Taylor Jenkins Reid

A new novel about a young woman whose fate hinges on the choice she makes after bumping into an old flame

A Novel

Maybe in Another Life

It's entirely possible that every time we make a decision, there is a version of us out there somewhere who made a different choice. An infinite number of versions of ourselves are living out the consequences of every single possibility in our lives. What I'm getting at here is that I know there may be universes out there where I made different choices that led me somewhere else, led me to someone else.

"I think as long as you' re happy and you're doing something good with your life, it really doesn't matter whether you went out and found the perfect thing or you chose what you knew you could make work for you."

Chloe Heisserer

I wish I liked this one better because the concept is interesting - where do our choices lead us, are things meant to be, etc etc, but this is probably my least favorite TJR book. I found the main character to be irritating and quirky but in that annoying pick-me-girl way (we get it!! you like cinnamon rolls!!), and after a while I was over the waxing on about fate and choices. It sort of felt like I was being spoon fed the ideas the whole time instead of coming to the point on my own and I kind of just read as fast as humanly possible to get it over with.

Rachael Bahr

Janessa Tolpa

I couldn't relate the character at all so it wasn't very interesting.

Alexa M

i literally contemplated knocking off an ENTIRE star for the obsessive use of the words "cinnamon roll". WE GET IT HANNAH UR THE QUIRKIEST CINNAMON ROLL LOVER ALIVE. 
the reason this is 2 stars and not 1 is because i can see why people might like this but no no no ma'am this was not for me. i'd be hard pressed to give TJR another try :/

“I'm not going to go around worrying too much,"

 "I'm just going to do my best and live under the assumption that if there are things in this life that we are supposed to do, if there are people in this world we are supposed to love, we'll find them. In time. The future is so incredibly unpredictable that trying to plan for it is like studying for a test you'll never take. I'm OK in this moment. To be with you. Here. In Los Angeles. If we're both quiet, we can hear birds chirping outside. If we take a moment, we can smell the onions from the Mexican place on the corner. This moment, we're OK. So I'm just going to focus on what I want and need right now and trust that the future will take care of itself."

Laura Michelle

“I'm not going to go around worrying too much," I tell her. "I'm just going to do my best and live under the assumption that if there are things in this life that we are supposed to do, if there are people in this world we are supposed to love, we'll find them. In time. The future is so incredibly unpredictable that trying to plan for it is like studying for a test you'll never take. I'm OK in this moment. To be with you. Here. In Los Angeles. If we're both quiet, we can hear birds chirping outside. If we take a moment, we can smell the onions from the Mexican place on the corner. This moment, we're OK. So I'm just going to focus on what I want and need right now and trust that the future will take care of itself."

bella <3

missed opportunity to put hannah and gabby together

Jean Alfonso

Jess Griffin

this is such a captivating book & the alternative storylines were so well written, i really struggled to put this book down.

Jennifer mitchell

I feel very confident saying that this is the most underrated TJR book because this one honestly might be my new favorite. I can say without a doubt that this one was the most impactful read for me.

This is a beautiful story about the large impacts of small decisions we make in every day life. It follows Hannah through two separate timelines, based on her decision to stay at a bar one night. 

I can't begin to describe how powerful and impactful this story was for me. Maybe this book wouldn't mean as much to someone else, but I personally have constantly struggled with wondering if I have made the right choices and am on the right path. 

Seeing Hannah go through these different journey's made me realize that we are all on the path we are supposed to be on. it will lead you exactly where you are supposed to be. The timeline may be different based on the decisions we make, but those decisions will lead us exactly where we are supposed to be. 

I can't recommend this book highly enough. A powerful, insightful, and emotional read.

One choice. Two different paths – with stunningly different results. From the bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six. 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 her friend 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 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.

Maybe In Another Life

I loved this book! simply because Hannah,the protagonist, is an adult already and still has to find her purpose in life. At her age of 29, almost everything is expected of women to have down. A house, a husband, kids, and /or a career. except ,Hannah  doesn’t have any of that. I will say the only constant in her life is her best friend that looks out for her all the time! And I love that!

 I personally liked both sides of the stories! I’m glad she learned something in both side of universes! Def recommend this book!

Talia Dominguez 

I loved this book! simply because Hannah,the protagonist, is an adult already and still has to find her purpose in life. At her age of 29, almost everything is expected of women to have down. A house, a husband, kids, and /or a career. except ,Hannah  doesn’t have any of that. I will say the only constant in her life is her best friend that looks out for her all the time! And I love that!

 I personally liked both sides of the stories! I’m glad she learned something in both side of universes! Def recommend this book!

Nicole anderson

From the acclaimed author of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo comes a breathtaking novel about a young woman whose fate hinges on the choice she makes after bumping into an old flame; in alternating chapters, we see two possible scenarios unfold—with stunningly different results 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 jobs since graduating college. On the heels of leaving another city, Hannah moves back to her hometown of Los Angeles and takes up residence with her best friend Gabby. Shortly after, 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 story lines, 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? Is there such a thing as a soul mate? Hannah believes there is. And, in both worlds, she’s found him.

In this novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid explores grand ideas like fate, choice, soul mates, and the multiverse through a very palatable lense. Having just two parallel storylines kept things interesting but also allowed for them to be fully developed in the span of a regular novel. And as with the other novels of her's that I've read, I found the characters very real and the story extremely easy to get lost in. 

Julia

3.5⭐️ perfectly shows how important every decision we make in life is.

Izabela Placzek

Caroll-Ann

** spoiler alert **
           This book is so good. I just had to finish it asap. It’s such a refreshing way of writing and shows you just how much our choices can change our life path. I’ll be thinking about this a lot, but also which version is the version that actually happens? I want to know so bad 😂

Elle Geoghegan 

A really amazing read about how one change in our life can effect the whole course of it, to an extent. 

Melissa Clark 

Gisela Ayala 

Very timely for me and I loved it so much. Once again, Taylor Jenkins Reid brings up so many important life questions and situations in a very thoughtful way. The main protagonist, Hannah was all over the place, and at first, I found myself swinging between I like her and "Ugh, get your life together." But that's just it right? I think once I realized Hannah is an embodiment of many people in their late 20's who don't have their shit together, I knew I liked her - mistakes and all. And oh dear lord, she made many mistakes. 

The author also infused all her characters with distinct personalities, which I think many authors forget to do. They focus so much on the main characters they forget that the other characters have lives of their own! This was a major theme for this book because your actions not only affect your life, but they can affect everyone's life you encounter. I think that's why I cried at the end of the book - not because it was sad, but I cried because of the idea that maybe there are multiple versions of ourselves out there, living different versions of our lives that are wholly dependent on our choices. 

As I got towards the end of the book, I found the author did something brilliantly that really translates to real life and also adds a bit of hope. No matter what choice Hannah made and what happened (because the story splits into two versions of how her life could go) she always came to the same conclusions. She always learned and grew into who she needed to be in whichever version of her life she was in. She always ended up happy, and I think that's important to know that our current state is temporary, but our choices, always our choices is what helps us get to our happy endings. 

If I had to choose one takeaway from this book it would be this: 

"It doesn't matter if we don't mean to do the things we do. It doesn't matter if it was an accident or a mistake. It doesn't even matter if we think this all up to fate. Because regardless of our destiny, we still have to answer for our actions. We make choices, big and small, every day of our lives, and those choices have consequences. We have to face those consequences head-on, for better or worse. We don't get to erase them just by saying we didn't mean to. Fate or not, our lives are still the results of our choices."

Kaitlyn Cortez

"Fate or not, our lives are still the results of our choices. I'm starting to think that when we don't own them, we don't own ourselves."

Normally I'm not a fan of alternating timelines, but I really liked the way it was done here! It was such a cool idea to have two different lives hinge on one decision. It really made me think about the concept of fate and how our life decisions bring us to where we are.

Alyssa Huffman

i liked this book a lot but now im thinking too much and you know i hate thinking

** spoiler alert **
           dude en darle cinco estrellas, pero el nudo en mi garganta es indicativo de que esta historia me dejó mal (en el buen sentido).

a ver, ya entiendo a todas esas personas que dicen que con un solo libro de TJR basta para decir que son fan de sus historias y que es su nueva autora favorita, o no sé pero es justamente lo que me pasa a mí.

este es el segundo libro que leo de la autora, y realmente fui con 0 expectativas y con los brazos abiertos, y tengo que admitir que más que encantarme, esta historia me ha llegado a lo profundo del corazón.

a ver, la historia parece siempre: Hannah regresa a Los Ángeles luego de estar toda una decada de aquí para allá, entre ciudades y lugares, para empezar a "arreglar" su vida porque siente que a sus 29 años no ha logrado nada significativo (además acaba de salir de una relación con un hombre casado, y eso no terminó muy bien que digamos). Sin embargo, su llegada a LA no es tan sencilla y en la primera noche que está ahí, es atropellada por un carro y despierta en el hospital con su vida un poco patas arriba, donde tiene que "comenzar de nuevo" por así decirlo.

pero el chiste de todo no recae ahí, sino que Hannah esa noche se le presenta la decisión entre: quedarse un poco más con su ex novio del instituto, o irse con su amiga y su marido. ella básicamente lo deja en manos del destino y decide irse con su amiga, diciendo que si ella y ethan (su ex novio) en verdad están juntos, se encontraran de alguna manera. Es ahí cuando sucede lo del accidente, pero antes de despertar en el hospital, la historia se "dividé" y comienza a narrar otra realidad, una donde no despierta en el hospital debido a que decidió quedarse con ethan y aventurarse a ver qué hay todavía entre ellos.

así que, sí. literal acá estamos entre "dos versiones" de lo que podría desembacar ambas decisiones en la vida de hannah, y siento que el lector podría conformarse con alguna de ellas, aunque haya una que sea como que "la real", aunque para mí ambas son factibles y me parece lindo ese concepto de "nos encontraremos en todas las realidades/dimensiones".

la vida de hannah cuando elige irse con gabby y mark: efectivamente despierta en el hospital, con un montón de huesos rotos y la noticia de que perdió a su bebe (del cual no estaba enterada, y era de aquel hombre casado con el que se involucró). su familia aparece en el hospital (ellos llevaban también toda una decada viviendo en Londres, porque se fueron siguiendo los sueños de Sarah, la hermana de Hannah, y la dejaron a ella con la familia de Gabby), a todas esas Hannah no los considera su circulo de apoyo porque aprendió a vivir sin ellos, mientras que Gabby se limita a estar ahí y consolarla por su perdida. En su estadia, conocer a Henry, un simpatico enfermero que viene todas las noches a ver cómo esta y con el que comienza una amistad llena de tensión y detalles bonitos. con el pasar de los días, aparece Ethan, pero Hannah le dice que ha pensado mucho y considera que ellos no deben de estar juntos, que el destino ha hablado por así decirlo, y es mejor que cada quién siga con su camino y solo sean amigos (y más porque el tarado esa misma noche se fue con otra mujer). Aunque esta no sea mi versión favorita, debo de admitir que la escena donde la doctora le pide a hannah que grité sobre la almohada me dejó destrozada, porque luego de que gritara una y otra vez, por todo su dolor, perdida y frustración, sentí que ella estaba dejando ir algo, y la doctora lo confirmó diciendo que ya estaba lista para avanzar. eventualmente, luego de muchos momentos de tensión entre ella y henry, a él lo terminan cambiando de planta en el hospital por mantener una relación más allá de lo profesional con ella. y hannah no le gusta esto, e intenta buscarlo pero al final no lo consigue, y decide dejarlo una vez en las manos del destino e irse finalmente del hospital. una vez en la casa de gabby, se da el momento de las revelaciones y mark le suelta que la está dejando, que se va con otra mujer, y que le deja la casa. (igual una parte que me enojó fue esa donde mark intenta excusarse con hannah diciendo que pensó que ella lo entendería mejor ya que se metió con un hombre casado y eso me dejó tan ????). una vez más hannah y gabby se consuelan mutuamente, y eso me pareció muy lindo porque lo único constante en esas dos realidades es el apoyo incondicional de esas dos entre sí. tres meses después, hannah está mejor pero tiene que usar bastón, y un día en su lugar favorito donde venden roles de canela (ella es adicta a estos), se consigue a henry ahí y él le pide una cita, y ahí comienza su romance. tres años después, todos se reunen para la fiesta de gabby (que ahora está con un chico llamado jess que iba al instituto con ella), hannah y henry están juntos y esperando una hija (llamada isabelle por la hermana muerte de henry, y tiene de segundo nombre "gabriella" por gabby), y luego de una charla sobre los universos y el destino, henry le pregunta a hannah si cree que ellos estarían juntos o se conocerían en otro universo, y ella dice que cree que si o algo así, pero le asegura que no estaría en ningún otro universo más que en ese, sino con él. (vale aclarar que ethan en este universo si es amigo de hannah, y ahora está saliendo con otra chica y parece muy feliz).

¿cómo fue la vida de hannah si se hubiera quedado con ethan esa noche? pues, claramente ethan y ella se liaron, y volvieron a estar juntos, y todo parecía perfecto. sin embargo, hannah se entera que está embarazada, y le toca decirle a ethan, y él le dice que no está listo para criar el hijo de otro hombre básicamente (porque el tipo con el que estaba hannah le dijo que estaba sola en eso, porque él no quería arriesgar a perder a su esposa y su familia por una aventura insignificativa), ni para ese nivel de responsabilidad (el tipo confiesa que cortó con ella hace tanto años porque pensó que ella sería la mujer con la que se casaría y le dio miedo, y por eso la apartó). así que terminan. a todas estas, gabby descubré que mark la está engañando y lo bota de la casa, y ella y hannah se quedan juntas consolandose una a la otra. con el tiempo, aparece ethan de nuevo diciendo que ama a hannah, que él quiere esa vida con ella sin importar qué, y que quiere quedarse a su lado. tres años después, hannah y ethan están juntos, ella le puso a su hija "gabriella" por gabby, y están intentando tener un segundo bebé, a todas estas, en esa misma fiesta conoce a HENRY !!! pero ella está muy tranqui viviendo su vida con ethan, así que ahí no pasa nada.

en resumidas cuenta, debo de admitir que me gustó más la versión de su vida si se hubiese quedado con ethan, pero la que tiene las "enseñanzas" y esas cosas que te pegan en el alma, es en la que decide quedarse con gabby y mark. a todas estas, lo único bonito de esas dos versiones fue ver la hermosa amistad de hannah y gabby, en serio que quedé conmovida de pies a cabeza.

Chelsea van Rer

dare i say better than evelyn hugo? 🤔
nah, ill get cancelled.

molly 📖

Lilly

Mollie Daniel

I listened to this on Audible. It was a bit confusing switching back and forth with no indications. I feel as if it would be a better manual read than a listen. Good story though!

I listened to this one and think it would have been a better manual read. There was no indications of when the story changes from one life to the other. It was a good story and message though. 

Maybe in Another Life A Novel

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