Synopsis:
Mona and Duncan used to be best friends. Now they can’t stand each other. Too bad that’s not a good enough excuse to miss their two families’ annual trip to the cabin. But things get really complicated when they accidentally drive through a wormhole together on the way. Look what playing nice and carpooling gets you.
Now they’re stranded indoors by an epic storm and stuck in an alternate timeline where things are just slightly … off. Duncan and his dad aren’t speaking for reasons no one knows, Mona’s mom doesn’t like her hair or her career choices, and their siblings are meddlesome as ever.
Oh, yeah, and apparently they’re going through a divorce. Which means that in this universe they are married. To each other.
All they can really do is play along until they figure out how to get back to the real timeline. How hard can it be—they already hate each other, don’t they? But figuring out how exactly Mona and Duncan managed to fall epically in love with one another—and then break each other’s hearts—is easier said than done. Navigating all these big feelings is leading to new ones, but are they destined to hurt each other in any universe? And what happens to this new relationship when they’re back to their old lives?
Review:
I’m usually a big fan of Cara Bastone’s full cast audiobooks but Better Luck Next Time failed to hit the mark big time.
Let’s start by talking about the narration. I love Mae Whitman as an actor, I think she has brilliant comedic timing, but something felt very off with her performance here. She seemed very whiny and don’t get me started on the singing parts – which I’m assuming are her, they sound like they are.
I do think most of the cast did a great job but the production didn’t seem as good this time. I really enjoy full production audiobooks, so this was entertaining, but it didn’t capture my attention as much as Cara Bastone’s books usually do.
We all know I’m a sucker for a friends to lovers romance and this one was kinda a second chance too but the build up just wasn’t there. One thing I love about Cara Bastone’s books is how she builds the relationship over time and you can really feel their connection. Mona and Duncan didn’t have that. It was a tell not show friendship and I just wasn’t invested.
Also, they seemed fine with the different dimension reality way too quickly. If your instant reaction to finding out you’re married in a different dimension is “EW OMG WHO LET US DO THAT”, I’m not going to be convinced that you’ve actually harboured feelings for each other for 20 years, or however long it was.
I did like how Better Luck Next Time linked back to book one (Maybe This Time) but as they don’t say they’re part of a series on Audible, you would be very confused about what’s going on if you didn’t read that one first. The whole time travel/different dimension parts were incorporated much better in Maybe This Time, this one felt a little clunky and disjointed.
I read Better Luck Next Time a couple of weeks ago now and can only remember the parts that I didn’t like, hence why this review is so negative. One part that was cute was the dog, which I was assume was a plot device to get Mona and Duncan to work together despite absolutely despising each other apparently.
I’m usually singing the praises of these books but I don’t think I’d recommend this one.
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