Thank you so much to NetGalley and Suzanne Park for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for the Do-Over coming out April 4, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Bestselling author Lily Lee is on deadline to bring forth her career guide How to Land the Perfect Job. She’s offered a highly sought after position at her dream company, but the employer’s background check shows that by some fluke she never finished her college degree.

Lily returns to her senior year of college again, after walking across the stage at graduation a decade earlier. Just as she starts getting used to the idea of being a student again, things take a turn for the worst when she finds out that her computer science TA is her old college boyfriend, Jake Cho.

As Lily and Jake get to know each other again, she sees that her late-blooming ex has done well for himself. He seems to have his life together, while Lily’s on the brink of losing her good reputation and her book deal.  

The Do-Over is about the second chances life has to offer. There are chances to reconnect and the future might not be clear, but we end up where we belong.

I’ve read all of Suzanne Park’s books. I love Korean stories and I love her writing style. Her stories are usually very relatable. This one felt different. I think it was more adult rather than her usual YA sweet romances. I wish I could say I loved it, but there were things I didn’t care for. I think the romance took a backseat and it was hard to see why they wanted to get back together after all that time. I thought Lily was a strong character and I related to her struggle of navigating her life. I also loved that she was an author. It was a little harder to get an idea of Jake’s character. I didn’t feel as connected to him. I do love the idea of second chances in life and I thought the overarching themes were good. If Suzanne Park writes other novels like this, I would definitely check them out.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys contemporary second chance stories!

DNF at 57%

Honestly, I don't think this book is for me. It wasn't bad, I just could not get into it. I think other people will really enjoy this for it's not for me

Lily has a mishap and finds out that she never technically graduated college. So, back she goes to her almamater to finish out the credits she needs so that she can get the job she has worked so hard for. When she gets there, the TA for her class is none other than Jacob. Jake, who left her when she needed him the most. Jake who broke her heart.
He is determined to make things right between them, but she needs to focus on keeping a low profile and just getting things done. It wouldn't be right to be caught with her TA, even if they have a past and she is the same age. She is still a student. As she struggles with the class, Jake helps her through it and they begin to get closer. She has to figure out if she wants to let him back in again and trust that he won't let her down, or just focus on her future.
I really liked this story, but there were a few inconsistencies that I struggled to get past. The journey was more about Lily and finding her true self and how she wants her future to look going forward. I enjoyed that portion of the book, but I did struggle with the romance. While Jake was a perfect book boyfriend and super sweet, I just didn't feel any of the passion I was hoping to feel. I absolutely loved Lily's mom though, she was a great addition to the story. 3.5 Stars
Thank you to Avon, Suzanne Park and Netgalley for an early copy.

It wasn’t great, it wasn’t bad, but it also just wasn’t. I didn’t find myself particularly caring about the characters or the dilemmas that they had been put it. I was a smidge board with the antics given the age of some of the cast. The maturity levels seems a bit scattered.

The Do-Over is only my second read by Suzanne Park, but it will not be my last. As this novel read more as a women’s fiction story with a side of romance, it might be good for future readers to alter their expectations before reading. I think if I knew this, then I would have felt differently while reading. The story follows 32-year-old Lily Lee, who is working on a new book, How to Land the Perfect Job, when she discovers that she never finished her bachelor’s degree while applying for a job. She returns to her alma mater, Carlthorpe College, where she will need to re-do her senior year of the college experience to graduate now officially.

Returning to school ten years later is never easy, so it was interesting to read about Lily’s journey. When Lily attends her computer science class that she needs to graduate, she discovers that the TA is her ex-boyfriend, Jake Cho. With this new complication, Lily has a lot to deal with as she goes through the on-campus college life, trying to continue to be an author, and navigate new and old relationships. Lily is not alone in this journey, though, as she has her best friend, Mia, and her new roommate, Beth, that are there were her.

Lily and Jake were both enigmas to me. As the two of them reconnect and revisit their past, there are glimpses into their previous relationship, but there was still something that felt unfinished. I think this was due to Jake not being highlighted enough in the story. It never seemed he gained many layers as a character, and I needed more to want him included as a potential love interest. I also feel that more exploration into Lily was needed. She is redoing her college experience, including frat parties, and it would be nice to really explore why. There are bits and pieces into these reasons, but I still never really understood it. The same is also for Lily’s career paths as she begins to enjoy computer science, she has her author job, and she had the other dream job from the beginning of the story. There are a lot of paths for Lily, but I never feel like this is all resolved or its clear that this was the point of the story. Overall, this was a fun concept, but it needed a lot more details to get all the various points across to the reader. I still enjoy Park’s easy and enjoyable writing style, so I will read more in the future, but this particular one was not quite for me.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Avon, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

This book was a sweet second chance story as lily returns to college ten years later only to discover the teacher aide is her old college boyfriend. This book was cute enough although I'm not so sure it was exactly a romance, it reminded me more of a general fiction novel. That being said I did still really enjoy lily as a character and how much she grew both in her career, as well as managing her anxiety and her complicated relationship with her parents.

The Do Over by Suzanne Park
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Lili is going back to college to finish her degree after graduating ten years ago. Turns out she was short a few credits, so now she is in a rush to finish before her book publisher finds out. When she gets to her first class her TA is Jake Cho, her Ex who broke her heart.
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This book was good but not great for me. I liked the story and the characters just fine but I didn’t love it. I think I wanted Jake’s character to be more, somehow. He felt a little bland? I can’t think of a better word for it. I wanted more from him.

I loved the scene in the last 10% where the Oharas are interviewing Lily and she gives a great public speech about being proud of all she’s accomplished and not talking herself down. I was internally cheering for that.

The most emotional scene was the phone conversation that Lily has with her parents at the end. My eyes burned a little.

But I wanted to feel more emotion for the scenes with Lily and Jake, it just felt more like friends to me between them.

My absolute favorite part of the book though was when Lily purposefully called Cameron, Chad. 🤣🤣 What a tool that guy was.
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3⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lily Lee, a successful best-selling author, is primed and ready to start a new motivational book AND accept a new corporate job that will up her bank account way more than she was hoping for. Until that is, she discovers horrendous news.... she's a few credits short of her diploma from college even though she walked and was told she had enough credits.

Lily puts her life on hold to go back and correct the mistake, but then another plot twist...her ex-boyfriend (Jake Cho) is now her TA and damn, he's hotter now. As the semester unfolds so does Lily and Jake's past. Lily is determined to get back to her life and maybe expand her horizons thanks to her new STEM class, but past feelings for Jake are starting to arise.

The one thing she has to bear in mind is, do-overs are never as simple as they look.

Man, Suzanne Park has a gift of bringing her books into my life when I need them. She has such a talent for showing the reality of her characters and their emotional turmoil that speaks to the soul.

Second chance lovers are actually of my favorite tropes because when done correctly it shows the characters growth and willingness to change for the ones they love. Park slam dunks it. The redemption is beautiful.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, for this wonderful romance ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise here was fun and quirky. And there were a lot of parts that I really enjoyed, but it didn't come together in the way I wished it would have. Specifically, some of the reveals at the end would have been much better earlier on - I would have been more invested in Lily's career trajectory, and her relationships with a better understanding of her history.

I also just struggle with romances that seem too far fetched - and a 30something author and career woman immediately befriending a college senior/new roommate - among other things, just cheapend a lot of the rest of the story for me. Some of the dialogue felt a bit juvenile. And some of the decisions Lily made just didn't make sense to me.

The Do-Over
by Suzanna Park
3.5 stars

Lily Lee is loving her life until she found out she never graduated college. With her best friend helping her along the way Lily goes on a journey to finish college by taking the few courses she needs. Lily realizes it's never too late to go back and she has a lot of ups and downs along the way.

I was excited when I read that this was a rom-com but to me it's not, I got too excited over a book that just didn't click with me. I didn't care for the romance that was trying to blossom between Lily and Jake. I enjoyed the friendship that was happening with Lily, Mia, and Beth way more, it's what every girl wants friends you can go and pig out on food and get drunk. Too many miss for me personally but did enjoy the woman empowerment the book gave.

Thank you, Net Galley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the eARC for an honest review.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Super funny plot and I enjoyed reading it! I'm normally not a fan of second chance romance but I did like this one.

This book was heartfelt and funny and a testament to how it’s okay for life to not go your way, the first or even second time around. Also, it was oddly inspiring to go for something new, especially when it’s challenging.

Lily was a funny and real character and I enjoyed her journey from confident, but not to powerhouse in this novel. Jake (or Jacob) also was entertaining to read about, but I do wish we’d gotten some more moments between them. More crackling tension and whatnot. So, do be warned that this book is not romance heavy, it’s more of a strong women narrative with some romance sprinkled in there, which is also ver needed.

I loved the secondary characters and I need Beth to bake me a cake asap, thank you very much.

Do pick this book up if you love stories about strong women and the struggles, both internal and external and the mix of both, that we face in the workplace and if you love a good second-chance everything.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I honestly feel a little misled. The Do-Over was marketed as a second-chance romantic comedy but ended up being more of a women's fiction novel. While that's not neccessarily a bad thing, it wasn't what I signed up for.

I enjoyed the back-to-school storyline and thought the relationships between Lily and her friends were sweet and fun to read. Female friendships are always a delight to read and this was no exception! The romance was definitely a sub-plot and the connection between Lily and Jake was lacking and I didn't find him to be very likeable.

I'm giving this three stars because I enjoyed the writing and some aspects of the story, but was ultimately disappointed that the romance was more of a footnote than advertised.

I read this book as an ARC from Netgally, thank you!

I liked this book and the characters and the growth of said characters. I really liked the relationships Lily had, especially with her bffs. The book was written well and I really loved how Lily grew throughout the book.

My one negative is that the entire plot of this book is my worst nightmare. I literally have nightmares that my life is exactly like Lily’s whole predicament in this book. So while I enjoyed the book and writing, it was really hard not to cringe and want to put the book down at pretty much every turn and event that happened to her. So beware if you are like me and have the sympathy anxiety that accompanied the reading of this. I faced my fears and finished this book and you should to!

Cute and lighthearted, but sometimes i found myself thinking how unrealistic this would be - although I liked the characters and female friendships i just kept going back to "no one would actually return to campus for 2 credits, especially not an established writer" so with that in mind it was hard to get into at times. But like i said i enjoyed the relationship between the 3 female friends, i could have done without the romantic relationship.

”Did everyone our age feel like they weren’t quite where they were supposed to be? I could definitely relate.”

The Do-Over is the sixth novel from one of my favorite authors, Suzanne Park. She has a way with romcoms so that they are sarcastic and sweet in perfect proportions.

This novel is about a woman who finds out she actually didn’t have enough units to graduate ten years after she got her diploma. Unfortunately she finds out because she’s offered a dream job that will now probably not come to fruition after her background check uncovered she is without a college degree.

I knew someone from my college who hadn’t actually graduated, discovered by our employer after we had been coworkers for a few months. So this concept never felt like a stretch to me.

“I will always show up for you.”

Back at school, Lily decides to take classes that weren’t available a decade ago, including a computer science class where she is a standout—and where her ex-boyfriend is the hot TA. She has an odd but amazing roommate and her best friend visits frequently.

I really liked that this book made room for a topic that will likely appeal to most readers. High functioning anxiety (sufferer) feels like an apt way to describe half my friends. In the acknowledgment section, Park discusses how her whole career thus far, six books in, seems to have been conducted during the pandemic. This was good news for me because I didn’t realize there were books from her back catalog I hadn’t yet read. But it was also sobering given that Covid seems to have put so many of us into a heightened state of anxiety that we may never shake.

Thank you to the author for telling this story in a way that felt authentic to this HFAer. I would’ve loved the book regardless but it just made the plot that much better.

Lovely Asian-American story of second chances and overcoming mental health stigmas. This book was a delight and really shifted my perspective on a few different things. More of a women’s fiction book with light romance, which was okay for me. I really enjoyed this book!

3.5 stars

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

I’ve more than learned my lesson that, contrary to branding, Suzanne Park isn’t really writing romcoms, but women’s fiction with romcom branding, so I went into The Do-Over with somewhat measured expectations, while leaning toward optimistic because I liked the premise. And on that front, it mostly delivered.

Suzanne Park does great in establishing Lily as a career woman who is well-established in her field, only to find a setback when researching her next project that she doesn’t technically have a college degree. This does require some suspension of disbelief, as you’d think any error of the type that is used in the story would have been caught at the time, especially if the system was at least somewhat digital (Lily is her thirties, as am I, and I definitely had a digital system for course enrollment, withdrawal, and credit checking in my college days). However, I was nonetheless able to roll with it. It was fun to see Lily reacquainting herself with college life, as well as finding herself. She also has some solid friendships with other women, which is always a plus.

However, while I expected the romance to be more of a subplot, it wasn’t particularly interesting. I’d say the most compelling part of her relationship with Jake was the potential power dynamics, with him being a TA in one of her classes, and wish there had been more to emphasize the complications of that, even though they are the same age. And even though there’s a lot of emphasis put on them supposedly having this history, I found their relationship generally tepid at best.

This book was fine, even if it somewhat missed the mark in places. If you enjoy women’s fiction with romantic elements, you may enjoy this somewhat more than I did.

I came into The Do-Over with high hopes. I’d heard good things about Suzanne Park and the description sounded fun.

Unfortunately it ended up being not my cup of tea. I didn’t feel any real tension or chemistry between Lily and her love interest. A lot of the drama surrounding her going back to school and the competition with the Co-authors felt forced. It was just difficult to get through and not what I was expecting.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

**3.5 STARS**

I thought the synopsis of this story was interesting an alum having to go back to college because they didn’t officially graduate? I sometimes have that nightmare where I didn’t graduate college and it’s an anxiety dream so I can totally relate and wanted to see what happens. Here is what I thought:

+ I like Lily as our main character. She is in her early thirties, has some success but trying again and realized she didn’t actually get her BA degree. Mistakes happen right? I like that we get to delve into her history with her family. She is Korean American and as an Asian American myself I can understand the family pressures. I like that no matter when things went south for her, she did something about it or at least tried and never gave up.

+ Lily and her best friend, Mia, have an amazing bond. I love Mia and their new friend, Beth who is Lily’s new college roommate. I loved the friendship aspect of this book – it is probably my favorite part.

+ I thought the book had a lot of messages going on but I did appreciate the fact Lily stood up for herself when her younger self wouldn’t. I like that we see her growth and how her journey inspires others around her.

~ I don’t think the romance worked for me which is a bummer! I like the whole second chance romance, I just wanted more chemistry between them. There is no steam in this one…maybe I wanted a little steam.

~ I thought it was funny when Lily always mentioned her creaking knees at 32…I’m 13 years older than Lily and I kept thinking while reading, yikes, try being 45! 😅 I admire anyone who can go to college after their 20’s. I don’t think I can do it (I say that, but I probably could…but would I WANT to? lol…I don’t know.

~ If you want a rom-com, this is not it. The friendship part is funny but everything else is more women’s fiction and Lily’s career and mental health journey.



Tropes: found family, second chance romance

Why you should read it:
*the friendship between Mia and Lily is great, and then add in newcomer Beth
*it touches on issues like anxiety and being raised with high expectations in an Asian American household
*Lily’s journey

Why you might not want to read it:
*the romance part didn’t wow me, this is not a rom-com

My Thoughts:

I was intrigued by the synopsis and I can say even though the romance part disappointed me, I read this in one sitting. Also I fell in love with Lily and her friendship with Mia and Beth so even though the romance between her and Jake wasn’t amazing, at least her friendships were! I also liked how the story touched on Lily’s upbringing and her anxiety because I could relate so much to her on that level. Overall, I enjoyed the story and was invested in Lily’s change in career path and how everything was going to fall into place.