Review: Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publication date: July 7, 2015
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Category: Adult Fiction - Contemporary
Source: Purchased
Summary: 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 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 true 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. (greads.com)

My Thoughts

Relationships and the whole idea of fate or just knowing if someone is right for you, is something my friends and I have been talking about a lot lately. Reading Maybe in Another Life felt like the perfect choice to read one weekend because of that and it was. When you think about the choices that will deeply impact your life, you expect them to be big. Like where to go to college, should I move for my job or should I marry this guy. You don’t expect it to be the little things like, should I get in the car with my best friend or my old high school boyfriend at the end of the night. But this is exactly the choice Hannah Martin is presented with and we see how even the smallest decisions can affect the future. And I love that the author chose to tell Hannah’s story that way because I do believe we make thousands of little decisions that probably led to wherever you are in that current moment, even if you don’t realize it.

Hannah Martin is 29 years old and lost. She’s tried different jobs, different cities and nothing feels like home. So she does the next best thing and returns back to her actual hometown in LA and moves into the guest bedroom of her best friend Gabby while she gets settled in. Immediately we’re taken to the fateful night where one choice will divide her life and we get to see how each side plays out. The chapters alternate between what would happen if she went home with her ex Ethan or with Gabby and as expected, Reid handles each story with so much heart.

The one constant, and undoubtedly my favorite part of the book, was the friendship between Hannah and Gabby. While her choice that night leads her down extremely different paths, Gabby is always there as a voice of reason, to talk to, laugh with or cry with. We should all be so lucky to have a person like that in our lives. The rest of it though? I can’t stress enough how different the two sides are! It’s crazy to think that something so small could change the course of your life. Hannah is easy to relate to in each side of the story and in spite of what’s going on around her, she comes to same conclusions about herself. Who she wants to be now and in the future, gratitude for the support of family and friends and a confidence in herself that was lacking before. But.. does that mean she'll come to same conclusions about who's the right for her in the end?

I think that’s ultimately the “moral” of the story. That things will work out the way it’s supposed to, that you will find happiness even when it seems out of reach and that you just have to be willing to embrace the choice you’ve made.

Do I recommend?

I do! This is my third Taylor Jenkins Reid and she’s solidified herself as an author I can consistently auto-buy from and be happy with the reading experience. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!