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Thursday, October 15, 2015

Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid


***
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?

Hannah believes there is. And, in both worlds, she believes she’s found him.

***


I've always been fascinated with parallel universes and the lives we might have had if we turned right instead of left. Hannah's journey through both possible worlds was such a fun, cool read.

At first I wasn't sure about the alternating chapters. I thought switching back and forth between worlds from chapter to chapter might get confusing, but it really didn't take long to settle in and get the swing of what was going on. Honestly, I think having the chapters alternate the way they did made me devour the story even faster, because I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next in each one.

At first it seems like we are going to see two very different lives for Hannah, and while there are significant differences in the things that happen to her, I think this story has a pretty good commentary on fate and the different directions our lives were meant to go. No matter which timeline you are reading, you can't help but root for Hannah. I don't know if I can say that I have a favorite of the two. They were both satisfying stories and they both had great endings for Hannah.

This was a really good book with great messages about friendship, family, love and finding who you are truly meant to be. It's definitely one of the most unique books I've ever had the pleasure of reading and I'm so glad I decided to pick this one up.



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