The Do-Over
After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine’s Day, Emilie escapes to her grandmother’s house for some comfort and a consolation pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s back home in her own bed—and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And the next day? Another nightmare V-Day. Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare that she can’t wake up from as she re-watches her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. Not only that but Emilie can’t get away from the enigmatic Nick, who she keeps running into—sometimes literally—in unfortunate ways. How many days can one girl passively watch her life go up in flames? And when something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?
Themes & atmosphere
Also by Lynn Painter
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What you might want to know about The Do-Over
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Emilie Hornby was promised a perfect Valentine's Day with her perfect boyfriend. When the day goes catastrophically wrong, she falls asleep in her car and wakes up to live February fourteenth all over again.
Yes. The Do-Over is YA romcom, suitable for readers 13 and up. It is part of Lynn Painter's connected high-school romance world that also includes Better Than the Movies and Mr. Wrong Number.
Yes. The Do-Over uses a Groundhog Day-style time-loop premise, with the protagonist reliving the same Valentine's Day repeatedly. It is one of several recent YA novels to use the loop conceit.
The Do-Over was written by Lynn Painter, published in 2022 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers.
The Do-Over is 312 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Do-Over takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
The Do-Over is a standalone novel by Lynn Painter, not part of a series.
The Do-Over is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.