SuitabookAgain Again
E. Lockhart
- Reading
- Pause after major shifts between possible outcomes, noting what changes and what remains constant. If addiction or family strain feels close to home, agree beforehand whether to read together or pause for conversation.
- Themes
- Addiction and family repair: Adelaide’s younger brother is in recovery, experiences relapse, and the family relationship is damaged as Adelaide worries about him and tries to reconnect. The story gives attention to recovery’s emotional effects and the effort involved in rebuilding a sibling relationship.
- Love, possibility and choice: Adelaide falls in and out of love while the narrative imagines different outcomes and examines her ideas about love and connection. The structure presents relationships as changing possibilities rather than a single straightforward path, encouraging reflection on choices and consequences.
- Fragmented storytelling: Events and speech are fragmented, and scenes are imagined and reimagined across differing possible timelines. The form asks readers to track variations and consider what may be true across changing versions of events.
- Worth knowing
- Before reading, consider whether discussion of opioid addiction, relapse, overdose and a family trying to rebuild trust could feel difficult. Romantic and sexual situations, brief violence, alcohol and occasional strong language also appear.