The synopsis for The Day Tripper had me wanting to read it immediately. I was so happy when I got approved by NetGalley to read an ARC. Sadly my excitement waned pretty quickly.

I love time travel books but apparently they can be done really well or not so great. This one fell in the latter.

There is still so much about this book that I don't quite get. It was very discombobulated to say the least. What I don't get the most is that it took Alex so long to understand that all his failings were what was causing the outcome of his life no matter which day he landed in. We heard about his drinking, his failures and self loathing ad nauseum. This was almost a DNF for me but I powered through & still wonder what I read.

The thing that frustrated me the most is that the outline of this story had so much potential but it just didn't pan out the way I expected.

**Received ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed**

Magical realism is quickly becoming my “go-to” choice for fiction, a genre that The Day Tripper mastered. The author takes the reader on a life journey of self-discovery through the main character, and I was here for it. Asking and answering deep questions, I thought the book ran through every possible iteration of life out of order. My only complaint is that the story felt a tad long, but I never felt compelled to stop reading – I was in it until the end.

Quick recap without spoilers:
Alex Dean is twenty years old and has his whole life ahead of him. In 1995, he meets Holly, the love of his life, and has a promising education after nabbing a spot at Cambridge University. But after an incredible night with Holly ending in a fight at a bar, Alex wakes up in 2010 to find his life a mess. The following day is in 2019, and his future is even bleaker. But one more day, and Alex is in 1999. Once Alex realizes that he has no control over what date he will live, he begins to piece together how one hapless decision can snowball into a life lived poorly. Can his time-jumping shift the outcome of his life?

The first 40-50% of this book was a big bummer. Alex Dean is not very likable, and you're left wondering how he will get out of this situation if all he does is wake up with a hangover in a different date/time. You grow to like him more as he starts to change his attitude after he finally gets some help. The side characters help flesh out this novel, as it would feel flat with just Dean. The explanation for the time travel that the author goes with is un-inventive and would have been better left un-explained.

3.75/5

It's hard to describe The Day Tripper by James Goodhand. It's partly a coming of age story, a little bit of a love story, and a lot of a "how did I get here" story.

Book Description:
"It’s 1995, and Alex Dean has it all: a spot at Cambridge University next year, the love of an amazing woman named Holly and all the time in the world ahead of him. That is until a brutal encounter with a ghost from his past sees him beaten, battered and almost drowning in the Thames.

He wakes the next day to find he’s in a messy, derelict room he’s never seen before, in grimy clothes he doesn’t recognize, with no idea of how he got there. A glimpse in the mirror tells him he’s older—much older—and has been living a hard life, his features ravaged by time and poor decisions. He snatches a newspaper and finds it’s 2010—fifteen years since the fight.

After finally drifting off to sleep, Alex wakes the following morning to find it’s now 2019, another nine years later. But the next day, it’s 1999. Never knowing which day is coming, he begins to piece together what happens in his life after that fateful night by the river."

My thoughts:
On the surface, The Day Tripper is a time travel story. However, as each day passes on this journey with Alex Dean, we realize this isn't as simple as change one event, change your whole life. Goodhand examines what it means when you not only change your actions, but you change your actual perception of things. "Hindsight is 20/20" as the adage goes, but what if it's not that simple? What if what we think makes the difference isn't the difference at all?

Read this if you like:
• Multiple timelines
• Time travel fiction
• Books that will leave you pondering long after you're done

This book was marketed as “for fans of The Midnight Library,” so of course I had to pick it up! I can definitely see the similarities but this book completely stands on its own too. Like Haig’s books, The Day Tripper explores what it means to live a life worth living and has a pretty happy ending. However, it differs in the way it goes about this. The main character experiences his life out of order: one day he is 21, the next he is 44, the next he is 35, and so on. He quickly realizes that something has gone terribly wrong and his life at 44 is nowhere near what the life he had imagined for himself when 21. He battles addiction, homelessness, and more as he tries to figure out what went wrong. Can he make things right? Can he get back to his life at 21? Can he change his trajectory? Read the book to find out!

Highly recommend this one! Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. :)

The Day Tripper by James Goodhand was a joy to read. If you like time-bending type book, (think The Midnight Library) you'll adore this one. I was rooting for James the whole time. I totally saw this book coming alive as a movie or TV series. Pacing and writing were spot on.

The right guy, the right place, the wrong time.
This story is thought-provoking and kept me entranced. It started out slow, but once Alex became caught up in his daily time switch, I was reeled in, I could feel his frantic confusion and his frustration while trying to figure out what was happening to him. Once I got with the rhythm of the story, and the reasoning behind the year changes, I settled in for a good story telling. A bit historical, a bit futuristic, a lot of cause and effect, a bit of time and space alignment, but all in all a good book. If you can get past the slower intro it is definitely worth the wait.

For those who liked Cassandra in Reverse or The Midnight Library.

I was torn about this book. As a rule, I enjoy a good time travel book, even though I am not a huge sci fi person, which was why I requested this. I loved the ending, which I will not give away, but if it had ended any other way, I would and thrown my device against the wall. The pace picked up later in the book. However, there were times that I wanted it to move along. I also wanted to like the main character more than I did. I did like how the book revolved around that one girl he loved. I did like how the book touched upon larger themes of what it means to be a good person, and how we can change our lives by realizing what is truly important to us, without preaching at me. The book was a bit confusing, though some of that is going to come from being a time travel book. However, the reasons for how time went back and forth were a bit confusing. All in fall, I liked the concept and I would come back to this author to see what he does in the future and what kinds of books he will write.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Day Tripper by James Goodhand was a bit difficult for me to read early on, so I am going to offer a trigger warning here for others: this book contains graphic descriptions of advanced alcoholism and alcoholic behaviors. that may be difficult to read if you have had a loved one with this level of addiction. It also contains brief but detailed depictions of child molestation and abuse/neglect.

First let me say I adore the cover illustration. Second, this book was so masterfully written that it kept me on my toes the entire time I was reading it. The first third of the book was quite difficult for me to read due to a history of alcoholism among several loved ones. But I was still so intrigued by the story that I kept reading, and I was so impressed at how the author constantly gave us just enough information to think one way, only to reveal later that we were only seeing a small part of the picture. This is no standard time travel tale! "Good decisions beget good decisions" and it was a good decision for me to read this book! By the end of the book I absolutely loved this story, and can't wait to see what else James Goodhand has in store for readers in the future.

Deepest thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this advance e-galley.

I think this just was not for me. The writing was great and I love a time travel style story, but I didn't feel connected to Alex. I can see where fans of time travel and this particular era would have a blast with the story, but there just wasn't enough going on for me. I wanted to like Alex but I never found myself rooting for him. I was hoping for a bit more excitement, but that was just not where this story led.

Again, fans of time travel who like more contemporary style books will love this!

GIve this book a minute. When it started it was charming. Then it gets into truly depressing territory as you watch Alex make the same horrible mistakes over and over. One night seems to send his life spiraling, quite literally. He is left jumping around like Sam Beckett except he is always himself at different parts of his own life. At first he just wastes his life with one drunken mistake after another. Like most alcoholics, you wonder if you will ever see him hit bottom or if he was just going to spiral forever. When he meets a mysterious doctor who seems to know what is going on, he starts to think about what he is doing. After about a third of this book, I could simply not put it down. Alex is pathetic but he wants to be better. Can he change a life he is living out of order?

time travel stories are always hard for me to take seriously, and this one did not really work for me

The start of the story was a little difficult to navigate and keep track of the timelines. However, after a short while, I was able to connect the characters, the situation, and the environment in a cohesive manner. Once I got about 1/3 of the way in, I couldn’t stop! I had to know what happened next and how the story ended!
I have read similar books with main characters who live their lives out of order, and this one was really inspiring and refreshing because this main character had to travel and adjust to his new reality every day!
The challenges that the main character had to overcome are relatable on many levels. There’s tension not only with romantic relationships, but also familial and friend relationships. In addition, the theme of how to overcome a traumatic event experienced when he was a child, and seeking help in his future, really shaped the story in the outcome.
I related with the main character mostly with his newfound mindset that he wants to be better and do better, so every time he visits a past date, he tries to take action in a single day so that his future could be one step better.
I enjoyed the writing and the storyline. I would recommend this to my friends who, like to read books about overcoming challenges, and how our personalities, outlook, and behaviors can shape our future outcomes.
I received an advance review copy for free (ARC), and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Time Travel. Check.
Second chances. Check.
A plethora of what ifs? Check.

Alex Dean's life in 1995 looks like it's destined for great, happy things. Then all of the sudden it isn't. Until, maybe it can be?

This book jumps back and forth between time, focusing on one solitary random day in Alex's life. Sometimes he's 43, sometimes 33, sometimes 23. What lead him to the despair he finds in those times and is there anything he can do to change them? To undo what has been done?

There were times in the first half of the book that I felt that the alcohol abuse became monotonous, but it definitely picked up a faster and more emotional and satisfying pace from there.

If you're a fan of books about redemption, about how the tiniest change can alter the course of history, and of happy endings I highly recommend this one.

Fans of Midnight Library should definitely pick this one up.


TW: Alcohol and drug use. Domestic abuse in the form of controlling, manipulation and verbal abuse. Violence. Brief description of sexual assault of a child.


Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for the advanced copy. This was a fantastic read.

LOVED IT!

I'm a fan of novels about time travel and alternate timelines, which means I've read many of them. But I've never read anything like The Day Tripper. It took me a while to warm up to the main character, Alex, but spending time in his head while he lived days of his life in seemingly random order after a head injury in his early 20s was a thoroughly fascinating and enjoyable experience.

For anyone who enjoyed the time-hopping of Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore, is fascinated by stories about time and memory, or is just interested in themes of self-determination and living in the moment, this is a must-read.

Thanks very much to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read a digital copy in advance of publication in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an eARC of The Day Tripper.

I really really liked this book. Alex Dean is headed towards his best life, when an incident forces him to live different days of his life in no specific order. I love the premise of time traveling and being able to shape a different future for yourself and others. Some of the days didn’t quite make sense as to why they were added, but I still enjoyed reading about them, except THAT one (2020). The character growth is wonderful and made me cry happy tears by the end. I wish there was a definitive ending, but I can handle the ambiguity. I’m glad I read this heart-warming book.

I’m excited to be part of the Harper-Collins blog tour for The Day Tripper by James Goodhand – a novel of time travel and (possible) redemption. If you know me, you know I’ve been obsessed with time travel since I was a little girl and I love stories that focus on this theme. What if we could travel in time? How can our actions affect our outcomes? What can we learn about ourselves? I cannot say too much about the plot without giving spoilers, but suffice it to say that if you enjoy reading and thinking about this type of thing – this is a great choice for you!

I love a book that involves time travel and experiencing one’s life out of order, and this book sure had that! As someone who reads this trope often, this was a bit of a miss for me. It seemed like it was missing the sophistication and plot building that most time traveling books have. I found myself forcing myself to keep reading as it felt that the story itself did not drive me to want to keep reading.

With all of that said, the book is a good introduction to the time travel trope- the main character, Alex, saw the error in his ways, made some necessary changes, learned to see what was truly important, and it was overall a heartwarming read.

Overall, a 3.5 ⭐️ read for me. Thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for the ARC.

A man discovers he is time traveling through different eras of his life but doesn’t know what started the travel or where and when it will lead him. As he struggles with waking up in a new year and time every single day, he pieces together the possibilities of where his life has gone and how difficult it might be to change the trajectory of his fate. Author James Goodhand takes readers on an emotional journey that might slow down in spots but is worth the wait in his latest book The Day Tripper.

In 1995, Alex Dean is on the verge of all the best things in life. He lives in London, he’s secured a spot at Cambridge University for the upcoming year, and he’s dating the most beautiful girl in the world, Holly. Alex and Holly met while he was working at the Blue Moon, a pub where he often plays his guitar, and the two of them are now inseparable. There’s absolutely nothing more that Alex could want.

It seems like a cruel twist of the universe, then, that Alex runs into a former bully one night, and the two get into a knock-down-drag-out fight that leaves Alex severely injured. When he wakes up the next morning, Alex finds himself 15 years into the future. His life is completely different; in fact, it’s in shambles. Throughout the day, he pieces together what happened from the people he runs into and those he seeks out, although the one person he can’t find is Holly. What happened to her? And how on earth did he end up in the future?

When he wakes up the next day, Alex makes a horrifying discovery: his travel through time has continued and has now taken him to 2019. Once again, everything is different. Once again, his equation with Holly isn’t anywhere near what he wants it to be. And once again, his life is a complete wreck.

As he lives through each day, Alex finds himself running into people from his life in various states and stages. Sometimes Holly is there; sometimes she’s not. When she is and he can get through to her, it seems like they’ve lived through the “right person/wrong time” phase of life. Alex hates that more than anything, more than discovering that he’s become an alcoholic or is in prison for a terrible crime he knows he didn’t commit or that he’s left his precious music behind. He also finds himself face to face with his bully more than once.

Despite the relentless thirst that follows him through every single day, Alex knows he has to figure out what’s going on if he wants things to change. He meets someone who might be able to help him, but this person makes it clear: Alex is going to have to do all the hard work of redeeming himself if he wants things to get better. Which makes sense to Alex in theory; in practice, however, he realizes he’ll have to make some really tough choices and then stick with them if he’s going to get any happiness back at all.

Author James Goodhand creates an incredibly likeable protagonist in Alex. His flaws make him even more attractive as a main character. Goodhand puts Alex through some situations that will make readers wince for how hard they are, yet he also gives Alex just enough space to claw his way back to his goal of making things right again. The journey is an emotional one and tough to watch but grounded in reality.

Another delightful feature of the book is getting to follow Alex through some of London’s history with politics and current events. Some readers may automatically assume London is a sophisticated city with mostly upper class people. Goodhand does an excellent job of bringing London down to reality and making it accessible for everyone, both through Alex’s ever-changing circumstances as well as the setting and descriptions.

The pace slows down somewhat just before the halfway mark, which might make some readers impatient. However, Goodhand uses the pacing to make Alex earn his redemption. Watching the protagonist go through the agony of mistakes, life-changing realizations, and then a slow move toward a hopeful ending is satisfying in all the best ways possible.

Those intrigued with time travel as a premise and don’t need every single question about that genre answered will definitely enjoy this one.

This book was so interesting and well written. Once I started the story I was all in because I needed to understand the why and the how as much as Alex needed to know! The "science" behind the why once explained was satisfying and the characters we met along the way were fascinating. There was such a theme of hope mixed into a story that often times seemed hopeless.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free arc of this lovely story.