YOU AGAIN by Debra Jo Immergut is a novel about Abigail who encounters her younger self. It’s a mystery as to whether these encounters are real or imaginary. The mystery elements throughout the book definitely kept me reading and I finished this book in one day! I liked the different points of view and the constant back and forth in the timeline was intriguing but I found the ending anticlimactic.

Debra Jo Immergut was nominated for an Edgar Award last year, which was what encouraged me to read this book. It was very interesting, as it jumped around a bit. These type of books, with the date of the day at the beginning of a section, are hard to read on the Kindle, as it is hard to remember what timeline you are in. That being said, this was enjoyable, trying to figure out what was going on. Will need to find her previous novel, The Captives.

This is such a unique and quirky little book. And a tough one to review due to the unique plot! First of all, the writing throughout is gorgeous, introspective and intense. It touches on so many deep and interesting ideas in a completely unique way. The basic plot of the book is that 46-year-old Abby has started seeing her younger 23-year old self around town, in some kind of wormhole to the past. She sees her younger self in her old favorite places, with an equally young version of her former lover.

The best parts of this book were unquestionably when Abby confronts her younger self. I loved these without exception and as someone who also lived in New York at that young age, I saw so much of myself in both the younger Abby of before and the older married one of today. This is such a genius idea of the book and these parts were really well done and lovely. I also really liked the parts where she examined her marriage.

The structure of the book was non-linear (which I realize is by design) but at times I found it difficult to navigate. It is perhaps a little ironic that at times this book seemed to be having an identity crisis about which version of itself it wanted to be - a thriller? A family drama? With many characters, some seemingly unrelated at first, popping in and out, and with two versions of the protagonist it could sometimes be confusing and hard to keep the timelines straight. Some of the subplots worked better than others. I liked the subplots relating to her present-day marriage, not so much the subplot with her son’s involvement in Antifa. The book is also broken up with doctor’s notes which, while an interesting idea, interrupted the flow for me. A lot of these characters are not fully explained until the end, where they are explained very well. But it still makes for a somewhat disjointed reading experience up to that point (which, you realize at the end, is fully intentional and has a reason).

Much of the confusion comes together at the ending, which is wonderful. I think upon a second read, knowing the ending, this book will be even better. Knowing the ending I marvel a bit at the different writing styles in different places vs. the end, and the reason that is ultimately revealed for that.

Overall this was a totally unique, if at times confusing, reading experience with so many interesting things to say about time, memories, love and the mind. If you can get through some of the disjointed parts you will be rewarded with a really neat ending that explains it. This book is fully quirky and definitely not for everyone and at times I was utterly confused but ultimately I found it to be a really unique and interesting reading experience. Talented author who does many neat things with language in this book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins and Debra Jo Immergut for the ARC of this interesting book.

Have you ever read a book and when you were done sat there and wondered what the hell did I just read? Well folks that was me and this book!
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It was supposed to be a thriller about a woman that sees her former self as she is going about daily life. Like 40 year old her ran into 20 year old her on the street. The adult her is married with kids and works in marketing for a pharmaceutical company creating art for advertising. In her former life she was an artist and self-described mess. She has an affair with the officer that arrests her teen son for being involved in some ANTIFA protests. Her husband has an affair with another artist their both friends with after losing his job for charging expensive stereo equipment to his company credit card.
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All in all, I finished this one and felt confused. There were some emails and therapy notes spaced throughout the book, as well as discussions about a possible brain tumor situation or damage from previous trauma. Possibly this is why she was hallucinating her younger self.
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All in all I hated it, felt confused and like maybe I wasn’t intelligent enough to get this book.
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The writing though disjointed topic wise did seem to flow well but otherwise I didn’t connect with the characters or the book.
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Thank you @netgalley and Ecco books for an advanced copy of the book for my honest review.
On sale 7/7/20

Even if I appreciated the style of writing the plot didn't keep my attention and the story fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Wow... Where do I begin?? I loved You Again! It was a beautifully crafted and written story about trauma, motherhood, dreams, regrets, and duty and how all of those things affect how we perceive and receive our present, past, and future. The story line is exciting, thrilling, and just the right bit of confusing to keep you reeled in. The main character, Abigail, was amazingly flawed, honest, and dynamic. I loved her because she was messy, brave, and bold. While Abigail is a sympathetic character even if she wasn’t, I would still love her and how she was written because amazingly written, dynamically flawed women characters are more than a little hard to come by!

However, while the prose is amazing, the story line beautiful, and the characters vivid, I did take quite awhile to fully get into the book. The first cluster of chapters, I think, are a bit slow and the sudden and unexplained convergence of the split-narrative(s) threw me off for a bit until I realized what was going on and went back to reread to fully absorb the story. I also think that the prose reaches its height the closer you get to the middle of the novel. The first third of the novel seems like a bit of a ‘warm-up’ compared to the following two-thirds.

But all in all, I had to give this novel a straight 5-stars. What it lacked in initial first impressions, it made up for with lovely characters, beautiful storyline with amazing lessons, and thoughtful questions and musings on female adulthood and what it means to pursue dreams after one is well past their ‘peak.’

I highly recommend You Again! It’s one of the best novels I’ve read so far in 2020.

Abigail,, a forty something graphic designer for a pharmaceutical company, is headed home one night when she spots her younger self on the streets of NY. Once a developing artist with a troubled situation in her past, Abigail is now a mom of two living with her family in Brooklyn. As she begins to see her younger self repeatedly, her home life becomes more complicated. Is it real, a dream, a psychological disorder? This is a book about why and how we become who we are and how the past can affect the future. The author is an Edgar winner and the books is labelled as a psychological mystery, but there was a fair amount of science fiction mixed into it. It's a book I'll think about for some time.. Thank you for the copy #netgalley.

The glowing NY Times review of this novel called YOU AGAIN as a "psychological thriller," and however positive the review, I don't think that classification does the novel justice. Immergut's novel is a deeply meditative journey, on the nature of self, the obligations of motherhood, the effect of trauma on identity, and the nature of consciousness.

I read it in a day, and I felt exhilarated at the end--a combination of "what did I just read?" and "wow."

The novel is full of strangeness and unexplained connections, but it's grounded in humanity. The central character is trying to understand herself, and to lead a good life, but what she's learning along the way is how little control she has over anything It's a challenging book in some ways because the protagonist is never quite sure, herself, of what's going on, as she suffers from memory loss. The novel requires the reader to move forward through the story with incomplete information. There is a bit of haze at the edges of each scene, where you can't quite be sure what to believe. In this way it reminded me of another novel I adored recently, FEVER DREAM by Samanta Schweblin...for the way the novel requires you to yield to what can almost be defined as a lack of coherence, and to allow yourself to feel as lost as the protagonist. This is one of those books that I'm likely to re-read immediately just to understand how it's constructed and why it had such a strong effect on me.

I’ve read this already. I feel like I’ve read this already. I’m getting a couple of books mashed together and what is left is kind of a mess. We all look back on our younger selves and wonder. Here it is more literal and less intriguing because it is so literal.

Maybe, possibly I get what Debra Jo Immergut is trying to create in You Again. But the execution of it drove me bonkers. Abigail Willard is a former artist, living a pedestrian life with her former artist husband and two sons in New York City. One night she sees herself as she was at 22 while taking a taxi home from work. And from there the year 2015 spirals out of control. This would be hard to discern with the exceptions of the dates, because the book is constantly shifting between different times of Abigail's life as incidents occurring in the current time drive her back into the past. It gets to the point where it's difficult to discern where she's experiencing the present or living in the past. And that may be the author's intent, but instead of wondering if Abigail is experiencing the past or the present, I'm left sorting it out and wondering if what I'm currently reading is relevant to the main point of the story. There's an inter-swirling mix of conflict from the past as well as the present - from toxic relationships to a son that's increasingly, violently anti-fascist. And then there's the correspondence between professionals at the end of each chapter as they try to understand Abigail. It could be a fantastic rabbit hole to wander down a la Christopher Nolan's Inception, but instead it's just confusing mess that's so hard to follow that it's mind-numbing.

This is one of those books with an intriguing premise but horrible execution. Unfortunately neither Abby nor her family are characters I wanted to read about. Abby is married mother of two whose life did not turn out as planned. She is no longer the artist she had set out to be. Her frustration and dissatisfaction are one thing but her character lacks any substance. When her teen son is entangled in protests and radicals she is swayed instead of repulsed. Her marriage to a man about as shallow and uninteresting as her is at a dead end. About the only thing of interest are the sightings of herself from her past. The POV sporadically shifts and frankly is very hard to follow or care about. I actually like where the author was attempting to take this but it was so poorly executed and anchored around a character and plot that were boring and a waste of time. This is a book I wish I had never started so I recommend you skip this one. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book didn’t really work for me although I was very interested in the storyline.
I didn’t care for or connect with the characters and parts of this book was just unbelievable for me.
However, I did enjoy the author’s writing style which kept me reading the story.

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

This was a page turner to the very end....deeply engaging and complex, still not sure if I completely understand everything that happened, but a very creative, well written thriller.

So sorry to admit but this book didn’t work for me! I tried so hard to connect with the protagonist, aching and caring for the situations she gets herself into. Believe me I did my best to empathize with her from the beginning to enjoy the creative plot line but eventually I gave up!
Of course this is my opinion and this could be considered as unpopular one.

The storyline is intriguing: a 46 years old woman thinks she’s being stalked in her twenties version of herself which brings out memories about her youth and the sudden changes about her character start to erupt, taking her and her family into some point of no return.

The author is truly brilliant and it can be seen she has quite impressive, witty story telling skills. Especially twisty revelations at the end of the book we’re dazzling and jaw dropping. But I had hard time to like any of the characters and pacing of the story also didn’t fit with my expectations so I pushed myself so hard to finish it.

Overall: I’m giving solid three stars for the author’s creative writing and the interesting plot line, impactful revelations. I’m still so keen to read her other works but this book is unfortunately not the cup of my tea.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers/Ecco for sharing this ARC with me in exchange my honest review and introducing me a brilliant author.

I could not get into this book. The premise sounds great but it takes entirely too long for things to get going. At first, I was intrigued by Abigail seeing her younger self. But nothing seems to really be happening. It doesn’t feel suspenseful, just a plot being drawn out for no reason. I couldn’t finish it.

Debra Jo Immergut sure can write, but I struggled with this book. I disliked the woman protagonist so much that it made the book very difficult for me to get through. But I will say the plot and characters were richly drawn and reflective of the author’s talent and sure hand. Still, I cannot say I enjoyed the book, because of my struggles with the main character. It’s very important for me to feel a connection or sympathy that carries me through a book, even with a character who is flawed. Here I simply didn’t find anything to sympathize with, much less empathize with, about the main character or most of the other characters. So for talent the book might deserve a four but for pleasure in reading I can’t go there and it’s probably a two so I’ll give it an average of three stars. Please note that my rating system means a three star book is a good book.

This is a fun quick thriller. It's a great quarantine read because it is immersive but not challenging. The first part dragged a little, but by the middle I was hooked and sped through it to the end. I enjoyed the discussion of art gender motherhood. I liked how everything the together at the end

I found this to be a completely engrossing read, exactly what I needed at this pandemic time.

Sure there are problems with the story but perfect books are few and far between. This book definitely gave me weird dreams. The story felt fresh and new, not just the same old regurgitated plots.

What would I do in Abby’s situation? Possibly run like hell instead of following my younger self. Just thinking about it is terrifying really.

Abigail is on her way home from work one evening when she sees a young woman on the sidewalk. She's wearing the same pink thrift store coat that Abigail wore in her early twenties and when Abigail gets out of her taxi for a closer look, she realizes that she's seeing herself, twenty years younger. This glimpse of her past sends her into a closer look at her current life - then she was preparing to go to art school with the intention of living solely for her art, but now she's the art designer for a pharmaceutical company, deciding on the exact shade of lavender to use in the packaging for a new drug, or working on the precise shades of pink to use for a brochure illustration of the digestive system. As her sightings of her former self become more frequent and she begins to interact with her, her life begins to spin out of control, the carefully constructed security she's built become less satisfying. At the same time, one of her sons is becoming involved in an antifa group, putting Abigail's values into question and putting her in the path of a seemingly nice police detective.

I'm not sure what exactly was going on for much of this and the possible explanations trotted out at the end of the novel weren't convincing to me. But there's no question that the author had me reading as fast as I could, trying to keep up with the twists and the rapid pace of events. And despite my finding some of the central events utterly unbelievable, this didn't stop me from enjoying the wild ride this novel took me on, which is to say that Immergut has constructed a clever bunch of inter-connected plots and kept them all from falling apart, resulting in a novel that is more entertaining than most.

This is a really quick fun thriller. It's a great quarantine read, because it's immersive but not challenging. I read it in two days, and while the first part dragged a little, by the middle I was hooked and speeding through it to the end. I enjoyed the discussion of art & gender & motherhood. The ending felt a little too neat.