This is a pretty enjoyable read as long as you don't think about it too hard. The time travel aspect is an interesting plot device but doesn't hold under inspection. As a lover of the trope, I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to the rules and explanations of time travel, but in this case I needed a more consistent understanding of the rules of cause and effect (especially when this is meant to be the crux of the story's moral). My biggest complaint is that everything works out way too nicely in the end. As much as you can say Alex "learned his lesson", it was frustrating that he got an entirely second shot at life and didn't have to live with the consequences of any of his actions. It felt really hand-wavy that everyone around him just accepts his "bad memory" as an excuse, where I think the book could have made a much more interesting choice to explore the consequences of what it would mean to truly live your life out of order.

Even though the primary framing device of the book was a miss for me, I still found myself engaged throughout the story and thought it was a perfectly fine way to pass the time. I would be interested to pick up another book by this author.

I received an eARC of this audiobook from NetGalley and Harper Audio - Harlequin Audio in exchange for my honest review.

The Day Tripper by James Goodhand Narrated by James Meunier

Narrator - I haven’t heard any other books by James Menuier, but I will be on the lookout. I loved his voice, it was engaging and he did such a great job bringing emotion to this book.

Book- I have very few time travel books under my belt, so I was excited to give this a go! I don’t have much to compare to which I think actually serves me well. The main character is Alex. It’s the year 1995 and his life is about to start an exciting chapter. He will be attending Cambridge University next year and his love, Holly is by his side. Suddenly he finds himself victim to a beating and wakes up to find himself in a strange place, with strange clothes, and no memory of how he got there. He doesn’t even recognize the face starting at him in the mirror… to his horror he realizes by way of a newspaper that it’s not 1995, but 2010…. The story takes off on a time travel adventure that leads Alex down the path of relflection, realization, and knowledge that he gains that could change the lives of those he loves.

Overall, this was a fun read. I listened in about two days during my walks or doing chores. It was a bit mixed bag for me. I found myself getting lost in what felt like unnecessary scenes, backstory and it was so focused on time travel that the plot and character development was lacking for me. This is one of those books that I would say is a good read for when you need a break from the heavy books, long series, or what I call a palette cleanser. It was fun, kept me on my toes.

I read a bunch of this book and just couldn't get into it. This book is about a man named Alex and his girlfriend Holly. They're having a fun time together and then he has a crazy encounter and the next morning he wakes up in a different year. He continues to wake up in different periods of his life (not chronologically) and in each time, life is hard and not really what he'd expect. I am so intrigued by time travel and the idea that one small thing can have long lasting repercussions so I thought I'd like this a lot, but our main character was really flat and I couldn't care much about him. I also felt a little depressed about his life. Furthermore, I was attempting to listen to this on audio and I don't think thats the best way to consume this since it jumps around time so much. Overall I just wasn't excited to pick this up and didn't care so I DNF'ed.

I have heard many times the advise to live one day at a time. But what if those days are out of order? Would you find it a curse or a gift?

In the vain of "Oona Out of Order" Alex finds himself living his days out of order. He had been a young man with a bright and optimistic future ahead of him. He now finds himself waking up being decades later to a horrific future without the girl he is in love with, no job or place to really call home. Can he find what went wrong with his life, can he change his future?

Through his adventures you really find how each day is a mystery and how everyday decisions can impact your future.

This one took me a little to really get into. I think being in a different year and point in life everyday it was harder to get a good footing in the story and invested in Alex as a character. In the end I enjoyed the book and from where it started the ending was very satisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for an advanced audiobook for review.

I loved listening to this audiobook. The narrator was enjoyable and brought the characters to life. The main character wasn’t all that likable but the plot was enjoyable.

After an accident and near death experience, Alex Dean finds himself living his life out of order. Waking up in different years and points of his life, Alex must try to change the past in order to prevent tragedy in his future.

Time travel is one of my favorite tropes and I will automatically read any book featuring it. While this wasn't one of my favorites, it was still written well and had a unique spin on it that I hadn't read before. I did like the characters and storyline, and can't really pinpoint what exactly was missing for me to make it great. I may just have been not the right audience for this one but I'd still recommend it to fans of the trope to give it a try. I listened to the audio and I quite enjoyed the narration.

3/5⭐

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
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Swipe for synopsis.
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I’m a huge fan of time travel stories and this one sounded right up my alley. I read this synopsis and I was like yes this one is going to be awesome. It was good, it just wasn’t my favorite.
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I just thought this one started off a bit too slow for me, it also was extra confusing to start because this story is told in a nonlinear timeline of Alex’s life. Once things start happening and the butterfly effect begins to take hold, thats when you see real growth in Alex. I loved where this story went and the theme of this one. The ending of this one was absolute perfection for this story.
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This is a very though provoking book, especially with Alex’s time jumps with no recollection of how he got there or what led to his current life he was living for that day. It just makes you stop and think how one change (a confession, asking for help, a conversation) in your past could cause such a massive change in your future. I think that this would be a great book club pick.
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I listened to this one via audiobooka nd it was narrated by James Meunier. He did a fantastic job at narrating this book. I think that this would be best read via a physical copy because of all the time shifting. I think it would have been less confusing for me had I had a print form of the book in the beginning.
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The Day Tripper releases on 3/19. Be sure to check it out! Huge thank you to NetGalley, James Goodhand and Harper Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Time travel isn’t something I’m usually into, but this book grippedddddd me!

It’s 1995 and Alex has got a pretty great thing going for him. With plans to attend Cambridge University in the coming year, and with the love of a beautiful girl named Holly, how does he awake from a terrible ordeal in a totally different time and place with no recollection of the years that have passed him by?

Every time Alex falls asleep at the end of a day, he awakens in a different year, having to piece together his life and what went so horribly wrong by the buts and pieces he gets through the random days he wakes up in. They are snapshots of a fuller picture and that picture is dismal.

Alex knows who he is though, and he knows that there is no way that his life could have turned out like this. Can he change it? Can he alter things? Will he ever get back to the life he was MEANT to have?

I enjoyed this so much. It was emotional, it was pretty fast paced, and it was really fun to listen to. James Meunier narrates this story with such a sense of Alex and his character!

The time travel hook for the book had me instantly. The story itself was easy to get through, because the narrator was so good. As for the story itself, the protagonist is not the most likable guy, but that was ok as the time travel was the more interesting thing for me.
It was a fine standalone novel band I would be interested to see what Mr Goodhand does after this. A bit more characterization would be welcome, letting us feel for the charecter more.

What would you do if you had the ability to live your life out of sequence? This book was absolutely amazing, the voice actor and subject matter. Chefs Kiss! This book follows the course Alex Dean's life took after a dust up with a long time childhood rival. His life was seemingly on track, the girl of his dreams, Holly Chan, acceptance into Cambridge, promising musician, things looked to be set for an amazing life. After the fists-to-cuffs, he wakes to his life as a half functioning alcoholic mess, no Holly, no Cambridge.

James Goodhand did an amazing job writing this character and really making him relatable. As he woke to each new day he is in a new year throughout his lifeline and you find yourself really pulling for him to get it together and make his life better than what he is living. You are able to see the base of this man, what pain he hides and the true source of this pain. Along the way he befriends a young man Jazz, who he accidentally becomes a mentor of sorts. Helping and supporting him as he makes a difficult life decision.

This book has layers and I am here for each and every one of them.

The Day Tripper by James Goodhand is a time traveling novel. There are so many things I loved about it. I love a good ol' fashion time traveling story. No one exactly knows why it happens but it's pretty cool when it does happen. However, in The Day Tripper, I was not rooting for Alex, the main character. There wasn't much character building. I didn't get to know him and love him. The romance between Alex and Holly seemed forced. The narrator, James Meunier, was fantastic. Very articulate, has distinct voices for each of the characters so you never got confused as to who was talking.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy of the audiobook. #netgalley #thedaytripper

I wanted to root for Alex through every day he experienced, even though I am not quite sure he was the best human in a book ever. I liked the idea of this novel and the time travel aspect. Good job!

Book Title: The Day Tripper
Author: James Goodhand
Narrator: James Meunier
Publisher: Harper Audio-Harlequin Audio
Genre: Time Travel/Romance
Pub Date: March 19, 2024
My Rating: 2.5 – rounded up
Pages: 368

When I read the blurb that this story was about getting caught in time travel; it got my attention. I enjoyed “The Time Travelers Wife”, “The Midnight Library’, and of course Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander”. I was hoping to add this to my list..

In 1995, twenty year old Alex Dean is excited about heading off to Cambridge University, additionally he has Holly the love of his life. What could be better?

The next day when he wakes up, he finds he is wearing grimy clothes and is in a messy room he doesn’t recognize. He looks in the mirror and finds a thirty-six year old Alex looking back at him.
And so be begins.

Unfortunately the story was a struggle for me. I had a hard time connecting to Alex- I really didn’t care for him.
I love a good audiobook but didn’t like the narrator’s performance. So wasn’t sure if my dislike of Alex was due to this performance. As any audiobook fan knows that the narrator is super important in the enjoyment of the novel.
Perhaps I would have enjoyed this if I read it. I did finish but there were times I had a hard time keeping focused.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper Audio- Harlequin Audio for this early Audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 19, 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.
We meet London lad Alex at age 20. His life is full of promise: acceptance at Cambridge and a date with a beautiful girl who he adores and to his surprise seems to adore him. At the end of the date they visit a pub, where he meets his arch enemy and a fight ensues. Alex gets knocked out, and when he awakes ( and each time he awakes) he is a different age and it’s a decade later. The story has him moving back and forth in the timeline of his own life.
IMHO the concept only works when the reader is relating to or rooting for the main character. Unfortunately in this book- sweet shy Alex is a turd in every subsequent age- he slowly turns into a alcoholic, ne’er do well slacker . He hurts or lets down everyone he comes in contact with. He quickly realizes thats he can perhaps impact his future but instead knowingly proceeds onto pickle his liver despite experiencing the suffering he will endure a 20 years later. He is no fun to be with and this makes the book a slog. Sorry but I gave up at the 40% mark.
I did however like the narrator’s voice.

One of the dangers of writing books that play with time is that the story almost always becomes subservient to the concept, which rarely results in a good novel.

Such is a lot of the problem in The Day Tripper, which is so fixated on bending time that it sacrifices plot to the cause. I don’t mind fantasy novels that see characters traveling straight back or forward in time to participate in or alter an event, but that’s not what’s happening in this book, which is far more concerned with the manipulation of time than the events encountered.

The other major issue with this book is that it’s tragedy porn, which I find dull and manipulative. I was bored while reading for most of the story, endlessly waiting for something intriguing to happen and instead encountering nothing but story at cost of concept and a lot of wallowing in a depressing sequence of tragic events.

The writing itself is fine if a bit flat, and I always appreciate an author who tries to put a new spin on an old concept. This just wasn’t a successful attempt to do so.

I could see this becoming a book club pick which could trigger interesting conversations! The start is slow, but knowing the premise, I pushed through. Not everything is ideal in Alex's life, that keeps the story unique and enticing.