Review: Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch

Posted on December 23, 2009 · 4 Comments
Publisher:  Three Rivers Press
ISBN:  978-0307408587
285 pages
Summary:
Jillian Westfield has a life straight out of the women’s magazines she obsessively reads. She’s got the modern-print rugs of Metropolitan Home, the elegant meals from Gourmet, and the clutter-free closets out of Real Simple. With her investment-banker husband behind the wheel and her cherubic eighteen-month-old in the backseat, hers could be the family in the magazines’ Range Rover ads.
Yet somehow all of the how-to magazine stories in the world can’t seem to fix her faltering marriage or stop her from asking “What if?”
Then one morning Jillian wakes up seven years in the past. She’s back in her Manhattan apartment. She’s back in her fast-paced job. And she’s still with Jackson, the ex-boyfriend, and star of her what-if fantasies.
Armed with twenty-twenty hindsight, she’s free to choose all over again. She can reconnect to the mother who abandoned her, she can use ad campaigns from her future to wow her clients, and she can fix the fights that doomed her relationship with Jackson.
Or can she?
My Thoughts:
This book has a very interesting premise – one that I think many of us may have pondered at some point in our lives. The big question: What if? What would life have been like if you stayed with an ex? What this book allows the reader to do is get a glimpse of a character who has that choice. Time of My Life tells the story of Jillian Westfield, a stay-at-home mom with a beautiful daughter, a magazine-perfect home, and a doting husband. But looks can be very deceiving. With her marriage crumbling, Jill begins to wonder what life would have been like had she stayed with her ex-boyfriend, Jack. One day, after a relaxing massage, Jill wakes up to find herself seven years in the past. Now she will get a chance to change the course of her life – or will she? What if you could go into the past and make different decisions? Would you? What if those decisions affected the lives of everyone around you? Would you still make a different choice?
With the gift of hindsight, Jillian jumps headfirst into her previous life, making different choices, with drastically different outcomes. Each decision, big or small, has a rippling effect on the lives of everyone around her, including her boss, Josie, and her friend, Meg. Knowing what the future holds for them, Jillian tries to help her friends at important times in their lives. But, will her newfound attentiveness change their futures, too?

And what about Jack, the reason for this trip back in time? Well, suffice it to say that Jillian faces some different challenges in that relationship!

I really enjoyed this book, but I felt that the ending was a bit rushed and I would have liked to have seen it fleshed out a bit more. I want to know how the supporting characters came to be where they were at the end. I felt that I only got a glimpse and I can assume things that happened, but I really wanted the author to show me more. Yes, the ending is predictable, but it’s not so much about the ending, but more about the journey that Jillian takes. All in all, it was a compelling read that I enjoyed. This is a story of self-discovery and taking responsibility for our own happiness. It sends a positive, uplifting message. I am looking forward to reading the author’s other books.

I would rate this book with a strong 4 out of 5 stars.

So, tell me, is there a decision from your past that you wish you could go back and redo?

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Comments

  1. Anna says:
    December 23, 2009 at 3:52 pm

    I really liked this book, but I agree about the end. I wanted to know more.–AnnaDiary of an Eccentric

    Reply
  2. Kirthi says:
    December 23, 2009 at 4:31 pm

    I like the idea of having a chance to change your past, I can't wait to read this!

    Reply
  3. Lori (sugarandgrits) says:
    January 3, 2010 at 7:26 pm

    This book is on my Wish List…can't wait to give it a try! Thanks for sharing! :) I have an award for you here:http://someofmyfavoritebooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-awards-for-2009.html~ Lori

    Reply
  4. inthehammockblog says:
    January 3, 2010 at 10:34 pm

    This looks so good!! What a cute cover! I love your blog, I found you through Lori at sugarandgrits!

    Reply

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