Primary Genre(s): Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit
Originally Published: 7 July 2015 by Washington Square Press
Page count: 342
My Format: Audiobook via Hoopla Digital
Cover: Okay
Pacing: Good
Ending: Loved
Would I recommend it: Yes
Commission Link: https://amzn.to/2Lpfiha
My rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis from Goodreads
At the age of twenty-nine, Hannah Martin still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She has lived in six different cities and held countless meaningless jobs since graduating college. On the heels of leaving yet another city, Hannah moves back to her hometown of Los Angeles and takes up residence in her best friend Gabby’s guestroom. Shortly after getting back to town, Hannah goes out to a bar one night with Gabby and meets up with her high school boyfriend, Ethan.
Just after midnight, Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to go. A moment later, Ethan offers to give her a ride later if she wants to stay. Hannah hesitates. What happens if she leaves with Gabby? What happens if she leaves with Ethan?
In concurrent storylines, Hannah lives out the effects of each decision. Quickly, these parallel universes develop into radically different stories with large-scale consequences for Hannah, as well as the people around her. As the two alternate realities run their course, Maybe in Another Life raises questions about fate and true love: Is anything meant to be? How much in our life is determined by chance? And perhaps, most compellingly: Is there such a thing as a soul mate?
My Thoughts
Have you ever wondered how different your life might be if you had taken a different path at a particular point in time? Have you ever been curious if even the simplest decision ultimately had an impact in the direction your life has gone so far? This book addresses that topic – two different stories, alternating between chapters, depicting the impact on Hannah’s life when she leaves a bar with Ethan, and when she doesn’t. Here are my pros and cons:
Pros
- Twenty-nine year old Hannah is a great character. She is witty, smart, and sometimes a bit annoying. I like that she recognizes she has been floundering, and perhaps even wasting her life, by refusing to make reasonable adult decisions and set down some roots. Her self-reflection and focus on improving her situation was refreshing. She didn’t blame anyone – in either storyline – for her faults. She owned them and focused on fixing them.
- Hannah’s friend Gabby is the best friend we all need in this world. A shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, and the one person that will tell you when you are being mind-numbingly stupid. I loved Gabby. The friendship between Hannah and Gabby felt really genuine.
- I liked the alternating storyline concept and I think the author did a good job depicting it. The format does result in some repetitiveness, but I think the concept still worked well and I enjoyed it.
- This is a simple, heartwarming story. I think anyone who reads this book will feel happy at the end.
- THE ENDING! Absolutely loved it. I won’t say more… just that you have to read it to find out how each storyline ended.
Cons
- Ethan was dull to me. I didn’t dislike him necessarily, but I just didn’t connect with him at all.
- One of the storylines was a little exaggerated in my opinion; however, I understand that the author had to make some kind of huge event occur in one of the storylines to make sure the alternating stories were dramatically different and interesting enough in their own right to hold the reader’s interest.
- The alternating story format worked; however, I think I would have followed the story a little more easily if I was reading the book instead of listening to it. There were no obvious chapter changes in the audio version and sometimes I didn’t realize I was listening to the alternate storyline until I was a little bit into the chapter. It became easier to figure out as I got farther along in the book, so it really didn’t impact my enjoyment of the story, but there was a bit of a learning curve.
Summary
If you’ve ever wondered “what if”, or perhaps even regretted a decision you’ve made in your life and wondered if things could be different, read this book. It might help you see things with a new perspective.
If you would like to read this book and form your own opinion, please consider purchasing through this link: https://amzn.to/2Lpfiha. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Thanks!
Primary Genre(s): Mythology, Fiction, Retelling
Primary Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy
Primary Genre(s): Middle Grade, Fiction
KayCKay Book Reviews 
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