Lynn Painter

The Do-Over

In this riotous young adult romp for fans of Recommended for You and A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, a teen girl has the worst Valentine’s Day ever—only to relive it over and over again.

After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine’s Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother’s house for some comfort and a consolation pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s back home in her own bed—and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And the next day? Another nightmare V-Day.

Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare that she can’t wake up from as she re-watches her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. In addition to Josh’s recurring infidelity, Emilie can’t get away from the enigmatic Nick, who she keeps running into—sometimes literally—in unfortunate ways.

How many days can one girl passively watch her life go up in flames? And when something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?

“Yes, Emilie Hornby, I'm here to tell you that I'm a little obsessed with you. With this." He raised his hands and cupped my face. “With us."

“I remember everything about you, Em.”

EUGEHEJRIWJHWJSKWJSIQJWOQOSJSJSJSJSJSJJWKQKSKSNAHHAS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

MFEKSJWJJEJWJEKQOEJWOEOORKNENRBWOOWOSEJSJBRJEKEKJDHEJWIWOODDOSKJRNTKEOEOWOWOEKKDEWNSBDNBEJWJWJIWOSKSKNWKAOSOQOIS

He kissed me like he was trying to prove something.

sTOP ITKJEJJWISJQJAHAHHWOEJRJEJHJJEJENEJKWOFEJJEOWJDJENDBRBEJWJJWJWJDDNNDNWHWHWJJSJDKW

"And Ive thought about it, and I really want my DONC to include kissing you, Em."

reminds me of me and him hUEY HUHUHUHU WALA NA WALA NA 🫸🏻😞🫷🏻

I never-ever-talked about my parents to anyone. But as Nick looked at me as if he actually wanted to know, I found myself telling him everything.

HE IS SO REAL ,, there’s always something bad that’s going to happen after when you’re happy

"Existence is the default. Merely existing, emotionally, is the baseline. Happy is, like, this floating, fluid thing that's impossible to hold on to. Elusive as fuck. Sometimes you get lucky and have it, but it's only a matter of time before it slips back out of your hands."

"Uh, something that mattered to her, I guess. I mean, if she was a bookish person like you, I’d try to find a special edition of her favorite book or something.”

"It's easier to just say what the people want.”

“I was so good that my parents didn't have to worry about me. So they didn't. At all.”

“I'd wanted love that was better than my parents love, something that was built to last.”

“and if Josh was doing better than me, affection was not the feels coming over me.”

RacquelElizabeth

Fate is for suckers. Love is for planners.

Marz

“If I did? I don’t know—not chocolates and anaphylaxis, that’s for sure.”

My favorite Lynn Painter book. SO UNDERRATED  

𝒫

౨ৎ | i was so good that my parents didn't have to worry about me. so they didn't. at all. 

it felt like there was an invisible string, pulling me in his direction.

“but doesn't that eat you up inside?" i shrugged. my insides were shredded, regardless of how they got that way.

i really enjoyed the premise of this book, although i wish we could have delved more into it. because the concept was so cool and i feel like even just a chapter on the whole ‘stuck in a time loop’ thing would have been cool. 

i loved emilie and nicks banter! i wish we could have gotten more even an epilogue because i loved them so much. also i feel like emilie hornby was based off me because what do you mean ive felt how she’s felt ten times each in my life?!?

only reason this isn’t a five star read is because in a sense it was sort of insta lovey?? mainly from nicks POV though because em had all these prior memories but still it was technically like five days. ANYWAY. 

౨ৎ | i was so good that my parents didn't have to worry about me. so they didn't. at all. 

~

it felt like there was an invisible string, pulling me in his direction.

~

“but doesn't that eat you up inside?" i shrugged. my insides were shredded, regardless of how they got that way.

— ★ 4.5/5

i really enjoyed the premise of this book, although i wish we could have delved more into it. because the concept was so cool and i feel like even just a chapter on the whole ‘stuck in a time loop’ thing would have been cool. 

i loved emilie and nicks banter! i wish we could have gotten more even an epilogue because i loved them so much. also i feel like emilie hornby was based off me because what do you mean ive felt how she’s felt ten times each in my life?!?

only reason this isn’t a five star read is because in a sense it was sort of insta lovey?? mainly from nicks POV though because em had all these prior memories but still it was technically like five days. ANYWAY. 

i will be reading more of LP. 

I loved that!! It was refreshing and I couldn’t put it down. I loved every bit of it that i managed to finish it in less than 24 hours, it was cute and had me giggling, gasping, and kicking my feet. It was exactly the book I was in the mood to read… it’s true that it could get a little predictable but if you just enjoy it as it is during the moment it’s fine, it’s amazing. Overall, I loved it. 

Ps. setting was in highschool so maybe some adult readers might not enjoy 

I loved that!! It was refreshing and I couldn’t put it down. I loved every bit of it that i managed to finish it in less than 24 hours, it was cute and had me giggling, gasping, and kicking my feet. It was exactly the book I was in the mood to read… it’s true that it could get a little predictable but if you just enjoy it as it is during the moment it’s fine, it’s amazing. Overall, I loved it. 

Ps. setting was in highschool so maybe some adult readers might not enjoy 

This book was good but i feel like it was forgettable and not like re-readable (at least I didn’t feel the need to like i do her other books), Lynn Painter can write better and this is like my least fav of her books. My main critic is like why was the main character not more concerned on the fact that the day repeated. Like I feel like she should've been a bit more distraught than she was. And then the 3rd act break up was stupid, like damn she got ghosted just like that?? Also like reliving the same day and then nick forgets it all is a bummer better plot line would be him remembering like how does she come back from living the day so many times and not be atleast a bit more insane

melanie

nick stark i Need you nick stark 😭😭😭😭😭

vera ౨ৎ

In this riotous young adult romp for fans of Recommended for You and A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, a teen girl has the worst Valentine's Day ever--only to relive it over and over again.

it's a tradition to revisit nickemilie every valentine's day 💐💝💒🧸👩‍❤‍💋‍👨

eden

it kind of pissed me off that the day she did everything perfectly was for nothing and the day she did the stupidest things and made the most mistakes is what broke the little spell blah whatever 

debbie <3

Its a really nice book, the only thing i didnt like was how emilie met nick like 100 times and the only time she lives her life she goes onto february 15th

Joana Brito

issa

FishStick 

Linara K.S

Thoughts:

• Nick Stark reminds me of Jesse from the gilemore girls because of his sarcasm and pessimism.

• I loved Emily as our MC. Her internal turmoil over who she is and what she wants was well-portrayed by this loop day story. Her arc is just... well done, I guess.

• I loved how imperfect both our main characters were. How terrifyingly human they both felt.

The ONLY reason I'm not giving this 4 stars is because of the slow start.

I read this book in three days. I really liked the concept of this book and got really invested. I was grinning and giggling at their jokes. I only wish we got more of Emilie and Nick at the end of the book. Loved the book and all the adventures Emilie had, while finding herself along the way.  

Maggie Hotmer

Zoe R

Good a little predictable but in a good way? 

⚠️⚠️⚠️

Low key was hoping at the end he was like you know how many times I’ve lived today? And she would be like 5 and he’d be like….. ya

Well not like that exactly but whatever you get the point I thought he was also ground hog day ing this s**t

Still good

Olivia 

The pacing of this book was great; I read it in about a short 2-3 hours really and I basically enjoyed it. I love the time loop plot of books; it really just excites me, and I knew what was going to happen. Obviously, due to the books length, I just didn't really care about the characters in this book, like i've already forgotten everyone's names but yeah, it's not  a bad book, I think it's great to read if you're in a reading slump or new to reading. 

surtified™

WOOOOOOOW. wow. i went on to read this book completely blind (impulse buy) and I ENJOYED IT !!! it’s the typical cliché repeating-day-trope (well duh, nasa title na) but I WILL EAT IT UP EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. 

first of all, can we talk about how well written lynn painter’s male lead always are? i swear i just fell in love with nick stark. i honestly didn’t hate josh naman, it just annoyed me na he doesn’t pay attention to details about emilie, like who gifts their gf a silver band knowing that’ll make her skin turn green 😞 AND THAT’S WHERE NICK CAME THROUGH he swept me off my feet the moment he said “something that mattered to her, i guess” i knew he’d be the one 🫵🏻 but still, nagkaayos naman si em and josh so 💯

i also love how they got closer because of their problems and the feeling of “loneliness”. ‘yung parang they just got what eo was feeling, yk? it reminded me so much of me and ano HAHAHAHAHAH EH KASI GANYAN RIN KAMI NAGING CLOSE IH 😞 it’s definitely the feeling of having someone in solitude with you (ang contradicting, pero you get the point)

the DNOC, them sneaking out into the 40 story building to talk about life, how em did things eric would’ve loved :( and the purple unicorn cake 😭‼️

as someone who has a slightly similar situation to em in regards to her family, i felt her situation right through me 😭ALSO WHY IS EM’S BROTHER NAMED POTASSIUM ???

i have so much to say pero idk how to word it out, rated it 4/5 stars kasi it’s nothing new, pero i still enjoyed it vv much ! and medyo nabagalan ako in the beginning buuutttt BASTA READ THE BOOK IT’S GOOD AND SUPER EASY READ N’YA LANG ❗️❗️ 

love you Lynn Painter, i will eat up every Y.A book you write i swear

“I love you, Nick Stark.”

WOOOOOOOW. wow. i went on to read this book completely blind (impulse buy) and I ENJOYED IT !!! it’s the typical cliché repeating-day-trope (well duh, nasa title na) but I WILL EAT IT UP EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. 

first of all, can we talk about how well written lynn painter’s male lead always are? i swear i just fell in love with nick stark. i honestly didn’t hate josh naman, it just annoyed me na he doesn’t pay attention to details about emilie, like who gifts their gf a silver band knowing that’ll make her skin turn green 😞 AND THAT’S WHERE NICK CAME THROUGH he swept me off my feet the moment he said “something that mattered to her, i guess” i knew he’d be the one 🫵🏻 but still, nagkaayos naman si em and josh so 💯

i also love how they got closer because of their problems and the feeling of “loneliness”. ‘yung parang they just got what eo was feeling, yk? it reminded me so much of me and ano HAHAHAHAHAH EH KASI GANYAN RIN KAMI NAGING CLOSE IH 😞 it’s definitely the feeling of having someone in solitude with you (ang contradicting, pero you get the point)

the DNOC, them sneaking out into the 40 story building to talk about life, how em did things eric would’ve loved :( and the purple unicorn cake 😭‼️

as someone who has a slightly similar situation to em in regards to her family, i felt her situation right through me 😭ALSO WHY IS EM’S BROTHER NAMED POTASSIUM ???

i have so much to say pero idk how to word it out, rated it 4/5 stars kasi it’s nothing new, pero i still enjoyed it vv much ! and medyo nabagalan ako in the beginning buuutttt BASTA READ THE BOOK IT’S GOOD AND SUPER EASY READ N’YA LANG ❗️❗️ 

love you Lynn Painter, i will eat up every Y.A book you write i swear

The do over type of tropes typically aren't my thing but this wasn't bad. It took a min to get through because of that but still pretty cute ! 

cute valentines day read and story. the banter was cringy but it’s YA, so feel like thats normal. the taylor swift references were also very cute. 

ive never read a groundhogs day plot and i realize now i really do not enjoy them and they are not for me in books. i also did not enjoy the end conflict of why the two couldnt get together (i thought it was so dumb lol) and thats why i scored this lower even though its a sweet little read. 

alice l

cute valentines day read and story. the banter was cringy but it’s YA, so feel like thats normal. the taylor swift references were also very cute. 

ive never read a groundhogs day plot and i realize now i really do not enjoy them and they are not for me in books. i also did not enjoy the end conflict of why the two couldnt get together (i thought it was so dumb lol) and thats why i scored this lower even though its a sweet little read. 

Okay, this was so cute and the perfect book to read for Valentine’s Day! I was wondering what I would think about Lynn Painter’s YA work because I haven’t enjoyed her adult romances. But this is everything I was looking for and enjoyed it wholeheartedly. The concept was so much fun and you really like the characters. It really made you question what would possibly happen and how it would end. It’s so funny to have read time loop romances during the holiday they take place but I’m thinking this one is my current favorite so far. I’m also definitely looking forward to reading more of Lynn’s YA work to see what else I think about it. 

Priscilla Stanfield

Keely Calagos

3.5! Not as good as her others but Painter really knows how to write YA romance 💘

Full review to come

nina 

l ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

** spoiler alert **
           i liked this, but i didn’t like it enough. i think it’s overall a 4.25!

i wanted more & better interactions with em + nick which is weird to say since she spent a lot of her vdays with him … but it also didn’t even count? the DONC was all he remembered and it was cute but i didnt LOOVEEEEE it. i did <3 nick throughout the book but he completely lost me at the end. i was very upset when he called his day with emilie a “play date” 😭 i also feel like since so much time passed after the parking lot situation, she shouldn’t have let him back in so easily. yeah he got her a cake … but he needed to grovel some more. 

i definitely enjoyed the story, side character, & loved em’s personality (BUT i got second hand embarrassment when she told nick she loved him) so overall it was a great read! i got through it in less than 22 hours - super fast and easy. 

i will say that a part of me kept comparing it to better than the movies (it seriously became a fav) so perhaps i didn’t read the do over with a clear head & didn’t rate it very fairly but 😭 it is what it is

it was really good. it was fast paced but i read it all in one night and i enjoyed it a lot

The Do-Over

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