Thank you, NetGalley, for the early preview of this audiobook! I was excited t for this after looking at the synopsis and seeing the cover. I love books about do-overs and time travel because who wouldn't want to be able to do-over a terrible, awful year like our lead character in this book. I enjoyed the story overall. It was a quick listen for me. I liked the characters and relationships in the book, but I had a hard time with the chemistry or lack thereof between the main character and her love interest. The author used a lot of corny baking-related similes, and the writing overall was lacking. Fun, quick read but not super memorable. Thanks again for the preview!

I really enjoyed this story. Set over a year New Years to New Years, the main character gets to go back and redo her awful year. Interesting to see the different choices and outcomes that happen along the way. This book keeps the story lighthearted and steers away from any bigger “time travelling scenarios”.
I had the audio book which was well read and easy to listen to.

The Second Chance Year's narration is perfect. I have no complaints about Helen Laser's performance. The pacing. The inflection. The ease of listening was great. In fact, I listened to the story in forty-eight hours because it was so well done from the author and the production of the audiobook.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I really loved this story and the main character. I almost wish I had seen more of the hero though. Will be looking for more from the author.

4.25/5 stars (rounded down)

Thank you Hachette Audio for the advanced listening copy!

Sadie Thatcher is ending the year in a very bad way. She has no job, no apartment, no boyfriend, and is crashing on her brother's best friend's couch. Thanks to her and her big mouth, she's lost everything this year, so she's relieved to attend a NYE party and get this over with. When a fortune teller at the party offers her the chance to redo things, Sadie takes it, thinking it's all too good to be true. Before she knows it, Sadie wakes up the next morning, and it's January 1st.. OF LAST YEAR. She's been given the chance to redo her very bad year! And when she starts to realize why things went how they did in the first place... well, she finally understands "careful what you wish for."

There was so much good about this book, with only a sprinkling of things leaving me unsatisfied. Overall, this was a sweet, romantic, coming of age magical realism book. What I'm learning with magical realism is you kind of just have to let it ride... at first I was super confused! I find it hard to get into magical realism, but once I do, I really enjoy the mystique and magic of it all, and this was no different. I loved the lowkey flirtation and uncertainty of Sadie and Jacob's dynamic. While I sometimes found Sadie's dense approach frustrating, I also think it's most realistic to how I would be in that situation: uncertain how this guy feels! I really loved the coffee shop group and the way that they fit into the story.

A pet peeve of mine: when certain phrases are repeated a ton of times in a book. This is most noticeable on audio for me, and in this book it was Sadie's "very bad year," which I think she said about 900 times. I get it, it was a bad year, but let's label it some other way PLEASE.

Other than that small and admittedly nit-picky note, I really like this one. It was hard to put down and I LOVE the way everything turned out. I think it was really well done and I look forward to reading more by Melissa Wiesner in the future!

4 1/2 stars

This was such a cute book that left me feeling all warm and fuzzy. It started off feeling a little like the movie Big when the main character, Sadie meets with a fortune teller and wishes for a do-over year. It ends up being one of those things where you need to watch what you wish for. But it takes her a while to realize that.

This story has a strong message attached to it. In addition, it just pulled me in because I was pulling so hard for Sadie to find happiness. I did like how the author let's things happen differently the second time around but still eventually end up the same. It's just a different route to get there. It's a clever read that kept me quite entertained.

AUDIOBOOK: In addition, I was also given an early review copy of the audio and I loved it. The narration really worked for me. It felt spot on perfect for the characters and helped me to feel further immersed in the storyline. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the audiobook and ebook. I chose to review both and the opinions contained within are my own.

I adored this book! It’s a solid 4.25 stars for me. The storyline was captivating, and Sadie’s journey through her second chance year had me hooked. However, the excessive use of punny food references slightly detracted from the otherwise fantastic narrative. A sprinkle of puns can be charming, but it felt a tad overwhelming, we get it...she bakes.

The narrative excels in showcasing self-discovery amidst a second chance, exploring regrets, relationships, and the consequences of desires. However, the persistent bombardment of food-related wordplay felt excessive, detracting from the otherwise delightful storytelling.

Despite this minor critique, "Second Chance Year" is a delightful read, painting a vivid picture of redemption, introspection, and the complications of life's do-overs.

The premise of this book was exactly what I was looking for: romcom meets magical realism level fantasy. The execution was a bit mid for me and didn’t quite hit. All the elements of the plot were good but I didn’t vibe with the characters much at all. I don’t have anything outright bad to say about the book (except maybe the excessive use of food puns??) but I just didn’t click with it. I can see it being a fun read for the right time.

After a supremely awful few months, Sadie has the opportunity to make a wish - so she wishes that she could go back and redo the entire year over again. She completes her night with the most spectacular kiss with someone she shouldn't have kissed-- but when she wakes up New Years morning still thinking about the kiss, she's back to where the year began. The trouble is that she remembers the year as it originally was but no one else is aware that she's having a massive do-over. While the boyfriend she thought was perfect and the job she thought was perfect are going better this go around, the relationships she cherished the first time take a hit as what she thought she wanted gets called into question.

I loved Sadie and Jacob and all of the characters in this story. I loved watching Sadie learn from herself and do better -- even when the first go around was really the right answer all along. I couldn't put this book down. The audio was fantastic too so I not only was up super late so I could finish the book but I have cookies and clean kitchen to enjoy with it.

#arc
#netgalley
#thesecondchanceyear

🎧Audiobook - 3/5 🌟🌟🌟

The concept of this book was something I loved. You're having the worst year of your life when you have the chance to start that year over. However, I was disappointed that it didn't deliver as I had hoped.
In my opinion, there were some missed opportunities to enhance the humor and excitement in this book.

I thought the main character was likeable, but also self-deprecating at times. The parents were uninteresting and unpleasant, which made hearing about them tiresome. In spite of this, I found the scenes at Higher Ground to be endearing and amusing, and those characters to be enjoyable. The birth of Sadie, the cat lady. ☺️

This book was cute, mostly enjoyable, light, and easy to listen to. However, I found it to be predictable and a little slow at times, and the heat on romance could have been turned up some. I would have been interested to know Jacob's thoughts, which would have added another layer to the book.
I thought the narration was adorable and the narrator Helen Laser did an excellent job.

Thank you NetGallery, author Melissa Wiesner, and her publisher Hachette Audio for providing me with an advanced ARC/ALC copy of The Second Chance Year, in exchange for my honest review.

The Second Chance Year is about Sadie, a woman living in New York in her early 30s that has just had the worst year of her life. She lost her job and was blackballed from the restaurant industry and her long-term relationship ended, both seemingly because of her big mouth. Her best friend lures her to a New Year's Eve party, where she meets a fortune teller and asks for a do-over for the previous year.

Sadie's wish is granted and Sadie immediately begins to make different choices. She learns a lot about herself while stifling her voice in order to advance in her career as a high end pastry chef and with her boyfriend. There are sumptuous descriptions of desserts and a wonderful cast of endearing characters. I really enjoyed Sadie's journey and how she realized what she had previously taken for granted. The story reminded me of The Good Part by Sophie Cousens. I listened to the audiobook, which Helen Laser wonderfully narrated. Highly recommend if you're looking for a lighthearted and uplifting romance about second chances and finding yourself.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ebook/audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I loved this book! Felt it was fast paced and I needed to know how this story was going to unfold.

If you want a RomCom with fast pace and great characters this one is for u. But sorry to you lovers of steamy romance as there was none of that which was kind of nice. I may be a prude in my old age lol

Helen Laser did a great job as the narrator and will be looking for more of her work!

This was my 100th read on my #bookstsgram!

The time loop/back in time/forward in time premise is becoming a bit overdone in the romcom book world, but this felt fresh and different enough. Definitely worth a read.

The Second Year Chance by Melissa Wiesner asks the question, "Can I do over my very bad year and get better results?"

We open as Sophie Thatcher confesses to us about her terrible, horrible, very bad year. Beyond her high achieving professor parents that are permanently disappointed that she eschewed college for a career as a high end pastry chef in NYC, she has spectacularly lost her relationship with her long term finance bro boyfriend, lost her job at high end restaurant, and lost her home. She is permanently couch surfing on Jacob's, little brother's best friend, couch. Her old boss,Xavier, has black balled her any further culinary opportunities and she is working in and indie coffee shop in Brooklyn. At a fated NYE party, she tells a fortune teller she wishes to redo the horrible year and fix herself. Fix her independent, bossy attitude. Fix her abrasiveness.

She wakes, shocked, NYD with a MAN in her bed....her ex. Yep, it's finance bro Will. She quickly realizes her wish came true. She wants to remedy all the negative outcomes her bossy, albeit value, based lifestyle. Will had dumped her as restaurant career torpedoed. Sophie is damned to make a change.

What I loved!
-Found family. The Higher Grounds coffee shop and the cast of characters there.
-The rescue kitty of it all. The ex hated her. The love interest, Jacob, adores her.
-Women in male dominated industries. Women dealing with sexual advances at work and blaming themselves.
-Slow burn, closed door romance.

This book had a nice message. One shouldn't have to contort themselves into a pretzel to be loved by those around them. The workplace in male industry convos were gross and all ones I have over heard and been privy to with my time in industry and military. It has a sweet romance running through it as well.

This won't be on my top ten of 2023, but I really enjoyed it! Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Paperback for an Advanced Reader Copy (mine was on audio) for a fare and unbiased review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the audio publisher for an advanced copy for my honest review.
The Second Chance year was such a fun and heartwarming listen. Imagine being given a chance to go back and redo your previous no good year. That is what Sadie(the cat lady) was given. It is only once given she discovers the things she once wished for are not the true things in life she wants at all. It had romance, humor, and turmoil. It will leave you with inspiration and questioning if you could go back in time, would you?

The Second Chance Year
Thank you to Forever Publishing, Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the advance copies.

Sadie’s life is truly falling apart - in a very short period of time she managed to lose her boyfriend, her job, and her apartment, all because she was a bit too vocal about her thoughts. When she attends a New Year’s Eve party, she is granted one wish by a fortune teller. She immediately knows what to wish for: the chance to redo the past year of her life and the chance to make things right. The next day she wakes up in her old apartment, with her old boyfriend, getting a call from her old job - the wish worked and she’s back to January 1st of last year. She lives through the year again with the chance to do things differently and also with a new perspective that leads her to wonder if she really wanted this second chance after all.

I LOVED this story. Sadie’s journey through her second chance year is filled with emotion, growth, and heartwarming moments. I flew through this story because I was so captivated by the story and needed to know what would happen to Sadie. I loved seeing how she learned to really love herself and be true to herself. Jacob was the perfect cinnamon roll balance to her strong independent woman vibes and I really loved how their relationship progressed.

The audiobook was narrated by Helen Laser and was fantastic. I listened to the audio for most of it because I really enjoyed her voice and the emotion she added to the story. Overall, this book left me with all the warm fuzzy feelings.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I found this to be quite a slow pace and didn’t hold my interest or attention for long periods so I had to take breaks and come back to it. I picked it up because the description and premise of making a wish and repeating a year to make big changes because that year had been so bad had appealed to me, but sadly it didn’t live up to my expectations. It was fine, but nothing like I was hoping for it to be.

Sadie re-lives an entire year, going back from New Year’s Eve to January 1st, hoping to fix everything that went wrong with her old job and with her ex boyfriend in her “Very Bad Year.” We go through the entire do-over year with her as she makes changes and realizes the lessons she learned and is learning again… and what she wishes had stayed the same from her future.

The audio version was narrated by Helen Laser - a new voice to me but she did a good job.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Hachette Audio, and this is my honest feedback and opinion.

I just reviewed The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner. #TheSecondChanceYear #NetGalley

What a fun quirky read, initially I thought oh this is not for me, I’m not the right age group but that doesn’t matter, I was drawn into the unfolding story very quickly. Lots of topical stuff and hopefully will leave some people with a mindset of not settling, this may insidiously creep in and this wee book is a good shove to take stock and revaluate your own journey. I hope to read more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for the audio version

This was such a cute holiday romance! Sadie has had the worst year of her life. All she wants is a do-over. So when she meets a fortune teller that tells her she can grant her one wish. The next morning when she wakes up in her old life, she is excited to start anew. As the days go by and she becomes the new Sadie, life does not really go as planned. I just loved Sadie so much. Jacob is the musical sweetheart of my dreams! I adored this book! I cannot wait to read more by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review.