You’ve done all this before. How many times is it now? Five? Six? You’re stuck in what’s called a time loop, and unfortunately, there’s no easy way to break it. Maybe it’ll stop all on its own after enough cycles? Yeah, that’s what the last guy said too. Time loop stories have been around since at least 1915 with the publication of a Russian novel, Strange Life of Ivan Osokin by P. D. Ouspensky, and very, very rarely has anything ever been solved by sitting around and hoping that you’ll wake up to not another Tuesday. You’ll have to be your own hero.
Wait, what do you mean this isn’t that bad? Why on earth would you not want to break the loop? Okay, sure, the vacation from work is nice, but how many times can you stomach listening to the exact same song your alarm clock plays? Doesn’t the phone ringing at 3:03 P.M. annoy you? What about the angry knocking on your door because your neighbor got sent your mail again? Are you really going to put up with that every single day for the rest of eternity?
Fine, whatever. Come back when you’re a couple of months in and start to talk to your own shadow.
Oh, hello. Loop 137 you say? Your shadow has started calling you rude names that are as offensive as they are accurate? Wow, if only someone had warned you.
So, what should you do to break the loop? Well, everyone’s time loop solution is different. They happen, you see, because something isn’t quite right, and it’s up to you to fix it. That could be finding the courage to confess your love to that special someone or apologize for something that was definitely your fault even if you can’t admit it quite yet. You might have to save someone who has died, or you might have to do the opposite—accept that there is no saving them and move on. If you’re really dead set on the ‘I didn’t do anything wrong’ line of thinking, then you might just have to track down the nasty, conniving so-and-so who put you in the time loop in the first place and brute force your way out.
Really? No idea at all where to start? Luckily for you, you’re not the first person to fall into this predicament. It might be a good idea to do some research – figure out how your forebears got themselves into such a sticky situation and how they ultimately got themselves out, learning a lesson or two along the way. It’s not like you have anything better to do with your newly infinite free time.
- Adult
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How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler
Davi has done this all before. She's tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she's rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she's killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she's been defeated every time. This time? She's done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that's who she needs to be. It's Davi's turn to play on the winning side.
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A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
Grieving her best friend's recent death, neuroscientist Mariana Pineda's ready to give up everything to start anew. Even her career--after one last week consulting at a top secret particle accelerator. Except the strangest thing happens: a man stops her...and claims they've met before. Carter Cho knows who she is, why she's mourning, why she's there. And he needs Mariana to remember everything he's saying. But just as they figure out this new life, everything changes. Because Carter's memories of the time loop are slowly disappearing. And their only chance at happiness is breaking out of the loop—forever.
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Maybe Next Time by Cesca Major
One Day meets Groundhog Day, in this heartwarming and emotionally poignant novel about a stressed woman who must relive the same day over and over, keeping her family and work life from imploding as she attempts to spare her husband from an unfortunate fate.
- Young Adult
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Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield
Phoebe Mendel's day is never-ending - literally. On August 6th, she woke up to find herself stuck in a time loop. After nearly a month of August 6ths since, she's no closer to reaching tomorrow. Phoebe is desperate to escape the loop and make it to her appointment with a doctor who may actually take her IBS seriously, but nothing ever changes - until Phoebe's childhood crush, Jess, comes crashing into the time loop, too. Now also stuck, Jess convinces Phoebe to break out of her routine and take advantage of their consequence-free days to have fun. From splurging on concert tickets, to enacting (mostly) harmless revenge, to all-night road trips. Jess pulls Phoebe further and further out of her comfort zone - and deeper in love with them. But the more Phoebe falls for Jess, the more she worries about what's on the other side of the time loop. What if Jess is only giving her the time of day because they're trapped with no other options? What if Phoebe's new doctor dismisses her chronic pain? And worst of all: what if she never gets the chance to find out?
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If I See You Again Tomorrow by Robbie Couch
Clark is stuck in a time loop that is endlessly monotonous until he meets Beau, the boy of his dreams. Clark is stuck in a time loop: he has woken up and relived the same monotonous Monday 309 times. Day 310 turns out to be different: his usual torturous math class is interrupted by a boy he has never seen before in all his previous Mondays. Throwing caution to the wind, Clark joints effusive and effervescent Beau on a series of errands across the Windy City: he never imagines that anything will really change, because nothing has in such a long time. And he doesn't expect to fall this hard or this fast for someone in just one day. How do you build a future with someone if you can never get to tomorrow?
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The Do-Over by Lynn Painter
Sixteen-year-old Emilie, stuck in a cosmic Groundhog/Valentine's Day nightmare where she discovers her family is splitting up and her boyfriend is cheating on her, decides to embark upon The Day of No Consequences, but when her repetitive day suddenly ends, she must face the consequences of her actions. After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine's Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother's house for some comfort. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she's back home in her own bed-- and it's Valentine's Day all over again. And the next day. And the next. Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare: re-watching her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. And she keeps running into Nick-- sometimes literally-- in unfortunate ways. When something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?
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You and Me on Repeat by Mary Shyne
Chris O'Brien has a genius plan: If he can share the perfect first kiss with his crush, Andy, then of course he'll break free from the time loop that has him repeating graduation day over and over...and over. Alicia Ochoa thinks Chris's plan is doomed. Valedictorian and a total nerd, she knows it'll take more than a kiss to escape the loop they're trapped in together. Besides, Chris may be a hopeless romantic, but Alicia doesn't think he has a real shot with Andy. Once close friends, Alicia and Chris have history—lots of it. As they got older, the pair fell out after Chris ditched her for the "cool kids" and left her in the dust. But when you're looping side by side, you never know if friendship might rekindle or what new feelings could spark along the way.
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See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon
After reliving the same day for months, eighteen-year-old Barrett reluctantly teams up with her nemesis Miles to escape the time loop, and soon finds herself falling for him, but what she does not know is what they will mean to each other if they finally make it to tomorrow. Barrett Bloom is hoping college will be a fresh start, but when school begins on September 21st, everything goes wrong. Humiliated by the know-it-all in her physics class, she botches her interview for the college paper. At a party that night she accidentally sets a frat on fire. Locked out of the dorm by her roommate, Barrett falls asleep in the common room. The next morning it's September 21st. Again. And after a confrontation with Miles, the guy from Physics 101, she learns he's been trapped for months. After her attempts to fix her timeline fail, they work together to find a way out. As they start falling for each other, what happens to their developing relationship if they finally make it to tomorrow?
- Children
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Vivian Lantz’s Second Chances by Kathryn Ormsbee
After trying and failing to break her years-long curse of bad first days of school, eighth grader Vivian Lantz wishes for a do-over--and gets stuck reliving this year's horrible first day over and over again.
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The First Last Day by Dorian Cirrone
Eleven-year-old Haleigh and her best friend, Kevin, must find the source of a mysterious set of paints she found and learn the secret of a time loop before it is too late.
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Time After Time by Sarah Mlynowski
Lucy Usthorn of Fort Worth, Texas, is super excited for her class trip to the Natural History Museum. Sure, Ms. Brock, the strict school librarian who happens to be dating Lucy's dad (awkward) is chaperoning. But it'll still be the best day, right? Wrong! Lucy watches in shock and humiliation as her dad proposes to Ms. Brock. Lucy is distraught. If only she could do this day over from scratch... Enter the magic bracelet. It arrives in the mail, with a letter from Addie, the girl who had the bracelet before Lucy. The bracelet grants wishes, and Lucy knows just what to wish for: a do-over day, where she'll fix everything and stop her dad's proposal. The wish comes true but not quite as Lucy expected. Her day keeps repeating over and over! With the help of her new long-distance friends, Addie and Becca, can Lucy figure her way out of this time loop?
- Movies
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A college student relives the day of her murder with both its unexceptional details and terrifying end until she discovers her killer's identity.
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When Sheila and Gary meet, it's love at first sight. Turns out, their magical date wasn't fate at all: Sheila's got a time-traveling tanning bed hidden inside a nail salon, and they've been falling in love over and over again. But when the perfect night is never quite enough, Sheila travels to Gary's past to change him into the perfect man.
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New York City air traffic controller Dylan Branson is the embodiment of a guy at the top of his game, until one day at 2:22 pm, a blinding flash of light paralyzes him for a few crucial seconds as two passenger planes barely avoid a midair collision.
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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Jacob discovers clues to a mystery and stumbles upon Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. However the mystery is deeper than he had thought, as he gets to know the residents and learn about their special powers. Jacob discovers that only his own special peculiarity can save his new friends.