Thursday, April 11, 2013

Replay by Ken Grimwood

I read about Replay on Bonnie's Books. I thought it would be a book that both Tai and I would enjoy. I was right. We both enjoyed Replay. I found it hard to put it down.
Jeff Winston is 43 when he dies. He's on the phone with his wife when his heart stops. Moments later, he finds himself, alive and 18. Jeff remembers everything from his previous life including the winners of the World Series and Kentucky Derby. Jeff uses his knowledge of these events to make money. Then he sets out to recreate his life. Nothing has changed. It's like someone rewound Jeff's life 25 years and let him live it all over again.
I found the premise of Replay to be very engaging and thought provoking. If you knew the outcome of world events, would you try to change them? If you knew the winner of every major sporting event for 25 years, would you bet on the outcomes? And if you knew you'd die again in 25 years, what would you do? I found the challenges that Jeff's replays provided to be highly interesting. When Jeff was "reborn", he was 18, able to leave school and go out in the world. But what if you came back a child, say eight years old, with all the knowledge of an adult. Those 10 years before you can legally be an adult would suck. And when Jeff does try to change a world event, he finds himself unable to stop it. So he learns not to try, to let events happen as they should.
Grimwood's writing is engaging and suspenseful. I could not put the book down. Even when I did, I found myself wondering what would happen next. To me, that's the mark of a good book. As you can see, I enjoyed Replay and would recommend to anyone. Others who shared their thoughts on Replay: Ink and Page, At Home With Books, and Read More!

2 comments:

  1. This sounds pretty cool!! I'm going to have to look it up and see if my library has this one!!

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  2. This sounds really interesting and poses a lot of questions. Thanks for featuring this book!

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