Cover Image: Come Again

Come Again

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Member Reviews

This was definitely not what I expected from a quick read of the blurb and unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped.

It was a book filled with madness and conflicting themes that shouldn’t really work together but still somehow did and kept me entertained. Kate was a good character and I enjoyed the time travel but I was left so confused after reading the epilogue and think it could have been left out.

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Did you read and love #thetwolivesoflydiabird ? Then the premise of this book – a recent widower who gets to see her deceased husband again – may sound familiar…⁣..but the execution on the two novels could not be more different.⁣

Where Lydia Bird was poignant and sorrowful, Come Again had me outright giggling. I don’t normally associate depression and widowhood with romantic comedy, but this story was lighthearted and lovely!⁣

Come Again finds Kate at the bottom, widowed and contemplating suicide. But then she goes back in time to 1992 for a chance to save her husband from his slow-growing cancer to hysterical results.⁣ Her whole 2020 women trapped in her 18-year-old body was funny and endearing. As she attempts to save the man she loves, she puzzles over wether she can even fall in love with him again.⁣ If you liked the movie #thespywhodumpedme , then you would love the mad-dash, slapstick humor of this story. I certainly did.

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I love time travel-ish stories and this didn't disappoint! I will admit that it dragged a bit in the beginning and during the story, but I had a lot of fun with this one. Pretty well written, too!

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I had problems downloading this book and then missed the deadline but eventually managed to borrow it from my local library, so here's my review.

Come Again is a moving time travel story of falling in love, life, and self-discovery. In the present, forty-something Kate is nursing a broken heart and really not coping with her grief following the loss of her husband Luke to a brain tumour. Unable to focus on anything, her job, life or friends, she reaches breaking point and wakes up in the past. She finds herself at the moment in time when she and Luke first met, and realises she has been given an opportunity to alter the future. Will Kate grab the chance and if so will it create complications or maybe save Luke?

Told in three distinct parts, Robert Webb takes the reader into Kate's world of pain and grief in the first chapters. I really enjoyed this compelling tale though my favourite section was part two when Kate and Luke were at University. In part three, the reader follows Kate who is now back in the present day after she has pottered with the course of Luke's life.

Although there was a great solemnity and distress in sections of the story, it was well-handled by the author without straying too much from the general mood. The author's writing style was a good fit for me. A mostly buoyant read with splashes of wit, the multidimensional characters had their ups and downs resulting in an engrossing, charming novel, without being too melancholy.

The audiobook was narrated by Olivia Colman and listening to it was a terrific decision. I thought it was narrated really well and she brought the perfect amount of verve to the proceedings, infusing the right emotions and character distinctions. Overall, Come Again is a super book that deals with big issues but is still an easy read. Highly recommended. 😊🤞

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A sweet story that makes us think about our destiny and the choices we make. Great narration on audio. Highly recommend.

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This story surrounds Kate, a woman who suddenly loses her husband tragically. All of a sudden, to Kate’s shock, she wakes up at a point in her past where she can try to save his life. It was a very interesting concept and had me curious right from the beginning.

This book was separated into three parts. In the beginning, we meet Kate in her grief-filled state after losing Luke less than a year prior. I was very happy with how this part was written, as grief is such a hard-hitting topic that needs to be talked about more. Robert Webb wrote this very seriously and very well, as if personally experienced.

The second part of this novel is when Kate gets sent back in time to when they were in college in 1992. The beginning of this part was great, trying to see how Kate would get her future husband interested again and how she could save his life from back then. Towards the end of this part was when this book really slowed down for me.

The third and final part was back in the present time. It was interesting seeing how this part would play out and if any of Kate’s actions effected anything like saving Luke’s life. As much as I wanted to love this part, the second half of this entire book fell a little flat. The writing slowed down.

The narrator of this book, Olivia Colman, did a great job with the story-telling of this novel. I feel like Olivia really understood Kate and portrayed her really well. There were issues that were very serious that could’ve driven a reader/listener away, but the narration of this book was light and kept me interested all the way through.

Overall, this was my first Robert Webb novel, but I don’t think it’s my last. I definitely enjoyed this type of story, I just hope my next story has the writing that keeps me all the way through. I definitely would recommend this to someone who is a mood reader, looking for a sad/hopeful book.

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I’m still surprised that this is a debut as I really enjoyed it a lot more than I felt I might. It was fast paced and full of quick wit but at the heart, it was feel-good and uplifting. I loved the ‘sci-fi’ elements too. Unique and compelling.

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Sweet and well written story. Falling in love again is just as wonderful as falling in love for the first time.

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3.5 Stars

This was super depressing for the first 35% then it slowly got better.

I still have lots of thoughts and need to process. This commuting suicide and going back into the past trope maybe isn’t for me.

Lots of trigger warnings - loss of loved one, depression, and suicide.

Thank you Hachette Audio and Netgalley for an advanced copy for my sassy thoughts.

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So, I’m sad to say that I put off this book for a while because of some health issues going on in my family. I was afraid it would trigger my anxiety a little too much. I’m sad to say I put it off because I really liked this book.

Let’s start with Kate, our main character. Kate is probably one of the characters I’ve liked most. She’s funny without trying to be, but she’s also relatable and realistic.

Aside from Kate, this book ended up going in a direction that was unexpected. It was such a beautiful ending and exactly what I wanted while also being what I didn’t know I wanted.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Robert Webb for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Well, that's 7 plus hours I can't get back. Yep, that's exactly what I thought when I listened to the last page of this one, and it's still what I think after giving it a few days to mull it over. I tend to jot down thoughts about a book as I read or listen, and looking back over those notes, I see that my opinion hasn't improved since I scribbled those thoughts down. The most standout of those are the words info dump in bold and underlined letters. Lots and lots of info dumps. Now, I don't like that style in any book, even those I'm reading, but they take on a whole new level of irritating in an audiobook. I mean, sooner or later, I'm going to start zoning out, and then I have to rewind to see if I missed something important. Even more irritating is when the info dump is about a character who is neither important or even seen again.
The thing about this book is that I had it loaded up and was ready to listen when I lost my own husband quite suddenly. Needless to say, I knew this one would have to wait. I really wasn't sure that I'd be able to get through it at all, and the first part was as difficult for me as I expected. The second part wasn't as difficult, partly because those earlier mentioned info dumps were starting to wear on me. But the third part was just... Well, bad is the only word that comes to mind. That third part kind of felt like a rough draft with ideas being bounced around, and it just didn't work for me.
Since I am discussing the audiobook, I will add that the narrator, Olivia Colman, does a good job giving Kate a voice. So, I would listen to her again, just not on a Robert Webb book. Basically, when you look at all three parts together, the continuity is sorely lacking, so I think I'll just chalk this one up to not the one for me, not by a longshot.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for giving me the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. Author Robert Webb is new to me.
As the story begins, Kate is in deep depression over the loss of her husband to cancer. Her friends have tried to support her. Her boss says she can take all the time she needs, but at the same time wants her to come back to work soon.
After trying to commit suicide, Kate is suddenly back in college as her 18 year old self. It is the fateful day she meets her husband. She feels she needs to warn him that he already has a cancer growing, but everything goes awry and nothing is like the first time.
When Kate wakes up, she is back in the present and becomes involved in an action packed sort of spy drama that involves danger and theatrics that are somewhat humorous. Her longtime friend Toby is a huge part of this mayhem.
Although I could relate to Kate and feel her grief, I had a hard time keeping track of the large number of secondary characters. I was very confused at the end about the question of time travel and how all the events could line up. Overall, this audiobook was entertaining and kept me going.
The marvelous Olivia Coleman was the perfect narrator for this audio book. Her great talent enhanced all the character voices. I have been listening to audio books for many years and a good narrator makes all the difference in the world.

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The premise of this book drew me in. What if you could go back in time to save your husband? The narrator kept me engaged the entire book. I understand how Kate felt frustrated with the lack of maturity among her friends because she for all intents and purposes was a middle aged woman in the body of a college student. I would definitely read another book by this author.

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Wow, this is an awesome book and I loved it very much! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was amazing. She was so funny and I loved the way she changed her voice to suit each of the characters.

The story is about a middle aged woman called Kate who is feeling depressed because her husband Luke died from cancer. She has a dream where she goes back in time to see him when they were both teenagers and she helps him in an unexpected way. When she wakes up from the dream she has to deal with a crazy situation at her work which involves a lot of action and fun. In the end, Kate is not depressed anymore and she finds happiness with a certain someone.

I really loved this book and I found it heartwarming, funny, happy, sad, eccentric and everything in between. It would make a really fantastic movie. I highly recommend this book and I am so happy to have found a new author, who is very talented.

I have been really enjoying listening to lots of audiobooks through the netgalley app and discovering all of these new wonderful books and authors that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise.

Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I liked parts 1 and 2. I just found that part 3 didn’t seem like it fit the story. I liked the idea of time traveling and enjoyed the fact that even though Kate was physically 18, she was still mentally 45. I thought the author did a good job weaving humor into this story.

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Kate is a recent widow. Her husband, Luke, died of a slow-growth cancer that could have been caught if the symptoms were not so minimal. She is utterly devastated, has lost her job and despite friends wanting to help her, she doesn't want to see them. Then one day she wakes up and it is 1992 and she realizes that she hasn't even met Luke yet which means that she can arrange to meet him and warn him that he already has a slow growing cancer so that he can get treatment and maybe she can save him. Of course, the best laid plans .....

I listened to this as an audio book and it was a fun read. Olivia Colman was the narrator and she was wonderful. Her sharp, crisp narration reminded me of her character on Broadchurch. I highly recommend listening to this as an audio book rather than just reading the text.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of the audio book to me in exchange for an honest review.

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I wanted to like this so much more than I did sadly.

For the first two thirds I was loving it; there was a cast of interesting characters and a good concept. However, the main draw was that Olivia Coleman is a complete boss at narrating this! I could listen to her all day.

What let me down about the novel was the random inclusion of a spy, a USB stick with sensitive data that could topple Western society (paraphrased from the book) and car chases. It was all a little bizarre and felt like it belonged in a different novel.

As for the main plot of Kate, the bereaved widow, travelling back to in time to her 18 year old self when she meets her deceased husband, Luke, again, it was interesting. It was broadly well executed, with passages where she adjusts to having a youthful body again and meeting an immature Luke coming across as very amusing and 'accurate' for how it would feel to be in the situation she was in.

However, I really hated the ending and was left thinking 'eh?!'. The ending made me wonder what the point in the book had been as I didn't feel like I came away with any deeper thinking or understanding of the characters or their experiences..

Thanks to Hachette audio and Netgalley for access to this audiobook.

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Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have so many mixed feelings about this book. It is split into three parts - I LOVED the first two parts, and was sure that this was going to be a 5 star read.

And then part three happened. A high speed car chase from Russian heavies and rescued by the MI5 and cabbies? Not for me. It made no sense and ruined the book.

I had so many theories while reading and I definitely did not expect what actually happened.

There was so much potential, but unfortunately the ending just really switched the genre into something that I don’t enjoy. I wouldn’t recommend this to others as the ending angered me so much.

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The blurb for Come Again lied to me. I was sold on the heartbreaking story of a newly widowed woman waking up on the day she first met her future husband, given the chance to live it again and -hopefully- save his life. What I found was a semi-humerous chaotic russian-mafia/taxi-spy story following a depressed and suicidal 42yr old woman who decides life isn't worth living without her husband, so why not blackmail a mob leader? It took a full third of the book for her to actually 'wake up' in the past, where she wreaks havoc for a day and decides she didn't much like her future husband anyway. Jump back to the present for some spy stuff, a car chase, and very impressive karate moves for a woman who hasn't practiced for 20+ years, and eventually an epilogue where we find out her husband somehow survived, moved to another country and lived his life, while also being dead?
I really struggled through this book, and while I might have picked it up to read knowing what the story was actually going to be, it was so much harder to push through with it being so different to the blurb, bringing it down to 2/5 stars.

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Come Again is a powerful story of grief, love, and discovery. Robert Webb weaves a compelling story, focusing on the recently widowed Kate Marsden. After her husband's sudden death, she's left to discover what life is like without him. When she wakes up one day, eighteen again and in her college bedroom, she's forced to face the question of whether it's possible to fall in love for the first time again.

This story stuck with me, and though it took me longer to listen to the audiobook than it would have if I were reading a physical or digital copy of the book, but that wasn't due to the story itself. Olivia Colman was a fantastic narrator, and I loved how she gave each of the different characters distinct voices throughout the book. It made the audiobook format easy to follow.

I enjoyed Kate as a main character. She's brutally honest, and I really felt like I could relate to her, despite being at a different place in my life and in different circumstances. The pacing varied throughout the book, which is probably the one thing I would have liked to see different. The beginning part of the book was set in the present day, and it lasted longer than I expected. The pacing improved through the middle and end of the book.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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