Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble; it has been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.
Maybe that was always beside the point.
Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts…
Is that what she’s supposed to do?
Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?
Favorite Quote
“You don’t know when you’re twenty-three.
You don’t know what it really means to crawl into someone else’s life and stay there. You can’t see all the ways you’re going to get tangled, how you’re going to bond skin to skin. How the idea of separating will feel in five years, in ten – in fifteen. When Georgie thought about divorce now, she imagined lying side by side with Neal on two operating tables while a team of doctors tried to unthread their vascular systems.
She didn’t know at twenty-three.”
Thoughts
I actually enjoyed a Rainbow Rowell novel! *jumps for joy*. I typically don’t enjoy her novels. However, I heard this one was a little Christmasy, so I decided to give it a go. I’m very glad I did. I was pleasantly surprised. I kind of liked that Georgie always seemed to pick her career over the family because it seems like it’s mostly men in movies or books that do it, causing marriage problems. Another thing I liked and appreciated was the fact that Neal (the male) is introverted whereas Georgie (the female) is more extroverted. I appreciated the fact that this book showcases a different introvert/extrovert relationship. It was nice to see how an introverted guy acts in a relationship with an extroverted wife.
I felt like Georgie was a little selfish. She always wanted Neal to do things for her. He did this and that and clean that and did this, and Georgie didn’t want to do anything. She’d go to work, eat the food Neal made her, then go to bed. It felt more like a take relationship than give and take. I did eventually start to enjoy Georgie. Same with Neal. It annoyed me at first that Neal didn’t express emotions much. I had a hard time connecting with him. But then I came to the realization that Neal is introverted. I don’t know how I missed it. After that, I learned to love him. He’s a perfect husband and father.
I also really enjoyed the ending of this story. Georgie doesn’t have all the answers. She’s not going to be able to fix everything that’s gone wrong in just a few chapters and I appreciate that. Nobody can fix their problems easily. Even if she cannot fix things, she’s still willing to try. Although I’m only 22 years old, I can relate to the whole marriage problems and children, but I could see where the characters were coming from. I could still relate to the introvert dating an extrovert and how that can sometimes cause problems. I’m dating an extrovert and sometimes we have a hard time understand each other, but we still try. I really loved this. I highly recommend this story. Especially during Christmas!
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