Published By: Lake Union
Pages: 285
Released On: 04/02/2025
Mary Mulligan has two problems: her wisdom teeth…and everything else. Her only daughter is moving overseas. Her husband would rather go golfing than spend time with her. And Mary’s left to wonder why she abandoned her career ambitions when loneliness is all she has to show for it.
Plus her teeth really, really hurt.
But that’s one problem she can fix—never mind the stories that say if she gets her wisdom teeth removed, the last thirty years of her life will be erased. In fact, Mary wouldn’t mind if the Mulligan curse were actually true.
Turns out, it is.
The world around her hasn’t changed, but Mary is suddenly twenty-four again, with the life she once dreamed of still ahead of her. As she embarks on this new beginning, Mary comes to realize that those dreams aren’t nearly as important as everything she once had. If only she knew how to get it all back.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I think this was the first 2025 advanced copy I received and was super excited to read it. It was the first of Diane’s books for me and I had high hopes. But it sadly didn’t meet all of them.
It is a mixture of fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary fiction, a bit of romance and comedy. It looks at middle-age and regrets, and what you’re willing to sacrifice to undo those regrets, even if it meant erasing your family.
It is very bizarre. Every time your teeth hurt, it’s because you’ve thought of a regret, and removing your wisdom teeth will erase the 20-odd years of your life since said regret so you can go back and redo it. I mean, where does that idea come from?! Ironically, I wrote this review once I came home from a dentist trip where they were discussing the possible removal of one of my wisdom teeth, so…you never know, this time next month I might be 11 years old.
I didn’t take to Mary particularly. I quite liked her as an older woman, but the younger Mary, she just seems too fidgety and flightly and gullible and naïve, and I never felt comfortable reading about her. None of the other characters shone for me either, I didn’t like any, but I didn’t hate any, they all felt a bit 2D.
I suppose, what I struggled with is that it was hard to believe. I know it’s a fantasy and so it’s meant to be make-believe, but even in a fantasy world things have to work in context, and it was hard to think that they did.
I found the ending was rushed. It came about all of a sudden, but it was a lovely ending so I didn’t mind too much. It started well and ended well, but lost its way in the middle.
I thought it was such an interesting premise and had the potential to be something really special but it all felt a bit formulaic. I did enjoy it, I mean, I read it in a day. There are some positives but overall I don’t think it reaches the heights that the unusual premise promised.
I will still keep an eye out for Diane’s other books, but overall I think it needed some tidying up and a bit more depth to it for me to say it was really enjoyable. It was okay, just a bit tepid.
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