Love | Book Chatter

Once and Again
By Rebecca Serle
Atria, March 2026, 256pp.

The Short of It:

Getting a “do-over” in life sounds like a dream come true, but is it?

The Rest of It:

Lauren and Leo are married and, for the most part, happy. The one thing they want most just doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Infertility, and the costly treatments that come with it, begin to wear them down piece by piece. You can’t help but wonder if their marriage will survive the strain.

In the back of her mind, Lauren knows she’s been given a gift. The women in her family inherit a single, extraordinary chance to go back in time. It can be used to fix a mistake, undo a tragedy, even prevent a death. She’s never considered using it. Not seriously. But after one terrible moment, she is forced to choose.

How do you live with that kind of power? Knowing you only get one chance. Do you fix what’s right in front of you, or hold onto it in case something worse comes later? It’s the kind of pressure that would paralyze most people. I’m not sure I’d ever use it at all.

That tension sits at the heart of Lauren’s story. Choices are made. Secrets surface. And through it all, she wrestles with whether to stay with Leo despite the uncertainty surrounding their future, or return to what feels safe. A past love. A familiar life. The beach house that still feels like home.

Serle handles these questions with care and emotional clarity. The story invites you to sit with every possibility and feel the weight of each one. Yes, there is a way out, but it comes at a cost. What happens to the good memories? Can they ever be recreated, or does one decision shift everything that follows?

It’s a thoughtful, empathetic exploration of love, loss, and the choices that define a life.

I enjoyed this one and the questions it raised about life and what makes a home a home.

Recommend.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

The Incendiaries
By R.O. Kwon
Riverhead Books, 9780735213890, July 2018, 224pp.

The Short of It:

Misplaced faith can blind anyone.

The Rest of It:

Phoebe and Will meet during their first year at Edwards University. Phoebe comes from money. Will, the opposite, doing his best to keep his scholarship while working part-time. In whatever spare time he has, Will finds himself completely obsessed with Phoebe. When Phoebe is lured into a religious cult by its enigmatic leader, John Leal, Will, puts his judgement aside and joins Phoebe and this cult just to be close to her, which ultimately leads them down a path of no return.

The Incendiaries is short but powerful. Beautiful but destructive. As a reader, you can’t help but sense the underlying unease that is interwoven between each page. Phoebe’s increasing passion alarms Will. Her dedication to a group she knows so little about is at once admirable and terrifying. Their love is fleeting and there is a definite sense that something horrible is about to happen.

This is a dark subject but Kwon delicately dances between the dark and the light. The Incendiaries is very well-balanced and simply told. No fluffy language or extra anything but the story will stay with you after turning that last page.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Chatting with friends about books and life…