By Melissa AmsterLauren has spent a lot of her life waiting. She spent her childhood on her surfboard, waiting to catch the perfect wave. She waited a long time for her husband Leo. Now she and Leo are together waiting for those two lines on a pregnancy test that will tell Lauren she’s finally pregnant.
But many women wait for those things. Lauren has also spent her life waiting to use the gift that only the women in her family have: the opportunity, just once, to turn back time and reverse a bad decision, or a moment of catastrophic luck. When Lauren was fifteen, her mother Marcella reversed the car crash that killed Lauren’s father, and ever since then, both Marcella and Lauren have been extra cautious around Dave, and perhaps extra brittle with each other. Even though Dave is alive and healthy, and out on the Malibu waves every day.
Lauren and Leo’s marriage has been rock-steady for the three years they’ve been married, but their fertility journey is starting to wear on both of them. When Leo takes a six-week job in New York, Lauren temporarily moves back to her childhood house. She’ll spend time with her dad, spend time on the water, and try not think about the relationship with her mother she wishes she had. What Lauren doesn’t expect is to run into the love of her youth: fellow surfer Stone, back home for the first time in ten years. Since he left and broke Lauren’s heart. Now Lauren’s thinking about all the choices that have brought her to this moment in her life—and wondering if one of them should be undone. (Courtesy of Amazon.)
Once and Again is Rebecca Serle's latest venture into surrealism. This time around, the women in her story get one chance at a do-over. Think
Twice (by Mitch Albom), but it can only happen for them one time and that's it. What these women decide to do has a huge impact on their lives. It's very thought-provoking and explores relationships, marriage, family, and motherhood. I love the L.A. beach setting too. The
While the story and premise were interesting overall, there were times it moved a bit slow. It flowed well for the most part though. Lauren's narrative was in first person and her mother's was in third. However, the grandmother's narrative was also in first person, which made things a little confusing. She didn't have that many chapters, but I felt like she should have been in third person too. I also wasn't thrilled with the last moment of the story. Sometimes the math didn't add up right in regard to how old the characters were at different points in the novel. I know I had an advanced copy, so I hope this got ironed out for the final publication.
The story kept me intrigued because I didn't know what was going to happen and how, when, or why Lauren would use her one do-over. So that definitely surprised me. Some other secrets were revealed throughout the novel that threw me for a loop. The dialogue was genuine the entire time, which I appreciated. There was a nice balance of emotions, as well.
It's a worthwhile read and it makes you wonder what the one thing you would do over is and how far back in time you'd go to change things for yourself.
Movie casting suggestions:
(Trigger warnings at the bottom of this post. May contain spoilers.)
Thanks to Atria for the book in exchange for an honest review.
More by Rebecca Serle:
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TW: Infertility, infidelity, death of spouse/parent, death of child, health emergency
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