Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Maybe in Another Life

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.

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sarahfeller's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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gabbynasty's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful fast-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

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icarusandthesun's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

maybe in another life for me was the definition of "right book wrong time".
taylor jenkins reid is super talented. her stories pull on your heartstrings and her characters are mature and wholesome (even a bit too perfect at times).

the problem is just that the book is far from where i am at in my life right now. i am not nearly thirty, i am not even close to thinking about marriage and children and all that good stuff. and i think relatability is extremely important when it comes to novels like these, in which the whole plot revolves around the characters and their messy lives and messier life-choices.

the book relies on relatability, because from an objective point of the view, the plot isn't very good nor interesting. the things that happen are quite predictable, because reid uses very common and done-before plot devices (

car accident, death of a sister and henry becoming a nurse because of that, all of them getting a happy ending through very unprobable and unbelievable circumstances

).

the book's theme is undoubtedly hope, based on all the profound pep-talks and conversations about "que será será"—moving on after tragedy, making the best of every situation, etc. it was refreshing, the way the characters never quite allowed themselves to despair completely. reid never lingered on the bad, nearly every chapter ended on a positive note, so you could say that the book was unrealistically perfect. great, of course, if that's what you're into.

i don't know what else to say about this book. it was good, fine, non-threatening. might put this aside for now or sell it and maybe pick it up again in a couple of years.
the characters in this book, especially the protagonist hannah, talk about fate a lot, and things that are "just meant to be". so i'm gonna go ahead and boldly claim that, if this book and i are meant to be, it'll find me again somewhen in the future.

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