 |
| source: Amazon.com |
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication date: April 21, 2015
Category: Entertainment, Fiction
Source: I received this book from NetGalley in consideration for review.
Everyone has their favorite types of books and generally there are a few. Sometimes there is one type of plot that will draw you in every time. I have one of those...time travel. Or anything along the lines of time travel, such as repeatedly being born over and over, reliving life with or without knowledge of the previous lives. You know, the Back to the Future movies and books such as The Time Traveler's Wife, Life After Life, and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Why? I think it's because time travel - and how the author chooses to set it up - gives the plot opportunities to twist. And as I've said here numerous times, there's nothing I like better than a good plot twist or twist ending.
And this is why I requested Repeat from NetGalley the very first time I heard of its premise, without further detail. Brad is a washed out writer with a small family to care for. They live in a dump and upon hitting his 40th birthday, he has nothing great to claim to his name, except his family, who also seem like a burden at times. A total mess, Brad goes to sleep the night before he turns 40 with the aid of a "potion" his wife has concocted.
From that point on Brad is destined to relive his life from the womb, starting over the night before he turns 40. With each incarnation the world's history plays out the same, but Brad has a second, third, fourth, etc., chance to change his own previous decisions; therefore, changing the life he lives.
At what point does starting over become tiring? At what point do you start looking for an end? Ultimately, what is the point? Eventually Brad is faced with these questions and spends lifetimes looking for the answers. This is also the part I liked best about Repeat - there is a lesson being taught in it all. For those who would wish to know, there are some rough parts, where Brad talks about sex and such, that I didn't think were always as valuable to the story (although they fit Brad's character). All in all though it had a different tone (more laid back?) from the like novels I mentioned above and it did have the lesson at the end. I don't star rate books often, but in this case I think it helps clarify where I stand. I'd give this one three stars.
Your favorite plot set up readers?
