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A review by book_scent
What Might Have Been by Holly Miller
4.0
The premise of this book had me instantly intrigued. I love “What if” type of stories, when you can see two paths unfold in two parallel timelines based on a decision made or a certain outcome at a crucial point in time.
The beginning of the story took me a bit to get into, but a few chapters in—as soon as the story reached that pivotal moment—I was fully invested and had a hard time putting the book down. I liked how it then diverged into “Stay” and “Go” and every chapter examined the same passage of time in both timelines. At first, both seemed to have their upsides for Lucy and (since you can never have it all) fulfill some of her dreams. Max and Caleb appeared to make her equally happy (well, except for some initial difficulties with Max) and I was beginning to wonder what the ultimate conclusion would be. But the further the story moved along the more it felt like one man/one version of events was supposed to be the preferred choice for Lucy. Everything just seemed to go a little smoother and feel a little more “right” there. It was almost like one timeline was how it was supposed to go and the other just a big (and emotionally much more taxing) detour to where Lucy would end up inevitably. But I liked how Lucy’s lives unfolded and how she grew in both with her experiences. And I have to admit, certain parts got me really emotional and I may have even almost cried at one point.
However, I wasn’t a big fan of the twists (or how they were handled) that were presented early on in both timelines to complicate things in Lucy’s relationships. The revelation about Max felt a bit out of character and I kinda saw it coming, but was hoping to be wrong. And I didn’t like how Lucy reacted to Caleb being honest with her, and how she treated him at times—it felt blown out of proportion. But I’m glad these things got resolved rather quickly and the story moved on from there.
I expected the “Go” ending to go a bit further than it did, but I guess the direction is clear and you know where it’s ultimately headed. What Might Have Been really took me on an emotional rollercoaster and even made me wanna rewatch Sliding Doors, haha. I’m very much looking forward to reading Holly Miller’s other works.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
The beginning of the story took me a bit to get into, but a few chapters in—as soon as the story reached that pivotal moment—I was fully invested and had a hard time putting the book down. I liked how it then diverged into “Stay” and “Go” and every chapter examined the same passage of time in both timelines. At first, both seemed to have their upsides for Lucy and (since you can never have it all) fulfill some of her dreams. Max and Caleb appeared to make her equally happy (well, except for some initial difficulties with Max) and I was beginning to wonder what the ultimate conclusion would be. But the further the story moved along the more it felt like one man/one version of events was supposed to be the preferred choice for Lucy. Everything just seemed to go a little smoother and feel a little more “right” there. It was almost like one timeline was how it was supposed to go and the other just a big (and emotionally much more taxing) detour to where Lucy would end up inevitably. But I liked how Lucy’s lives unfolded and how she grew in both with her experiences. And I have to admit, certain parts got me really emotional and I may have even almost cried at one point.
However, I wasn’t a big fan of the twists (or how they were handled) that were presented early on in both timelines to complicate things in Lucy’s relationships. The revelation about Max felt a bit out of character and I kinda saw it coming, but was hoping to be wrong. And I didn’t like how Lucy reacted to Caleb being honest with her, and how she treated him at times—it felt blown out of proportion. But I’m glad these things got resolved rather quickly and the story moved on from there.
I expected the “Go” ending to go a bit further than it did, but I guess the direction is clear and you know where it’s ultimately headed. What Might Have Been really took me on an emotional rollercoaster and even made me wanna rewatch Sliding Doors, haha. I’m very much looking forward to reading Holly Miller’s other works.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!