Maybe in Another Life

By: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

At the age of 29, Hannah Martin has lived in six different cities and held countless meaningless jobs. On the heels of leaving yet another city, Hannah moves back to Los Angeles and takes up residence in her best friend Gabby's guestroom. 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.

©2015 Taylor Jenkins Reid (P)2015 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Critic Reviews

"Entertaining and unpredictable; Reid makes a compelling argument for happiness in every life." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Readers looking for a romance with a twist won't be disappointed." ( Library Journal)

Kept waiting for it to get good... but gave up

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

this was described to me as the "Sliding Doors" (movies with Gwyneth Paltrow) of novels. Two alternative stories start to take place after the shallow, predictable characters are introduced. Neither one is very compelling or even interesting. After reading this skimming the of the surface of any potential story, halfway through the book, I gave up on it ever getting better. It's like half a soap opera without the drama. Very disappointing.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I don't know or care what the ending was.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Performance was mediocre.

What would have made this romance irresistible?

...an interesting story.

Any additional comments?

wish i could get that time and credit back.

A nice easy read, fascinating premise

I love the concept of this book and have not seen the movie Sliding Doors so I don’t recall experiencing a story such as this – where a person’s life unfolds told in two parallel story lines after a critical decision is made. This fascinates me because in 1990 I almost chose not to go to the party where I met my wife. If I hadn’t chosen to go to the party I probably wouldn’t have met her and what the hell would my life had been like? I can’t even imagine.

The main character in the book, Hannah, attends a party shortly after moving back to LA where she grew up, and has to choose whether to leave the party with her ex-boyfriend / high school sweetheart or go home with the couple she is staying with temporarily. The plot forks from there. In the next nine or so hours the book takes some interesting and surprising twists and turns, all while Hannah worries over and over about her bun (a high bun), and obsesses constantly about cinnamon rolls. I thought both stories were really well told and moved along at nice clip, my interest never wavered. The characters were all believable. The ending was satisfying. I liked the inherent message that our lives are based on the choices we make, not the invisible guiding hand of fate.

What I didn’t like was that the chapters were pretty short and as I listened to the beginning of each chapter I sometimes had to think to figure out which of Hannah’s lives we were in. Sometimes the author changed the story line at the beginning of a new chapter and sometimes she didn't, and often times Hannah is interacting with the same person in both lives so it was a little confusing. I wonder if the paper book had the chapters marked in some way to let the reader know which life we were in. I thought the narration was great for the most part with a minor criticism that all the men seemed to have the same breathy voice. The book was a little bit too romance-y for me at times but none of the scenes lasted very long due to brisk pace of the book.

Overall, it was pretty good and I give it 3.5 stars. It was a nice, easy listen and a welcome change of pace after having my brain taxed with science (not complaining) in the last two audiobooks I read.

I think I will check out the author’s new 2017 book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

This book went nowhere interesting

Honestly a waste of time and a book credit. I struggled to the end but only because I had nothing else downloaded to listen to and a long car trip ahead of me. Nothing interested about the plot other than the initial twist of two parallel lives. Flat, self absorbed characters who contribute nothing out of the ordinary. Don't bother.

If you've seen Sliding Doors, you've read this novel

The story is entertaining, but far from original. I was disappointed by that.
The reader was great. The friendship between two main characters convincing.

Loved the narration but not for me

I really loved the narrator which is why I purchased the book. But the story wasn't for me. It's a neat concept of two different storylines. However, I wasn't really a fan of the way it flopped back and forth.
It was well-written and I would probably listen to another book by the author, so long as it didn't flop back and forth.

A story of how fate changes your life

If you could sum up Maybe in Another Life in three words, what would they be?

Fate, Choices, Soulmate

What did you like best about this story?

I liked how the story was unique and the parallel universes wasn't what i expected. I thought i knew where the story was going and it took a drastic turn from the very beginning. Some things in Hannah's life stayed the same no matter what choices she made, so I'm guessing that is fate.

What about Julia Whelan’s performance did you like?

I like her voice. It was calm and I could tell the differences between the characters without it being weird

Who was the most memorable character of Maybe in Another Life and why?

I think I like how Gabby added to the story. Of course Hannah was the main character and were along for the ride, but it is amazing how we got to see what was written in the stars for Gabby. It was tough to listen too, but it showed how much her character loved Hannah and in the end she got her happiness too.

Love

Not gonna lie, I am shocked I loved this one as much as I did. I read several reviews that said it was hard to follow. Definitely wasn’t the fast for me!

You won’t regret it

Amazing story brought to life by a good narration

It was a gripping story and a true what's coming now sense gripped me through the entire narration. I wonder what does my parallel universe looks like .... Oops didn't mean to say that ;)

Makes you think!

Completely enjoyed this book and the possibilities it opens up. Was relieved that the ending was positive. Highly recommend it.

Another ideation of a fantasmic concept

Read several disparaging reviews of this book, and did have a hard time getting into it (left it two times before) but, once noticing Julia Whelan reads it, just had to listen.

Of course the narration was super, but also enjoyed the story and the twists and the characters and particularly the relationship reflections. Also, the forgiving of ones trespasses was gratefully taken in, as one who has made some truly horrendous decisions. That good can come from whatever action is done is not a way I'd looked at, my failures before. And truly, upon reflection, despite my "dark" moments, my life has turned out quite well. Would have it no other way. Maybe in Another Life did gift me with that.

Right before his book, I'd listened to The Midnight Library where also arises the concept of parallel universes, something I'd thought about often and sensed the possible reality of, but had never seen it fictionalized in a novel. How serendipitous then, to have been able to hear TWO different versions of that fantasmic idea! Wade though the awkward beginning. A truly rewarding tale awaits you.

Cute plot but predictable

I listened to her other audiobook Daisy Jones and the six recently which was excellent so I was quite disappointed with this audiobook in comparison. The narration was ok but the voices narrator put on for the male characters distracted from the story as they were quite ridiculous. Fun plot but predictable.

The perfect book!

I don’t say this often, but I felt this was a perfect book - for me at least. Not too chick-lit but a thought provoking story about how the choices we make define us and where they lead us to in life. The characters are great, the story moves fast and I loved the audio performance. I was carving out time in my day just to ensure I had good listening time. I’m becoming a big Taylor Jenkins Reid fan and this is my favourite so far!

time-pass

It's Ok. I loved Daisy & the Six so wasn't expecting pure romance so i was probably the wrong audience. Also in the premier league of high frequency words, up there with to, at, in, of, I, you, a, the, you shouldn't find roll and certainly not cinnamon. The performance is fine for the women. The men though all have one of two voices: a woman who smokes too much and a pompous woman who smokes too much.

Disappointing

Unfortunately I think this audiobook could be improved with a different narrator. Or even an additional one that can narrate the male speech.

Dull read

Really struggled to get through this. Dull plot and characters so sickly sweet they end up grating on you. Do not recommend at all.

I loved it and hated it all at the same time!

if you want to sample the author try The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo instead!

Lovely book!

I absolutely loved this book! it was so different to any other books I have read before. As another reader mentioned before, the story resembles the film 'Sliding doors', but I enjoyed this more, highly recommended!

Beautiful

Such a beautiful book. Makes you look at life in a different way. Loved it.

highly recommended for those with big decisions!

I downloaded this audiobook when I had a big decision to make in my own life. I would highly recommend it for this purpose. Thought provoking and engaging throughout with very likeable characters.

Riveting

Any additional comments?

Full five star recommendation. Absolutely adored this book. During the first paragraph I was thinking, yeh, yeh, here we go, and then bam, we have "Sliding doors". This I would have known had I read the synopsis beforehand. So, we follow Hannah Martin as her life unravels in two different universes so to speak. One where she is in a car accident after deciding to let fate take its course, and one where she decides to grab the bull by the horns and take a chance on her first love. Both scenarios play out with all the same characters, and Gabby remains a clear constant in both scenarios (Gabby's life too has two different courses, however Gabby's ending is somewhat the same in comparison to Hannah's). Each alternate scenario is told every chapter and I've got to say, it worked, I was engrossed. It had me thinking about my past and the what ifs, did I marry my soulmate? I certainly think I did, but so did Hannah, in both scenarios. Fantastic read, beautifully written. Highly recommend.