This was a fun take on a time loop that was different from other time loop stories I have read.

Noelle is pretty much always working, usually the last person to leave the office, and always cleaning up other people’s mistakes, but rarely getting the credit. Until she eats magical dumplings that promise to give her what she needs most and ends up in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over again, seemingly alone.

At first Noelle attempts to live as normal, doing her regular day to day tasks, until she realizes that everything gets erased and starts over again in the morning. So she starts mixing things up and searching for a way out. Along the way she discovers another person caught in the same time loop who ate the same dumplings with the same promise. She and Avery then team up and form a bond and friendship.

Noelle also keeps running into the same guy, Cam. While he never remembers their interactions, he does vaguely remember her, always telling her she looks familiar, remembering her drink order, picking up on the same jokes. Some days they go on a date, others they don’t. Soon they have a pseudo-relationship that only progresses on one side.

Noelle is our main POV character, though we get Cam’s POV in small pieces throughout the story. She evolves from almost rigidly following a schedule, to being more open and spontaneous. While she didn’t feel the need for a relationship in the past, she falls for Cam and is frustrated and hurt that they can’t build something together because of the loop.

Avery feels trapped, not just by the loop, but also by her life and the relationship that she can’t get out of. She is reliving her birthday, on her period, breaking up with her boyfriend over and over again. She struggles to continue and Noelle helps her to stay.

Cam is the only one moving forward through time, but he feels like he is missing something, someone, important in his life. He adores his grandmother, and her dumplings, and knows that he is losing her.

When the morning came that Noelle and Avery left the loop, it was a shock (and not just because there was so much story left). Instead of moving on to the next day, they jumped 7 months in the future, with no memories of what happened in their lives during those months, like an alternate version of themselves just kept living a normal life. They both had to discover what they missed and make decisions about the future.

I didn’t predict the exact twist that came, but I did predict a connection, it just took me a while to get there. But I loved the twist, especially the reveal and the magic of it.

Disclaimer: I was invited to read an eARC for review consideration by the publisher in partnership with NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.