Review – The Rewind by Allison Winn Scotch

Item: The Rewind
Rating: 3.5
Author: Emily

Posted March 24, 2026 by Emily in review / 0 Comments

Review – The Rewind by Allison Winn Scotch

TITLE: The Rewind
AUTHOR: Allison Winn Scotch
Publisher: Berkley
PUBLICATION DATE: November 1, 2022
Source: Library
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RATING:

Two exes wake up together with wedding bands on their fingers--and no idea how they got there. They have just one New Year's Eve at the end of 1999 to figure it out in this big-hearted and nostalgic rom-com from New York Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch.

When college sweethearts Frankie and Ezra broke up before graduation, they vowed to never speak to each other again. Ten years later, on the eve of the new millennium, they find themselves back on their snowy, picturesque New England campus together for the first time for the wedding of mutual friends. Frankie's on the rise as a music manager for the hottest bands of the late '90s, and Ezra's ready to propose to his girlfriend after the wedding. Everything is going to plan--they just have to avoid the chasm of emotions brought up when they inevitably come face to face.

But when they wake up in bed next to each other the following morning with Ezra's grandmother's diamond on Frankie's finger, they have zero memory of how they got there--or about any of the events that transpired the night before. Now Frankie and Ezra have to put aside old grievances in order to figure out what happened, what didn't happen...and to ask themselves the most troubling question of all: what if they both got it wrong the first time around?

Setting the Scene

Review in 10 Words (or Less)

Had potential, but fell flat.

Mood Before Reading

Read this as an audiobook, the day after I finished what will probably be my favorite book of the year.

Dates Read

March 15 – 18, 2026

Review

I honestly don’t even know where to start. It’s been so long since I’ve been this confused on how to rate a book.

The Rewind tells the story of two exes who are forced to occupy the same space for one weekend a decade after their messy breakup. Frankie and Ezra wake up in the same bed, with rings on their left ring fingers, and without any memories on how they got there. They have a day to sort out what happened before attending their friends wedding and ring in the new millennium. Cue a series of unfortunate events as the two struggle to work as a team to pool their brainpower and fragmented memories.

What follows should be a plot fit for a romcom movie. But that’s not what this story is delivers.

Instead, it’s about two characters who could use a lot of therapy. Like, a lot! In their defense, I’m guessing therapy wasn’t as accessible then as it is now (I have no memory of 1999 so I can’t say for sure). But really, they probably need years to unpack the amount of baggage they both carry.

It’s been a while (or maybe even ever) that I’ve finished a book where I didn’t particularly like either main character. Sure, I understood them, but they’re both stupid assholes, who again, could have used some therapy. And I think that’s partly why I’m a little ambivalent on The Rewind. It’s just hard to really enjoy a contemporary novel when you’re not really invested in any of the characters or their romance.

Speaking of the romance, it’s another bone I have to pick with this story. I’m sorry, I just don’t buy it. I don’t they they have any chemistry or the necessary relationship development. All I got from The Rewind is their anger towards one another for their perceived roles in their messy breakup. And the little snippets of the past that were included (the ones from 1989) were interesting, but aren’t enough to convince me they had a solid relationship in college, to begin with. Without a noticeably solid foundation, I feel like their relationship was always doomed to fail. Granted, they were college kids at the time, but still, it doesn’t feel like one big romance. I ship both characters with their potential therapists more than each other.

That said, the plot was interesting enough for me to finish the whole audiobook, even without really giving two fucks about the characters. It’s told in such an interesting way – between present time and snippets of old memories ranging from their college days 10 years ago and fuzzy glimpses of the blurry night before. I was just as curious as Frankie and Ezra were to find out how they ended up in their little predicament.