Cover Image: The Déjà Glitch

The Déjà Glitch

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Member Reviews

If you like Groundhog Day or 50 First Dates, this book is for you! Holly James is a "new to me author". I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of her work!

Time loop tropes are ones that can be hit or miss. The Déjà Glitch is most definitely a hit! It's a fast paced, well written story. I was feeling all the feels while reading this book.

Gemma is a complicated character…her heart was broken when her ex had used her only to get to her father who was a well known name in the music industry. Once he got a record deal, he moved onto bigger/better things while she was trying to make her own name in the industry. Because of this, she struggles with her relationship with her father. On top of that her brother is relocating to another country so she feels abandoned by him.

Jack is a screenwriter in Hollywood. He has been living the same day for 147. 147 days of meeting Gemma over & over, getting to know her, slowly (to him) falling in love with her. It is the sweetest thing, only Gemma doesn't realize that it is happening. Until one night at her best friend’s birthday party, Jack decides to kiss her to see if anything changed the next day. Surprisingly, she does vaguely remember him and decides to hear him out. He is convinced that if she were to fall in love with him in a day, the cycle would be broken.

I absolutely love Jack! Gemma at times seems immature/childish especially when it comes to her family. I did enjoy watching Gemma's self-development throughout the book. It was nice to see the possibility of forgiveness when it came to her father. This book has a lot of great side characters- especially Lila and her Aunt.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞…
Time loops
Insta-love
Adorable Meet Cute
Great Banter
He Falls First
Family Drama

I read this arc a few months ago and am slowly catching up on my reviews. I would like to thank @netgalley, Penguin Dutton Group & @hellohollyjames for the ARC in exchange for my honest

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I think my expectations were too high going into this one. I've read and really loved some time loop books in the last year or so, and was really hoping that The Deja Glitch was going to be one of them, but alas, it isn't.

While I think the story was fun and pulled the reader along nicely, it left me wondering about the development of both the romance and the love interest by the time the book was finished. The romance was supposed to be some epic, universe altering love, but instead I ended up frustrated at the lack of development. If you're going to have someone fall in love within a 24 hour period, your characters have to have chemistry and a <i>really</i> strong relationship. Unfortunately the relationship between Gemma and Jack didn't have either, though I will say I think part of that was because Jack never had any real development as a character either. I can literally tell you 3 things about the man: he's hot, he was unhappy before he found Gemma, and he has all of these facts about her memorized. Seeing the issue here? Cardboard characters can't have complex relationships that seem believable.

I know it sounds like I have a lot of complaints, but I swear, I did actually enjoy this book. Its readability was really nice, and James really went out of her way to give the story a unique spin on the time loop trope. Instead of multiple loops, the story focused on almost one 24 hour period and that was it. The lack of repetition was really interesting (though I do wonder if that's part of why Jack and the romance felt underdeveloped), because it kept the reading in the dark as much as Gemma was, allowing us to watch the story unfold for the first time. The complexity of her character and relationships were really interesting too.

Also, Lila is such a fun secondary character, I would absolutely be interested in reading a spinoff story about her. I loved the friendship between her and Gemma so much!


Overall The Deja Glitch may have fallen short of my expectations, but I had fun reading it. If you're into time loops or just want a romance with a male LI who is super attentive to details, definitely try picking this up! There were some super cute and funny moments too!

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(Actual: 3.5⭐, rounded up) This cover is so cute and I'm a sucker for magical realism/time loop shenanigans/etc etc stories, so this one is right up my alley! Given this novel directly references the film "Groundhog Day," it's easy to think you know exactly how this story goes. And while yes, obviously some of the main beats are the same, I was pleasantly surprised that this book subverted those expectations, as well as some of the standard tropes typically associated with these types of stories/this genre. I was reminded a bit of the film "Palm Springs" (with Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, and a film I also found to be very fun and fresh) while reading this and so, while I wish we got to see a bit more of the ~timey-wimey~ moments, I still left feeling more than satisfied.

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There's always something fun and interesting about that Groundhog Day time Loop trope. The Deja glitch does a wonderful job without overdoing it to the point of ridiculous. The story is told not by the victim of the time Loop Jack but by Gemma who has no idea anything is out of the ordinary except that she keeps getting this feeling that she knows Jack. The Deja Glitch was a cute Hallmark-esque story that anyone looking for an adorable romance should read.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Dutton for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for this ARC.

This was my first "time loop" trope. I thought it was so adorable. This is definitely one of those books you get cozy and read.

That even with everyone in here, he’s looking at you like you’re the only person in the room.


To break out of a 24-hour time loop, all Jack needs is for Gemma to fall in love with him in a single day. All Gemma needs is to remember him first . . .

I mean simple right? They're in a time loop and he just needs to pull a 50 First Dates. Btw, this book totally gives that kind of vibe. He remembers her but she doesn't remember him. Throw in a little Groundhog Day and BAM you have The Deja Glitch
I quickly fell for this book because 50 First Dates is easily one of my favorite RomComs. I mean how romantic is it that he spends each day helping the woman he loves fall in love with him all over again.

“It’s you, Gemma. You are the center of everything. My whole universe has shifted to revolve around you. I’m literally stuck on you and only you. I need you. For more than one reason.”


Now, I did have some issues with Gemma's character, but considering her back story. It makes sense why she's so emotionally immature. But, I also struggled with the entitlement she shares with her best friend Lila. Thats where my 3.5 star rating comes from. I often felt myself skimming through some of their storyline.

Jack, now he is ADORABLE. Considering he has had 5 months of Groundhog Days to grow as a character. I believe that helped him. If we had met him prior to this time loop, I think I would have found him just as annoying.

I highly recommend if you are looking for a light, fluffy read. It has its emotional and tense moments. But nothing too crazy.

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A cute meet-cute. Gemma and Jack are stuck in a same-day time loop and the only way to break the loop is to fall in love.

I loved the time loop in this meet-cute. I'm not normally a fan of time loops in books but the author did a great job with this one. I wasn't immediately a fan of Gemma but I loved Jack.

This book was so fun and enjoyable but I found that the task of falling in love in one day was just a little bit too unrealistic for me. We did get to see many emotions and growth from the characters, which I appreciated. The one thing I didn't like was that Gemma was pressured to reconciled with her dad to break the loop.

I enjoyed this book, so I'm giving it 3 stars. Ultimately, the this book lost starts with me for the forcing of family reconciliation.

Thank you NetGalley for ARC

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Really good and fun and we'll paced until the brakes were slammed with 70% left. Very redundant and annoying the last 30% that kinda killed the vibes. It's been hours since I've finished it and its upsetting me more and more. It could have ended sooner and been perfectly fine

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I really enjoyed reading this book. I have a soft spot for time loop stories for some reason. I found it hard to put down. The romance was cute, their run-ins were fun,

I really liked how this book took a unique approach to the Groundhog Day trope. Instead of following a person who keeps repeating the same day, we see the person who’s impacted by someone else’s time loop.

I liked how the romance was focused on them as separate people as well as them as a unit. The magic of the loop specifically works because of where they are in their lives, and help each other see and achieve what they want out of life.

The one down side of the way the time loop was handled was that the MMC is already in love with the FMC before the book starts, and we don’t really get to see why or how this happens. The rest of the book is focused on the FMC figuring out if she can believe him, if she can love him, if she’s ready for a relationship etc.

I really liked the side characters, the BFF, the brother, the coworkers, even the scientist. They were endearing and were great additions to the story.

Her broken relationship with her dad is a big part of the story as well. I couldn’t tell if her dad was actually a bad father/person, or if her perception of that was very broken. Nothing about their interactions seemed to justify their current relationship. But I don’t want to discount years of issues that might have happened. In general though, the book and the characters in it have the stance that family is family, and we should keep our relationship.

Thank you to Dutton Books, Penguin Books and NetGalley for the eARC!
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OMG this book is totally sweet!!!

Haven’t read any time-loop story but this book got me hooked. How can a person got trapped to repeat a day over and over again for months? This idea alone is insane! And where can I get a man with never ending patience like Jack? I’d love to have one please 😂

Anyway this book is a light read, if you got reading slump this book is perfect to got rid of the slump. I like the writing style. And eventhough the story is light, it isn’t boring. The story flows perfectly with many cute and sweet interactions between the main characters here and there.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for giving me the opportunity to review The Déjà Glitch.

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✨ 5 STARS ✨

this was my first time loop book and i really enjoyed it! it’s one of those storylines that feels like a movie as you read.

jack has been trapped in a time loop for almost 150 days and he doesn’t know why or how he got there. throughout this time loop, he has countless run ins with gemma and ends up falling for her while reliving the same day over and over again. jack starts to believe that gemma is the key to ending his time loop, and each new day he tries to make gemma fall for him to become unstuck.

the story follows the big day where everything changes and jack covinces gemma to fall in love with him and they break the loop.

1. so much happened in this one day, idk how they had all that time.
2. lila is the cutest bestie to gemma and i loved there dynamic.
3. jack is an angel baby who truly can’t do anything wrong and just lived almost 150 days refalling for a girl who couldn’t remember him the next day with no regrets and the HOPE that one day she would love him back.

i think this is a super cute book and it was very enjoyable for me. nothing gave me the ick which is cool because it’s such an oddly specific THEME where i feel like a lot could’ve ended up poorly executed. i genuinely loved the characters and the storyline a whole lot.

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I've read a handful of 'groundhog day' type books and I quite enjoyed this one! Instead of the day playing over and over again, we're basically in the last version of the repeated day. We hear about the previous attempts Jack made to get out of the loop and why Gemma may be the key to breaking the loop. It does seem like quite a long day and so much is packed in it but it was enjoyable. Gemma and Jack have good chemistry. I think I would have enjoyed it more if there was more dual POV besides the very end.

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The plot of this book was on point. It was a great concept. It just ended up feeling too insta-love. Yea there is a time loop, but there wasn’t much of a connection between the two MCs at all. There was no real build up of the romance which made it harder to feel there was any chemistry between to the two MCs.

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The Deja Glitch is an adorable, funny, sensitive story with lots of charm and romance. Its unique plot is what I found the book to be engaging!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books for an advanced copy of this book.

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I love love loved this book! It hooked me in from the first chapter and I did not want to put it down. I genuinely was unsure of the premise and didn’t know if I would be able to get into the plot but it was such a refreshing and new plot that kept me invested! I wish I could read this book again for the first time

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I thought this was going to be like groundhogs day (we keep reading the almost same day over and over), but it wasn‘t and the format was soooo much better!

The Deja Glitch is a fast paced and delightful whirlwind. Yes the romance is instalove-ish, but Jack has been working on this romance for 5 months, without Gemma knowing of course. They really do make a cute couple and you can see the chemistry between them, even though they have a ton of first encounters. Holly James did such a wonderful job weaving them together (and tugging at my heartstrings!).

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Jack and Gemma were such a delight. The concept was unique and I hope we get to read about Lila's happily ever after soon

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Jack needs Gemma to fall in love with him to get out of a crazy time loop that has him reliving the same day over and over again. The only problem is that Gemma doesn't remember him from one day to the next. What will make this time different and will it make Gemma remember? Only time will tell. This was a fun take on Groundhog Day in the romance world. 4 stars. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC.

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Sandy M’s review of The Deja Glitch by Holly James
Contemporary Paranormal Romance published by Dutton 01 Aug 23

This is my first Holly James book, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this “Groundhog Day“ storyline.

Gemma literally runs into Jack again and again, and while they have a bit of chemistry together, as soon as their interaction is over, Gemma goes on with her days, leaving him behind with only a vague sense of maybe she should know more about Jack than she actually does.

It’s Jack who remembers everything about his time with Gemma, as he relives their days and desperately trying to get her to recall what they have together. Jack is convinced the only way to stop their glitch is to get Gemma to fall in love with him in just a day, but having to start over every day, that task seems quite daunting.

I enjoyed the back-and-forth between Gemma and Jack, him trying to get her to remember their times together and Gemma trying to figure out why Jack seems so familiar. There’s plenty of fun to be had and these characters are charming and intriguing. Gemma’s slow but sure recall of Jack eventually becomes clear and vivid as their “meetings” become more frequent – could love truly be in their future when that future doesn’t seem to be guaranteed at all?

This hopefully won’t be my last Holly James book, because I really enjoyed this one.

Grade: B

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Gemma Peters is a radio producer making a name for herself in the music industry—without the help of her rock-star father. Things are going well, until Gemma crashes into Jack one Thursday morning—the ultimate meet-cute. Or is it? How does he know her, and why is he saying that not only do they know each other, but they’ve lived this day over and over for months. And Jack has figured it out—he has to get Gemma to fall in love with him. In one day.

This book was fine—the Groundhog Day premise still has legs—and the characters were cute and funny. But it wasn’t really engaging and Jack is hardly believable as a love-struck time-looper. I liked this well enough--as a vacation/beach read, it did the job.

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As far as time loop storyline goes, this one is cute one. Although Gemma is cautious in love, she was a difficult character to root for. She cames across as unlikeable, pessimistic and completely cynical in most of her interactions with Jack. But it's obvious she can be the exact opposite when she is with those she trusts. I guess she is like most modern strong-minded, independent females.
I appreciated that the story allowed for the chance to do-over. Knowing that most of the sadness she experienced was of her own doing and allowed her the chance to make the necessary changes to be happy. Maybe I should learn a lesson here.

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