Addictive YA

Oh, this book. I mean, I should know by now that E. Lockhart's books leave me feeling absolutely destroyed after (in a good way!). I've read We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud, and so I should've been prepared for what Again, Again would do to me. But I wasn't.

Like all her books, Again, Again has lyrical, beautiful prose. I listened to the audiobook (narrated by Tavia Gilbert), so I didn't actually realise until reading other reviews afterward that this book has passages that are written in verse. I LOVE novels that dip into verse every now and again, and now I'm thinking I may have to get the ebook or a paperback because of this. But the writing is just so beautiful. It's haunting. It's compelling. It's addictive.

Adelaide is seventeen years old. Her younger brother is a drug addict and in rehab. Adelaide lives with her father who teaches at her boarding school, while her mother lives elsewhere to look after the brother. And this is a complex novel of love and family, of heartbreak and loss, of hope and new beginnings.

I actually don't know what genre to classify this as. It's contemporary--but it's also an 'issue' book. It's got some thriller aspects as well as magical realism (there are talking dogs). And plus, you've got the whole time stuff. I LOVED how every so often, the narrative goes back a page or two and retells the events according to what would've happened if a character had done something different. We follow that 'pathway' until we're either back at the same scene's starting point again, or until we get to the new part where the plot divulges and there are multiple routes again. This has an affect of layers--the novel's built up on these layers, and the writing is truly amazing as, because of this layering and retelling effect, the characterisation of Adelaide and her love interest(s) are built up. Because we've got details from the other 'alternate scenes' that don't apply to the current scene/pathway, the reader knows more about Adelaide's love interest than Adelaide herself knows at any time. It's like we've got the power of hindsight--a twisted, alternate hindsight--while Adelaide is navigating her relationships. It's disorientating and dizzy to read--but it's compelling.

And Part 5 of the book has Adelaide finally go for a different love interest. And, you know what? It works--because we've seen how toxic and bad the previous relationship was (on its multiple play-throughs) her new relationship here feels healthier and more organic, even though way less page-time is dedicated to it.

There are some truly heartbreaking moments in this book. But there's also humour too. And so many of the situations Adelaide finds herself in are so, so relatable.

Like all of Lockhart's books, Again, Again left me feeling wistful afterward. It made me feel like I'd lost something huge the moment I finished it--and I was so sad that the book was over.

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