The Repeat Year by Andrea Lochen
ISBN: 9780425263136 (paperback)
ISBN: 9781101598849 (ebook)
ASIN: B0095ZQ0V4 (Kindle edition)
Publication date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Berkley
Everyone has days, weeks, even months they wish they could do over—but what about an entire year? After living through the worst twelve months of her life, intensive care nurse Olive Watson is given a second chance to relive her past and attempt to discover where she went wrong…
After a year of hardships, including a messy breakup with her longtime boyfriend Phil, the prospect of her mother’s remarriage, and heartbreaking patient losses at the hospital, Olive is ready to start fresh. But when she wakes up in her ex-boyfriend’s bed on New Year’s Day 2011—a day she has already lived—Olive’s world is turned upside down. Shouldering a year of memories that no one else can recall, even Olive begins to question herself—until she discovers that she is not alone. Upon crossing paths with Sherry Witan, an experienced “repeater,” Olive learns that she has the chance to rewrite her future. Given the opportunity of a lifetime, Olive has to decide what she really wants. Should she make different choices, or accept her life as she knows it, flaws and all?
Life normally doesn’t come with “do-overs” or second chances, but Olive Watson and Sherry Witan are given the opportunity to relive one year, 2011. Will they be able to make the most of this second chance or will they make the same mistakes all over again in The Repeat Year by Andrea Lochen.
Olive Watson is a young twenty-something. She’s relatively debt-free, has a well-paying job as a nurse in the intensive care unit at a local hospital. She has close friends, a loving boyfriend, and is close to her mother and brother. Olive has been dating Phil for almost four years, but a series of incidents led to a separation then breakup. This was followed by her mother’s engagement announcement and remarriage, which Olive doesn’t take very well since it’s only been a few short years after her father’s death. Olive goes to bed on New Year’s Eve 2011 in what was admittedly the worst year of her life after the year her father died. She expects to awaken on January 1, 2012 but awakens to January 1, 2011. At first she thinks she’s crazy and just experiencing a weird deja vu moment, but she quickly learns that she is repeating 2011 . . . her nightmare year. Fortunately, there’s someone to provide her with a little guidance, her mother’s friend – Sherry Witan. Sherry tells Olive that she isn’t quite sure why these repeat years or second chances are offered, but she’s being given an opportunity to change the mistakes of the past and hopefully move forward to a better year.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started reading The Repeat Year. At first I thought it was going to be like the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray, but this isn’t repeating the same day over-and-over to get it right. Olive is forced to relive an entire year and hopefully make better choices. After I overcame my preconceived notions of what to expect, I actually enjoyed The Repeat Year. Olive and Sherry aren’t perfect women. They are simply people that have made mistakes, some large, some small, and some life-changing. But unlike most of us, they’ve been allowed the opportunity to correct those mistakes, stop being judgmental (of themselves more so than anyone else) and to accept life and love with all of the inherent flaws. I found The Repeat Year to be a fast-paced read about self-discovery, acceptance, and tolerance. The characters were well developed and quite realistic. If you want a great read for a lazy afternoon, then I suggest The Repeat Year. Ms. Lochen has provided a story that offers a little bit of romance, a little bit of humor, some soul searching, and some family drama in an entertaining package.
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Author: thebookdivasreads
I'm a reader, an avid reader, or perhaps a rabid reader (at least according to my family). I enjoy reading from a variety of different genres but particularly enjoy fiction, mystery, suspense, thrillers, ChickLit, romance and classics. I also enjoy reading about numerous non-fiction subjects including aromatherapy, comparative religions, herbalism, naturopathic medicine, and tea.
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