Alex Dean, the titular day tripper, isn’t a likable guy. He seems decent at times, though sometimes too eager, and far too wrapped up in stereotypical guy behavior (acting macho, too much bravado, hooking up). This leads to a life-changing encounter with a childhood pal that propels Alex on an erratic trip through his life. You’ll dislike him more before he, predictably redeems himself. The story is interspersed with music and song titles, adding a bonus layer to Alex’s tale.

This is truly a unique story. Alex gets into a fight and his life is never the same. He wakes up everyday on a different day/year of his life. Each day he is starting over trying to figure out his life with limited information. I am curious if the author wrote all the days in order and then mixed them up or wrote from the start like this. I truly appreciate when an author gives me something different and this is different. The reader is figuring out Alex's life at the same time he is. I really enjoyed the challenge of this book. It will definitely break you out of a reading rut. Thanks for such an interesting book.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #JamesGoodhand, and #HarlequinTradePublishing for a copy of this book.
#TheDayTripper

It’s 1995 and Alex Dean is on a date with a woman he loves. When he sees an old childhood buddy, they get in a fight and nothing is the same. He begins waking up at different time periods.

I loved Oona Out of Order and this sounded similar. It was but it was a male protagonist. I enjoyed the time travel aspect and how everything came together and was resolved. I didn’t connect with the romance subplot that much and felt there could have been more of a deeper relationship show than an infatuation. The best part of this story was the time travel and seeing Alex develop and grow, out of linear time.

“We are all eternally surrounded by our own past and our own future.”

The Day Tripper comes out 3/19.

I just could not find my way into this one. It sounded like an intriguing plot and one that would be right up by alley, but I found the characters irritating and not terribly interesting from the very opening pages - a feeling that never shifted throughout the course of my read. I also struggled with the plot, mostly I just felt confused and like I was reading a different book than that described in the blurb. I wasn't able to generate enough interest to keep reading. This one wasn't for me....

I recently had the chance to read an ARC of "The Day Tripper" by James Goodhand

While I found the concept and story intriguing, I felt like the execution fell a bit short. The characters were well-developed and the plot had a lot of potential, but I found myself getting a bit lost in the storytelling at times. Additionally, the pacing felt a bit off, with some parts dragging on while others felt rushed. Overall, it was an enjoyable read! Thank you to for the opportunity net galley!

This books was so fast and fun. It was fun to follow along on a journey all through time and the not so distance past!

When I first reviewed this, I gave it 4.5 stars. But it's been a few weeks and I can't stop thinking about this book! So now I'm giving it 5 stars.

Alex Dean has a wonderful life in front of him. He’s in love and is about to go to his dream school. Then he wakes up and he’s 15 years older and his life is not good. Then the next day he wakes up and it’s another 9 years later and his life is pretty much a dumpster fire. Each day he wakes up in a different year and with a new clue on what went so horribly wrong for his life to turn out so poorly. Can he change it? Or is he stuck?

I loved this one so much. I love time travel books, but often feel that they make changing things way too easy. This book doesn’t do that. It’s dark and gritty at times and there were a few days in there where I really didn’t like the main character. But he didn’t like himself either. I loved the complexity and difficulty of life that this book faced. And it’s not just about Alex. It’s about the people around him and what they go through. I think I could go on and on about how well done this is. I’ll stop though, just put it on your TBR of you like complex feelings in your books!

Thank you NetGalley and Mira books for the advanced digital copy! All opinions are mine.

I am actually really bummed by this book. I love time jumps, and I love following a character and trying to learn what happened to them. But I could not get into the writing in this book. The dialogue was straight up weird and disjointed, and I could not stay with it to follow the story.

I do think others might like the story itself, but this is a pass for me.

This book had a wonderful premise, but the writing style just wasn't for me. I won't be reviewing this book on my social media platforms or on GoodReads, as I'd like the author to find his audience without any bias from me.

*Thank you to Harlequin for providing me an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

**TWs: childhood sexual assault, alcoholism, mentions of suicide, homophobia

In The Day Tripper, Alex is freshly 20 years old, his future ahead of him and his heart with a girl named Holly. After getting into a brawl with an old enemy, Alex begins waking up at different, disjointed points in his future, his whole life seemingly lived without him present. First he’s 20, then 35, then 43, then 23, etc. The biggest problem is that his life kinda…sucks. Does he have the power to be an active participant and change the future, or is everything set in stone and all he can do is watch it burn?

Time travel is typically an instant read or watch for me. Each creator has their own take on rules and what is and isn’t possible for their time travel stories. I wouldn’t say that this book was necessarily unique in that way (and that isn’t a bad thing), but it let the story be governed more by character and hope than complicated workarounds to iffy physics. It is a character driven story at its core, and I wouldn’t want it to be anything else. While it took a few chapters to get me invested in Alex, it did happen. Fleshed out relationships and side characters were something I was left wanting during those first few chapters, and it was delivered in time.

The relationship between Alex and Jazz, a teenager who Alex gives guitar lessons to and who takes care of his grandfather, was a highlight of the book for me. It showed Alex’s selfless nature and contrasted well with the life Alex didn’t really live. I think the moments with Jazz show most of Alex’s humanity. There was a twist with Jazz that made me gasp—you’ll know it when you read it.

You start really thinking “Why would he do this and that?” And the best part is that Alex is wondering the same thing, since he’s not been present for over half his lifetime. I feel the fast paced nature of the plot progression didn’t take away from any of the character points, and the reveals felt naturally placed.

I’m usually quite turned off when a book mentions COVID, but as this one is so rooted in timelines, I didn’t feel too upset about it. I did feel a little weird about Alex forgiving the man who sexually assaulted him when they were 9 and 14 though. I dunno, rubbed me wrong. The ending was sweet, but it could have been more satisfying I think.

I liked it! All in all it’s a fantastic character-driven story about the little things and small choices we make as human beings.

*Crossposted to GoodReads*

Time travel books are either hit or miss and this one was a hit. The timeline made sense and it wasn't confusing. Was definitely a fun adventure.

Time travel books have always been hit or miss with me, and while I thought this one would be a miss, I'm really glad that I stuck with it.

Following a violent attack by the Thames, Alex Dean begins living his life out of order: one day he wakes up 20, the next 43, the next 35. He finds himself in the same city with (mostly) the same people, but Alex's memories can't catch up. As Alex begins each day and age anew, he begins to realize that he can "update" his life through small changes.: befriending a young Londoner named Jazz, telling his mother he loves her, and making healthier decisions for himself. While Alex cannot change everything, he finds joy in the "updates" that keep him moving while he simultaneously tries to figure out what's happening to him.

Alex Dean, while eventually MAYBE redeeming himself, is not one of my favorite characters. I often found myself just as frustrated as he was with himself and his situation. I must say, however, that the idea of the story itself is very thought-provoking, becoming a testament to the power of love. I appreciated Alex's fellow time traveler, but I don't think the story benefitted from attempting to explain the science and history behind the time travel While we know that Alex is trying to figure out WHY he is stuck in this time paradox, the explanation seemed to be more of a filler than anything.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows Alex through his life after a tragic accident that leaves him waking years in the future. Day after day, he doesn’t know what day or year he will wake up in and what to expect. But as Alex travels through his life, not in chronological order, he begins to realize that his decisions may alter the route of his or others’ lives; and that he isn’t alone in this. Good decisions beget good decisions.

It was a little hard for me to get into at first, but after the first “time travel”, I was instantly hooked! It was also a little hard to follow the dialogue but I imagine that will be fixed with final copies! I think this books portrays that if maybe we had a chance to see into our future, we may live our lives quite a bit differently. But it also sends a message that we should appreciate what we have while we have it and to make the most out of our lives! I will say this is a 4 star book, and I will say that only because I wish it would have ended a little differently but that’s not to say that I don’t understand why it ended the way that it did. I fell in love with the characters and couldn’t wait to see them pop back in and out of his life. Especially Jazz! MY HEART!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Alex Dean is living free and somewhat irresponsibly as a young adult in London during the year 1995. Him and his girlfriend, Holly, are head over heels for each other and Alex has earned a spot to attend Cambridge University. However, a night out changes his life when he falls and drowns in the Thames.

Once Alex wakes up the next day, he doesn't know where he is, nor does he know what year he is living in. He suddenly realizes once he looks in the mirror that he is older and living a life that has resulted from poor decisions. The rest of the story outlines Alex jumping to different points throughout his life, eventually understanding what happened to him at the Thames and what has happened throughout his life since 1995. He realizes that good decisions beget good decisions, which has a profound effect on his life going forward.

I'm not someone that typically gravitates toward sci-fi and fantasy, but this book's synopsis interested me. I'm very glad that I decided to pick this book to read. There were many themes and messages that resonated with me, including self-awareness, mental illness, and self-improvement. I appreciated the many thoughtful messages that the author was trying to convey throughout this story. There were more than a couple of scenes that made me verklempt.

My only criticism is that the story was a little boring and failed to keep my interest at times. I was slightly confused as well about what was going on with Alex Dean, but the author was able to tie this in at the end of the story.

This is a great story not only with fantastical elements, but also a great redemptive arc for the main character and themes that will tug at the reader's heartstrings.

This was one of most anticipated reads for 2024 and it didn’t disappoint me at all. I kept giving my kindle a hug. I didn’t want the book to end so I tried to read it slowly. But that didn’t last

Changing to a new day each day sometime in his life, he tries to figure it out or try to go back to his old life. I loved the theories of what time is and how it works. Those were some of my favourite parts of the book.

I can’t wait to get a hold of a physical copy of this. This is my favourite book of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and James Goodhand for an eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

After an accident and near death experience, Alex Dean finds himself living his life out of order. Waking up in different years and points of his life, Alex must try to change the past in order to prevent tragedy in his future.

Time travel is one of my favorite tropes and I will automatically read any book featuring it. While this wasn't one of my favorites, it was still written well and had a unique spin on it that I hadn't read before. I did like the characters and storyline, and can't really pinpoint what exactly was missing for me to make it great. I may just have been not the right audience for this one but I'd still recommend it to fans of the trope to give it a try.

3/5⭐

Alex Dean has just had a perfect day in 1995 with his girlfriend Holly until an encounter with a childhood bully leaves him terribly injured and almost drowning in the Thames River. When he wakes, it is 2010 and he has no recollection of how he got there or what's happened since. So begins Alex's odyssey of living his life out of order. Each day he wakes up in a different year and he has no idea what order the days will be coming in.

Alex must piece together his life bit by bit and try to figure out how it all went wrong. Why did he not end up with Holly? Why did he not take his place at Cambridge? Along the way he meets some new characters and learns how much impact small actions can have on the future.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It does take a little while to really get into it, but if you stick with it you'll start flying through the pages. It reminded me a lot of the book "Oona Out of Order" by Margarita Montimore.

Alex is a tough character because in the beginning of the book he's not particularly likeable. I'd go so far as to say he's a pretty terrible person. But things begin to turn around and you do end up sympathizing with him and rooting him on. He had a lot of growth throughout the book and I really appreciated that. I also really liked the characters of Jazz and Dr. Defrates. I thought they were both interesting and well=drawn.

There is definitely a lot of British slang in this book. I feel like that could have been toned down a bit to appeal to a wider audience. I would definitely recommend this book if you like time travel stories and character growth. Thanks @netgalley for the ARC!

Alex has a promising future and his life gets thrown into chaos after a confrontation with someone from his past. He is 20 but when he wakes up he’s in his 30’s and has no idea how he got there. Then every morning he wakes up and is at different points in his past and future with no context or memories of all the life in between.

When we meet Alex he’s kind of a mess. He’s irresponsible and selfish and not very likable. As the book goes on he learns how much or little choices can affect the future. I truly felt his despair and frustration with how his life had spiraled so far away from where he expected.

The nature of the story made it feel quite fast paced since the story jumped so abruptly from one point in time to another. I had to know what was going to happen next. I couldn’t put it down.

As someone who loves time loops this was decidedly not a time loop but it had the same vibes. It was like the time loop and amnesia tropes had a really interesting baby. This is a character driven story about love, loss, healing, and forgiveness. If you love literary fiction with that touch of magical realism, you’ll love this book.

I found the setting of modern London fun and interesting. The dialogue and narrative had quite a lot of regional dialect and slang in it. I found it added some interesting character but I had to look up certain phrases a few times as it occasionally would lose me.

While I wouldn’t say it was predictable it went along in a lot of ways I hoped and anticipated. A lot of the cause and effect were a mystery to the main character and that vibe kept me turning the pages. However, as an outside observer there wasn’t much that came as a shock. In this case that was not at all a bad thing. There were quite a few reveals that were a pleasant surprise and I found myself in tears towards the end.

This book left me with a wide range of emotions and feelings which is exactly what I look for in a book like this. It’s definitely a new favorite.

I found this book to be exceptional. Alex is relatable and shows what it is to be human. I appreciated how the author was able to show the profound effects of what happens when you face your trauma head on and stop letting it define you. I highly recommend this book. I am now in my 30's but think this book could be such a gift to read as a senior in high school or someone in your early 20's just starting out in life. Thank you to James Goodhand, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this beautiful ARC.

Time travel is one of my favorite tropes, so I was sadly disappointed when this book did not work out for me. I did not like how it started at all. There was no world building. When you are going to be jumping around every single chapter, you need to prepare the reader for this somehow, or have such compelling writing that they want to stick it out to see if things are revealed. Neither of these were present. The writing fell flat for me on several levels. As stated, there was no world building, and the protagonist, Alex, was one-dimensional and an unappealing character. Not only did I not connect with him, but I plain did not like him. I also found the pacing to be slow, which was counterintuitive as we were jumping through time every few pages.

I think that in concept this book could have been great, but the execution was severely lacking.

Thank you to the publisher Harlequin Trade Publishing, Mira and Netgalley for this e-arc.