Vivian Lantz’s Second Chances by Kathryn Ormsbee | Book Review

I received this book for free in exchange of an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Disclosure here.

A girl whose first school days are always cursed receives a time loop to correct her first day.

Vivian Lantz, a starting eighth-grader, prepares for her first school day. She needs to take the utmost caution because, usually, her first days aren’t perfect. But even so, Vivian didn’t have an excellent first day. Though, when she woke up, it was the same day again. What does this mean for Vivian? And how will she deal with her time loop?

This book is a perspective into a middle schooler’s life who struggles with the challenges of having a perfect day and fitting in. If I had a bad day, would I want a time loop to start over the day? Yes and no. Yes, I could fix my mistakes, and no, because I would be afraid to get stuck in it.

Vivian learns a lot of things every day she is reliving. She will learn along the way what is important to make a perfect day at school and what to let go. Second chances teach you patience, wisdom (it’s ok to make mistakes), forgiveness, courage, and to find who you are.

Could a first day at school be perfect? I don’t think so, but we must learn from our mistakes.

This book addresses a lot of subjects such as friendship (losing, new ones), romance (first crush), first period, family with two dads and a brother, coming out of the closet, and bisexuality (but those are just part of the story, not the center of the story).

Her parents (two dads) are excellent, and her big brother is pretty snarky. Gemma, her new friend, is lovely, and Cami, her other friend, is a pretty cool friend. Vivian also loves to write fanfic on her favorite series (like me, fanfic is when you take your fav series and make a whole new story with some of the characters or invent a character that lives in the series).

Give this book to anyone who believes in the magic of second chances and likes time loop stories.

My rating