Helpful Score: 2
The premise of the story started out interesting when you first meet the narrator, Hannah Martin. Though her life splits into parallel universes at a pretty random juncture: the choice to stay at a bar with an old flame, or to go on home.
The events that ensue from both choices tend to be pretty flat and predictable, particularly the ones that happened in both versions of Hannah's life, and I found myself bored at the halfway point. Hannah Martin herself wasn't all that interesting, I found her too shallow and emotionally immature to carry an entire book.
The story lost a lot of steam and didn't really make as much of the question of fate and destiny as it could have. It felt like a rather shallow treatment of what really was an excellent premise. Very different from AFTER I DO.
I give MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE a C+, but I'll definitely continue reading Taylor Jenkins Reid. I'm just glad this wasn't my first introduction to her, or I probably wouldn't want to read anymore.
The events that ensue from both choices tend to be pretty flat and predictable, particularly the ones that happened in both versions of Hannah's life, and I found myself bored at the halfway point. Hannah Martin herself wasn't all that interesting, I found her too shallow and emotionally immature to carry an entire book.
The story lost a lot of steam and didn't really make as much of the question of fate and destiny as it could have. It felt like a rather shallow treatment of what really was an excellent premise. Very different from AFTER I DO.
I give MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE a C+, but I'll definitely continue reading Taylor Jenkins Reid. I'm just glad this wasn't my first introduction to her, or I probably wouldn't want to read anymore.
Helpful Score: 1
First published in 2015, Maybe in Another Life is Taylor Jenkins Reid's third novel, and it has aged well. It felt as relevant as if it was written this year.
Hannah lacks direction in life; she's lived in several cities and held many jobs. But she hopes moving back to Los Angeles, her hometown, will ground her future. After enjoying a night out with friends, she must decide how to end the evening - go home with her female best friend or leave with her high school boyfriend she hasn't seen in years.
The majority of the novel shares the immediate and longer-term outcomes of each choice, told in alternating chapters (the sliding doors trope). I was so interested by how quickly her paths diverged from a single decision, and how the results of her choices impacted her family and friends. The progression of events is believable in both storylines, and I was satisfied with the ending. I can see how this exploration of life choices led to Ms. Reid's fourth novel One True Loves, which I enjoyed years ago.
I've often wondered how my life would be different if I was born in another country and decade, attended a different college, pursued another career, etc. I'll never know the answers to those questions, but it was fun to watch a fictional character live out the results of two options.
Hannah lacks direction in life; she's lived in several cities and held many jobs. But she hopes moving back to Los Angeles, her hometown, will ground her future. After enjoying a night out with friends, she must decide how to end the evening - go home with her female best friend or leave with her high school boyfriend she hasn't seen in years.
The majority of the novel shares the immediate and longer-term outcomes of each choice, told in alternating chapters (the sliding doors trope). I was so interested by how quickly her paths diverged from a single decision, and how the results of her choices impacted her family and friends. The progression of events is believable in both storylines, and I was satisfied with the ending. I can see how this exploration of life choices led to Ms. Reid's fourth novel One True Loves, which I enjoyed years ago.
I've often wondered how my life would be different if I was born in another country and decade, attended a different college, pursued another career, etc. I'll never know the answers to those questions, but it was fun to watch a fictional character live out the results of two options.
