Books Like In A Holidaze

Time is a fascinating topic for authors to explore as it affects everyone and allows for plenty of creative flexibility. Time also ties in with the human desire to control the uncontrollable, fix past mistakes, or do things differently with the benefit of hindsight. In addition to time travel novels, where characters can move backwards or forwards in time at will there is also a small subset of the genre that deals with characters stuck in repeating sections of time. For example, In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren is about a woman named Mae who becomes stuck in a strange time loop after wishing the universe would show her what would make her happy. For more novels that deal with characters trying to escape from these time loops and continue with their lives, check out the following books like In A Holidaze. See You YesterdayBy Rachel Lynn SolomonSee You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon is the tale of Barrett Bloom, a young woman who hopes that college will be a fresh start for her after a rather messy high school experience. Unfortunately, things get off to a rather disastrous start as she faces a series of setbacks, which culminate in her accidentally setting a frat on fire during a party. When Barrett flees the scene in panic, she discovers that she’s locked out of her dorm by her roommate and ends up falling asleep in the common room. However, when she wakes up the next day, Barrett discovers that she’s in a time loop that has placed her right back at the start of the disastrous previous day. She also finds that a fellow physics student named Miles has been trapped in the same loop for months. Initially, Barrett attempts to fix her timeline alone, but eventually teams up with Miles, resulting in the two starting to fall for each other.  My Backward LifeBy Claire MerleMy Backward Life by Claire Merle offers a unique take on the time loop formula by having everything happen in reverse. The protagonist, Louise Doors, collapses on her way home from a gig, only to wake up six days later. She discovers that not only is everything in her life messed up, like her best friends hating her, but that the six days she missed are happening again in reverse. Louise also begins falling for a boy named Dylan, who is trying to help her get her proper life back but wonders what would happen if they succeed. Wrong Place Wrong TimeBy Gillian McAllisterWrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister is another novel with a unique twist on the time loop formula. The story follows a woman named Jen who anxiously waits for her 18-year-old son, Tod, to return home. Her son is a typical teenager who is funny and seemingly happy, but it's midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen worries about him breaking his curfew. Much to her shock, Jen witnesses Todd through the window finally emerging from the shadows, but what happens next shocks her to her core. Todd stabs a total stranger and Jen has no idea why he committed such a devastating act of violence. Jen falls asleep in despair after Todd is taken into custody, but when she wakes up it’s the previous day and the murder has not happened yet. Jen believes that she might be able to prevent the murder from happening, but each morning when she wakes up she is further and further back in the past. Eternally YoursBy Kenya WrightEternally Yours by Kenya Wright has been described as “Groundhog Day meets 50 Shades of Grey” thanks to the time loop and steamy elements. The protagonist, Maya is a romance author who finds herself stuck in a time loop while attending a masquerade party. Each night someone at the party keeps trying to kill her and each time she dies she wakes up in the limo heading to the party again. One of the guests, Ethan Vanderbilt, is a billionaire who becomes obsessed with possessing Maya. Eventually, Ethan becomes caught in the time loop two, forcing him and Maya to work together if they want to figure out the mystery and find a way out of the loop.The LoopBy Shandy Lawson The Loop by Shandy Lawson follows Ben and Maggie, two teens who have met, fallen in love, and died together countless times. Each time it happens, they loop back to two days before the event where they meet each other and end up running from a violent criminal. As the pair remembers what happens before they try and change things, but every time the loop happens some events become more deeply ingrained and more inescapable. Eventually, the two come to the conclusion that their only hope for not dying might be surviving apart.RepeatBy Neal PollackRepeat by Neal Pollack features one of the longest time loops as the protagonist, Brad Cohen, finds himself repeating the first forty years of his life over and over. Brad is a failed screenwriter who is “reborn” every time he reaches his fortieth birthday and retains full knowledge of what’s happened before. Brad has tried numerous paths, such as becoming a successful political pundit, playboy, and even master manipulator of the stock market, but none of these broke the loop. Brad continues to try and escape from the loop in an attempt to find the love of his life who he didn’t appreciate the first time around.