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.

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.

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.

Thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for the ARC of this title.

DNF at 20% - I like the premise here, but felt thrown into the deep end by the first few chapters of this one and never got a chance to feel like I had a grip on why we're following the main character's journey through time out-of-order. The pacing here feels weird - slow, languid while it infodumps, then once you've got a grip on what's happening IMMEDIATELY throwing you into a timeshift. This could totally be a case of right book, wrong time, but I really bounced off this one from the jump.

Interesting take on a time travelers conundrum.

Alex Dean has a perfect day with the perfect girl that does not end well. The next day he wakes up in another year and then day after that it happens again. All he wants to do is figure out what happened to his life, how he got to be the mess he seems to be and why he's no longer with the woman he thought was the love of his life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though the British slang threw me at the beginning. The time travel aspect made me think about a life lived out of order and what that could lead to.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and Netgalley!

It’s 1995 and Alex’s life is about to turn around for the better, he’s with Holly, his love, he has a spot at Cambridge and he has worked for a year to have enough money to go - but then it all comes crumbling down when he gets in a fight with a man from his past and wakes up in 2010. His life in the future is a mess and he has no idea why, and then he wakes up in 2019, and then 1999…. Every day he wakes up in a different day in a different year and has to piece together his life and try to fix his it as best he can.

I am having a hard time reviewing this book; it is a lot like Oona out of Order which I really liked - but more depressing. The non linear timeline was jarring at the onset and the one day jumps were sometimes bit hard to follow, but I would have been fine with it if not for how Alex kept making such bad decisions even when he knew not to based on his experience from the day before. The end however, is worth it and had me crying, but the getting there was a bit hard, I’m glad I had friends who finished first and told me to stick with it. I would give it a higher rating for the end, but I didn’t enjoy the book for quite a bit which is why I wam so torn in this review.

3.75 stars rounded to 4

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Mira for the ARC to review

Following a brutal encounter in 1995, The Day Tripper follows Alex Dean through time as he wakes up seemingly uninjured but having lived a hard fifteen years since the fight. As Alex grapples with the unsettling reality of having lived a decade-and-a-half in a single night, he is forced to navigate the uncertainties of his past, present, and future. And every night’s sleep thereafter hurls him through time, where each day brings a new year.

One of the hangups with any time-travel plot whose themes are centered on non-sci-fi ideas like exploring a deeper sense of self and your impact on others, à la ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (which is the best Christmas movie ever, hands down), is that often from the outset it’s fairly evident where a character like Alex is supposed to end up, like ‘Oona Out of Order’ or ‘The Midnight Library,’ two books where the execution didn’t quite elevate the stories above the predictable and ordinary.

But I ended up being pretty surprised by and drawn into Goodhand’s novel. As the entire conceit depended on his ability to properly carry out the plot, I think he did a great job. Any predictability made the book feel familiar, and yet I was often unsure about what was to come next or what impact Alex would be able to have on his out-of-order life.

My few complaints center on two main areas: the present tense and the pacing. While I certainly understand the inclination to unfurl a plot-driven narrative with present tense, this can sometimes create a rushed and claustrophobic atmosphere, which detracts from my overall experience. Also, while the pacing may falter slightly here and there, perhaps mirroring the erratic nature of Alex's journey, it does feel like it serves as a reflection of life itself. Some days are profound, etching themselves into memory, while others pass by unnoticed, their significance revealed only in hindsight.

Almost unlike any other sub-genre, time-travel books are often defined by how they interact with other time-travel stories. Here, Goodhand plays with time on a continuous but nonlinear line. Everyone’s actions impact their future, but Alex has the benefit of seeing the effects years into the future, the very next day — as well as the chance to make changes in the past again and again. Like Toby from ‘The Witch Elm,’ whose actions may or may not have led up to this life-altering event, his path was profoundly redirected following the attack. Drawing parallels to ‘The Lost Weekend,’ where addiction is the struggle, ‘Groundhog Day,’ which explores self-understanding, and ‘Quantum Leap,’ questioning purpose and change, The Day Tripper explores the complex relationship between cause and effect. In the realm of time travel, is it a blessing or a curse, a path to redemption or ruin? Raising huge questions about destiny and free will, Goodhand managed a superb balance that made the unusual way Alex was living seem strikingly similar to an ordinary life. No one is promised a tomorrow.

Overall, while I didn’t fall in love with it, I appreciated the ways Goodhand explored his themes and I kind of miss Alex. In the realm of time-play stories, The Day Tripper stands on its own with a thought-provoking exploration of what it means to live your life.

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, all opinions are my own. I was also provided a ALC version of this book via Netgalley and Harper Audio/Harlequin Audio.


I found it very helpful to have both the print version handy as I was listening to the audiobook because of the way the story is told in a non-linear timeline. I found it helpful to go back and reference when he was and what age he was several times when reading/listening as it is critical to the storyline. As the title indicates, Alex's story is told as he visits various days of his life in his future and past. His story starts in 1995 at age twenty, when everything seemed to be going right for him when a pivotal and brutal event occurs that changes the trajectory of his life. Every morning he wakes up at a different age and can't remember where he is and what has happened in his life. Determined to get back to the woman he loves and the life he wanted, he begins to piece things together as he lives his life out of order.


As Alex slowly beings to understand what is going on and why he is living his days out of order, he attempts to make small changes where he can both in the past and the future. He tries to be a better man, help a someone in need, get help for past trauma experienced, and tell the people in his life that they matter to him. Alex finds that by making small, impactful changes over time he can't undo everything bad that happens in his future and all the bad decisions that he has made, but he can change some of them for the better.


This took me a while to get into, it is a slower burn and I found Alex unlikable in the beginning but make no mistake he is on a journey and does redeem himself by the end and turns into a great guy. I'm not the biggest fan of non-linear timelines, and it took me a while to settle into the time jumps. In the beginning Alex makes a ton of bad decisions. Toward the latter half of the book we find out what is truly going on with him and get more information about his past and why the fight happened that left him for dead in 1995 that began this whole time jumping situation. Once you understand Alex, the reason for the time jumping to different parts of his life clicks and the decisions he made at different points of his life and the lessons he learns at each visit begin to make sense. Alex starts to understand what is going on and begins to make incremental changes for the better to mend his relationship with his mother, recover his relationship with his true love Holly, and mentor a bright young man named Jazz. I really began to enjoy the book in the latter half once Alex begins to understand himself and what he needs to do.


If you enjoy time travel books with a soul searching aspect and a love story at its heart this is a great one to pick up. It really is a beautiful story.


Trigger warnings: alcoholism, substance use, molestation/sexual abuse

This book was incredibly difficult to follow. The author used a ton of British Slang which for me caused me to stop and figure out what it meant. That took away from the story for me.
When added to unlikeable and one dimensional characters, that tipped this novel over the line and into an almost DNF category for me.
If you are familiar with British slang then I say give this one a try.
I received a ARC of this book, all opinions are my own

The concept of time travel interests me, and how it can be used as a plot device. This however really didn’t resonate with me, and not for any particular reason that I can determine. I just didn’t connect with the main character or his search for Holly through the years. I just found myself losing focus and not getting invested in the story, which is always an indication to me that I should put it aside and not force it. Maybe it’s something I’ll pick up and enjoy in the future, but it wasn’t for this reader at this particular time.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and James Goodhand for providing this book for my honest review. I wish I had known some of the triggers for this book before requesting this. I struggled reading a few parts that were upsetting to me, but I realize those issues won’t bother everyone. The story itself is very interesting. I love time travel books and do recommend this book for anyone else who also enjoys time travel tropes. Please just check for triggers ahead of time. Thank you for allowing me to review this book.

“The Day Tripper” blends time travel, romance, and mystery. Alex Dean’s involuntary time jumps create suspense, but pacing is slow initially. Character dynamics and cosmic horror could be better developed. Overall, a thought-provoking read.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review is posted on goodreads. Will post on publication date to Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other indie sites.

I love time travel books and just finished reading Oona Out of Order which has a similar plot to The Day Tripper. I didn't in fact realze this was time travel - I thought the title referred to one day vacationers like in Nantucket! LOL

This book starts in 1995 and I am a bit obsessed with the 90's . Alex Dean is a student at Cambridge and is enjoying his young life. But then one morning whn he wakes up he is suddenly 35 and his life is nothing as he expected it to be. Each day he hops to a new random year trying to piece together the fragments of information he has and figure out how he can get his life back on the right path.

This book was hard for me to get interested in -maybe because I just read one so similar. It was also confusing at times. It is well-written and a clever concept. I was trying just as hard as Alex to try to figure out what was going on!

Interesting Spin On Time Travel. Straight up, this book won't be for everyone. It is *highly* disjointed and takes a *lot* of mental effort to follow... and that is kind of the point, with this particular bent on time travel. We experience the tale in the same way that Alex experiences his life - as singular days completely out of order, beginning on the day that starts it all. The particular reset mechanism, of waking up to a different day every time Alex falls asleep, brings to mind how Ted Dekker used the same concept to have his hero switch between the "real" world and Dekker's very blatantly allegorical world in his Circle Series. While that tale was far more linear - er, circular - this one actually works well for how it chooses to use the concept - but again, this particular storytelling style won't be for everyone, and honestly I'm genuinely surprised the ratings for this book in the ARC realm just days before publication is as high as it is, *because* it is such a tough storytelling mechanic.

But for those that can hang with the way the story is told, the story told is actually quite good, in the more typical time travel bent ala Time Traveler's Wife, The Family Man, A Christmas Carol, Its A Wonderful Life, etc etc etc. It just takes so much effort to follow the storytelling mechanism to see the story that I fear that many readers will abandon the tale too early to see just how good it actually is.

Oh, and because it *can* be so problematic for so many, it *does* need to be mentioned that there is on screen male on male sexual abuse, as well as quite a bit of alcoholism.

Overall an interesting tale told using a unique mechanism I'd never seen before. Very much recommended.

Mira/Harlequin Trade provided an early galley for review.

I have always been a fan of time-travel related tales, so the description of this one intrigued me. Plus, the title with its nod to the Beatles - hard to resist.

This is a story that puts the reader in a similar confused state as Alex finds himself in. Why does he wake up to different points in his life? What is happening to him? Is it preventable? Any one of us put in the same position would react with panic and concern. Very relatable.

Goodhand crafts an engaging story that kept me interested. Like Alex, I wanted to keep moving (reading) to figure out what was going on. And=, like Alex, there are life lessons to be gleaned along the way as well. All in all, I found this to be a very enjoyable read.

I appreciate that each chapter title is a song title rather than a chapter number. Some songs are very familiar, some a bit less so. All in all, a perfect nod to the part of the protagonist who that is a musician. It would make for a great playlist to go with the novel. I hope Goodhand puts one up at some point.

I'll be the odd one out. The odd one who just got tired of the constant time jumping out of sequence and frankly of Alex. The concept of waking up each day in a different year of your life is an interesting one but Alex was unappealing. And it moves every single chapter. I've read many time travel novels and had high hopes for this so I'm not sure why it was a miss for me. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Over to others.

The Day Tripper by James Goodhand
@James.Goodhand
Pub date: March 19, 2024

I’m a huge fan of time travel stories and The Day Tripper really called out to this love.

After an altercation, Alex Dean changes to a new age every time he wakes up and he has to figure out how old he is and where he is every day. Trying to catch up with himself, literally, is difficult, but trying to figure out how to get back to his old life proves to be more difficult.

What I loved the most about this story is the chance to change theme and how Alex was able to see that the small changes he made at different ages (days) had longer lasting impacts and how there were times he couldn’t make changes and how he accepted this. It’s an unusual book and reminded me somewhat of one of my favorites, Oona Out of Order, even though it is a bit darker. I loved how Goodhand incorporated the characters throughout Alex’s journey. His love for Holly, how he had such a promising future and the drive he had to figure out where he went wrong. I don’t want to say to much, just that I really enjoyed this unique story so much!

Distinctive, poignant, and heart-wrenching!

My thanks to @HTPBooks for this gifted copy!

Imagine your days, months, even years are all out of order, and you have to try to piece your life together each time you awake. That’s what is happening to Alex in “The Day Tripper.” This book was unique, funny, heartbreaking. I absolutely loved it and was engrossed in putting Alex’s life together right along with him. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this treasure!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of The Day Tripper. This book was a quick read because once I was sucked into the story, I had to see it through to the very end.
The Day Tripper takes us on a journey through the life of Alex, but not in a traditional way. One day he’s taking the woman of his dreams, Holly, on their first official date. Then, he’s homeless, busking for pennies. The next, Alex is married and working in a cushy job – quite literally. Each day Alex wakes up we are taken to a different day throughout the course of his life. The idea behind the story is that our lives are already laid out from the moment we’re born. Life is just a series of causes and effects and every action we take has a reaction on a life already played out. But can a different decision really tip the world on it’s axis and change our future? If you’re curious to find the answer, then this book needs to be added to your TBR immediately.
Overall, The Day Tripper was a captivating read filled with so much emotion, a few tears and a remarkable ending. The topics of alcoholism, SA and death are heavily intertwined throughout the entire story, as a forewarning. I enjoyed every minute of this book and look forward to reading more from James Goodhand. I give this a solid 4/5!

I have honestly never read a book like this before. I can see similarities with the concept in The Time Traveler’s Wife but it also gave me vibes from the 2004 Butterfly Effect movie where the plot is centered around the theory that a tiny movement of a butterfly’s wing in the past can have a massive effect on future events.

This is an adult science fiction/time travel story about a man named Alex Dean and the book opens up with him at 20 years old with him in love and a bright future ahead. After an unfortunate event, he wakes up the next day but it is 15 years in the future with no idea how he got there or what has happened since his incident. He goes to sleep that night, and it is another 9 years in the future. He bounces back and forth throughout the book between the future and the past, trying to piece together what has happened and if he can have any impact on the outcome he sees for himself and his loved ones.

About 60% of the way through this book, as I learned more about Alex’s history… my heart was heartbroken for him. Some trigger warnings to mention: childhood sexual assault/abuse, bullying, alcoholism, mentions of suicide and homophobia.

I really did like this book! I would give this a 3.5 stars (rounded up for the rating here). I did have to get used to the British dialogue in the book as I’m not as familiar with certain sayings/references but I found it interesting to look up what some of the phrases meant as I went along. Unrelated to the story itself, I also realized when reading this book that I prefer when books have chapter numbers as it is helpful when doing a buddy read to identify where you are at (this book does not have chapter numbers, just titles).