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Five First Chances

Sarah Jost

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Similar in premise + themes

These books are ranked using the premise + themes labels extracted for Five First Chances. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: time loop, second chances, what ifs, life do-over, self-discovery, love story, course correction

Themes labels used: regret, choice, personal growth, self-acceptance, grief, loss, bereavement, mental health, anxiety, miscarriage, cancer, death, friendship, family, kindness, forgiveness, acceptance, living fully, no regrets, what-ifs, fate, destiny, change, healing, love

This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their premise + themes embeddings are close.

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Future Proof

David Atkinson · 2023

An experimental treatment sends a damaged man back through his own past, where each fix reshapes his future.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel · second chances · life redo · regret reversal · experimental treatment · personal reset · butterfly effect · what if

Themes labels: regret · redemption · free will · consequences · self-improvement · trauma · mental health · love · hope · fate · choice · what if · moral responsibility · personal growth · second chances

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1184

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This Time Tomorrow

Emma Straub · 2022

A 40-year-old woman wakes up in her 16-year-old body and gets a chance to revisit her life and her dying father.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel · do-over · midlife reckoning · father-daughter bond · grief · second chance

Themes labels: grief · regret · mortality · appreciation · life choices · memory · time · acceptance · parenthood · aging · missed chances · self-trust · hope · love · letting go · present-mindedness

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1247

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Replay

Ken Grimwood · 1986

A man dies at 43 and wakes up at 18 with his future memories intact, forced to relive and rethink his life.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time loop · second chance · relived life · future knowledge · midlife reset · memory retention

Themes labels: regret · lost opportunities · mortality · acceptance · meaning of life · free will · choice and consequence · self-discovery · loneliness · love · loss · identity · time · happiness · second chances · live in the moment

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1258

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The Journey

John A. Heldt · 2012 · Northwest Passage

A widowed woman is thrown back to her own high school year and must choose whether to change her past.

Why this is here

Premise labels: second chance · self-meeting · time slip · past revisitation · life reset · alternate choices · midlife reevaluation

Themes labels: second chances · regret · choice and consequence · fate · free will · self-discovery · love · friendship · courage · commitment · loss · moving on · life balance · nostalgia · sacrifice · personal growth

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1268

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Opposite of Always

Justin A. Reynolds · 2019

A teen falls for a girl, loses her, and gets repeated chances to rewind time—at a cost to everyone else he loves.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time loop · second chances · love and loss · preventing death · choices and consequences

Themes labels: grief · love · friendship · family · choices · consequences · fate · second chances · letting go · living in the present · sacrifice · loyalty · regret · selfishness · identity · race and representation

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1367

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The Locket

Stacey Jay · 2011

A teen gets a magical do-over after cheating on her boyfriend, but changing one mistake scrambles everything.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel · second chance · mistake correction · love triangle · teen relationship

Themes labels: second chances · regret · choice and consequence · fate · self-worth · growing up · love vs friendship · identity · change · mistakes

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1402

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The Memory Collectors

Dete Meserve · 2025

Four strangers get one hour in their past, but a time-travel glitch strands them together and exposes a shared tragedy.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel experiment · past revisit · shared tragedy · second chances · closure quest · intertwined strangers · hidden secrets

Themes labels: grief · loss · forgiveness · regret · redemption · second chances · fate · memory · closure · love · hope · identity · perspective · moving forward · trauma · accountability

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1426

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Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 2

Ichigo Takano · 2016 · Orange: The Complete Collection

Future letters push a shy high schooler and her friends to try to save a troubled boy and rewrite regret.

Why this is here

Premise labels: future letters · time travel · fate change · suicide prevention · friendship support · second chance

Themes labels: depression · suicide · mental health · fate · regret · friendship · love · loss · support systems · responsibility · self-worth · communication · stigma · choice · living intentionally · no regrets

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1440

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Bolero

Wyatt Kennedy · 2022 · Bolero

A heartbroken queer woman gets a key to multiple universes and chases a reset, but each jump forces deeper self-confrontation.

Why this is here

Premise labels: do-over · second chance · alternate lives · multiverse escape · breakup recovery · escapism · self-reinvention · relationship reset

Themes labels: addiction · recovery · trauma · healing · forgiveness · self-acceptance · identity · escapism · free will · choice · regret · personal growth · self-hatred · self-forgiveness · repetition · generational trauma · mental health · depression · coping · responsibility · mother wound · broken relationships · love · loss · desire · commitment

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1453

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The '86 Fix

Keith A. Pearson · 2021 · The '86 Fix

A regretful middle-aged man gets one brief chance to revisit 1986 and try to rewrite the life that followed.

Why this is here

Premise labels: second chance · midlife regret · time travel redo · nostalgia trip · alternate life · past mistakes · what if

Themes labels: regret · second chances · choice and consequence · agency · nostalgia · midlife crisis · forgiveness · reconciliation · personal growth · butterfly effect · self-knowledge · identity · loss · redemption · free will vs fate

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1487

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The Clay Lion

Amalie Jahn · 2013 · The Clay Lion

A grieving teen uses a once-only time trip to try to save her brother, risking the past, present, and her future.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel · save a loved one · prevent death · grief journey · second chances · family crisis · change the past · fate versus free will

Themes labels: grief · loss · acceptance · fate · destiny · free will · second chances · regret · sacrifice · love · hope · healing · responsibility · consequences · letting go · moving forward · personal growth · choice · mortality · timeline ethics

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1490

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A Page in Your Diary: An 1980s Time Travel Adventure

Keith A. Pearson · 2020

A middle-aged man is sent back to 1980s Britain for one last chance to change a devastating love story.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel · second chance · lost love · righting wrongs · preventing tragedy · return to the past

Themes labels: second chances · regret · redemption · nostalgia · memory · change the past · life choices · self-forgiveness · fate vs agency · mortality · grief

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1499

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