By: Prah Banks
This “Groundhogs Day” inspired book has readers thinking about the obsession of wanting to go back to a specific day because of regret or feeling like the outcome could’ve been different. Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds is a must read.
The main character, Jack King, is a smart kid but believes he’s mediocre at best. He has had a crush on his girl best friend, Jillian, for as long as he can remember but the gag is that she has been dating his guy best friend, Francisco, or “Fran,” for a while now.
Going back and forth on whether he should speak up about it or not, the three of them are determined to get into the same college, Whittier College. Jack and Jillian have already been admitted, but Fran was waitlisted.
Jack and Jillian go to a Whittier party and Jack is still debating on whether he should come clean about his feelings about Jillian, because it almost seems like she wants to come clean about something too. As he is sitting on some stairs debating, he meets a girl named Kate- and the rest is history.
He instantly falls for this girl- even though she is very vocal about not wanting to go official with him for a reason she refuses to admit. And everything is swell. For now.
However, for Fran, things aren’t so swell. His father is about to get out of jail and Fran is already counting down the days until he goes back. Also, his father has never been there for him, and Fran has been living with his abuela (who he rarely sees because she is always working) for years.
Prom is around the corner and Jack is hesitant that Kate will go with him- because it’s prom night and she is nowhere to be seen or heard. After an hour or two spent waiting for her, he finds out she was in the hospital and the reason why she didn’t want to be his girlfriend was because she had a deadly condition.
He races to the hospital to see her but it’s too late, and she dies. Then Jack feels like he’s dying, not metaphorically- like actually- then lights out for him. And when he wakes up, he’s at the same Whittier party on the same stairs and bumps into the same Kate.
But he’s the only one that’s reliving the same day, to his parents and friends and even Kate, this is the first time that they’re living that day. And he spends every single one of those days trying to keep Kate from dying.
He thinks he means well by wanting to keep his one true love from dying so he can be happy and stop reliving the same days repeatedly, but he stops showing up for his best friends and family with every day he relives trying to save Kate. And he starts to wonder if saving her is even worth all the pain and losing those closest to him.
This book was a very emotional and repetitive read. But the author did a great job of not making it boring with Jack reliving the same day over and over. The twists were not expected but Jack’s friends were way too forgiving of his actions.
The ending was short and sweet, which was also not expected. It had some good humor and it really made you think and feel for every character, especially Fran. This book is a strong 8.5/10.
This book is the perfect mix of a tear-jerker and a heart-warmer!
Photo from: goodreads.com
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