MC and her character growth was fantastic. She goes from being a people pleaser perfectionist person to just completely letting go, and finds the perfect middle ground by the end of the book.
+ The two MCs have a day full of adventure à la Ferris Bueller. This part was probably my favorite, it was so cute, romantic and fun! I loved the way they connected over that one day on such a deep level.
+ I loved all the side characters, the best friends and her grandmother, but even her parents, who do mess up but they they’re just trying to do their best.
+ This would make for such an amazing TV show. I could just see everything visually as I was reading.

👎Smallest of nitpicks:
- I find it weird when in books/media like these, they don’t just reference the ultra familiar source. Like why can’t they just reference Groundhog Day, it feels deliberate for some reason but I don't know what that reason is.
- This is mostly good for me, but none of the pop culture references in this book would actually be from teenagers of now. They all seemed pick from my childhood/teenager years.

Overall rating: 4.5⭐

Thank you so much to Simon Teen and NetGalley for the eARC!

Rating: 4.5 stars

I made the mistake of starting this before bed to celebrate the end of NaNoWriMo and ended up bleary-eyed and exhausted at midnight. I have no regrets.

I'd initially picked The Do-Over because it looked like the kind fluffy fun my zombie brain needed at the end of No Sleep November, but before I even got to the end of the first page, I knew the book I was reading was special. Reading Lynn Painter's latest book was like one of those Cinderella glass slipper moments. I'm a weird combination of a closet hopeless romantic and a slightly cynical realist, so I like my love stories with a bit of a bite. Lynn Painter delivered. The Do-Over was the perfect blend of heart and snark: a little sappy, a little sassy, and a whole lot of fun.

Emilie Hornby was such a great protagonist. Sharp, sarcastic, smart and sentimental, she was a wonderfully contradictory blend of a romantic and a realistic and spoke to me on a spiritual level. (Dear publishers, more protagonists like Emilie in YA please.) I loved the complexity we saw in Emilie's character and the fact that Painter didn't settle for making her a one-dimensional heroine and reducing her to an overachieving type A academic, people-pleasing lonely child, or rose-colored glasses-wearing romantic. Instead, she gave us a multi-faceted narrator with a strong voice, sharp wit, and an ache for acknowledgement. I loved Emilie not just because she was relatable but because she was believable. Most sixteen-year-olds I know, no matter how high-performing, don't have their lives figured out, and Emilie, messy, flawed, and a little bit lost, grounded this admittedly ridiculous romance. The premise isn't exactly the most believable, but Emilie's growth and arc throughout the book helped bring a sense of realism and believability to the story.

Speaking of the premise, the whole idea of a time loop is totally unrealistic, but I bought completely. Painter had me on board with the never-ending Valentine's Day in part because everything else was so engaging. As a testament to Painter's storytelling, I was immediately invested in the story. I kept telling myself "one more chapter," frantically flipping through pages, because I wanted--needed--to know what came next. The story itself was such a delight, filled with banter, humor, and T.Swift references. It was a really fun and sweet love story but also a heartwarming story about grappling with grief, loss, and loneliness. The two were so well balanced and both the light and serious parts of the story melded together seamlessly. I'm just really impressed by how Painter managed to avoid overly preachy or maudlin.

There were a few minor things that kept me from giving The Do-Over a five star review. The first was the pacing. While it wasn't terrible, I definitely think it wasn't quiet as strong as it could have been. I feel like Painter never quite hit her stride, and I found the cadence of the storytelling distracting at times. Part of it might be the nature of telling a time loop story, but I do think there were some issues with structure and flow. There were some pretty short chapters, especially in the beginning of the book, that made the story feel choppy and stilted. I also don't find the transition into the time skip particularly smooth. The story needed more space to develop and overall just didn't feel fully finished. On a related note, a lot of the side characters weren't as developed as I would have liked. Emilie and Nick were relatively well-rounded, but everyone else showed sparks of potential that never fully materialized. Again, the time loop was a bit of a barrier to character development, but even recurring characters like Emilie's boyfriend, Josh, or her grandma could have been fleshed out more. I was especially disappointed that the subplot with Emilie's family didn't play a bigger role in the story. There were so many interesting dynamics to explore, and they were just kind of squeezed in at the end.

Still, I have to say The Do-Over might become my new comfort read. It was an absolute delight to read and so addictively compelling that I devoured it in three hours despite being completely brain dead.

3.5 Stars
I thought this was a very unique concept for a book. Although I had a tough time getting into the book at the beginning, I ended up loving it by the end. I think the relationship between the characters develop really naturally. The Taylor Swift references throughout the book also made me happy. Overall, I think it's a really cute book.