A longer version of this review was published on Lost in a Good Book - https://wp.me/p3x8rS-2U3
 

So many time loops are single days, usually the worst days of a character’s life but Pollack has brought the story of Brad, and makes him relive the first forty years of his life, resetting the night before his fortieth birthday.

I liked the story, it wasn’t the best time loop story I’d read but at the same time it was captivating, even if it was a rough read. Brad is a terrible person, through cycle after cycle he becomes amazingly an even worse person. Of course there has to be a lesson learnt otherwise I think we’d all reach into the book and strangle Brad on our own. His language and humour is crude, and Pollack drives his character and personality really well in that as understanding as we are, you certainly suffer no sympathy for him.

Pollack drops hints towards the end of the novel about how Brad came to be in his cycle. An inherently cruel time loop given forty years is an incredibly long time. I was curious at how he’d cycle through so many loops with such a long time span but he does a decent job introducing us to a new loop at interesting moments or towards the end and have the story backfill from there.

There is an unsubtle author self-insert which was interesting, but Pollack included it well narratively speaking. It provides an external perspective on how the world sees Brad after thousands of years. Especially given the capacity for the human brain and the undue stress he places it under. I was glad Pollack address the brain’s capacity to keep memories straight and every version clear given the overlap. That was an interesting approach and one you can’t address in single day loops.

Overall it was an interesting read and a fascinating premise. I can’t say I wasn’t expecting more from having such an extensive loop, but at the same time I was intrigued by the chance to redo your life and how many choices would stay and which would change. Sometimes even with hundreds of chances to redo your life you can’t fully change the character of a person.