**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.

The Do-Over is my nightmare personified.

You're at the top of your game. You've written a best-selling career advice series and you're *this* close to landing a lucrative job you're perfect for when the recruiters run an extensive background check and discover you technically never completed your degree. (Shout-out to the apathetic academic advisor who incorrectly said taking a pass/fail course your final semester would still count towards your remaining college credits.) Mortified and anxious you've derailed your career, you quietly re-enroll at your alma mater. Why are you sweating so aggressively now? Oh, right, that computer science course that'll fulfill your last few credits - your ex is the TA. Remember him? Nerdy, awkward and directionless but still the love of your life who shattered your heart and literally left the country when you needed him the most. But now he's a charming, fine-as-hell grad student who seems to have his shit together because of course. Of course it would happen like this.

If I wasn't allergic to alcohol, now is about the time I would pound back a few drinks.

Luckily, The Do-Over isn't a nightmare to read. It's quite pleasant, actually.

My personal highlight in this book: the mental health representation in a POC. Lily struggles with a serious anxiety disorder, depression, and imposter syndrome - the latter of which I'm very happy was discussed at length. Her Korean-American family regularly disregards mental health issues and insists the best medicine is working harder. All of this makes me feel so seen. Lily is the ultimate MC for me - a deeply relatable human that's just trying her best despite all the shitty curveballs being thrown her way.

It's a near perfect read for me. I just didn't feel the chemistry between the MC's and my attention waned at some points. But it's a nice light read with fantastic POC and mental health rep. Totally recommend!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyage and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Pub date: April 4, 2023

This was such a pleasant quick read. Like the rest of Suzanne Parks books, the characters are quirky, make you laugh, and have a Star Wars reference or two to share. This book was lighter on the romance but was refreshingly balanced. We got to learn a lot about our heroine, Lily, and really saw her grow over the course of the book. Lily has a wonderful friend group that I absolutely adore. I could read a book dedicated just to them about how they completely support one another. I especially appreciate that there was an age gap in the friend group. It’s not something we see too much in fiction but that is a common occurrence in real life. While lighthearted, the book does bring up how everyone’s adulting experience is different and that it’s never too late to change the course of your career. This book flew by while I was reading it and I will definitely be recommending it to others.

The premise of this was so incredibly original, fun, enjoyable and just SO SWEET.
I loved it.
Thats all you need to know.

The Do-Over was very entertaining! I don’t think I would have been as gracious as Lily in the return to college - I would have not have had a good attitude about it. Thankfully, Lily has a great support system and tackles the last bit of college the second time around. There’s a good amount of growth and development throughout the book, and I admire Lily for her perseverance. I’m glad I picked this one up. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

3.5, rounded up. Would recommend.

I read this book a while ago, but just realized I never reviewed it!

While I don't remember a ton of details about The Do-Over, it's not from a lack of enjoyment but rather a less-than-stellar memory and an excessive reading habit that has me plowing through multiple books a week. From what I can remember, the relationship between the two main characters was relatable and fun. These sorts of second chance books can be extremely cliche, and it's hard to inject anything new into them because there are so many authors attempting them, but I thought Suzanne Park did a solid job in creating likable characters. No, there's not much reinventing of the wheel going on here, and it's not the kind of book that stays with you (clearly), but it was an enjoyable read.

I have enjoyed some of Suzanne Park's previous books, but I really struggled with The Do-Over. Lily Lee is rising in her career, but then she finds out she didn't actually graduate college a decade ago because she had a few incomplete credits, so she goes back to college and reconnects with her ex, Jake, who is the TA for one of her classes.

I can appreciate the mental health and minority representation and the portrayal of female friendships, but so many other things were incongruous with this plot and characterizations. Lily is presented as being an author, consultant, and overall industry leader, except she's actually quite immature and does not make very good decisions. This book was categorized as a romance, but the "romance" is not at all romantic and mostly an afterthought in the plot. Also, why would the nation's hottest tech company recruit from an intro-level class!? These are just a few examples of things that made no sense and made this book a fail for me.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for gifting me with an ARC to review. Sadly, this was not the book for me.

Just too cringey for me. A 32 year old finds out she is actually a few credits short of graduating college so has to go back and *surprise* her TA is her ex-boyfriend. This plot is good. I thought this could be a fun story.

However, the main character is very immature. Maybe this back to college concept would have worked better if she was only 5 years out of college instead of 10? She is constantly embarrassed by her age and worried about what the other students think about her. Her inner dialogue was exhausting.

She goes to a frat party (WHY) and makes little 20 year old friends (ALSO WHY). She complains constantly about being SO OLD. Her knees pop and her metabolism is slow. My eyes were just rolling nonstop.

The romance is second here to the MC’s journey of self-growth. Maybe I’m not the right target audience here? Not sure but it didn’t work for me.

Pub date: 4/4/23
Genre: romance (second chance), ownvoices
Quick summary: Lily is on top of the world with a bestselling career book - until she finds out she never finished her college course requirements, and she has to go back to school. And the cherry on top - her computer science TA is her ex-boyfriend Jake.

I discovered Suzanne Park due to bookstagram, and I've loved every book I've read by her! This book is no exception. There's great Asian representation - Lily and Jake have to wrestle with parental expectations and how they want to define their success. Lily also deals with tokenism and dismissal from wealthy white authors, and I loved her strength. There's great friendship - Beth and Mia provided wonderful support to Lily. And along with the second chance romance, there's true personal growth for all the characters.

If you enjoy a sweeter kind of romance with a side of personal/professional growth, give this one a try!

Thank you to Avon for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*****Publishing April 4, 2023*****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Just as Lilly was about to get her dream job at Swan and Wallace, they let her know she had failed her background check. As it turns out, Lily was told she hadn’t actually graduated from college even though she participated in commencement. Lily had to move back to Carlthorpe college in order to finish the last two credits. She finds out she has the same advisor who steered her wrong. To make matters worse, Lilly is told she has to switch majors as the one she started is no longer available. When taking a class, she discovers her old boyfriend, Jake, as the teaching assistant. Despite all the road blocks, will she be able to finish her degree in order to get her dream job? Will she reconnect with Jake or will they just remain friends?

In addition to going back to school, Lily is in the middle of writing a book. Will the publisher find out her predicament and cancel her book or will she be able to pull it off? This book will have you turning the pages to find out.

Even though Suzanne Park weaves important issues into her story, she keeps it light with a humorous and engaging story! Perfect for book clubs as it will lead to many interesting discussions!

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager (Avon), I was provided an ARC of The Do-Over by Suzanne Park via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lily Lee is a bestselling author of the How to Be a Supernova At Work series, and her editor wants her to strike while the iron’s hot with a new book, How to Land the Perfect Job. But when Lily is offered a coveted position at a top firm, the employer background check reveals she’s short a few college credits and never actually completed her degree. Unbelievably, her worst nightmare has come true. Lily returns to her alma mater, reliving her senior year of college ten years later. She enrolls in classes, gets invited to frat parties, eats most of her meals with “dining dollars,” and to make things even more weird and chaotic, she discovers that her computer science TA is her old college boyfriend, Jake Cho. As Lily and Jake reconnect, she sees that her ex has done well for himself: the handsome, charming grad student appears to have his life together while Lily’s so close to losing her dream job opportunity and her book deal. Things aren't so simple the second time around.

First of all this is my WORST NIGHTMARE. I have actual dreams of this probably once a season! And as much as this is my worst nightmare, it was a little hard suspend disbelief that a company that liked you so much would not hire you because you didn't graduate college, even after 10 years of experience. I feel like your college degree only matters for that first job out of college. Afterwards its all based on your experience. But I am in a creative field so maybe I am wrong. Thankfully once I got over that, I really enjoyed the book. Lily was such a well rounded character. I loved her struggle with anxiety which I related to so hard. Her relationship with her best friend Mia was second to none. She also made STEM seem fun! I was expecting this to be more romance focused but I would consider this more women's fiction with a secondary romance plot. The romance was cute. We get a second chance romance plot line, but it was very much slow burn and closed door.

The one thing that I didn't love was the last minute plot twist of the swimming test. It wasn't needed and held no weight to the story. When I read it originally I thought she was having a stress dream. And before you tell me, maybe it was just your school. I went to college in Florida where you could see the ocean from campus and we didn't have a swim test or even a physical education class.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 4/7

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for digital advanced reader copy of The Do-Over for my honest review.

The Do-Over by Suzanne Park was just OK for me. The story of a 32 year old, high achieving woman suffering from imposter syndrome having to go back to college to finish her degree due to a clerical error was very relatable, at times but the story seemed to lack focus.

I struggled with the pace and the back & forth between second chance romance and a critique of corporate America. The romance felt forced and the critique was constantly interrupted by the romance.

I really loved Lily's relationships with Mia and her roommate, Beth. I also appreciated that Lily had some really good growth over the course of the book. Overall, I wanted to like this more but it sadly did not deliver.

Suzanne Park is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I loved this book and can't wait to read more from her!

“Take it from me, don’t let mistakes define you. Who you are isn’t your history of mistakes. It’s how you genuinely learn from them rather than making excuses and offering insincere apologies. The goal is to become a better person, right?”

I loved how this is not only a romance novel but a story about mental health and challenging inner doubt.

After discovering that Lily is shy of a few credits, she has to return to university where she has to face the man who broke her heart ten years ago. During her time on campus, Lily redefines what success means and what healthy boundaries look like.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest opinion.

Lily returns to her alma mater, reliving her senior year of college ten years later. She enrolls in classes, gets invited to frat parties, eats most of her meals with “dining dollars,” and to make things even more weird and chaotic, she discovers that her computer science TA is her old college boyfriend, Jake Cho.

As Lily and Jake reconnect, she sees that her ex has done well for himself: the handsome, charming grad student appears to have his life together while Lily’s so close to losing her dream job opportunity and her book deal.

Things aren't so simple the second time around.

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed reading this book. If you’re expecting a true romance where the female and male are in most scenes together you’ll likely be disappointed. But if you’re looking for great women’s fiction with a little romance then I think you’ll enjoy this one. This a single POV about Lily Lee, who has had an unexpected return to college to finish the degree she thought she’d finished 10 years ago. She has a college do over as well as a love do over. But the story focuses more on Lily’s journey of personal acceptance rather than the conforming to expectations her parents have of her. Throughout Lily’s life she’s faced with unimaginable pressure from her immigrant parents and their Korean community to be nothing less than perfect which has led to physical and mental health issues the author addresses beautifully. One of the best things in this book is Lily’s two friends, one from college past and one from college present. These friends support her in the best of ways and help her on her personal & professional journey. They’re the friends everyone hopes to have.

There were a few spots where the story felt weighed down by details that might have been better summarized. Especially from a few flashback scenes. But overall I enjoyed Lily’s personal, professional & romantic journey; and as long as you don’t expect a traditional romance, I think you will too.

This book was great! I couldn't put it down! The premise was fresh and new, which is hard for me to say as I read so much each year! Sometimes it feels as though I keep reading similar stories, but this was a so original!

Park’s book So We Meet Again was one of my first Netgalley reviews! I loved it and it holds many fond memories. Her books are marketed as romcoms but they’re much more in the Women’s Fiction genre. I think that’s why the overall ratings are so low; People come in expecting an epic love story and it’s just not the main point of the book. The romance in the two books I’ve read by her is much more of a subplot with the second-chance trope while the priority of the narrative is the MC’s growth. I just didn’t really love Jake. I’m fine with a romantic subplot but at least make a girl swoon? While I’ve had many TA fantasies, Jake wasn’t a super compelling love interest and I have a bit of a pet peeve for guys who “still think about you” but for some reason can’t pick up a phone in 10 years. You can’t just suddenly miss someone when they’re back in your life, still hot, and convenient for you. That’s a highly specific pet peeve though so maybe other readers won’t have that issue.

Onwards and upwards, Park used to be a comedian and it really shows in her writing because she totally delivers on some great laughs. The writing is witty and relatable. The side characters are endearing. I also really liked the flashback chapters that helped explain the falling out of her and the love interest. So why only 3 stars? There were more than a few plot points that seemed very unlikely to me that I couldn’t really overlook and there were some other plot points I would’ve liked more time spent on. Overall, a solid read that I breezed through. I think this island worth checking out if you’re a fan of women’s fiction.

Fun, easy read. Lily finds out when her dream job's background check shows she was a few credits shy of actually getting her college degree. The only thing she can do is go back to school, and pray no one finds out. Once she gets there, her old boyfriend who broke her heart is actually her TA.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well-written, and I really liked Lily's feelings of having imposter syndrome, something that I think many women struggle with. I was invested in her journey, and was hoping everything would work out for her.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

Book Review
4🌟🌟🌟🌟
📖Book 35/100
💫Genre: Women’s Fiction/Romance
📲ARC📲
Written by: Suzanne Park
✨✨✨✨
🥠🗽💞👩🏻‍💻👨🏻‍🏫
This was more of a Women’s Fiction read with a cute sprinkle of Romance. It takes us into Lily Lee’s journey of her second chance (do over) of life and love. The theme of empowering other women and self-growth was awesome. I even loved how Park wrote about Lily’s college experience because we all know going back at a later age can be challenging. The friends she has and made was a great addition and added so much fun to this plot. Our girl Lily who by the way is an inspirational writer is offered a great job opportunity. However, there’s a small hiccup and to her surprise she discovers that she really never got her Bachelor’s Degree….yes she walked the graduation walk and got her diploma, but as per the registrar’s records she really didn’t! She makes the decision to go back and earn that degree but runs into Jake who broke her heart💔❤️‍🩹💔
✨✨✨✨
📌Publication Date: April 4, 2023
💫Thank you @netgalley @avonbooks @harpervoyagerus for this amazing read in exchange for an honest review.

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