Opposite of Always by Justin A Reynolds

Welcome Back Booklovers!

It's May and I'm still participating in the SeaMaydenathon (@SeaMaydenathon on Twitter) and it's the first readathon I've ever done. And it's hard balance working from home with reading but I'm not doing too bad. This is the fifth book I've finished this month. Reading along with audiobooks have really been helping.

 I choose Opposite of Always because the premise made it sound like it would be a tearjerker.  And one of the prompts for the readathon is Sea Salt. I actually bought this book in ebook format last year when it was $1.99. And ironically my sister saw it on Amazon and bought me the hardcover version thinking I would like it. She was mad when she found out I already owned it. But I was kind enough to let her return it.

The only thing worse than losing someone you love is losing them again

So this story is about Jack King who meets Kate at a college party. They really hit it off and start talking. Jack even invites Kate to his high school prom. But then prom night comes around and Kate never shows. Jack is able to track her down only to mourn her death shortly after as she dies from an illness she had secretly been suffering from. Jack ends up in a Groundhog's Day type situation where he is given the chance to relive his last few months with Kate and is determined to save her.

It's been a long time since I'm read a YA book from a Black boy's perspective and written by a Black man. I listen to a lot of this book by audiobook and I liked that the narrator had a youthful voice so it actually felt like I was listening to a teen boy. And Jack is awkward, snarky, and relatable. He was very easy to root for.

At first I didn't understand why Jack King was in love with Kate. I feel like at beginning we didn't really get to know much about her to justify this Groundhog Day style time loop he was stuck in. But with the reset of time Jack wanted to spend more time with her so we got to know more about Kate and even meet her family. And we all hope for that one person who we believe is the ideal person for us and Jack believed Kate was that person. She liked his corny jokes and didn't mind his weirdness and quirks. Unfortunately his friends and even family start to feel a little alienated as he drops everything to be with Kate and struggles to fit the rest of them into his life.

The story is a little long in my opinion could've been shorter but I did appreciate it for what it is. It's a story of struggling to grasp a world without someone you love. This book is so fit to be a movie so I hope it doesn't take too long for the film adaptation to come out. Hopefully it's a 2022 film because I feel like this would be good one to watch on Netflix.