Time and Time Again

I sometimes say fiction (especially romances, regardless of your or their orientation) is about escapism - fleeing your life into someone else's. But I don't think that's quite right, either in the sense of flight from your own life or how we interact with – at least, the best – fiction.

Instead, it feels like ... not borrowing someone's life, exactly, but more akin to one of those sci-fi contrivances where you can relive the memories of others. The feelings, emotions and thoughts are still theirs to keep, but you can still slip into them and wear them like a suit (of armor?), feel them as they stretch over your limbs, always comporting to exactly the right size.

So I get why some people don't like YA. It can feel too tight, too restricted, not big enough to encompass the vastness of reality to the reader who feels older, more lived-in, more stretched-out.

And maybe it's just the case that some books fit us individually better than others. My feelings suit probably closely resembles the shape of Phoebe, the plus-sized teen who suffers from feeling simultaneously like everyone's laughing at her and also ignoring her because of her weight.

But I would argue that tailored fit is also a sign of good writing, because it's not a generic off-the-rack pantsuit that doesn't really fit anyone (but isn't so far off that you can't use it in a pinch). It means some care went into the measurements and the precise stitching that holds the whole thing together.

Time and Time Again was a delight to borrow, even if the story took the expected ups and downs of teen romance. It delivered with its light sci-fi time-loop that serves as the spine of the plot, but it really shone in the emotions and feelings from both characters. Blameless heroines and heroens (new portmanteau for "nonbinary hero") they are not, but there's a trueness that shines through their flaws. 

It's a) a romance and b) YA, so of course there's a happy ending. It's a little unsatisfying to me, and the resolution came about a touch too quickly, but those are minor nits amid a much larger, complex and utterly real story.

Even if you're not into YA much, I still say this book is worth your time.