The Deja Glitch by Holly James
To break out of a 24-hour time loop, all Jack needs is for
Gemma to fall in love with him in a single day. All Gemma
needs is to remember him first . . .
Gemma Peters is doing fine. She’s making a name for herself in
the L.A. music biz as a radio producer. She’s got a
ride-or-die best friend in Lila, and she gets to come home to
Rex, her loving Labrador, every night. But ever since her rock
star ex-boyfriend used her to get a record deal from her rock
legend dad, she’s made a “no musicians” rule when it comes to
dating that’s becoming more like a “no dating” rule, period.
So, when Gemma crashes (literally) into Jack one Thursday
morning, at first she feels like fate might finally be doing
her a favor. After all this guy is cute and, wait, is she
imagining it, or is he staring a little too deeply into her
eyes? And how does he know her name? Even harder to explain is
the funny feeling of déjà vu she gets every time she looks at
him. It’s not at all like Gemma to kiss a man and forget him
completely, so then how can she explain the dreamlike memory
of his lips on hers?
The truth is this is no ordinary Thursday. Not for them. In
fact, they’ve lived this day over and over for months. And
while Gemma has been totally oblivious to the time loop, Jack
has been agonizingly aware of every single iteration. Luckily,
Jack has a theory to bring his own personal Groundhog Day to
an end. And it’s simple. Before the day is over, he just has
to get Gemma to fall in love with him.
Pre-order here!
Books with time loops are always interesting - and usually I either love them or hate them(nothing in between), so I'm glad to say I really liked The Deja Glitch by Holly James(comes out on 8/1)!❣️✨ It had an interesting premise that made me immediately request this ARC and what made this different from other time loop stories was the fact that the protagonist - Gemma is unaware that she's stuck in one and most of the story takes place over the course of one day(doesn't involve repeating the same day all over again) and I've got to say that this worked out well for me!
Gemma is a radio producer in LA, who has been wary of dating after a bad breakup and loves to stick to her routine and prefers hanging out with her dog, Rex and her best friend Lila. One day she crashes into a man at a cafe(quite literally while spilling coffee everywhere) and gets this feeling that she might have known him before. And he proceeds to tell her the wildest story that she doesn't believe in - that they've been reliving the same day about 147 times and he knows so many things about her that a complete stranger wouldn't(would be creepy if he wasn't cute lol😆). And though she finds this hard to believe at first, the stranger - Jack is able to predict many things before they've happened like her brother not being able to catch a flight to come back home, and a feeling of familiarity has Gemma putting down her skepticism for a while. Until he tells her that he's spent almost five months falling in love with her everyday and the reason she might remember some things now is because they had kissed each other the night before.🤣
I really liked the fact that Gemma didn't like Jack immediately but as she gets to know more about him and resolves some of the things that have her feeling stuck in life, I found myself liking Jack more and more just like her.
At first the focus is on Gemma as we see her tackle some things at work and learn more about her issues with her dad. Though Jack felt a little unfamiliar at first I'm glad that his only role wasn't to just be Gemma's love interest and try to break the time loop. We slowly get to find out more about him and how he might have forgotten some things from before as he kept repeating the same day(which explains why he seemed very focused on Gemma in the beginning). And I loved that contrast between Jack who has spent so many months getting closer to Gemmas while dealing with the fact that she would never remember it, and Gemma who feels surprised by this stranger but slowly starts believing in him. It was hard not to fall for Jack because he was so supportive and head over heels for Gemma 😍
I also loved Gemma's character development and how she became more confident and decided to take a leap of faith rather than playing it safe. It was so lovely to see her getting bolder over the course of the story! And just like her I was skeptical - how do you want me to believe that she'd fall in love with someone she doesn't know over the course of one day? But, the author makes it work! The connection between Gemma and Jack is powerful and it was so nice to see her falling for him. I also loved Gemma's influencer bff - Lila who has her back at all times and pushes her out of her comfort zone when needed! There were many hilarious moments that I enjoyed reading like the scene at the airport. It was a bit cheesy at times but had that rom-com feel to it(and as a rom-com fan I can't complain!).
The only thing that gave me mixed feelings was probably everyone around her almost guilt-tripping her into giving her father a second chance. I mean her dad's actions during her childhood had a huge impact on her and her worldview, so I don't think she should be pressured into forgiving him - especially when he hadn't taken many steps to reconcile with her. I did enjoy watching her mend her relationship with him though and it was nice to see him be on her side finally!
Overall, this was a great read from a new-to-me author that I enjoyed reading! Do give it a try if you're looking for a cute rom-com with a nice spin on the time loop trope!❣️✨
You can also find this review on my bookstagram here
*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Holly James holds a PhD in psychology and has worked in both academia
and the tech industry. She loves telling stories with big hearts and a
touch of magic. She currently lives in Southern California with her
husband and dog.
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