The Do Over by Bethany Turner Review

 Happy Wednesday Friends :)

I hope your day is off to a great start, and you're finding many ways to spend time with Jesus amongst all the craziness in our world right now.

If you're new to my blog, welcome! I'm Kirby, and I love sharing my love of reading with you all.

My favorite genres are Christian fiction, young adult fiction, cozy mysteries, middle grade, contemporary romance, Christian non fiction, fantasy and historical fiction.

I share many, many book reviews here on The Preppy Book Princess, and I post three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Today's review is from an author that I've had both positive and negative experiences with her books in the past.

Keep reading to find out what I ended up thinking about her upcoming release.

The Do Over by Bethany Turner:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: March 15th, 2022

Genre: Christian Fiction/Chick Lit/Contemporary

Synopsis:

When McKenna Keaton walks into the boardroom of Wallis, Monroe, and Burkhead, she expects to be named senior partner. Instead, she learns she’s being investigated for embezzlement. To wait out her unpaid leave, McKenna sublets her Upper West Side apartment and goes home to Durham, North Carolina, to save money. Saving face is going to be another thing entirely, but she assumes her problems will blow over soon.

While living in her childhood hometown, McKenna learns about a family curse that—if real rather than imagined—could suggest she has less than a year to live. This information is troubling (of course!), but it’s the reunion with former classmate Henry—Durham’s favorite son—that flips her world upside down. Henry is now a celebrated documentarian, back in town to premiere his latest masterpiece. Vulnerable to (and desperately needing) a distraction as her life falls apart, McKenna begins seeing the shy nerd from high school in a whole new light.

As she waits out the results of the investigation and wonders if her literal life is hanging in the balance, McKenna debates her future and questions her past. She might survive it all in one piece—but a new love and a newly-examined life might be the only things that can save her. 

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

I wasn't sure what exactly to expect when I picked up The Do Over by Bethany Turner, but the synopsis intrigued me, and it sounded like something I'd enjoy, so I went ahead and gave it a chance.

McKenna was definitely a harder character to root for, but I surprised myself by actually enjoying her journey. Her character felt real, and while she definitely acts juvenile and makes many wrong choices, she also felt human. She's definitely not a perfect character, and that made this book seem much more authentic to me. As she battles with losing the only dream she's ever had for herself amongst familial pressure to settle down and find the right man, and feeling like she can't be honest with the majority of her family members about what's truly her reason for coming back home for fear of them all seeing her a failure. McKenna's character shows true growth by the end of the story, and starts to realize that life isn't always as black and white as we've made it out to be.

That being said, this didn't end up being a new favorite for me. I thought the romance felt really rushed, and often almost inappropriate at times. It was heavily focused around insta love, and I couldn't get on board with the intense feelings that developed between McKenna and Henry, when they'd really only had a couple of interactions prior to the fact. I thought McKenna's way of handling her current situation was kind of strange, especially since as a well renowned legal counselor you would have thought she would have better known what her options should be. 

I do always enjoy Bethany Turner's fast paced and witty writing style, and found myself flying through this one pretty quickly. However, I thought the pop culture references were a bit on the heavy side, and almost had me rolling my eyes over the many, many examples by the end of the story. Overall, this was a cute read, but it felt like it was missing something to make it memorable to me, and I don't see it being a reread in the future. Perhaps my favorite part was the lovely relationship that exists between McKenna's family, and I really enjoyed how this is strengthened as she comes to terms with everything going on in her life. 

Final Rating: 3/5.

Recommended to anyone who likes cleanish chick lit, and/or enjoys witty contemporaries.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read and review this!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)