Published By: Renegade Books
Pages: 336
Released On: 20/06/2024
Do you ever feel like you have no idea what you’re doing in life – and wonder if you just didn’t get the memo?
Jenny Green is dreading her Class of 2007 reunion. While her friends are killing it, Jenny’s promising career as an artisanal baker went up in flames (literally) and her deadbeat, commitment-phobe boyfriend is cheating on her with their swishy-ponytailed neighbour. She feels like she didn’t get the memo… As it turns out, she didn’t.
Begrudgingly back at university, she receives a text from an unlisted number: Jenny Green – please collect your memo. Hidden on her old campus is a secret female-led organisation providing memos to select students; blueprints for success.
The first time around, Jenny didn’t receive hers. Now she’s being given a second chance – the opportunity to rewrite her past, undo her worst mistakes and fix her mess of a life. But at what price?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Renegade Books for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Oh how we would all love a do-over, a blueprint to what our lives should have been like if they were as successful as they could be. I would have very much liked someone to tell me what to do and when to do it to make my life a success. I often with someone else made my decisions for me.
It definitely gave me food for thought, and it wasn’t always comfortable. If I’d finished writing the novel I started at University, where would I be now? Was there anything I could have done to stop my illness developing? If I’d taken the job offer I pulled out of? It’s not always an easy read to think about, but it is interesting and I think it would make a good book club read.
But it also makes you wonder about whether perfection is really worth it. What makes a life successful? Is having the perfect job worth losing your friends? Is having the perfect partner worth losing your freedom? I having the perfect body worth losing your joy in things like food? It really looks at what is it worth, what would you sacrifice, and what does a perfect life really mean for you?
Having a 24/7 job, an expensive house, lots of money, the perfect partner, the ideal body – it is worth it when you don’t see your friends or family, don’t eat what you want, spend your free time working out instead of relaxing?
Rarely do I read what I would call “real” books. Books about real people doing real things. I read books about crime and murder, historical books, dragons and parallel worlds. But I haven’t read many…what do I call it? Normal books about normal people, normal feelings, normal things. There are elements of the fantasy, of course, but it’s mainly very human. And it’s a completely different reading experience.
It was a very interesting book. I did worry I would find it boring because of the aforementioned love of thrillers and whatnot, but I wasn’t. It was a really good read, well-written, with relatable characters. Not every character is nice, some are worse than others, but that’s what I liked, it made them real, these imperfections that felt so real.
I admit that once the whole time travel thing got going, and people and events started changing left, with and centre, I did get a little lost trying to keep up with it. It didn’t ruin the reading of it, but it meant I had to focus a lot more on those parts which slowed down the reading slightly.
It’s not the most suspenseful book. There were bits I did figure out before the end, but that didn’t spoil the reading of it. I was just as interested to get to the end. I would say it’s the reading of it, the journey of the story that I enjoyed more than the destination, if that makes sense. I didn’t mind how it ended, I didn’t mind that I may have figured some of it out, I was simply enjoying reading Lauren and Rachel’s writing.
I found the start a little slow. Not terribly so, but it took me a little while to get into it, but then once I was – once the time travel started – it absolutely flew by and I read it in less than 24 hours.
Apart from the slight confusion about the changing characters and slow start, there’s nothing I can really say is overly wrong with it. It maybe lacked a little spark to push it over the edge into a fantastic read, But I really did enjoy it and would definitely recommend it. Thoroughly enjoyable and I will definitely look out for future works by each or by both authors.
I am always interested in how a book is written by two people. Does each person write a chapter each? Or does one write it and the other edit? How do they ensure it comes across as one voice?
I really enjoyed it by the end; I had a huge smile on my face and couldn’t get it out of my head for ages afterwards. It’s interesting, well-written, unique, fun, but honest, and serious. Definitely recommend.
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