The readers can download Maybe in Another Life Audiobook for free via Audible Free Trial.
Summary
At the age of twenty-nine, 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.
I absolutely adored the concept of the book and TJR can do no wrong, in my opinion. However, when I listened to it on audio, it became quite challenging to distinguish between the two storylines due to their striking similarities. I believe revisiting the book in physical form, where I can make notes on each timeline and give it my undivided attention, will enhance my experience. Although I didn't enjoy it as much as I potentially could have, I genuinely want to give it another shot. The absence of chapter headers indicating which timeline was being portrayed made it difficult to recall the exact point I left off when resuming the story the following day. Nonetheless, I consider the story to be truly beautiful, and as mentioned before, I am eager to give it a second read with closer scrutiny.
Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution if you haven't come across some key plot details. The concept of the book was intriguing, but I personally found the storyline uninteresting. The protagonist heavily revolves her narrative around the men in her life, which didn't resonate with me. What struck me as odd was that when she discovers she's pregnant, she never contemplates the option of abortion. Even her supposedly "politically correct" and pro-women friend never brings it up as a possibility. Instead, her friend focuses on how she'll be an amazing mother and how she'll never have any regrets about having a baby. It felt unrealistic because, let's face it, plenty of people do regret having children. They're in LA, for goodness sake! They could easily visit a clinic to resolve the situation. The characters' behavior just seemed strange and it didn't sit well with me. Overall, I did not enjoy this aspect of the book.
The narrator in this book sounded like she spoke in a whisper the entire time, and needs work on male voices. The story itself was not that great either; the recurring words "cinnamon roll" got really annoying after a while. The book was mildly entertaining, but I would not recommend it.
*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
I really liked the idea behind this book. Going back and forth from one lifeline to the other was relatively easy to follow and an interesting concept. Hannah tended to anger me a bit, especially when dealing with her parents. She was too harsh with them and I didn't feel like they did a lot to deserve that treatment. The hospital scene where she tried to hunt down Henry was a bit silly and come on, it was his job she was messing with. The narrator had a bit of trouble with male voices, they all tended to sound the same. Overall, it was a pleasant listen for a slow, lazy afternoon.
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