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Give Your Photos the Story They Deserve

Name: The Year in Review
Brand: The Great Recap
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.9 (1284 reviews)

Don't let your favorite memories die on your phone. Upload the moments that mattered most, and we’ll craft a chronological recap of your year—built to live on your coffee table, not just your screen.

Start your year recap See how it works

No payment to start · 5 minutes of setup

★★★★★ 98% loved it! 600+ recaps created this month Ships in ~5 days

The Year in Review — personalized comic book cover

That's me!

The gift they'll never expect

Your year in review

Looking for the most personal year in review gift book? Gather your best photos — and moments from friends and family — and we’ll turn them into a printed comic-style book they’ll keep forever.

From camera roll to comic

Upload your photos. We transform them into recaps.

Drop in real photos — we illustrate the best moments into a printed recap book.

Before📷 Phone photo

Tap mic — tell us what happened… I tried to lift the front wheel and then I ended up crashing on the floor in front of a full crowd...

After🎨 Illustrated panel

The same moment illustrated as a comic panel with a caption

From album to forever

We take your photos and turn them into a book you’ll keep forever.

Friends drop moments into a shared album. We illustrate the best ones into a comic-style year in review book.

Shared album

Photos pouring in…

Cover title My year 2025

A keepsake book

Collect — guests upload from their phones
Transform — moments become illustrated panels
Keep forever — a printed book on the shelf

How it works

You add the moments. We make the book.

Six steps and about five minutes of your time — we handle the writing, art, and printing.

1~2 min

Tell us the story

A few questions, names, and photos. No writing needed.

2~30 sec

Invite the crew

Share one link — friends and family upload photos and stories from their phones. No accounts.

3~2 days

We craft it

The best moments become comic panels with captions. You steer the tone — tender to full roast.

4Free

Preview free

See every page before paying a cent — the whole book, cover to cover.

5~1 min

Approve & print

Love it? Confirm your order and we print your book.

6~5 days

We ship the book

Decide if you want to receive it to your address or directly to the birthday boy's! We ship worldwide.

Year in Review

Year recap ideas

📱

Document your life

Turn a standout year — or a string of years — into a personal year-in-review book you’ll reread every December.

🔥

Your family’s year in review

Capture the whole household: vacations, birthdays, first days of school, and the inside jokes that only your crew would get.

👯

One year or several

Recap 2025 alone or span 2020–2025. You choose the years; we weave the story and the headlines together.

Honest comparison

Four ways to give a memory

Same seven questions, asked of each one. We lose two of them.

Compare The Great Recap against

Best for a keepsake

The Great Recap

from $69

A comic book built from your real photos.

Standard photo book

$40–95

Your phone photos, laid out with captions.

Custom name storybook

$40–95

Their name dropped into a ready-made plot.

Experience gift

$80–250

Dinner or tickets. A great night out.

One of a kind?

In your favour. Written from your story

Not really. Same layout as everyone's

Partly. Their name, stock artwork

Not really. Anyone can book the same night

Uses your own photos?

In your favour. Drawn as comic panels from real ones

In your favour. Straight off your phone

Not really. Illustrations only

Not really. No photos involved

Can family and friends add to it?

In your favour. One share link collects their photos

Partly. Only if they email you photos first

Not really. Just you and a form

Not really. Hard to include distant family

See it before you pay?

In your favour. Free preview of the whole book

In your favour. You build the layout yourself

Partly. Cover mock-up only

Not really. You book it blind

Still around next year?

In your favour. Hardcover on the shelf

Not really. Gone by the next morning

How much work for you?

Partly. About 25 minutes

Not really. An hour or two of dragging photos

In your favour. A name and a checkout

In your favour. Book it and you're done

How soon does it land?

Partly. Digital same day, print in ~5 days

Partly. Print in about a week

In your favour. The moment you book

In your favourPartlyNot really

Preview your book free

What people say

The reaction is the best part.

Add photo

Gift reveal

★★★★★

"I did 2024 for myself and 2023–2024 for our family. Both books are on the shelf now — we flip through them every New Year’s."

Priya K. · Personal + family recap · Toronto, CA

Add photo

Gift reveal

★★★★★

"Our family year book is the one thing every kid fights over at holidays. Best way we’ve found to document us."

Jen M. · Family year recap · Denver, CO

Add photo

Gift reveal

★★★★★

"Spanning five years for my dad’s retirement gift destroyed everyone in the best way. Like a documentary, but funnier."

Omar R. · Multi-year life recap · Chicago, IL

Simple pricing

A gift they will keep forever.

Comes in 3 editions — Standard, Premium, or Deluxe.

Custom comic panels from your photos
Writing, art & layout included
Preview free before you pay

Standard

The full illustrated book — softcover.

This edition

Up to 100 moments
37 pages
Softcover
Premium colour paper
Add a hardcover or extras at checkout

Create yours

Premium

Hardcover, heavier paper, bonus chapters included.

This edition

Standard edition
+ 9 pages
+ The Recapitulator bonus
+ The Encore bonus
+ Hardcover
+ Premium heavyweight paper
+ 20 more moments

Create yours

The full keepsake

Deluxe

A dedication page they’ll keep.

149

This edition

Premium edition
+ 8 pages
+ 30 more moments
+ Your custom dedication page

Create yours

$0.60 per additional moment. One photo uploaded = one moment

Preview is free. Extra copies 25% off. Ships in about 5 days.

Before you start

Common questions.

Can I recap one year or several?

Both. Choose a single standout year or span several years in one book — perfect for documenting a chapter of your life or catching up on years you never properly celebrated.

What’s the difference between Year in Review and Family Year?

Year in Review centers on one person’s story (yours or someone else’s) with world headlines woven in. Family Year captures your whole household’s year — trips, milestones, and chaos — in one shared keepsake.

Is this only for New Year’s?

No — people make year recaps for birthdays, retirements, anniversaries, or whenever a year (or few) deserves to be preserved. Digital is ready the same day; printed copies ship in about 5 business days.

Do I need to write anything?

No. A few minutes of questions and your photos is enough — we handle captions, art, and layout. Edit any line or regenerate any panel before ordering.

Can I document my family and myself?

Yes — many people make a personal Year in Review and a separate Family Year book, or gift one to a partner while keeping one for the household.

What if I don’t love it?

Then you don’t pay — the first panels are free to preview. You approve a proof before we print.

What if I go over the moment limit?

Standard includes 100 moments, Premium 120, and Deluxe 150. One photo uploaded equals one moment. Extra moments are $0.60 each if you keep every photo in the book — or you can stay at the included count with no extra charge.

Keep exploring

Your year in review

Upload your photos. We transform them into recaps.

Share a link or QR code — everyone adds their photos.

We take your photos and turn them into a book you’ll keep forever.

You add the moments. We make the book.

Tell us the story

Invite the crew

We craft it

Preview free

Approve & print

We ship the book

Year recap ideas

Document your life

Your family’s year in review

One year or several

Four ways to give a memory

The reaction is the best part.

A gift they will keep forever.

Standard

Premium

Deluxe

Common questions.

More gift ideas they’ll love.