Come Again

Well, that wasn't what I expected. I hadn't read the blurb so was surprised when the time travelling happened. That's ok though, in fiction you suspend your disbelief. My advice in this case, chuck your disbelief out of the window and just go with it. Especially in the final third of the book, just enjoy it. It's brilliantly, fantastically fun.

Some things I did expect, it was funny, of course. It was sad, her husband had died so of course it was. It was nostalgic for those of us who remember the 90s fondly. The story as I've said was also unexpected but, even more so, Robert Webb can write. I read his autobiography so I sort of knew that but fiction is different. He managed to pull it off though. I hope there will be another soon.

Robert Webb is one of the funniest people in the world and this book showcases his awesome humour. For that alone it gained a star rating!

Generally this book was good - a great focus and dissection of grief and loss at the start of the book and a raw look at suicidal tendencies.

But the two timelines felt a little out of place, a little rushed. It took me some time to realise what was going on and to keep up with the two plots, despite them being clearly divided.

An upbeat bereavement story with a whacky ending

Kate has recently lost her much-loved husband, Luke. She dreams vividly of him when they were first a couple at university. She has also just been fired from her job in PR. Deciding to end it all and stir up trouble for her horrible boss at the same time, she plans to plant an incriminating memory stick with information about his dealings with a dodgy Russian businessman. Everything changes when she finds herself back in 1992, on her first day at Uni. Perhaps now she'll be able to rewrite history and save Luke. But everything seems different...

Great descriptions of life in 1992, with leaded petrol, broadsheet newspapers describing coal mines closing and Boris Johnson just a newspaper columnist. The comi-dramatic ending is great fun.

Come Again is a surprising, genre-defying novel about a woman who has recently lost her husband. Since Kate's husband Luke died, things have started to fall apart, and she can't help but focus on the fact that he'd technically been ill ever since she met him during Freshers' Week years ago and fell in love. After dramatically losing her job in shady circumstances, Kate suddenly wakes up in the wrong place: her eighteen-year-old self's body, just starting university. She has the chance to try and change things, but is that even possible, and what might it mean for the future?

From the blurb, the book sounded like One Day or something similar, a story about love happening regardless of circumstance or across time. However, it turned out to be quite different: a kind of tragicomic love story with a side of dodgy dealings and spies. If it is about anything, it is possibly about grief and about being unpredictable (both characters defying expectations others have of them in the narrative, and the actual narrative itself). It took a while to settle into the novel, with a few details or comments from characters that felt a bit off, but it became more immersive and raised questions about where the plot was going to go next. The tone changes somewhat between the different sections, but it suited the novel which has a kind of funny yet sad quirkiness (also a description that could work for Kate as a character).

Come Again is a light read that blends different genre conventions to be a funny book about grief, moving on, and, strangely, when your life becomes a little bit more like the plot of multiple different bits of fiction. It is easy to imagine it as a quirky film that leans heavily on the different sections having different styles and tones (and the fast pace of the novel would probably suit being adapted into a film).

A book that goes through a number of transformations. It starts off as a 'One Day' style story about a grief stricken widow. Then we get a bit of 'Time Traveller's Wife' a she goes back to when she first met her husband, then we go all John Le Carre with spies and Russians - and then back to 'One Day' with a Stephen Hawking twist.

It is a bit of a chameleon, perhaps to the extent that having finished it I am not quite sure how to classify it. If you can suspend reality and have room in your heart for a karate kicking, time travelling, baddy bashing, rom com then this is the book for you.

I initially only requested this book because it was written by Robert Webb and I was interested to see what it was like, and boy am I glad I did. This is the best book I have read in a while and I absolutely loved the characters!

The story follows Kate after the death of her husband Luke when Kate is really struggling with life. What follows is very difficult to describe without giving away the story, but I can say there is time travel, romance, friendship and courage, along with a really crazy ending (but a good one)! It makes you think about what you valued in your teenage years, and how different those values may be if you went back knowing what you know now.

Everyone needs to buy a copy of this book, it really is amazing, a real rollercoaster ride!

An interesting read . You are straight into the story of Kate, widowed and in a low place. I could really imagine her despair when I read the descriptions of her life and her thoughts. The second part was a suprise and I could imagine the confusion felt by everyone in the situation (I don't want to say more because it is the crux of the story !) Kate's thoughts were believable in this situation and the descriptions of university life and York (my hometown) are very realistic
The third part was manic,fastmoving and a little confusing, but then in a good way. I really felt what Kate was feeling and it was a real page turner, couldn't put the book down ! ...... I liked the epilogue too , sometimes these can tie up all the loose ends too well, this one does leave you with stuff to think about.
This was a book which was enjoyable to read but also one which gets you thinking about choices in your life and what would have happened if you had done something different at an earlier stage in your life.
Thankyou to Net Galley, the author and publisher for a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book, so much so that I gobbled it up in less than 48 hours. It was a straightforward read with an engaging style, but had some real substance in the first part, when dealing with the effects of grief (which was exquisitely written). Being the same age as the principal character, and starting uni in the same year, no doubt made it even more my cup of tea. My only very minor quibble would be that the ending was very slightly anti-climactic, for me. I’d actively seek out any further fiction by this author, my suspicion is it’s going to get better and better.

I loved Come Again. It was witty, very insightful and an extremely enjoyable read.

The plot is well explained in the publisher’s blurb: Kate’s husband Luke died nine months ago of a brain tumour which had been growing undetected since before the met in their teens. Now in her forties, she is sunk in grief, self-blame and depression and on the verge of suicide...which sounds unbearably grim, but Robert Webb manages to convey it with a light, readable, almost humorous touch while giving it real weight compassion and thoughtfulness.

Kate then suddenly wakes up with her middle-aged memories and consciousness in an eighteen year old body on her first morning at university, with an opportunity to fix Luke so they can have a long, long life together. However, this turns out to be anything but a Groundhog Day re-run, and Webb shows really sharp insight into how different young people whom you loved might seem once you are middle-aged. The last section is properly exciting and the whole thing sparkles with genuine humour and real emotion throughout.

It’s terrifically well done. Robert Webb writes extremely well, with excellent characterisation and really good dialogue. He knows how to say serious things in a witty way and never strays into sentimentality even though I found parts of this very affecting. He’s very sharp on contemporary mores, too; I liked this little exchange with the boss of an Online Reputation Management company:
“They’ll never believe you.”
“I’ve seen the evidence.”
“Evidence isn’t what it used to be.”

In short, I think Come Again is a great read which has some real, thoughtful content. Very warmly recommended.

I've been a huge fan of Peep Show since my eldest sister first let me watch it way past my bedtime. I loved Webb's How Not to be a Boy when I listened to the audiobook last year, and I was so excited to see he was bringing a novel out this year

In Come Again we follow Kate, a 45 year old woman who's just lost her husband, Luke, to brain cancer. During her grief, and a wine-induced deep sleep, Kate is transported back to the day she and Luke met: on their first day of uni in 1992. Kate is given the opportunity to fall in love with her husband all over again, which at first she sees as a gift, but soon learns that going back in time is not as simple as she first thought

The book is split into 3 parts and I preferred the middle part the most by far: the part where Kate becomes 18 again. I loved the 90s setting, and Kate viewing her 19 year old friends and future husband through 18 year old eyes

The writing style of this book reminded me a lot of a couple of Mil Millington books I read when I was younger. It's not necessarily my favourite style of writing, but it and the humour did make me feel nostalgic for those books

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't entirely as I expected, and the ending panned out differently than I'd initially predicted, but not at all in a bad way

Kate has been widowed less than a year and isn’t coping. Her husband Luke was the love of her life who she met at university. She’s lost her job and considering suicide when she wakes up in her old room at university, she’s 18 again but can still remember the life she’s had. The book follows her meeting Luke again for the first time but things pan out in a different way. It leads to the thrilling, unexpected climax at the end of the story.

Really enjoyed this book.

It starts off slowly but drags you in for the ride that gets progressively more intense!

Great concept for a book and so relatable and well written.

“you can only fall in love for the first time once….”

I certainly fell in love with Come Again. It is the perfect mixture of romantic love story, sarky humour and madcap action. I especially liked the fact that most of the story was set at York University during the 1990’s – a period when I lived and worked there - and I have to say that Mr Webb has got it off to a tee - the colleges, the nightclubs, the Geese! I hope that if they make the book into a film or tv series the action isn’t transferred to Cambridge or London, because I think it would lose a lot of its charm.

Many thanks to Canongate Books, to Robert Webb and to NetGalley for letting me read and review this tremendous novel - I’m sure it’s going to be a huge bestseller.

This book has everything you could possibly wish for. Emotionally invested from the first few pages, yes it’s a wild ride but I was here for it all the way. As a Uni of York alum I loved all the references and I love the characters and their stories, as insane as they are. Perfect. Brilliant.

Loved this book. A time travel book which doesn’t get itself hung up on the apparent logic of the impossible. Manages to be very funny at the same time as pulling no punches about the misery and guilt of grief. Great writing and a joy to read.

Come Again appealed to me as a middle aged woman, but I also loved the time traveling (really) bits back to university life, which were totally reminiscent of my youth. It made me laugh (a lot) cry (ditto) and I cheered on our heroine Kate in her quest to save her husband and to beat a gang of Russian gangsters. (Again, really!)
This book is mad, but good mad. I would definitely recommend it, for men and women of all ages. It would also make a really good film.
Thank you to #NetGalley, the publishers and the author Robert Webb for the opportunity to review #ComeAgain

This was a delightful book !

Kate is grieving for her husband Luke -who she has been with for 28 years.
He died of a brain tumour which unknown to him - had lain in wait since he was a teenager .
As Kate contemplates ending her life -something extraordinary happens . She wakes up to find herself transported back to the day she first met Luke at university. Can she alter the course of history and keep Luke safe .?
This book brought out a whole load of emotions and had me laughing and crying -the characters were so likeable -I didn't want it to end !

Thank-you NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review

A gréât thriller in Robert Webb’s great style. Will leave you wondering and brings together a love story with some political intrigue. Fully recommend

This was a very entertaining book - not what I expected from the description of a widow (Kate) grieving after the death of her husband Luke. Kate was a great character - realistically angry at the world, annoyed at her friends trying to help and missing her husband intensely. I really enjoyed the unexpected travel back into 1992, where she meets Luke for the first time at York University. The feelings of first love, excitement at being at university and a hefty whack of 90s nostalgia will amuse anyone with a similar experience. Kate desperately tries to meet Luke again, as she did before, but of course it goes wrong. I couldn't put it down at this point, wanting to know what happened next. The final part of the story gets a little silly for my taste, with dramatic coincidences and chases, but it was still well written and enjoyable. I really enjoyed Webb's writing and characterisation, and would recommend this book.

"They had not divorced. They were together. He had died but now he was alive. Her husband was alive. And she could save him. What was lost could be found. The slightly problem was that he didnt know that he was lost. Katie relaxed back into her pillow. I will play it cool, I'll play it really cool"

Do you ever have a book that you carry around with you because you can't stop reading it?? That's the type of book this one is. I read it in bed, I read it in the bathroom, I balanced it weirdly while heating up food in the kitchen. It was great and addictive and every single page put a smile on my face.

It's the perfect balance of an endearing love story, a far-fetched backwards version of the 13 going on 30 time swap, a Russian spy action film with all of Robert Webb's hilarious dry humour peppered in.

Webb really did put his best foot forward with this one. I loved every single second I spent reading it. 5/5.

Wow this is a beautiful novel and not at all what I was expecting from Robert Webb. This isn't a comedy (although there are funny bits) but is a story filled with love, loss and wonder that brought me to tears. This is a book that will melt even the hardest of hearts and bring back your faith in love and also the value of life and memories. Some times a do over isn't all it's cracked up to be and it can take a momentous event to remind you of who you are and what matters in life. Life is for the living and even in your deepest grief you can change things around