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.
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After starting with Malibu Rising, I was completely taken with Taylor Jenkins Reid, and knew I had to read all of her books. I’m working my way through and this book, like all her others, was an absolute gem—I loved the concept of this novel, where we get to explore two realities of two relatively small choices. If you’re looking for a contemporary fiction, completely loveable book with amazing characters, look no further, Maybe In Another Life is just for you!
The concept of Maybe In Another Life makes me think of The Midnight Library, in that, we as individuals make choices every single day, and those choices may seem small but they alter our reality every day. With every choice we make, there is a version of us that could’ve made a different choice and while that gets my mind spinning, I like that the main message of this book is that no matter what decisions you make, everything seems to turn out okay.
While this story does have some romance, the relationship that stands out is the unbreakable friendship between Hannah and Gabby. I loved each of these characters and how they stood beside each other in both storylines. I also appreciated the character development for Hannah, and how she learned how capable and confident she became despite tough circumstances, different in each storyline.
Overall, this can’t have been my favorite book by Taylor Jenkins Reid (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was just… too good,) this one is an easy five-stars. Add it towards the top of your to-read lists!
PUBLICATION DETAILS: Washington Square Press; July 7th, 2015; 9781476776880; Fiction/Romance
