The Retake : a Novel
You can retake your photos...but what if could redo moments in your life too? With one magical app, Zoe is able to do just that! A smart and funny twist on time travel from New York Times bestselling author Jen Calonita, for fans for Disney's Zapped and The Swap.
Amazon Summary:
Zoe knows that the only thing harder than middle school is losing a best friend. She and Laura used to do everything together from taking silly selfies, to joining all the same clubs together and even throwing surprise birthday parties for one another.
But lately things have been weird between them. Now Laura will post a photo of her hanging out with other girls before responding to Zoe's simple text. She doesn't even want to sit with her at lunch anymore. Zoe is heartbroken--all she wants is for things to go back to normal.
But then a magical app downloads on her phone...and things get even weirder! Suddenly Zoe can travel back in time to moments where her and Laura started drifting apart. It is like a dream come true. A chance for Zoe to mend their friendship.
But as Zoe goes back to moments of middle school drama--sleepover games gone wrong, field trips with cliques and crushes, and school projects that bring on more-than-awkward encounters--she realizes that second chances don't always go as planned and that sometimes you need to trust the magic of new beginnings.
My Review:
Before I even write my review on this book, I just want to say a few things. Pickles just represent what rating I give a book out of 10.
12/10
I have no negative things to say about this book, and I would just like to start by saying this was my favorite book by Jen that wasn’t a Twisted Tale book by her. I had been dying to read it, and on Libby, the NYPL digital library, it was an 8 week wait. It was so worth it. This book is about a girl who drifts away from her friend, and when she has the chance for to change the past, she takes it. She finds this app, Retake, and it is just like Instagram but she can go back to certain moments in time and change them. The whole time I was reading I wanted to scream, “Don’t change the past! Number one rule of time travel!” but she did. I don’t blame her for doing that, and I know I would take the opportunity to change certain moments in history. Throughout this book there was three consistent themes to the story. Change, not just in people, but in friendship and relationships. Friendships, and how they can form in the most unlikely circumstances. Lastly was letting go and moving on.
This book really resignated with me because I have had difficulty with my friends, and letting go, and to connect to a character somewhat like me made me realize certain things. The author really knows how to make a reader connect to her book characters. I think realizing it without someone telling me it directly really helped me understand. This helped restore my faith, because it was uplifting with great messages.
OVERALL: I think anyone who needs a feel-good book should go read this. It was FANTASTIC. Jen Calonita should never stop writting!