“In every world, she was consumed with the intense contradictions of her heart.”
Every dog owner or dog walker has fantasied about the idea of meeting their soulmate while taking their dogs for a walk, right? Well, that’s exactly what happens to Adelaide while walking her teachers’ dogs…but it also doesn’t; and it also kind of doesn’t work out quite right because her soulmate already has a girlfriend and Adelaide has not moved on from her ex. So many things happen in a single moment, but how is it possible, you might ask? Through Adelaide, we get a glimpse of all the universes in which she meets Jack.
Again, Again is E. Lockhart’s—author of We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud—latest novel. Through multiple parallel universes, the reader gets to follow Adelaide, who falls in and out of “love” again and again. Her relationships, though, vary depending on the universe she is at. In one version of reality, her infatuation is love at first sight; in another, she is never able to get over her ex. In other universes, her new crush never gets to bloom… The alternative realities show how relationships sometimes don’t work, because it simply wasn’t the right time. Sometimes, a person still has feelings for past partners, and, other times, a person might have already started a relationship beforehand. Romance in real life is never like the one in books and movies. In the case of Again, Again, romance is depicted astoundingly true to reality. Primarily, Lockhart’s latest novel is a story about how every single relationship can go wrong…and still be meaningful, key element in a person’s growth.
Apart from that, Again, Again stands out, first and foremost, because of its beautiful, mesmerising writing style that catches your eye from the very first line. Combining both prose and free verse, Lockhart manages to blend a thousand parallel worlds and emotions in a single book and storyline. The lyricism of her free verse combines perfectly with the delicacy of a prose that is plenty of gorgeous imagery. It’s undoubtedly, quite a fascinating, unique novel; not only because it combines verse and prose, but because it replicates scenes again and again, in a succession that shows how much a small detail can change. Nonetheless, through the use of a bold font, there is a clear differentiation between Adelaide’s main reality and its opposed worlds. Whether there is indeed a main plot around which the other alternatives revolve, however, is up for the reader to decide, as it ends earlier than the novel itself. A brilliant use of parallel plotlines and narrative devices, that is for sure.
Going back to its main topics, it is essential to make something clear: Again, Again is not a romantic love story. This is the story of Adelaide falling in love with her own life again. It is a story of self-reflection, of understanding love and learning to accept that life is no bed of roses. It’s essentially an exploration of how we are always doomed to idolise those we crush after. Love blinds Adelaide for the most part of the novel, not allowing her to see what it is truly happening between her and Jack, or her ex, Mickey Double L, for that matter. She is desperate to love and be loved in return, but also to be appreciated as an artist. For Adelaide, love only ultimately works when it is real. Her last relationship—which we will not spoil—works out because she doesn’t idolise her partner nor does she expect something that cannot happen. Lockhart shows that the best romantic stories happen unexpectedly, they are not grand or sparkly like a romantic novel or movie, they just are. You don’t search for them, they find you.
This is also a story that shows how difficult is to deal with negative feelings when we have learnt to hide our pain for our own sake and that of others. Adelaide hides behind a bubbly personality, in order to keep people away from the hardships her and her family have gone through as a result of her brother’s addition to narcotics. But as she comes to realise, a person does not have to be happy all the time to be worthy of love.
Again, Again is definitely the novel for those who wonder about all the possibilities that can come out of a single decision. For those who cannot decide their path straight away, E. Lockhart explores all the directions life can go and how these affect us, no matter the destination. It is a delight to know that more and more authors talk about relationships without sugar-coating them; and what’s more, they instead focus on the most important form of love: self-love.
Again, Again is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
Will you be picking up Again, Again? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
From the New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud comes a complex novel about acceptance, forgiveness, self-discovery, and possibility, as a teenage girl attempts to regain some sense of normalcy in her life after a family crisis and a broken heart.
If you could live your life again, what would you do differently?
After a near-fatal family catastrophe and an unexpected romantic upheaval, Adelaide Buchwald finds herself catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will fall in and out of love a thousand times–while finally confronting the secrets she keeps, her ideas about love, and the weird grandiosity of the human mind.
A raw, funny story that will surprise you over and over, Again Again gives us an indelible heroine grappling with the terrible and wonderful problem of loving other people.
