Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of THE DEJA GLITCH by Holly James. I thought this was a unique take on the Groundhog Day story, since it was from the perspective of the person who didn't realize she was repeating the same day over and over again. It did present the challenge of the reader being able to experience the falling in love process when we actually missed most of it since it happened in another character's POV. Still, the concept definitely hooked me right away. Overall, it was a cute and fun story, if it leaned a little too far into cheesy rom-com cliches one time too many. I was also a little disappointed in the lack of spice, but that's just me. I did fly through it in just a couple days, and for the most part would say I enjoyed myself.

I think A LOT of people are going to like this one. I did overall enjoy it, but it didn’t really pull me in. I will say, I think having one character not be aware of the time loop was a really great idea and also having the majority of the novel be set during the course of one day avoided the problem of it feeling repetitive so both of those things worked to its advantage. Character wise, I didn’t really feel connected to Jack at all. He was attractive, a writer and in love with Gemma. That was about it. Gemma, I connected with a bit more since it was her POV and also I thought she was much more developed than Jack. I liked her family dynamics with her father and brother, especially when she examined her own contributions to the dysfunction. As far as the romance goes, there were absolutely some really cute moments, but it didn’t really grab me like I want a romance to. Overall, a cute time loop romance, but nothing that knocked my socks off.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a while since I read a time loop story! The last one was annoying because the same details were shared over and over again almost word for word. This book is different, in a good way, because we readers are dropped right into the last two days of the loop.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick and easy read that follows Gemma as she encounters Jack throughout the day and has to sort through her feelings of deja vu. She's got development throughout and was a reasonably relatable character. Jack didn't get as much development. I do wish this could have been dual pov so we could get more insight into him. Together, they are adorable and have great chemistry. There's some solid banter in here!

There was a small miscommunication that seemed highly unnecessary, but I've never been a fan of that trope, so no surprises there.

Her brother was great, too. I loved the hidden SpongeBob joke. I understand why he wasn't really in the picture for this story, but I do wish we had gotten more of him.

Fans of grand gestures will love the ending!

Okay this was cute!!! The premise of being stuck in a time Ioop means you have to suspend disbelief a bit, but once you’re settled in the plot the writing takes over and whisks you on this sweet adventure. It reads like one of those perfectly enjoyable early 2000s romcom movies where everything wraps up with a concert and good music at the end. Perfect summer read.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

A refreshing and fun twist on the time loop trope, THE DEJA GLITCH is a perfect mix of Groundhog Day and 50 First Dates (shout out to fellow reviewer Nilufer Ozmekik for that perfect comparison). I loved that the story is from the point of view of the person who can't remember rather than the person that is stuck-- it was such a good twist on a classic idea. I also personally loved how imperfect Gemma was; she was frustrating and a little selfish, but it made her feel real and her reactions seem genuine.

GLITCH was a super quick and charming read, perfect for anyone looking to satisfy their rom-com needs!

As a sucker for Groundhog Day esque books (I LOVED See You Yesterday and The Do-Over), I knew I had to give The Deja Glitch a read. Unlike other time loop books, The Deja Glitch is primarily told in one day. Unfortunately, when the story is told in one day, it feels rushed and less authentic. I found it hard to root for Gemma and Jack, especially with Gemma not remembering all of her previous days with Jack. I just couldn’t buy into the “insta love” when we saw so little of what made Jack and Gemma feel that way. Due to the story taking place in one day, I felt like Jack was not developed at all. It was hard to root for him when I barely knew anything about until 60% in. I wish the story took place over multiple days and we got to see more interactions between Gemma and Jack. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the arc.

Gemma and Jack are stuck in 5 month long time loop. Thursday keeps repeating itself, and Jack has determined the only way to break free from the infinite time loop is to get Gemma to fall in love with him. And so he does practically everyone in his power to do so.

This book was enjoyable. It is a quick and easy read. I rarely read books set in California, so I did enjoy that because I very vividly picture all the places they go to. I was not crazy about the influencer best friend story line, because we're not all influencers out here dang it, lol.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Holly James for providing me with physical copy of this ARC and to Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

Gemma is a radio producer recently separated from her boyfriend that used her to get a record deal. One day she crashes into Jake, but the meeting is odd because he is staring at her deeply and longingly and already knows her name. In fact, Gemma has déjà vu when interacting with Jake, yet cannot seem to place him. What Gemma doesn’t realize is that the two of them have been living this same day and interaction on a loop for many months; Jake, however, does know what is going on and thinks he may have figured out a way to stop it - he just needs Gemma’s help. I liked that we got to see the story unfold from Gemma’s viewpoint rather than Jake’s - so we were able to react to Jake’s proclamations just as Gemma would, which sound crazy. This was a fun and different read, and there was true chemistry between the leads and it made you excited to learn what Jake ultimately had to do to get out of the loop.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🦇 The Déjà Glitch Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❝ "A couple's egocentrism is the hallmark of love." ❞

❝ "It's you, Gemma. You're the center of everything. My whole universe has shifted to revolve around you. I'm literally stuck on you and only you." ❞

❓ #QOTD If you could repeat one day of your life and make a change, big or small, what moment would you alter? ❓

🦇 When Gemma Peters wakes up Thursday morning, she has no recollection of the 147 days that came before it; 147 attempts of that same Thursday, the Thursday she (literally) crashes into Jack and her world tilts on its axis. She has the strangest sense of déjà vu, yet has never met the man who knows her name...and how the rest of her day will follow. Jack tries to convince her that they're in a time loop, and that Gemma is the key to breaking the cycle. She only has to do one thing: fall in love with him.

💜 We've all read 24-hour time loop stories before, but Holly James has taken a unique approach to this Groundhog Day-esque rom-com. The beauty of this story isn't in the time loop itself, but the character growth. Gemma and Jack before realize their lives are somewhat stagnant. Gemma has fallen into the shadow of her rock legend father she barely speaks to, which is keeping her from taking strides in her career as a radio producer. Jack helps her realize it's time to make a change, and even that realization is enough to cause a domino effect. The story spans across 24 hours (outside of the prologue, we don't actually experience the loop the way Jack has), which keeps the story from becoming too repetitive (a major issue with this plot trope). The writing is fun and upbeat, Jack is instantly loveable (likely because we don't see his faults), and there are layers to Gemma, making it a cute rom-com.

🦇 With the story spanning only 24 hours, I really hoped for better pacing. Jack never stresses the urgency that, with Gemma finally becoming aware of the loop, the clock is ticking for them to get this time right. Unfortunately, that causes the story to drag. A few of the secondary characters felt one-dimensional, too; from Gemma's father to both Jack and Gemma's ex's, who come off as cliche villains. I will say that Gemma's best friend Lila (who comes off as a cliche party girl in the prologue but functions as Gemma's rock in the story) is a hoot; I'm glad she defied the first impression we get of her. However, the idea of Gemma, who seems fairly pragmatic, falling in love with a man in 24 hours doesn't seem realistic.

🦇 Recommended for fans of any time loop romance!

✨ The Vibes ✨
⌛ Time Loop
⌛ He Falls First
⌛ Insta-Love
⌛ Grumpy vs Sunshine
⌛ Rom-Com

🦇 Major thanks to the author @hellohollyjames and publisher @duttonbooks for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #TheDejaGlitch #TheDéjàGlitch #NetGalley

Almost DNF'd.
While occasionally I sympathized with the main character, most of the time I couldn't stand her. She's annoying, entitled, sometimes downright stupid and just not likeable. It felt a bit insta-lovey. The most annoying thing, is that despite this being a time loop book, we only see one day! What's even the point?? I'm not giving it one star because the overall plot was half okay.

I so enjoy Holly James’s writing. Her stories take common tropes and make them unique. I love the ingenuity in her worlds and the fun magical elements. This book is like a dessert - good to the last page.

I liked the characters and I overall thought the book was fun. I didn't really need the explanation about why the timeloop happened. Some of it was a little much like the video going viral and her not caring about it all. Seems out of character. Overall, solid.

This is not, actually, a time loop romance. The whole point of a time loop romance is that the main character experiences the same day (or other period) many times, realizing gradually how they need to change and whose love they need to win in order to break the loop. Readers go along for the ride, and part of the fun (or, for some, frustration) is watching the same events play out repeatedly in slightly different ways.

In The Deja Glitch, Gemma is only aware of experiencing the day in question one time, and aside from a brief prologue the reader sees only one iteration of the day. It is, however, quite an eventful day, and the best thing about the novel is how it ties together the main character's professional, family, and romantic interests into a cohesive story. Although I was sometimes annoyed by Gemma's neediness and avoidant behavior, her problems were relatable and their resolution believably flawed.

The romance was really the weak point of the story. In standard time-loop romances, the main character falls in love gradually over many iterations, or - perhaps more commonly - the central couple have a pre-existing relationship that needs to be resurrected or evolved. In The Deja Glitch, Gemma must fall in love on the day she meets Jack - and there's too much going on that day, including multiple discussions of the time-loop conceit, for them to engage in the kind of deep conversation or intense bonding experience that would make this plausible (at least in Romance Novel Land). By the end, I was rooting for Gemma to succeed in her career and evolve her relationships with her father and brother, but I didn't really care about what happened between her and Jack.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of this book! I liked it.

This was a fun, cute, quick read. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, and I'm always down a little magical realism in a book. I love this book as a palate cleanser read!

That being said, I didn't fall in love with it. It's an okay story, and while I'm glad I read it, I won't be purchasing it for my shelves or rereading it.

I recommend this one if you want something fun and easy.

Rating: 3⭐️

I was so excited to receive this ARC, because I love a time loop romance. Any Groundhog Day situation, I eat it right up (with the exception of Groundhog Day, ironically).

The title, the synopsis, the cover art: I was ready. So I was disappointed to discover that The Deja Glitch is not loop-y at all. With the exception of the prologue and epilogue, the entirety of the novel takes place in one single time loop iteration. That takes away a lot of the fun for me: I enjoy reading about how characters' choices can alter the timeline. But we don't get that here.

I give props to the author for telling the story from a new perspective--Gemma is unaware of the loop, so that is unusual for the trope. However, her confusion is underwhelming and when she's experiencing deja-vu, the word "familiar " is used one too many times. I also found the book oversaturated with descriptions--it felt like every place or object was accompanied by a lengthy simile. Other than that, I thought the writing was pretty good. It had a strong upbeat tone.

The characters and their relationships felt a bit shallow. By the end of the book, I still don't really know anything about Jack other than 1) he's uber-attractive and 2) he's in love with Gemma (despite never getting past the first-date-basics of knowing her....). The key to breaking the time loop is of course for Gemma to fall in love with Jack--in a DAY--meaning the righting of the space-time continuum depends on a case of insta-love. Jack and Gemma's exes were caricature-y as villains, and the eccentic physicist friend felt too convenient add-on plot device. Most of all, I don't like the message that you must have a relationship with your family. Gemma is shamed and pressured into reconciling with her father. There's nothing wrong with giving second chances, but everyone's reasoning for it is "because he's FAMILY." I thought we as a society had agreed that the whole blood/water thing had been disproven, at least symbolically.

Overall, for me, this was 2.5 stars. I love the concept, but the relationships and the situation in which the characters found themselves did not feel fleshed out.

Thank you to James and NetGalley for the ARC.

Gemma is at her best friend’s birthday party when she runs into a cute guy named Jack at the bar. At the end of a really good night as he’s walking her to her ride, he says he’s going to test a theory, and he kisses her. That kiss starts a chain of seemingly familiar events for Gemma. She has a feeling of deja vu the next morning and then when a guy runs into her at the coffee shop, it’s Jack, and he tells her they’ve been stuck in a time loop for months. Gemma has a hard time believing him at first but she sort of remembers the kiss from the night before. Then, Jack tells her that to break the loop, he has to get her to fall in love with him. The time loop in this story is evident from the very beginning, so the readers are thrust right into the action. The time loop is a fun addition to the story, but it’s not overly explained with science fiction level rules. The main focus is Jack and Gemma and their budding relationship. The insta-love, social media live streaming, and airport love confessions are a bit cringey, but ultimately this romance is an enjoyable, quick read.

4.5⭐️

This was a cute one! I’m a sucker for a good romcom with a dog—though I really would have enjoyed a lot more Rex in this story—it still hit the mark for me.

What I look for in a story is for something to happen that is outside of the realm of my daily life and to suck me in and entertain me for the hours I spend with it—Holly James’ The Deja Glitch did just that.

Gemma—is a girl still dealing with blow from a relationship that left her heartbroken and convinced that there are no good men in the world.

Jack is reliving the same day over and over trying to get the woman he has fallen for to remember him so they can bust out of this time loop.

There was some predictability in the plot—I mean it’s a groundhogs day reimagining so it stands to reason that there would be—and there were a couple things that were a little…hmmm…the time loop takes the story to magical realism but I really want the realism aspect in my magical realism and there is an airport scene that just didn’t hit that realism element for me—out side of this the story was a wonderful escape from real life that kept me clicking the button to turn page after page.

***I want more Lila! Lila was an amazing character that I think could carry a full novel as a MC! Also wouldn’t mind more Patrick—I feel like with the plot we really only got to scratch the surface of this side character with MC potential.

There were aspects of this book that I really enjoyed, but overall, it was just OK for me. The biggest challenge I had with it was that I didn’t feel like there was a lot of chemistry between the two main characters. It was a really challenging premise for a good relationship - he has been falling in love with her for five months, and she feels like she just met him today. I just honestly didn’t buy into her eventually overcoming that and falling in love with him. He did some nice things for her but it didn’t seem like they were really very connected.

I liked the LA and entertainment industry aspect of it, and the relationship among Gemma and her family.

After Holly James’s debut, I was primed to love this book. Her characters, her writing style, and that slight whimsical touch that gets added to her romance? All right up my alley. So of course I couldn’t wait to read this one. And it wound up kind of being like a cross between Groundhog Day and 50 First Dates.

I’ve read a few time loop novels at this point, enough to know that this one differs in a couple of important ways. First of all, time loop stories are usually told from the POV of a character who is aware that they are in the time loop, but in this case, Gemma is the one who has to be convinced that she’s even in a time loop at all. Secondly, each time loop novel that I’ve read provides multiple iterations of the same day. But in this book, the entire story is told over the course of a single day.

Those differences don’t make this any less enjoyable of a novel. In fact, I really liked the unusual structure of the story. Instead of going in unaware and having to figure out that they’re stuck, having to find the sticking point and addressing it, Jack is already aware of all of this and has the difficult job of convincing Gemma.

Gemma isn’t a tough character to like. She’s easy to identify with, even if a lot of the problems in her life are of her own making, and she just isn’t seeing it. Despite a lot of people trying to gently guide her towards better choices, she isn’t just stuck in a time loop, she’s stuck in her life. Until Jack comes along and turns everything upside down.

Jack is also a really likable character, even if he would seem very strange if I was in Gemma’s shoes. He does come off as pretty stalker-ish in the beginning of the book—Gemma is consistently telling him she doesn’t know him and leaving, and he follows her around insisting that she knows him and they’re meant to be together. Now, that’s definitely red flag behavior in any normal situation. But … since this isn’t a normal situation, Jack isn’t actually a stalker but a guy who has had months to fall in love with her, and Gemma has to condense all that emotional development into one day.

I really found this story, once we got past the stalkery parts, to be a really good one. The development of the relationship between Gemma and Jack was cool to watch develop, as she got to know him, and see how much he really knew about her and was already invested in them as a couple. The plot was predictable in the typical romance fashion, but since I already expect that, it wasn’t an issue.

This story is so much more than simply a romance. There’s family drama, finding a place in one’s family, learning to finally speak up for oneself, and making a decision to move on from hurt feelings that one has held on to, all of which are addressed throughout the story. I especially loved the friendship bond between Gemma and Lila, and how much the two of them lean on each other for support. Overall, this was a great, clean romance, and it’s earned James a place on my “authors I adore” list.

The Deja Glitch was super cute. Very Groundhog day meets Nora Ephron RomCom. I loved that we got it from the perspective of the love interest and not the person reliving the day. It gave the concept a new twist that was really refreshing.