Annie was in a rut—in 2008 and in 2023—but her sweet, little Nona had a plan to help her figure out where things went off track. It all started with a prayer... and ended with some time traveling.

The story toggles between Annie’s life in 2008, when she’s single and jobless, and 2023, where she’s a stay-at-home mom with two kids and a husband. Things really get interesting when the two versions of Annie switch bodies: 2023 Annie wakes up in her younger self’s body in 2008, while 2008 Annie suddenly finds herself in the unfamiliar future.

Once 2023 Annie gets her bearings and figures out what’s going on, things go fairly smoothly for her. But poor 2008 Annie? She’s completely thrown. Imagine waking up in an older, unfamiliar body, and expected to care for kids you don’t recognize—and a husband you don’t remember marrying. It made for a great, sometimes chaotic, storyline.

One thing that was a little disturbing to me was how little 2023 Annie seemed to think about her kids when making certain choices in the past. I get that overthinking it might have slowed the story down, and maybe I’m seeing it differently as a newer mom myself, but I couldn't help wondering: what if those choices erased her kids entirely? The thought of potentially losing my son, even hypothetically, would make me question every decision I made.

That said, I really appreciated how the book made me reflect on my own life choices and the path I’ve taken. What if I’d made different decisions? Would I be where I am now? Would things be better than they already are? Would they be worse?

Annie in Retrospect gave me strong 13 Going on 30 vibes, with a hint of 17 Again, and was definitely worth the read.

Thank you Kristina Voegele, SparkPress, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Loved it. Amazing book and does a great job mixing the past with the present. To me it was all about learning from the past.

A Contemporary novel that shows readers that the "grass may not be greenier on the other side." As well as not wishing your life away. And the journey is just as important as the destination. Sometimes even more so.

Annie in Retrospect by Kristina Voegele is a heartfelt and engaging story that beautifully explores second chances, self discovery, and the passage of time. I loved how the dual timelines highlighted both the struggles and joys of different stages in life. The mix of humor, emotion, and reflection made this an inspiring and memorable read. I truly enjoyed this book and rated it five stars.

isn't this just the question we all ask ourselves. or it certainly comes up on tv, or with friends and family. how you might live if you had your time again. what might change. and whether it would ever be right for it to be able to be changed? would your younger self change things? would your older self change things?
i couldn't put this book down. it was so captivating that it had my full attention from start to finish.
this story takes us to a Annie. who has life questions to ask and answer. and along the way the thoughtful way this book is written offer us a look into these characters lives but also allow you to have some quiet reflections yourselves. this story is completely Annie's but also allows some deeper provoking moments that might echo in each of us or even people we know.
i think lots of people wonder or feel stuck. they wonder if they should be 'doing' something. achieving something. does life always need to be more or moving forward and upward? and what if life is just here, right here. and that achieving things can simply be you being you in a world you make the best of. even possibly be happy in? i think the days of social media have made people feel a lot more comparing and like they are lesser than and not doing enough. there are too many fake shoulds or shoving in faces often in pictures and stories that aren't even reality themselves!
well Annie is feeling stuck right now. she is 25 and seems to be losing all what matters. her job her partner you know the drill. so what now, what is next?
in a separate timelines we have an older Annie of 40. she has possibly everything the younger Annie thinks makes life or is striving for. she has her kids and her husband but she herself feels stuck, lost. what is her purpose? where is her role?
then with the help of her Grandma who is her constant a vice versa switch happens for Annie. the two version of themselves have swapped.
i loved following Annie on her journey. wondering what she might do differently and how that would alter everything. i also found myself smiling at the little things she was discovering that were invented in her past self. gosh how much time is changing all the time.
the side characters in this books are also stars of the show in their own right. they all felt important parts of this story and were all engaging to read about. that only added to how invested i was in this story and had to know what was to happen and how Annie would fair.
this is a wonderful story. and i was fully involved in it. i didn't want to step out of the worlds Kristina had created for us. and she truly gave us one big thinking point. of how much we take for granted. and what we should hold onto as being the biggest privileges a life on earth can bring. and they so often, mostly always, are not the things we think they will be,should be, want them to be. when you take a step back and in this case huuuuge step back, you can start to realise a fair few things.
theres that line isn't there. to stop striving or wishing for the "result" because its the here, the journey that is they key, that is the greatest "result"

I loved the idea of this book. There was nothing wrong with this book, but the whole time I was just waiting to get to a point i couldn't put it down, and it just never came.

I think I may be too old for this book, or it is too young for me, either way I just couldn't relate to the characters and their situations, and I felt like my interest dwindled the more I read. I found it to be dull, so sorry it wasn't for me.

An adorable story that truly does give readers " Annie" vibes- lovely, original, breathtaking. I loved this- you will too!

The description of the book was there but the book and the storyline wasn’t carried out in the book when actually reading it . It sounding like the movie with Gwenyth Paltrow sliding doors but didn’t quite make it there .

25-year-old Annie has reached a crossroads in her life. Let go from her job and broken up with by email, Annie doesn't know what is next in her life but she does know she is very unhappy. In another timeline, 40-year-old Annie is lost. She loves her children and her husband but she feels lost in her body and her role as a mother. In both timelines, she visits her grandmother, who "heals" her using a family recipe/spell/incantation passed down over time. The next day, each Annie wakes up in another version of her - the 25yo in the 40yo body and vice versa.

This is such an interesting idea for a book! Time travel books are pretty common (and I love them!) but I think this is the first body swap book I have read. The question of what you would do if you could live it all again is really fascinating. I also very much enjoyed Annie encountering iPhones and tablets and a French press - it's easy to forget just how much everyday life changed in just 15 years!

However, the problem with this book is that Annie is the least interesting character in the whole novel. Her best friends, her husband, even her daughter, were more engaging than she was. I found myself rushing through the pages Annie spent in her head and then slowing down when she interacted with other people. Which is a pity, because an idea as good as this book has deserves to be fully explored.

Three stars.

i really struggled with this one ot took me a while to get into it and i just couldnt connect with annie at all i pushed through and it got better towards the end but it just wasn't for me which is a shame cos from reading the description it had so much potential

I was so excited for this book and struggled to finish it. The storyline just wasn’t there but the idea in theory was great. The last 3 chapters were my favorite without a doubt but I kept waiting for the whole point and other than “everything works out the way it’s supposed to” I got nothing else from this book.

In Annie in Retrospect, Kristina Vogele offers a quietly compelling take on the question many women ask themselves at some point: Is this really the life I wanted? When Annie, a 40-year-old wife and mother, finds herself trading places with her 25-year-old single self, she’s forced to reckon with what she once longed for and what she now takes for granted.

Rather than glorifying the past, the novel explores the tension between wanting to skip ahead and learning to value the messy, beautiful process of becoming. Annie’s journey becomes a gentle reminder that the wisdom we seek is often found only by living fully through our seasons of doubt. One of the book’s most touching insights is that aging, far from being a loss, is a profound privilege.

Though the prose leans simple and accessible, the emotional truths at the heart of this story resonate. Readers who appreciate introspective fiction with a speculative twist similar to The Midnight Library will find this a thoughtful and rewarding read.

This book raises the question if one had the chance to go back in time and revisit a situation that could change the course of life that nothing would be the sane, what choice would that person make? How much should Annie reveal to her friends, JoJo and Leena, that they would act differently especially in the case of JoJo? I have to admit that Annie's observations of her younger self especially with respect to her appearance were hilarious. Annie at the time was in a relationship with Troy where he truly dictated how they were interacting and the way she should feel as a result of it. He clearly didn't take her into consideration at all when he abruptly left and sent a breakup email. Along comes Jake who is stable and adores her. Who sees her. He is her person and it took her observing both her present and past to do so. That is why Nonna prayed in such a way. Annie really needed it because she felt lost and only defined as a mother to JoJo and Lukey. That was all. The ending is great when it is her that leaves Troy and stays downstairs with Jake. She knew what she deserves the whole time.