Maybe in another life – One beginning, Two endings (Book Review)

Your actions in love are not an exception to who you are. They are, in fact, the very definition of who you are.

Greetings to all ye bibliophiles and book lovers in this community. I am here to share with you a book that I finally got to complete after picking up so many books in between. It was not boring, don’t get me wrong. I’ll like to believe that I’m currently going through a phase where I read different books at the same time. I believe it's a phase because I don't do that before. I read books one after the other but I guess I've aged a bit😂

I looked forward to sharing this book by Taylor Jenkins Reid titled Maybe in Another Life with you guys because to be very honest, it was a very amazing book to read. I haven’t read any of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books but I’ve heard quite a number of people talk about how amazing an author she is. Now that I’ve read one of her books, I’m a testament to that.

Maybe in Another Life is a book about Hannah Marie Martins who is in search of a place to call home. She’s been moving from state to state looking for a place that’ll feel like home. She has a bestfriend Gabby who lives in Los Angeles. When Gabby invites her to come back to Los Angeles where they grew up, Hannah agrees and relocates to Los Angeles.

Back in Los Angeles, she attends a school reunion organized by Gabby and their school friends in Los Angeles. At the party, she meets Ethan, her ex-boyfriend and apparently, they are still in love with each other. But Hannah decides to take things slowly with Ethan and see where life leads her. At the end of the party, she contemplates whether to go home with Ethan or go back with Gabby.

Here, the story ventures towards two endings. Life if Hannah had followed Ethan home and life after she followed Gabby home.

This is the first Taylor Jenkins Reid’s book I’ve read and I’m so in love with it. The way she merged both stories to me was really creative and I loved that about it. There’s also the fact that both stories have very different and yet very similar endings. Both endings were perfect.

In the book, its more like we explored Hannah’s life in two different universes, where she makes different decisions and we also see the consequences of both decisions. This was a very creative thing done by the author if you ask me.

There’s the character construction also. Hannah and Gabby, bestfriends who’d do everything for each other. I loved their relationship so much. They both went through fair shares of heartbreak and they were there for each other. It was nice to see them go through similar problems at the same time and console each other as well. Both understood the other very well and I was happy to see them have their happy endings.

The book portrayed different views of life and love. Each character with their diverse opinions on how one should feel if one should find his/her soulmates. Among all their opinions, one stood out to me. She said and I quote “Fate or not, our lives are still the results of our choices”. This is a very beautiful quote if you ask me. That we have no one to blame for the consequences of our actions.

Were there any flaws in this book? I don’t know. I was too engrossed to see how both lives turned out for Hannah that I failed to notice if there were any.

I'll rate this book an 8.7 out of 10. I completely loved it and I believe you will too. It’s a book I absolutely recommend to bibliophiles out there looking for a book with a beautiful love story. But also, bear in mind, this book is very realistic. So, you can go ahead and avoid it if you aren’t in the mood for something so realistic.

Thanks so much for reading and I wish you a blissful, bountiful and beautiful month of September.

Header image is a screenshot from my e-library.