Maybe in Another Life: A Novel

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High school sweethearts, first loves, broken up, as so many other couples are, when the inevitability of distance and circumstance separated them in college. He didn’t even have a paler shade of skin around his ring finger, the way magazines tell you married men will. As the two alternate realities run their course, Maybe in Another Life raises questions about fate and true love: Is anything meant to be?

And even though I suspected the truth, I thought that if he never said it, if he never admitted it to my face, then I wasn’t accountable for the fact that it was true.Some of them were so powerful that I would find myself suddenly reading with tears in my eyes (even if it wasn’t sad). One night Hannah is at a bar with her friend Gabby and then something happens and the book splits off into a parallel universe. A heartfelt, witty and scintillating journey from one parallel universe to another; Maybe in Another Life takes the concept of fate and makes it tangible and engrossing; I couldn't put this book down! I love how Jenkins Reid ensures that the right people are in Hannah's life in both universes, at one point or another.

The romance(s) didn't make my knee shake, but I was more focused on what was going to happen to really appreciate on their depth of lack thereof. She heads back to her hometown of Los Angeles, meets up with her best friend Gabby, and then finds herself in a bar and facing her high school boyfriend, Ethan. When Gabby and Mark get ready to head home for the night, Ethan asks Hannah stay at the bar with him. Sort of like how Mickey Mouse is round ears and gloved hands or how Michael Jackson is white socks and black loafers.As the clock strikes midnight, Hannah must make a choice between leaving with her friend Gabby or staying with Ethan. Both stories were basic and unoriginal, so it didn’t feel real, I didn’t feel attached to the character. This rings true in the novel as Hannah experiences some themes in both lives but along a different timeline.

At first, I found myself almost expecting/wanting her to be with one specific guy but the more I read, the more I loved the two different options. I’m usually very apprehensive about these sorts of books as I am quite a rational reader, hence why I detest the fantasy genre. I have yet to encounter a TJR book that hasn't left a mark on my soul or one I didn't like, and Maybe In Another Life is no exception.Overall, while I found this to be a fluffy and very readable book, in retrospect I’m left wondering how I managed to enjoy it so much. Hannah’s best friend is Black, and there is a cringe moment where Hannah asks her in a flashback if her new college friend is a closer friend because she’s Black too. In that time I have been jolted into the realisation that a book which is so thought provoking, and keeps popping around in my head is, indeed, one worthy of a fine review.