A review by icarusandthesun
Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
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 ().
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.
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 circumstancesthe 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail