This was a cute YA romcom with lots of emotion a la groundhogs day. A cute read.

My only complaint is that the story didn’t read like it was happening to high schoolers. Felt more like how college kids would have navigated the situations. However, maybe I was just absurdly lame at 16 and so I just can’t imagine it for my own high school experience 🤣

The Do-Over is a charming YA rom-com perfect for Valentine's Day and fans of Gilmore Girls. A mash up of Christina Lauren's In a Holidaze and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, readers follow Emilie Hornsby as she is stuck on a time loop repeating the worst valentine’s day ever.

This book was CUTE and such a fun read. I enjoyed watching people pleasing Emilie take back her life. I felt terrible for the position her parents put her through and was happy she finally rebelled and got honest with them about her feelings. She became her true authentic self during her DNOC and I loved it.

Nick was adorable. He gave me major Jess vibes from Gilmore Girls and Emilie reminded me a lot of Rory. Fans of the show will love this book.

Overall, another great YA book from Lynn Painter.

*I posted my review to Amazon as well, but waiting for review to be approved. Will add to links when approved.

I am a hard sell on young adult novels, and that is totally a personal thing. I can’t fully lose myself in them, I don’t connect well with the plot or characters and I just don’t love them properly. In saying that - Lynn Painter could write a restaurant menu and I’d probably read it. There were so many times I actually laughed out loud while reading The Do-Over, which doesn’t happen often for me. Time loops are also a hard sell for me because they’re unrealistic, but this was done so well I barely noticed it. The characters were absolutely LOVELY and so sweet. The love story and the friendships were absolute perfection.

If you’re looking for a cute read for Valentine’s Day, this is it!

Sweet YA romance that sheds light on the inner struggles so many of our teens face. Emilie is the perfect student, perfect daughter, the perfect girlfriend until she wakes up in a time-loop on Valentine's Day. I'm not usually a fan or time-loop stories, but this one worked well. When she finally decides to throw caution to the wind that's when she became true to herself and the reason she put so much pressure on herself to be perfect.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Publishing for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

This was possibly the cutest book ever. I do mean that. There was times where the characters were relatable with the teenage angst and dumb decisions. It was a cute easy read that I do think many will enjoy. There was times were I was mad thinking "how hasn't she thought of the consequences if the do over ever stops". Gosh that really bothered me but then again I had to put in perspective that our MC is a kid, and they do dumb things. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

This was my first book of 2023 and was such a delightful read. A little predictable, but nonetheless delightful. Emilie was a likeable protagonist and her DONC had me laughing out loud. I felt so so about Nick and I felt like their relationship lacked some chemistry, but the ending had me swooning. Lynn Painter did an excellent job with this time-loop story!

Such an adorable story. I loved the main character and the love interested. I found the book to be funny and charming. The whole groundshog day remix has been a bit overdone lately but it totally worked in this case. I adored it and definitely recommend.

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter. Pub Date: November 15, 2022. Rating: 4 stars. If you are looking for a cute YA romantic comedy centered around relationships, both romantic and familial, with lots of laughs and clean fun then this is the book for you. Set on Valentine's Day, Emilie relives Valentine's Day over and over. As she relives the day, she sees her boyfriend cheat on her and she gets swept up into seeing Nick, her grumpy chemistry partner. Throughout the day, he warms up, Emilie realizes she deserves better and they have a blast together just living in the moment. I found this novel to be adorable, refreshing and turn page worthy. Thanks to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. #netgalley

Light-hearted, banter filled, and full of chaotic fun, The Do-Over is another winner from Lynn Painter! Perfect for the Swiftie in your life, this YA romcom is sure to put a smile on even the grumpiest face. If you enjoy Groundhog Day, this familiar, comforting quick read is sure to fit the fill. Highly recommended!

🤯Book Review🚙
The Do-Over
By: Lynn Painter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4 stars

Cute, quirky, definitely a great read for young adults. Reminded me of the Groundhog Day movie and the book, "In A Holidaze", by Christina Lauren 😉.

Emilie Hornby is living for Valentine’s Day! She has a boyfriend, Josh, this year and let cupid take its shot because she's celebrating! Anticipating seeing Josh at school and swapping V-day gifts, she gets into a fender bender with her chemistry partner, Nick, on her way in.

Undeterred, she won't let this minor blip ruin her day of love. Once at school, she gets called down to the office to learn that the summer fellowship she applied for and received actually was an error. No fellowship for her!

And lastly, she finds Josh cheating on her with his ex girlfriend! What the heck?!? Could this day get any worse? But of course! Add in a time loop and Emilie wakes up to relieve the day over and over until she gets it right. I always enjoy @lynnpainterkirkle books!

Published November 15, 2022

Thank you @netgalley and @simonandschuster for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I love a good YA book, and this one was so cute! This book had the Groundhog Day trope, and normally I’m not a huge fan, but I think the author did a really good job with it. This is the perfect book for Valentine’s Day. We experience Emilie having the worst Valentine’s Day. There are so many LOL moments in this book. I flew through this book, I did not want to put it down. I highly recommend checking it out!!

It is Valentine’s Day, which Emilie has been waiting for and this will be such a perfect day where she will tell her boyfriend of 3 months that she loves him. However, the universe has much different plans for her. Valentine's Day turns out to be such a disaster. Emilie ends up going to her grandmother's house for solstice, but when waking up the next day, she finds herself stuck in a loop of
re-doing valentine's Day.

When starting this book, I knew not much about it, but as started listening to it, I felt like I was transported to when I was 15 years old in 2010, which was when "Before I Fall" by Lauren Oliver came out. While both have different themes,
they both have the plot line of the main character experiencing Valentine's Day and they end up in a loop of having to repeat the day over again. Both of these boots have different endings though. As I was listening to the Do-over, I was really unsure that I may not enjoy this book. Emilie came off as super whiney and immature. As the story progressed, I found myself enjoying it and liked how Emilie stopped seeing the world through rose tinted glasses.

I could not put this one down!!! It was such a great YA story. I loved the time loop aspect and how Emilie grew throughout the story. The time loop was done well and didn't get repetitive. I couldn't wait to see what Emilie would do each day when she woke up and had to relive Valentine's Day all over again. I enjoyed the growing friendship/relationship between Emilie and Nick and how each day they got thrown together again, even though she tried avoiding him in the beginning. Emilie's growth truly was my favorite part of the story and I loved how it all wrapped up!

This was such a cute YA romcom story. As I was reading it, I was imagining it as a movie. I feel like each Lynn Painter book I've read could easily be turned into the next teen summer movie. It was a fun read and I can't wait to read the next story by Lynn.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I'd describe this story as a Young Adult Contemporary Romance that centers on Valentine's Day with a Groundhog Day twist! That's the movie not the holiday, in case you weren't sure of the reference. Basically, our girl Emilie, through rather unusual circumstances, gets sucked into repeating Valentine's Day over, and over, and over, and...well, you get the picture. WHY this happened to her is a mystery. HOW does she break the cycle is the unanswerable question...until it's suddenly not in the most SPECTACULAR way possible. I won't spoil it with a big reveal, but I promise, you'll see it coming when it's about to be the final repeat, even if Emilie can't see it coming. Let's just say that she really gets the chance to LIVE OUT LOUD, and truthfully, isn't that something that all of us should strive for? To be our authentic selves?

I loved the story from start to finish, even if I wasn't thrilled with how her initial Valentine's Day went down. My word! It's hard enough for those of us that are single, let alone those in relationships that harbor doubts! Poor Emilie had way more than her share of bad news on that day, and so when the weirdness that was occurred, it was strange, but smile inducing because she had another shot. The thing was, initially, she was so worried about why it was happening that she was missing the opportunities surrounding her. Once she got her bearings, it was was delightful to see her progression through each day. The chances she took, the statements she made, the way she took hold of her life and said YOU ARE MINE, I AM NOT YOURS and went with it! Now, I'm not saying that going off the proverbial deep end is the answer...but being yourself is ALWAYS the answer. there is not better version of you than the you that is true. You can make improvements if YOU choose to. You can change your hair, clothes, life path, mind, opinion, etcetera etcetera, but it's all in your hands.

A great story filled with life, love, and lessons you weren't expecting, as you join a fascinating young lady on the most adventurous day of her life...as of yet.

Reader’s Notes:

– this is told from Emilie’s point of view

– there are about 100 curse words

– Emilie mentions that she was reading a book with a sex scene during class and is interrupted; her friend tells her to go watch a ‘filthy show’ in order to feel better (we don’t know the titles nor any other details beyond this; each is mentioned with only a sentence)

Review:

I removed a star due to the amount of cursing and the third thing(s) mentioned in the readers notes. I am not a fan of reading either of these things in books.

Despite removing a star, the storyline was very interesting! Time really flew reading this book. I loved how the day kept repeating and it took Emilie a bit to figure out what was happening as well as what she wanted to do with it. I really enjoyed all of her interactions with her two best friends and Nick. I liked how both of her friends tried to support Emilie in her relationship with her boyfriend. Neither of them liked him, but wanted her to be happy more-so. I loved that they cheered her on when Emilie chose to switch gears and be more herself and when she recognized that she didn’t love her boyfriend. Nick was an awesome love interest! I loved that Lynn Painter gave us as readers little bits about Nick in the days when Emilie was focused on fixing her current relationship before Emilie switched gears on what she wanted to do with her reoccurring day. Nick was so fun with Emilie and their adventure. I absolutely adored their grand gesture towards the end of the book and was so happy to see these characters recognize that they were great together!

Summary:

Emilie has plans for the best Valentine’s Day ever. But when every single one of those plans breaks, as well as a few other things in her life, it ends up being one of the worst days of her life. All she wants to do at the end of the day is go to her safe place with her grandmother to be comforted, so she does.

But the next day, instead of waking up at her grandmother’s, Emilie is back home and has a sense of deja vu when the same things that occurred the day before happen once again. And why does her phone say that it is still Valentine’s Day? Could her ‘yesterday’ have actually been a bad dream?

When day after day, Emilie still finds herself in a loop of Valentine’s Days, she decides to take matters into her own hands. If she’s going to wake up each morning with no one remembering the day before, Emilie is determined to have a day of no consequences doing whatever she feels like. And after the dumpster fire that was her relationship, maybe she’ll invite the boy she’s met multiple times during this loop…

Love love love loved it!! Lynn Painter is queen of YA romcoms! If you’re looking for great characters, cute and funny banter, LOL moments and make you tear up moments and just an all around fantastic romcom then you definitely need to read this!

LOVED Better Than The Movies and was nervous that this book wouldn't hold up to my expectations of Lynn Painter....luckily I was so wrong.

I loved this book! Emily was a hilarious character to watch grow into her feelings and hopes since she seemed to really be the most organized but kind of lost person. at the beginning of the story. Nick was just *chefs kiss* as a YA male main character

I will be recommending this book to fans of Today, Tonight, Tomorrow, Groundhogs Day, and this authors other YA book.

This is a story about 2nd (and 3rd,4th & 5th) chances.

This was such a breath of fresh air. I laughed, I cried, I absolutely related to the protagonist. The time loop element was well executed & the romance was charming. I definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for a nice break from reality!

Thank you so much @netgalley & @simonandschuster for the eArc.

The Do-Over was like the romance version of Groundhogs Day and I am here for it! Lynn Painter has become an auto-buy author for me and her most recent release, The Do-Over, just reminded me why. Her YA Romance in particular is right up my alley, because it's the magical messy romance I loved experiencing when I was in high school. Her characters are relatable! We all know a cute popular guy we wanted to date and felt googly-eyed over them.

Emilie is so excited to celebrate Valentine's Day and finally tell her boyfriend Josh the "L Word", much to her dismay her day is nothing short of a dumpster fire. When she seeks comfort in her grandma's house with a pint of ice cream, she hits an all-time low. Poor Emilie, right? Oh, but it gets worse. She awakes the next day only to realize she is stuck in some loop and has to relive through Valentine's Day all over again. With each chance to right the wrongs, Emilie tries to put her "best" foot forward. What becomes clear is that some parts seem unavoidable, including the mysterious Nick, her chem partner who doesn't seem to even recognize her.

I think I got a bit tired of the loop after several go around, but of course Painter sucked me right back in when things shift and then I could not put this one down. If you love YA Romance, this is a must read prior to Valentine's Day. I must admit the book got me choked up with some of its sweeter moments.