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renrenowden's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol and Car accident
daniofthewood's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Medical content
Moderate: Confinement, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content
ashleyjean6's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A grown up version of choose your own adventure. As the storylines unfold side by side two things can happen; one, you get the parallel stories confused and two, it can get repetitive. Also, the "is it fate" theme was hammered home way to hard. No subtly about that idea, it's mentioned 2947 times with the bluntness of a hit on the read with a 2x4. By story end I was really over it. All that said it was an interesting concept and entertaining to read and I was invested in finding out how each story line ended. There are moments when you think despite very different things happening that the ends may turn out the same ... But they don't and I think a more masterful storyteller could have made that happen and it would have been amazing to see someone craft that. Anyway, not my story!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Grief
tracytcamp's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident and Infidelity
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
livviolet's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Car accident
sorkka's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment
lindcherry's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Car accident
Minor: Abortion
daydaybookbay's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I rated this book a 6.5 out of 10.
I enjoyed the idea of book having two parallel realities experienced simultaneously. I found myself wanting to like one version more than the other. I enjoyed reading the book, but it didn't really grab me.
I love parallel timelines and alternate universe stories. I find them so fun and fascinating. I enjoyed reading the overlap of each reality, and finding the lines that were shared between the two. I wonder if the book had been too short? I feel there wasn't a whole lot of depth to the stories to bring me fully invested in the characters.
The character development fell flat for me. Each character had one defining trait about them. The fact our main character's defining trait is that she likes cinnamon rolls... not quite the selling point I was hoping for.
I enjoyed the idea of book having two parallel realities experienced simultaneously. I found myself wanting to like one version more than the other. I enjoyed reading the book, but it didn't really grab me.
I love parallel timelines and alternate universe stories. I find them so fun and fascinating. I enjoyed reading the overlap of each reality, and finding the lines that were shared between the two. I wonder if the book had been too short? I feel there wasn't a whole lot of depth to the stories to bring me fully invested in the characters.
The character development fell flat for me. Each character had one defining trait about them. The fact our main character's defining trait is that she likes cinnamon rolls... not quite the selling point I was hoping for.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Death, Car accident, Cancer, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Stalking, Abortion, and Sexism
leah08855's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Vomit, Car accident, Medical content, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
angelofthetardis's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A simple choice faces Hannah; go home with a friend, or stay out and party with an ex-boyfriend. But what consequences await her? Does she make the 'right' decision? Watch her life unfold in both scenarios in a 'Sliding Doors'esque tale and consider the concepts of fate, soul mates and whether everything happens for a reason.
I've never really been drawn to this author's works as they're just not my usual genre, but she was the latest pick for my work's book club. When I looked at the blurb for this book, it seemed like the most logical choice for me; the 'what if' scenario is one I do tend to enjoy and so I hoped that would make it a bit easier for me to get through.
Generally speaking, this is a perfectly good book. Despite jumping between two alternative realities, the narrative is easy to follow, engaging and a little thought provoking. There are certainly darker moments within it, but overall it's also quite a light read. I did enjoy the examination and comparison of the two timelines and how the smallest decision can lead to far reaching consequences, while also being able to see the threads of life weaving their way through both realities.
That being said, the pairing of certain moments in both realities meant that the story was ultimately very predictable. When taking the genre of the story into consideration, it became even more so - it feels like there should have been more surprises after the major difference at the outset, but there just aren't any. It therefore very quickly became a game of trying to work out where in the other narrative particular events would happen.
I loved the soulmate element, particularly the premise that your soulmate depends on what universe you're in (yay for the multi-verse theory!). It actually fits very well with my own outlook on life - I absolutely believe there is one perfect person out there for everyone. But the choices you make might just change who that person is. I thought this was a very clever spin on the subject and I have to applaud the writer for her beautiful explanation and illustration of the theory.
But, overall there is something missing from this book for me. For a story that does deal with some quite deep ideas and themes, it feels incredibly shallow - I can't say that I engaged with the characters or felt the world coming to life around me as I read. The introduction felt like a last minute addition to serve purely as an info-dump and was pretty much entirely unnecessary, and even those moments where you should have been deeply feeling the characters' feelings were tempered by a lack of anything below the surface.
It's not that there's anything inherently wrong or bad about the book... it just didn't speak to me in the way I hoped it would.
I've never really been drawn to this author's works as they're just not my usual genre, but she was the latest pick for my work's book club. When I looked at the blurb for this book, it seemed like the most logical choice for me; the 'what if' scenario is one I do tend to enjoy and so I hoped that would make it a bit easier for me to get through.
Generally speaking, this is a perfectly good book. Despite jumping between two alternative realities, the narrative is easy to follow, engaging and a little thought provoking. There are certainly darker moments within it, but overall it's also quite a light read. I did enjoy the examination and comparison of the two timelines and how the smallest decision can lead to far reaching consequences, while also being able to see the threads of life weaving their way through both realities.
That being said, the pairing of certain moments in both realities meant that the story was ultimately very predictable. When taking the genre of the story into consideration, it became even more so - it feels like there should have been more surprises after the major difference at the outset, but there just aren't any. It therefore very quickly became a game of trying to work out where in the other narrative particular events would happen.
I loved the soulmate element, particularly the premise that your soulmate depends on what universe you're in (yay for the multi-verse theory!). It actually fits very well with my own outlook on life - I absolutely believe there is one perfect person out there for everyone. But the choices you make might just change who that person is. I thought this was a very clever spin on the subject and I have to applaud the writer for her beautiful explanation and illustration of the theory.
But, overall there is something missing from this book for me. For a story that does deal with some quite deep ideas and themes, it feels incredibly shallow - I can't say that I engaged with the characters or felt the world coming to life around me as I read. The introduction felt like a last minute addition to serve purely as an info-dump and was pretty much entirely unnecessary, and even those moments where you should have been deeply feeling the characters' feelings were tempered by a lack of anything below the surface.
It's not that there's anything inherently wrong or bad about the book... it just didn't speak to me in the way I hoped it would.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Miscarriage, Medical content, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
Minor: Sexism, Stalking, Abortion, Animal death, Grief, Vomit, and Animal cruelty