Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Maybe in Another Life

maybe in another life for me was the definition of "right book wrong time".
taylor jenkins reid is super talented. her stories pull on your heartstrings and her characters are mature and wholesome (even a bit too perfect at times).

the problem is just that the book is far from where i am at in my life right now. i am not nearly thirty, i am not even close to thinking about marriage and children and all that good stuff. and i think relatability is extremely important when it comes to novels like these, in which the whole plot revolves around the characters and their messy lives and messier life-choices.

the book relies on relatability, because from an objective point of the view, the plot isn't very good nor interesting. the things that happen are quite predictable, because reid uses very common and done-before plot devices (

Spoiler

car accident, death of a sister and henry becoming a nurse because of that, all of them getting a happy ending through very unprobable and unbelievable circumstances

).

the book's theme is undoubtedly hope, based on all the profound pep-talks and conversations about "que será será"—moving on after tragedy, making the best of every situation, etc. it was refreshing, the way the characters never quite allowed themselves to despair completely. reid never lingered on the bad, nearly every chapter ended on a positive note, so you could say that the book was unrealistically perfect. great, of course, if that's what you're into.

i don't know what else to say about this book. it was good, fine, non-threatening. might put this aside for now or sell it and maybe pick it up again in a couple of years.
the characters in this book, especially the protagonist hannah, talk about fate a lot, and things that are "just meant to be". so i'm gonna go ahead and boldly claim that, if this book and i are meant to be, it'll find me again somewhen in the future.

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carolinacortez's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

SI NO HUBIERA SIDO POR LOS TORPES CINNAMON ROLLS LE DABA LAS CINCO ESTRELLAS, YA ME TENÍAN HARTA CON ESO

Todo lo que es posible sucede.

Esta novela es pre 7 maridos y daisy, y si se nota, puedes ver como evolucionó la manera de escribir y de contar las cosas de Taylor, pero esto no significa que no sea una excelente novela.
Después de leer puedo confirmas que Taylor Jenkins Reid es mi autora favorita, su pluma y narración son mágicas y te transmite super bien las emociones de los personajes y aparte es una Experta escribiendo relaciones de amistad y eso me encanta.

A lo largo de mi vida he tomado nueve billones de decisiones que podrían haber cambiado en que punto estoy ahora mismo y hacia adonde voy. No tiene sentido centrarse en una sola. Al menos que uno quiera castigarse.

Hablando en específico de este libro, en el plasma lo que muchas pensamos cuando nos enfrentamos a situaciones que tienen dos posibilidades y tenemos que elegir una, y es el que hubiera pasado si elegía esta otra cosa, dándonos un capítulo de realidad a y un capítulo de realidad b, la autora nos lleva por un camino de crecimiento y entendimiento sobre el destino, sobre lo que sí está escrito se puede cambiar o mejor aún de si hay algo escrito o no

Me gustaría contar más pero ya sería entrar en spoilers, solo puedo decir que esta 10000 recomendado.

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windowplant's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Fun premise, kinda slow. Not much romantic tension

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musicmagician823's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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siennakt30's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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jennylo's review against another edition

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hopeful relaxing medium-paced

2.5

The book was very easy to read, and I kept finding myself wanting to pick it up and finish it, but I can't exactly say I enjoyed it. It was a bit... meh.
It's interesting to have the 2 parallel stories play out side by side, where Hannah is coming to the same conclusions in both universes is well written (same conclusion but slight difference in explaination), but the approach to some topics really annoyed me. There were some parts that felt fat shamey (would you still love me if I gained 400lbs?) and

Spoiler

her finding out she's pregnant and an abortion not being a thought until several chapters later

didn't make sense to me with Hannah questioning where she is in life.
It was very readable, but some parts definitely gave me the ick and tarnished the rest of the book.

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gracedunne's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I guess the point is that both realities can be happening concurrently but that really stretches the boundaries of my brain function. I found myself liking one version of the story more than the other but not really loving the outcomes of either. This is not, imo, TJR’s best novel. It was cute, interesting, heart-wrenching but ultimately, just okay.

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