“I don’t think the scale of other people’s problems makes your own any easier to live with.”
Writer: Sophie Cousens
Rating:
Review:
This Time Next Year was my first book from Book of the Month and I am SO HAPPY THAT I LIKED IT!!! Book of the Month is a book subscription service where you get to choose one book from the special five selected that month, and then it is shipped right to your door. It is a fantastic service so if you haven't checked them out already, go do that ASAP! (let me know if you want the link to sign up!!) This is also my first Book Review that I am posting on The Betz Breakdown, and there are a lot more of them coming soon!
When Minnie and Quinn meet at a New Year's Eve Party, they know they have nothing in common - except that they were both born at the same time on New Years Day and in the same hospital. They are complete strangers to each other. Quinn has grown up to be a privileged party boy and Minnie has turned into a hard-working realist. But, if Minnie and Quinn are from two different worlds, why do they keep crossing paths?
The writing style of this book is much different than what I have read before. Each chapter, other than the ones in present 2020, is set on a different New Year's Eve where an important event occurred in either Minnie or Quinn's life. Whether that is New Years 2003 or 2015, there are quite a few time jumps that take a little bit of getting used to. Some of my biggest smiles reading this book happened when our two main characters crossed paths in the past without even knowing. Having those flashback chapters was super important in making the story flow from beginning to end.
Two people born on the same day only minutes apart can grow up into two different social classes and go through a completely different set of experiences, no doubt. However, putting them opposite each other in a rom-com made a perfect book. I wish that Cousens could have given me more scenes between Minnie and Quinn where they discuss how polar opposite their lives turned out instead of chapters where it was only addressed to the audience from the flashback of either character. I also wanted more romantic interactions between Minnie and Quinn, but if you are looking for a rom-com with a little less steam, This Time Next Year is the one for you.
Even though I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a good holiday romance, it's more about the personal growth that each character goes through from New Year's Eve in 2019 to New Year's Eve in 2020. Minnie gets over her fear of the New Years Birthday Jinx and follows her pie baking dreams. Quinn learns that he can't always be in control and gives in to the fate the universe has for him. Greg fully realizes his passion for Jennifer Aniston. Leila and Ian get their happily ever after. Fleur pursued her multiple business ventures. Everything falls into place, but is it almost too perfect of a happy ending? I will let you decide that.
If GoodReads would let me, I would give this book 3.5/5 stars. This Time Next Year was a perfect read for the year 2020. In the Acknowledgments, Sophie Cousens puts it perfectly: "P.S. This book was written in a pre-COVID world. The 2020 of Minnie and Quinn's world now exists only in some parallel universe. Whatever the year ahead might bring for us all, let's keep reading. Books free us from isolation. Stories unite us. We've all had to play in one player mode for a while - but we're all still in this game together."
One of the supporting characters, Leila, likes to ask the question: "Where do you want to be this time next year?" I want you to ask yourself that question before reading this book and then again after you read it. Even if you don't plan on reading This Time Next Year, I think it is crucial, especially for the dreamers who were affected by the coronavirus, to make resolutions for the year 2021. So if that means starting a pie business or writing a book about two strangers falling in love on New Year's Eve, then do it, because who knows if a year like 2020 will happen again.
My Favorite Quotes:
“I don’t think the scale of other people’s problems makes your own any easier to live with.”
Growing up, Quinn came to think of therapy as akin to fixing bomb damage with wallpaper - it was something to take your mind off the fact that the walls of your house had been blown to bits.
“You need to be a ‘me’ before you can be a ‘we.’”
“Life is change - if nothing’s changing, you aren’t living.”
“Sounds like you in lurrve.”
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