Member Reviews

I’m excited to be part of the Harper-Collins blog tour for The Day Tripper by James Goodhand – a novel of time travel and (possible) redemption. If you know me, you know I’ve been obsessed with time travel since I was a little girl and I love stories that focus on this theme. What if we could travel in time? How can our actions affect our outcomes? What can we learn about ourselves? I cannot say too much about the plot without giving spoilers, but suffice it to say that if you enjoy reading and thinking about this type of thing – this is a great choice for you!

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I love a book that involves time travel and experiencing one’s life out of order, and this book sure had that! As someone who reads this trope often, this was a bit of a miss for me. It seemed like it was missing the sophistication and plot building that most time traveling books have. I found myself forcing myself to keep reading as it felt that the story itself did not drive me to want to keep reading.

With all of that said, the book is a good introduction to the time travel trope- the main character, Alex, saw the error in his ways, made some necessary changes, learned to see what was truly important, and it was overall a heartwarming read.

Overall, a 3.5 ⭐️ read for me. Thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for the ARC.

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A man discovers he is time traveling through different eras of his life but doesn’t know what started the travel or where and when it will lead him. As he struggles with waking up in a new year and time every single day, he pieces together the possibilities of where his life has gone and how difficult it might be to change the trajectory of his fate. Author James Goodhand takes readers on an emotional journey that might slow down in spots but is worth the wait in his latest book The Day Tripper.

In 1995, Alex Dean is on the verge of all the best things in life. He lives in London, he’s secured a spot at Cambridge University for the upcoming year, and he’s dating the most beautiful girl in the world, Holly. Alex and Holly met while he was working at the Blue Moon, a pub where he often plays his guitar, and the two of them are now inseparable. There’s absolutely nothing more that Alex could want.

It seems like a cruel twist of the universe, then, that Alex runs into a former bully one night, and the two get into a knock-down-drag-out fight that leaves Alex severely injured. When he wakes up the next morning, Alex finds himself 15 years into the future. His life is completely different; in fact, it’s in shambles. Throughout the day, he pieces together what happened from the people he runs into and those he seeks out, although the one person he can’t find is Holly. What happened to her? And how on earth did he end up in the future?

When he wakes up the next day, Alex makes a horrifying discovery: his travel through time has continued and has now taken him to 2019. Once again, everything is different. Once again, his equation with Holly isn’t anywhere near what he wants it to be. And once again, his life is a complete wreck.

As he lives through each day, Alex finds himself running into people from his life in various states and stages. Sometimes Holly is there; sometimes she’s not. When she is and he can get through to her, it seems like they’ve lived through the “right person/wrong time” phase of life. Alex hates that more than anything, more than discovering that he’s become an alcoholic or is in prison for a terrible crime he knows he didn’t commit or that he’s left his precious music behind. He also finds himself face to face with his bully more than once.

Despite the relentless thirst that follows him through every single day, Alex knows he has to figure out what’s going on if he wants things to change. He meets someone who might be able to help him, but this person makes it clear: Alex is going to have to do all the hard work of redeeming himself if he wants things to get better. Which makes sense to Alex in theory; in practice, however, he realizes he’ll have to make some really tough choices and then stick with them if he’s going to get any happiness back at all.

Author James Goodhand creates an incredibly likeable protagonist in Alex. His flaws make him even more attractive as a main character. Goodhand puts Alex through some situations that will make readers wince for how hard they are, yet he also gives Alex just enough space to claw his way back to his goal of making things right again. The journey is an emotional one and tough to watch but grounded in reality.

Another delightful feature of the book is getting to follow Alex through some of London’s history with politics and current events. Some readers may automatically assume London is a sophisticated city with mostly upper class people. Goodhand does an excellent job of bringing London down to reality and making it accessible for everyone, both through Alex’s ever-changing circumstances as well as the setting and descriptions.

The pace slows down somewhat just before the halfway mark, which might make some readers impatient. However, Goodhand uses the pacing to make Alex earn his redemption. Watching the protagonist go through the agony of mistakes, life-changing realizations, and then a slow move toward a hopeful ending is satisfying in all the best ways possible.

Those intrigued with time travel as a premise and don’t need every single question about that genre answered will definitely enjoy this one.

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This book was so interesting and well written. Once I started the story I was all in because I needed to understand the why and the how as much as Alex needed to know! The "science" behind the why once explained was satisfying and the characters we met along the way were fascinating. There was such a theme of hope mixed into a story that often times seemed hopeless.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free arc of this lovely story.

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I was so pleasantly surprised with this book! I started reading it and regretted it, because I am not a huge fan of the premise. The premise is similar to The Time Traveler’s Wife, but the more I read I realized this book does so much better with it! It is not a pretentious book (as some reviewers seemed to have wanted) but a very enjoyable read about a character who has huge flaws and works to attempt to overcome them and change his fate. Yes, the narrative revolves around constant time travel, but it is used to give the story/characters an interesting vehicle instead of focusing on the world-building aspects of time travel. If you are looking for that, this book is not for you. However, it was 100% for me.

The characters start off confusing, but everything has a reason in the end. It is much easier to understand the characters once their motivations and pasts are revealed. The characters were the best part of the story. The main character’s growth and evolution throughout the story was a very satisfying read. The themes are not harped on in a way that becomes annoying or too obvious. They are important lessons in life that people truly do have trouble coming to terms with.

It is so well written as well. It feels like a completed book with an interesting narrative and a satisfying ending. It is not a book that ignores evils and hardships in the world. It is hard to write a book like that that also has a satisfying ending, but Goodhand does this.

I loved everything about this book. I recommend it highly. I am excited to read the next works from this author.

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Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC.

I have spent a few days thinking about this one. I finished it last week. For me, it was a slow burner. At the beginning of the book, I wondered why I was reading it when it was so similar to Margarita Montimore's book, "Oona Out of Order" (which is also fantastic and you should read it.) By the middle of the book, it isn't that it was world's apart from Oona but it was similar and different in all the right ways. I cannot remember the last time I cared so much about what a character was going through and his efforts to give himself and those around him a better life.

I like giving short reviews and spoiler free when I am able to so here it is in a nutshell now: Alex Dean is young and spending the day with the woman he loves. They spend the day rowing and drinking and then drinking some more. Later, after rowing, they visit a pub beside the River Thames and he meets someone from his past. Someone he really does not want to see. He gets into a physical fight and ends up in the Thames. Then things get strange for Alex. He starts to live his life a day at a time, like the rest of us, but in the wrong order. Waking up one day in his 40s, 30s or 20s spending a day there and moving on to his life at a different age all taking place post-dunk in the Thames. Alex has some problems which I will not go into in great detail. He wakes up in various years and although he has no memories of the preceding days, he can clearly see that his life hasn't mapped out the way he planned: a Cambridge graduate that has a good life with the woman he loves. His life is none of those things and he decides he must try and figure out how to right the wrong decisions he has made whilst navigating the obstacle of living his life out of sequence.

I loved this book, in cast that is not clear. What a great story and a great character.

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The Day Tripper -a standalone

By- James Goodhand-never read author

Publication date 3-19-24, read 3-20-24

📃 Page count: 373 kindle

.Quick Summary: In 1995 Alex Dean has his future planned out- a place at Cambridge University next year, the love of his life Holly Chan, and his music. When he's attacked and almost drowns, he wakes up fifteen years into the future(2010) with no idea what happened or how to get back. As he time travels more, he sees the downward spiral his life takes. He learns that even small choices have consequences and he has to re-evaluate his choices.

🤷🏾‍♀️ What to Expect:
⭐ ️time travel
⭐️ second chances
⭐️ what if

⚠️TW: alcoholism, depression, emotional abuse, homelessness, prison time

🤔 My Thoughts: I am a sucker for time travel and self discovery. Alex got to go back, right wrongs, and make better decisions. He hit rock bottom and had to face hard truths that he was impulsive and did unhealthy things to himself and the people around him. I wish I could go back and pick different options, but I follow the mantra" you are exactly where you're supposed to be." This novel gave me Cassandra in Reverse and The Time Traveler's Wife vibes.

Rating: 4/5⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher MIRA for this ARC💙 ! I voluntarily give an honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

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I love the premise of The Day Tripper by James Goodhand. The first person narration embeds the reader in Alex's confusion and his dilemmas. At the same time, the first person narration makes it difficult for me as a reader to find an anchor or to "get to know" Alex. Perhaps, that is the entire point of the book. We don't know another's perspective. In order or out of order, we see the world as we see it not as it may actually be.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2024/03/the-day-tripper.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and a publisher’s blog tour.

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While Day Tripper started out a *little* shaky for me, I ended up absolutely devouring it, and feeling so glad I stuck with it because it is incredibly worth the payout! When we meet Alex, he seems like a pretty typical guy, nothing crazy. But as we begin to jump around to various points in his life, we can see that as he aged, he kind of started to suck. It was depressing, and Alex was none too pleased with how he'd apparently chosen to live his life. Good news is, he keeps getting various chances to make differences.

I don't want to say too much, because this is best experienced for yourself, but it is incredibly thought provoking. What little changes in our daily lives would or could change its trajectory? And what would you change if given the chance? The story was lovely, watching Alex grow and develop and try to figure out what kind of man he wanted to be. I was so, so glad I stuck with it, it was truly a heartfelt journey.

Bottom Line: This one got me right in the feels, and was entertaining to boot!

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3.5 stars

This unusual story follows a young man who suddenly starts living his days out of order. Every morning he wakes up a different age and has to discover the date and his situation. As he slowly makes sense of his situation, he also finds that he does not like his life and wishes to go back to his twenty year old self and the girl he loved then.

I found the pacing a little bit difficult with the main character making bad decisions and being unlikable for at least half of the book. But when he finally begins to deal with the issues from his childhood that have led him to his adult self, my empathy awoke and I finally found a character to root for. Much of the book deals with hard topics but if the reader perseveres, the payoff is there at the end. Thankfully, I have a group of readers to discuss the book with. I think it would make a very good book club discussion.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing (Mira) for the eARC via Netgalley.

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✨Release Day Review✨

The Day Tripper
James Goodhand
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much @htp_hive @jamesgoodhand and @htp_books for the opportunity to read and review this book.
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After a tragic accident Alex wakes up each morning living a different day of his life. His days are all there just the order in which he lives them is mixed up.
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I absolutely LOVED the journey this book took me on. I have never read anything like it and I was so invested in the story.

If you’re looking for a book where the main character has so much depth and growth then look no further. The time traveling was so very interesting to me and seeing how Alex changed his life with each new day was amazing to read.

There were so many times I felt so connected to Alex and the experiences he was going through. He learns how to work through past traumas and open himself up to new possibilities. I felt the full range of emotions as I read this because I believe we all can relate to Alex and his journey in some way or another.

In the beginning it did take me a bit to adjust to the style of how it’s written. But this was such a beautiful and raw story. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to read this!

✨Check trigger warnings on this before reading.

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Thank you so much @htp_hive for a gifted copy of this book! #hiveinfluencer
Also, thank you @htpbooks @_mira_books_ @netgalley for the ARC!

⏳ 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 ⏳
This book gets you thinking! It’s 1995, Alex Dean is with his date Holly that he is falling for, and has a run in with an old bully, that sends him flying into the Thames and nearly dying. The next day, Alex wakes up and it’s 2010 and Alex is 15 years older. Confused, he finds things obviously different and not to his liking. When he wakes up the next day, it’s another 9 years into the future. And Alex isn’t loving how his life is turning out since that day in 1995.

The story continues as each day Alex wakes up back and forth in time. He finally meets a couple of “friends” who give him perspective about what might be happening. I don’t want to say much more about the plot as to not give it away, but if you were jumping around in time in your life, and see it’s not great later on, what would you think? Alex realizes he may not be with someone he began falling in love with, which is the least of his problems really, but he can’t fathom why that would be until he begins to look inward.

This book can be relatable to anyone who likes to self-evaluate their life and the choices they have made to get where they are at. The what-ifs. The cause and effects of decisions made long ago!

Pick this one up and dive into a story of what-ifs, self-reflection, some tragedy and some victories, and learn about what you might do if you were in Alex’s shoes!

✨ 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
⏰ Time Travel
⏰ Cause and Effect
⏰ SciFi Books
⏰ Self-Development

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I'm a big time travel fiction fan, so of course when I came across The Day Tripper, it immediately appealed to me. This is a new-to-me author so I didn't know what to expect with the writing style. From page one, the story is told disassembled and jumbled back together in non-lineal order. We are experiencing the disorientation right along with Alex as he slips from one moment to another in his life. It did take some getting used to, which caused my reading pace to lag for a time.

If you've read the synopsis, you get the general idea: Alex Dean suddenly finds himself waking up every day at different points in the timeline of his life. It all seemed to start after a near-fatal assault he experienced in the mid 90s. After this day, life as he knew it was gone. It's certainly intriguing to think about seeing the effects things make on your life almost instantaneously. For most, collections of bad decisions and actions can take years to manifest into dire consequences. Alex sees his life destroyed before he even knows the cause.

Much of the first half is pretty grim and depressing. I can't say that I was a big fan of Alex as his alcoholism, bad choices with his girlfriend Holly, and his broken family comes to light. He's a damaged man who was deeply influenced by his father's emotional abuse, and his murky relationship with Blake Benfield as a troubled kid. None of the details come out until much later in the book, but we do know that there are significant events in his past that are driving his bad choices. Typically, in a normal, linear storyline, you get the backstory of the character fairly early and that helps you understand them better and empathize with them. That is very hard to do when you're reading things so out of order and trying to make sense of what is even happening and how.

Alex is drowning in the current of his bad decisions from one moment to the next. Homelessness, alcoholism, prison time, rejection and shame from his parents, loss of the love of his life, and a short, failed marriage are things that he sees jumping through time in his life. He is desperate to find out what is happening to him, but more importantly, if he could alter anything and return to the promising life he once had. His one beacon of hope is a strange man that he encounters by the name of Dr. P.H. (Paul) Defrates. Paul seems to know quite a bit about his personal situation but isn't very willing to share any answers with him. He does explain Einstein's theory of time: how each moment in time is happening simultaneously rather than in individual, chronographic order. Alex seems to be viewing his life in a way that others can't because of an aberration that occurred. It's imperative that he finds out what jarred him into this new reality so he can try to repair his broken life.

Once Alex starts to face some hard truths about himself, he begins to make changes in his impulsive and unhealthy actions. This is when the "updates" start to occur and he finally believes that there may be a way to escape his doomed fate. In the end, the story is an uplifting one because Alex goes through a considerable amount of growth and is able to identify how he was his own worst enemy. He wants to make a difference in his own life as well as others'. He learns to express his pain, reach out for help, and share his gratitude and love with those that mean the most to him. In doing this, he gradually starts to heal-and the effects are clearly evident. Many people have regrets in life as they get older. Who doesn't wish that they could turn back time and do things a little differently? This story is an intriguing play on that idea, which fortunately ends with a lot of introspection in a positive light. While I didn't necessarily care for the main character for much of the book, I do appreciate the journey he went on and seeing the character development along the way. It was executed in a way that was a bit more dismal and gritty for my taste, but worthwhile if you hang on until the end.

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Big thanks to NetGalley for letting me review this eARC.

I really enjoyed this book.

Like, immensely enjoyed it.

It was a bit slow at the beginning, yes, but once you really got into it and Alex really started to CARE about changing his life and really putting the effort in, it was just an amazing read.

He worked so hard to change his life after the incident in ‘95 and he finally got the life he knew he deserved. He changed his entire life around after one day. He knew what he wanted and he went for it, even knowing it had an end date.

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This book features an unlikable narrator in desperate need of a redemption which I personally found difficult to care about. The side characters are way more interesting but they exist only as opportunities for Alex to do better. The first 2/3 of this book was slow and depressing. The ending did redeem the book a bit but I felt like the premise is pretty flawed. I normally love time travel books but this just didn't hit for me.

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This book was absolutely fantastic. Alex finds himself waking up a different day in his timeline every day. But what happens when he doesn’t like the future?

This book blew my mind. I had a fantastic time reading it and would definitely recommend for others to pick it up. The writing took a minute for the American in me to get used to but I thoroughly enjoyed it pretty quickly.

I found myself cheering for Alex & friends throughout the book and found the book inspiring.

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5 Stars
Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for this ARC
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Its 1995 and Alex has the perfect life. He has a spot at Cambridge and the love of his life, Holly. But after a night out where Alex was brutally attacked and left to drown, he wakes up 15 years later in 2010 in a bedroom he does not recognize. The next day he wakes up another 9 years later in 2019, the next day it’s 1999. Each day he wakes up paints a bleak picture of what happened to his life after the attack. Never knowing what day he will wake up to next, Alex realizes that making small changes can impact what happens in his life that he lives the next day. Unhappy with how his life is in the future, Alex sets out to make changes and grow as a person to get the future he know he deserves.

I very much enjoyed the time travel aspect of this book. I enjoyed the lack of control he had of when he would be waking up as well as the fact that every day was years apart. Although I do see the other reviewers feedback that waking up everyday decades apart was confusing, I found that as a fun part of the puzzle. I enjoyed getting to work out that there was a pattern to how and why he woke up on the days that he did. I felt that there was a lot of character growth in the book and you got to watch him confront his demons in such raw and real ways. I don’t think this book would be for every reader but I loved the concept and felt it was well executed.

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This felt like an alcoholic/addicts take on The Midnight Library and The Time Travelers Wife. The main character Alex on the eve of starting his undergraduate course at Cambridge gets into a fight with a long standing rival which upends his life and sends him traveling through time through different versions of his future-all terrible outcomes as he tries to get back to this night where he was with the love of his life Holly and his future was still positive. He’s obsessed with his rival and and miserable alcoholic and addict throughout the book. And overall I felt like I just wanted him to just get to the dated he wanted to be in as well so it would be over. Even before his accident he wasn’t a very pleasant person honestly. Midnight library/Time travelers wife did this genre much better.

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Living life one day at a time is a philosophy that many people live by. James Goodhand takes you on a journey where one man wakes every day, not knowing which day in his life will be next. The Day Tripper will test your normal thought process and have you thinking about yourlife choices.

Alex Dean is a man with two loves, Holly Chan and his incredible musical ability. Alex is absolutely infatuated with Holly, knowing that she is the love of his life. He also has an appointment to Cambridge and a potential sk0y tipping ceiling to his life. That is, until one day a chance meeting with a bully while on a date with Holly changes his life forever.

Awaking from an accident of epic proportions, Dean tries to place himself as he’s in an apartment where he’s never been, with a woman he’s never met. It’s not the same month, year, or even decade as Dean starts to put things together. As the days start to pass by one after another, Dean learns that nothing in his life is normal, having to determine timelines and what year it is everywhere he goes. Jumping through time like a pinball in an arcade, Alex Dean dodges prison, career changes, alcoholism, along with gaining and losing the love of his life on a daily basis.

Goodhand drives decades of life through ups and downs while capturing raw life in the process. He captures you straight out of the gate and doesn’t let go while driving you down a mountain switchback, never letting you get comfortable. The emotions are raw and authentic as you get a large glimpse of Dean's life, but broken down into 24-hour increments, not knowing where it is going to lead. There are plenty of characters that support Alex through his journey, and plenty of hurdles he must navigate while trying to determine what happened.

What you feel like you’re missing is exactly what Goodhand is provides. He makes you subconsciously think about what you can do to change the trajectory in your own life and how every single interaction could play into the future. This was a well written adventure that draws you in immediately and will leave you hanging onto Deans every day to ensure he doesn’t mess them up. It’s a battle for Alex Dean and one that you will absolutely love to journey with him. Don’t miss this one.

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The beginning of this book packs a (literal) punch. It immediately involves the reader in the life of its protagonist. This is the story of a man’s life told in a series of episodes that are not linear. I think that those who have enjoyed novels by Matt Haig will want to give this one a look.

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