This one messed with my brain. Taylor Jenkins Reid has always been a favorite author of mine, namely for one of my all-time favorite LGBT+ friendly books, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but this book broke my heart and put it back together again in one, fell swoop. If anyone can tackle existential crisis and girly in one book, it’s TJR, and Maybe in Another Life is the blueprint.

Hannah Martin is back home, living with her best friend Gabby, when she runs into her ex at a bar- more specifically, the one that got away. He offers to stay for one last round with her, while Hannah’s best friend offers to go ahead and leave the bar. In simultaneous timelines, we see Hannah’s decision to stay with Ethan or go home with Gabby play out in separate universes, leading her down different paths and to different people. As we see just how much each small decision impacts Hannah’s future and her entire life, we are left asking the ultimate question about our own life: what if?

The pros: Taylor Jenkins Reid has a knack for character writing for sure. Specifically, her background characters are always *chef’s kiss*. I loved Gabby’s character, the situation she experiences with her husband, and the fact that she acts as the foil to the “multiple soulmates” theory. Her personality is realistic and relatable, and I could picture her friendship with Hannah so easily in my head. I would actually love to see a book that follows Gabby’s timeline alone. I can say the same for Henry, Hannah’s timeline #2 partner. He is written really well, and the banter he shares with Hannah made me smile.

I liked the structure of the alternating chapters, even though the initial split is shocking and made me say “wait… WHAT?” I thought that certain plot events being revealed in one timeline or another gave me something to look forward to in the other timeline, and the subtle similarities between the two universes were grounding.

The cons: The biggest upset for me was the existential crisis that this book left me with. The overall premise of multi-verse theories is widely debated and, in my opinion, a little cheesy, but to have it play out so realistically kind of sucks to think about, especially as someone who wouldn’t want to live without my husband and daughter. The way it was done was, of course, beautiful and easy to follow, as TJR tends to be, but it did leave me preferring the actual small events of the story over the big-picture takeaway. Plot events? Interesting. Thematic? Corny.

I also found Ethan’s character for the middle portion of the book to be insufferable, because of the way he reacts to Hannah’s life choices, but he does ultimately redeem himself. Their timeline in general was a little cheesy to me, and the neat little bow ending on their timeline made me roll my eyes. It wasn’t unrealistic or disappointing, just… typical. Call me cynical, but I guess I didn’t see what he brought to the table for Hannah.

My book club read this one together and we all liked Henry a little more than Ethan (sorry, Ethan), but overall we thought it was an interesting concept to try to apply to our own lives. Some made the case for soulmates, while others believed in multiple happy endings for the different versions of ourselves. It was an easy read and was deeper than your typical romcom, which is a nice change-up sometimes. Maybe in Another Life also fits well into TJR’s typical style of strong female leads, which I can always get on board with.

My rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Book Club rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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