Author: James Goodhand

Publisher: MIRA

ISBN: 9780778369646

In 1995, Alex Dean is on the verge of all the best things in life. He lives in London, he’s secured a spot at Cambridge University for the upcoming year, and he’s dating the most beautiful girl in the world, Holly. Alex and Holly met while he was working at the Blue Moon, a pub where he often plays his guitar, and the two of them are now inseparable. There’s absolutely nothing more that Alex could want.

It seems like a cruel twist of the universe, then, that Alex runs into a former bully one night, and the two get into a knock-down-drag-out fight that leaves Alex severely injured. When he wakes up the next morning, Alex finds himself 15 years into the future. His life is completely different; in fact, it’s in shambles. Throughout the day, he pieces together what happened from the people he runs into and those he seeks out, although the one person he can’t find is Holly. What happened to her? And how on earth did he end up in the future?

When he wakes up the next day, Alex makes a horrifying discovery: his travel through time has continued and has now taken him to 2019. Once again, everything is different. Once again, his equation with Holly isn’t anywhere near what he wants it to be. And once again, his life is a complete wreck.

As he lives through each day, Alex finds himself running into people from his life in various states and stages. Sometimes Holly is there; sometimes she’s not. When she is and he can get through to her, it seems like they’ve lived through the “right person/wrong time” phase of life. Alex hates that more than anything, more than discovering that he’s become an alcoholic or is in prison for a terrible crime he knows he didn’t commit or that he’s left his precious music behind. He also finds himself face to face with his bully more than once.

Despite the relentless thirst that follows him through every single day, Alex knows he has to figure out what’s going on if he wants things to change. He meets someone who might be able to help him, but this person makes it clear: Alex is going to have to do all the hard work of redeeming himself if he wants things to get better. Which makes sense to Alex in theory; in practice, however, he realizes he’ll have to make some really tough choices and then stick with them if he’s going to get any happiness back at all.

Author James Goodhand creates an incredibly likeable protagonist in Alex. His flaws make him even more attractive as a main character. Goodhand puts Alex through some situations that will make readers wince for how hard they are, yet he also gives Alex just enough space to claw his way back to his goal of making things right again. The journey is an emotional one and tough to watch but grounded in reality.

Another delightful feature of the book is getting to follow Alex through some of London’s history with politics and current events. Some readers may automatically assume London is a sophisticated city with mostly upper class people. Goodhand does an excellent job of bringing London down to reality and making it accessible for everyone, both through Alex’s ever-changing circumstances as well as the setting and descriptions.

The pace slows down somewhat just before the halfway mark, which might make some readers impatient. However, Goodhand uses the pacing to make Alex earn his redemption. Watching the protagonist go through the agony of mistakes, life-changing realizations, and then a slow move toward a hopeful ending is satisfying in all the best ways possible.

Those intrigued with time travel as a premise and don’t need every single question about that genre answered will definitely enjoy this one. I recommend readers Binge The Day Tripper by James Goodhand.