Title: Opposite of Always
Author: Justin A. Reynolds
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Year Published: 2020
Start Date: August 1
End Date: August 4
Goodreads Summary:
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack.
But then Kate dies. And their story should end there.
Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind.
Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do to save the people he loves.
My Review:
First of all, let me just say that I am not the type of person who believes in destiny and fate or “the one,” but throughout the book I totally bought into the idea that Jack and Kate were destined to meet, connect and be together, as evidenced throughout the story. Reynolds captured that perfectly.
Jack and Kate had the best meet cute. Their initial conversation was legit the types of conversations I imagine for myself with others — romantic others. The back and forth, the wit, the pure comfort between the two from the very start. I was giddy and smiling and gushing early on.
I usually enjoy time loops in movies or TV, but I haven’t read them in books. I was nervous after the first jump back in time, at the thought of going through the entire process of them meeting and falling for each other again. To some degree, yes, that is what happened. But, what I loved was how Reynolds wrote the do overs in such a way that it didn’t feel like the same old story over and over. As the storylines changed, characters were expanded upon and developed in ways I don’t think we, the reader, would get to see otherwise. I actually felt refreshed as the story unfolded; at times, I even looked forward to the do overs because I wanted to see how the same story would be told differently.
I felt Jack’s longing for Kate, even before he lost her the first time, so deeply. The way I obsess and overthink when it comes to the person I’m interested in, and coming from a similar place as Jack, how the things you desire always seem to be just out of reach. To then suddenly loose that is especially devastating.
I absolutely adored this book. It was such a fun read, lighthearted and cheesy in the best way, and it fed my rom com soul. The only cringe moment for me was Kate’s nickname for Jack 😂 I just thought it was so corny and couldn’t imagine anyone actually using it. But hey, Jack loved it, Kate loved it, and that’s all that matters.
howimetaraya 