What do readers think of The Day Tripper by James Goodhand? Write your own review.

As a fan of time travel novels, I was very excited to read The Day Tripper. I enjoyed the fresh take on the idea, as this novel features a jumping timeline and both the reader and protagonist never really know at what point in the timeline they will land in each day (this could be infuriating if you had to live the rest of a lifetime this way, but that's a topic for another day). I also enjoyed the tone of the novel and the character's voice/inner dialogue. There was a point about halfway through the story in which the jumping timelines seemed to drag on and not really move the story forward, I was ready then to move on to more action and the next plot point.

This is a wonderful story for someone looking to escape for a few hours in a feel good novel and for readers who enjoy uplifting stories of redemption and hope. If you are bit of a cynic (which I tend to be) and like stories with a bit of punch, this one might be too nicely wrapped up in a bow for you.

Thank you to BookBrowse and Mira for a copy of this ARC. Publishes March 19, 2024

Do you have trouble remembering what day it is? How would you like to wake up to a morning in 2014 one day and then a morning in 1998 the next day? Quite confusing. That is the life of Alex Dean. You wake up not recognizing your surrounding, not knowing who you are. A happily married man, a drunken homeless bum, a man married to a woman he doesn't love, the man holding the hand of his dying mother. Who will you be? What year will it be? How do you survive?

I was not sure that I was going to like this book, but I ended up loving it. Once I got with the rhythm of the story, and the reasoning behind the year changes, I settled in for a good story telling. A bit historical, a bit futuristic, a lot of cause and effect, a bit of time and space alignment, but all in all a good book.

My first by this author and I am anxious to see where he goes from here.

A good novel but confusing at times (time shifts in the book). Alex Dean is an example of how one's' life can be changed in the blink of an eye. This book almost reads like a story of recovery (substance abuse). The difference being in recovery one changes ones self to deal with circumstances instead of changing conditions to meet ones needs. Both funny and sad at times it mimics real life situations. Well worth reading. I enjoyed this book very much. A great read for book clubs.

The Day Tripper is a time travel novel. Alex Dean, age 20, suffers a serious injury and begins to experience waking up each day to a seemingly random day in his future. His circumstances are not what he had hoped for his life or for those he cares about. Can good decisions, accepting responsibility for his actions and surrounding himself with the people he cares about change the future for Alex.
I enjoyed the story and the writing, and the pace of the reveal was well done. I thought most of the main characters were well portrayed, although I would have liked to have known Holly better. I also thought the trauma on a younger Alex was handled compassionately.

I had some difficult getting into this novel and didn't like the main character. However, as the story continued, it became more compelling and I cared about what was happening to him. There are words of wisdom and thought-provoking conversations about the positive results of leading a good life. Can we alter life events via time travel? Fans of time travel stories would enjoy this. It is a unique format and is well written. There would be a lot for book clubs to discuss. I actually wish I had someone to discuss this book with.

For fans of Oona Out of Order and Cassandra in Reverse, The Day Tripper is a worthy addition to the "person out of time" oeuvre. I will say that I struggled a bit at the beginning to care about Alex Dean and his newly bloomed romance or, frankly, to like him at all. Credit to the author, however, for slowly building an empathetic character whom I couldn't help but root for in the end. I liked the conceit of how Alex found himself living his life atemporally, even if it left me slightly unsatisfied (no spoilers) with the ending. Overall, enjoyable especially if you enjoy this type of narrative.

The creative brain that mastered the timeline of events in The Day Tripper must be a marvel! Alex Dean finds himself perpetually adrift while trying to navigate his life. I have enjoyed time-travel novels, but this one proved a bit much for me. I found it to be confusing because of the abrupt transitioning. I know, that's the premise of time-travel, but I never quite found the rhythm. In addition, the poor choices Alex made left me wishing that I could stop him! The intricacy of the plot kept me curious about what would happen to Alex. However, it is not a book I would recommend to a casual reader.

This is a complicated book. James Goodhand posits that time travel exists, that it is possible with a particular brain injury for someone to live their life out of sequence with no control and little understanding of how time moves. If you move back and forth through time and you are lucky and make better decisions, can you change the future and repair the past? We meet Alex Dean as a young man set to go to Cambridge and in love with a beautiful woman who loves him in return. When we see him next as he travels erratically back and forth through his life, he is an alcoholic busker with no friends. The story that Goodhand tells is how he got there, why Alex makes such bad decisions and whether there is any way in which there might be an alternate ending. I think people who enjoyed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig will find this an interesting premise. I enjoyed this book but I found it somewhat difficult to get into. You need the patience to keep reading.