The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner
Published by Hachette UK on December 5, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Romance / General
Pages: 336
Format: eBook

In one fell swoop, Sadie Thatcher managed to lose her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend. So when a fortune teller offers her one wish, Sadie longs to redo her awful year. More than a little sceptical, she makes her wish, opens her eyes, and . . . nothing has changed. And then, in perhaps her worst move yet, she kisses her brother's best friend, Jacob.

When Sadie wakes up the next morning, she's in her former apartment with her former boyfriend, and her former boss is expecting her at work. She realises it's January 1 . . . of last year.

As Sadie navigates her second-chance year, she begins to see the red flags she missed in both her relationship and her career. Plus, she keeps running into Jacob, and she can't stop thinking about their kiss . . . the one he has no idea ever happened. Suddenly, Sadie begins to wonder if her only mistake was wishing for a second chance.

Okay, this was super cute. I always really enjoy time travel or parallel universe or time loop stories, especially holiday themed ones, which is why I picked up The Second Chance Year. The plot of this one was super fun, and I enjoyed following the main character as she realised her Very Bad Year may not have been the worst thing for her after all. I loved the romance between her and her brother’s best friend, especially because he had been in love with her for years and years. I love that trope.

I do think I will mostly have forgotten about this book by this time next year, as it doesn’t seem to be very memorable to me, but it was a good while to read while I was in the mood for it.

I did have a slight issue with the main character’s best friend trying to pressure her into calling out an abusive boss, the main character telling her best friend that she wasn’t comfortable, the best friend doing it anyway, and then getting annoyed with the main character for not backing her up. You absolutely cannot force women into that, and don’t put the blame on them when the abuser then retaliates – it’s entirely on him!

Apart from that, this was a lovely read and perfect for the holidays.