The Run-Down: Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield is a delightful young adult romance that combines important conversations with a fun time loop twist.

Review:
I’m typically a tough sell when it comes to romance books, but I thought that if there’s any romance I might enjoy, it would be a queer time loop romance. (Also, the cover art for this book is amazing! The artist knocked it out of the park with the detailed renditions of the characters). I’m thrilled to report that I loved Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield. All of the characters are likable but realistic, and the two main characters feel like genuine teenagers with their own problems, strengths, and worries. The protagonist, Phoebe Mendel, is a Jewish lesbian who spends most of her time studying and hanging out with her family. She struggles with painful IBS-D, but she’s hopeful that a new doctor might be able to shed some light on her condition. Unfortunately, she finds herself stuck in a time loop before she can reach the day of her appointment. Phoebe’s strategy to get out of the time loop is to avoid doing anything wild and research the time loop phenomenon, but that changes when her childhood friend, Jess Friedman, gets pulled into the endless day of August 6 with her.

Greenfield’s storytelling is engaging, entertaining, and relatable. The time loop premise allows for some fun moments and some fantastic moments for character growth. It’s hard not to root for Jess and Phoebe as they navigate through universal teenage concerns and their identities as queer, disabled, Jewish young people—along with the particular challenges the time loop presents. This book proves that a romance story doesn’t need to resort to pure wish fulfillment to be sweet and fun; I also appreciate that this book affirms these characters’ experiences and identities without feeling preachy. The ending is a bit weak (after all, figuring out how to break a time loop is never an easy narrative choice), but does not detract from the overall quality of the book. Time and Time Again is a stellar romance debut, one I would recommend to longtime romance fans and people like myself, who typically struggle to find entries they like in the young adult romance genre.

Quick Note: This book contains mentions of sex and some kissing, but no on-page depictions of sex.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for providing me an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It it cliche to call something an instant classic? Full disclosure, the author is a friend and colleague, but I swear this book was written especially for me. And I'm not usually one for a time loop! But the prose is so smooth, the characters are unique and hilarious and engaging, and this is a book that is truly FOR teens, which is the highest compliment and I can give it.

I LOVED this book. I can’t wait to recommend it to my teens! Jess and Phoebe are such unique, real characters. Phoebes IBS struggle is so relatable and Jess using a cane made me so happy for teens who struggle with mobility and chronic pain. The romance was so sweet and perfect - they way they completely accepted each other. The time loop was a great device for their relationship to grow at a fast pace that made sense. Greenfield found a satisfying way to end the time loop and maintain the characters’ evolution.

Sometimes life feels like it's in a never-ending cycle and sometimes it really is! That's what Phoebe Mendel learns after reliving the same August day dozens of times. Things get interesting when Jess, her old (and maybe still current) crush, gets trapped in the time loop along with her. Rarely do I get a chance to read a story with fat representation, queer representation, and Jewish representation and this story executes the different identities beautifully. It's a story not only of accepting yourself, but also advocating for yourself, especially when dealing with chronic illness.

I really enjoyed the authors writing style! I didn't realize until I was reading the acknowledgements and then authors bio that this was a debut novel. This is a strong debut! The story was engaging from the start, and I found that I truly cared for the characters. The story dragged a little for me in the second half, but the overall story was enough for me to still really enjoy it.