Immortal Octopus, Teenage Shenanigans, and a Time Loop
3 out of 5 stars
Repeat After Me is… a lot. But maybe that’s the point.
This book is what happens when you throw together a horny teen comedy, an immortal sea creature, and a time loop gone haywire. Oh, we’re not done. Now, take that and let it marinate in a tropical island with no air conditioning and lots of bodily fluids. It’s messy, chaotic, unapologetically weird, and if you’re into books that feel like American Pie met Palm Springs at a Red Bull-fueled summer camp, Repeat After Me might be your new favorite fever dream.
Let’s be honest, I am not this book’s target audience. I spent a good chunk of the first third rolling my eyes and wondering how many more cringe-inducing POV shifts I could handle. And yet… I kept going. Maybe it was the immortal octopus ceviche (which, yes, plays a legit role in the plot), or maybe it was the bizarrely sweet friendship-turned-romantic tension that snuck up on me. Whatever the case, somewhere between the 500th awkward conversation about sex and the 3rd or 4th loop through an increasingly wild Friday, I started to get what this book was doing—even if I didn’t love all of it.
To be clear: this book is not YA, no matter what the category listing says. It’s raunchy, explicit, and not even trying to be subtle about it. But it also knows what it is. It tells you from the jump: this is a bizarre, exaggerated, chaotic little story, and if you’re on board for that? You’ll probably have a blast. It wasn’t my vibe, but I can absolutely see this becoming someone’s nostalgic favorite—a book that hits just right when you’re in the mood for something bold, brash, and bonkers.
Tina Wolstencroft and Matt Weisgerber deserve serious kudos for their narration. With so many characters (and so many teeny-tiny moments of emotional chaos), they brought clarity and personality to what could’ve easily been a confusing swirl of voices. They helped ground the story when the plot and characters threatened to spiral completely off the rails. Their performance made the dialogue feel more believable—even when the dialogue itself was something I’d want to erase from my memory.
Book Description:
She’s about to have a serious temporal tantrum.
In retrospect, I probably should have passed on the ceviche.
It was already a weird Friday. My class is stuck on an eerily remote island for our senior trip, I’m pretty sure Mr. D (“call me Max”) is hiding something from us, my ex–best friend turned nemesis keeps stealing my candy, and tonight’s plan for my boyfriend and me to finally lose our virginity to each other is going hellishly.
I mean, ceviche is delicious, don’t get me wrong. But a dish made from a supposedly immortal octopus should really come with a warning label.
Caution: consuming a telepathic sea creature of unknown origin may result in immortality, no consequences to any actions, and getting stuck in a time loop for all of eternity.
Now every morning I wake up, and it’s the same Friday all over again. Same annoying classmates. Same island suspended in time by an evil oyster farmer with a God complex. Same outrageous candy theft. The only person I can count on to keep me from losing my grip on this new reality is Louis, my best friend who knows me better than anyone else in this world.
This should be a cephalopod-induced nightmare but somehow—in some ridiculous way—I feel like I’m experiencing the extraordinary, the gift of endless opportunities to get things right. But when I wake up every morning and it’s Friday again, sometimes it feels more like a never-ending prison sentence.
They say some things are worse than death…
…guess I’m about to find out.
At Entangled Teen, we care about our listeners’ experience. Please be advised that this title is intended for ages 17+ and may not be suitable for all audiences.
Repeat After Me by Jessica Warman
Narrator: Tina Wolstencroft, Matt Weisgerber
Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
Published by Tantor Audio on September 2nd 2024
Format: Audiobook
