Five First Chances. Sarah Jost. 2023. [April] 400 pages. [Source: Library] [Adult Romance; Science Fiction; Time Loops]
First sentence: Baby elephants can die of loneliness. I'm hiding at the darker end of the room, in this village pub erected so close to the church that either would crumble without the other.
Premise/plot: Do you NEED to know the ins and outs of this sci-fi romantic drama? Is this the case of the less you know the better your experience? Perhaps. So I'll keep this short.
Lou (Louise) is attending a funeral with her friend Yuki (a former roommate). Nick's funeral is an odd place, perhaps, for Lou to be. She barely knew him. A friend of a friend. The majority of this one is a series of time loops--five to be exact. Lou finds herself stuck in a time loop. The loop starts with her attending Yuki's birthday party several years before. This is the party where she meets Nick. (This is also the party where she gets an unexpected text message from an ex.) Each loop plays out differently.... will Lou ever "get it right"?
My thoughts: I enjoy fictional time loops. It's one of my favorite sub-sub-genres of science fiction. This one blends romantic drama into the mix. There are a handful of characters: a blend of Lou's family and mutual(ish) friends of Lou and Yuki. There are differences in each time loop--for example, who Yuki ends up dating--but similarities as well. This is one of those books that's definitely meant to be one of those "meaning of life" books, an adult "coming of age" story, if you will. Lou is on a journey of self-discovery/transformation. Each trip in the loop changes her perspective on the meaning of life, and the meaning of HER life specifically.
Is it a clean read? I would say the graphic-ness of this one is kept to a minimum. There are a handful of sex scenes throughout the book. But instead of say taking up an entire chapter, it's a few sentences. It isn't quite fade to black, but almost.
© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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