The Second Chance Cinema
A Novel
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3.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
An engaged couple discovers a magical movie theater that challenges what they know about themselves—and each other—in this nostalgic and “utterly engrossing” (Margarita Montimore, USA TODAY bestselling author) debutthat is perfect for fans of The Midnight Library and In Five Years.
At the end of a dark alley, a magical cinema glitters with The Story of You on the marquee. When Ellie and her fiancé, Drake, stumble upon it during a late-night walk, they’re shocked to discover what’s playing inside the red-velvet auditorium: their formative memories.
Uneasy about what the theater might reveal, Drake hesitates, but Ellie, haunted by a fractured night from her past she can’t fully remember, insists they return. As their memories projected on the screen inch closer to the present, they realize they’re both keeping secrets from each other.
With their wedding on the horizon, Ellie and Drake must decide if revisiting their pasts will alter their vision of a future together.
“Magical, cozy, and romantic” (Meg Shaffer, USA TODAY bestselling author), The Second Chance Cinema is both an enchanting escape and a thoughtful exploration of how memory shapes who we are—and who we choose to be.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This magical realism romance is a cozy, surreal gem with a perfectly bittersweet edge. Ellie and Drake have been together for three years when, late one Saturday night, they stumble upon a glorious golden-age movie palace. Inside, the film being shown consists of their own childhood memories. Ellie, whose life has been clouded by a moment from her past, is into it. Drake, who likes everything to stay how it is, is not. Poignantly, as they continue visiting the mystical theater, the couple begins to realize how little about each other they truly know. Thea Weiss has crafted an intimate, witty story exploring how our pasts shape us. We loved how matter-of-fact the magical elements felt and how they illuminated her characters’ realistic and relatable emotions. The cinema feels like a natural extension of Ellie and Drake’s need to truly see and be seen by each other. The Second Chance Cinema is a thoughtful romance about the courage it takes to face our pasts.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An engaged couple takes stock of their lives with the help of a magical film in the first-rate debut from Weiss. Author Ellie Marshall and her fiancé, Drake, have just finished dinner at one of their favorite restaurants when they stumble upon a majestic old theater whose marquee announces the feature film The Story of You. Curious, Ellie and Drake enter the theater. The movie turns out to be a 10-part highlight reel of the couple's lives, beginning with a scene of Drake blowing out his first birthday candle. Over the course of their return trips for the nine additional installments, they discover that the cinema is open only for them—when Ellie tries to bring her best friend along, the trio find a dilapidated, long-shuttered theater in the same place. More than a nostalgia trip, the marathon film also throws secrets into the open, forcing Ellie and Drake to speak to each other directly about past lovers and hardships, as when Drake reveals the true story behind Ellie's engagement ring and faces her culpability in her brother's death from a car accident years earlier. Weiss supplements the accomplished plotting with realistic character work, focusing on how the couple is impacted by the film's revelations. This tugs at the heartstrings.
