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THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR
Melissa Wiesner
Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
336 Pages
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Sadie has had a Very Bad Year, she lost her job, her boyfriend and her apartment. At a New Year’s Eve party, she meets a fortune teller and wishes she could have a do-over and change her ways to prevent the Very Bad Year from happening. Sadie reminded me so much of myself in the beginning, a loud moth who speaks her mind and doesn’t like bullies so she stands up to them.
Each month of the year has its own few chapters as we watch Sadie learn and grow during the book, realizing that her life wasn’t really as great as she thought it was and that sometimes having a big mouth can be a good thing. As a woman who speaks her mind my family has never had to worry about me being taken advantage of or being abused in a relationship. I am fiercely independent and I saw these qualities in Sadie.
There is romance in this book but it isn’t front and center. The story mostly focuses on Sadie being true to herself and her happiness. She goes through a career change, and friendship change and even takes a different approach with her parents and others, I particularly loved her friend Kasumi and the descriptions of the baking but be careful you will get hungry!
My final thoughts: This is not your typical time loop story as Sadie is re-doing a year to change things up so it was refreshing not to live the same things over again. With themes of sexism, bullying and sexual harassment this wasn’t a light easy read, but Sadie was a girl after my own heart, she is a fighter for sure and I am glad she realizes how special that can be. The book is also a caution…Be careful what you wish for.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
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