Maybe in Another Life

Product Information

He still, all these years later, shines brighter to me than other people. Even after I got over him, I was never able to extinguish the fire completely, as if it’s a pilot light that will always remain small and controlled but very much alive.

I also just really enjoyed the premise of Maybe in Another Life. Who hasn’t, at least on occasion, wondered “What if...?” about some decision they made. It doesn’t always need to be a paramount, life changing decision, but then again, we don’t always realize when we are making one of those. Reid knows exactly how to play it to make her novels surprising, warm and funny. I'm starting to wonder if part of her charm is that - at least with both The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Maybe in Another Life - she lures us into asking the wrong questions. It oddly makes the answers more satisfying when we figure out we were wrong.

Multibuys

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOVED the ending. Totally loved it! Oh gosh, my heart was overflowing with emotions. I was feeling so much! There are two epilogues and I think I must have read them both three times each before I finally put the book down for good because I loved them that much!! Soon Ethan and I had ventured upstairs. We were sitting on the top step of the staircase, hip to hip, talking about our favorite bands. He kissed me there, in the dark, the wild party happening just underneath our feet.

One should not dwell on the what-if's, the should-have's or the could-have's. Once a decision is made, stand by it - good or not so good, either bask in its glow or learn from its lesson and simply move on! But, this is Hannah Martin so it's an entirely different scenario. As you can see Hannah has issues with making decisions so having two options may be ideal here. Parallel Universe's? What's the risk? Could be fun, right? For the reader, getting to see both scenario's play out concurrently through this book is fun and mostly delightful!

Creative Play

I watched as Gabby’s pixelated face frowned. “I told you he was married,” she said, her patience wearing thin. “I told you this three weeks ago. I told you that you need to stop this. Because it’s wrong. And because that is some woman’s husband. And because you shouldn’t allow a man to treat you like a mistress. I told you all of this.”

This reading group guide for Maybe in Another Life includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. I’d much rather be depicted with my dark brown hair and my light green eyes, but I understand that you can’t really do much with color when you’re drawing with a Bic pen. She puts her hand on mine, ever so briefly. “You will,” she says. “You’re young still. You have plenty of time.” The plane drops abruptly and then rights itself as we make our way past the clouds. She breathes in deeply. I have to admit, even I feel a little queasy. Taylor Jenkins Reed’s overall writing style is simple and not as sophisticated as her later publications – not a criticism, just and observation (suitable for the setting and characters, perhaps). At first, the writing is almost report-like, then later, things become more conversational and finally complexities enter the plot. One thing about Reed’s work is – some plot points are predictable/expected and some are definitely not. The conclusion is interesting and aptly, both open-ended and fixed.My family moved to London when I was sixteen. My younger sister, Sarah, got accepted to the Royal Ballet School, and they couldn’t pass that up. I stayed and finished school in L.A.” Alternating timelines (and entire storylines) can be SUCH a difficult device to execute, particularly through the written word rather than through visual cues, but TJR handles it with ease. I have always loved this trope, alongside the concept of the Butterfly Effect, where one tiny flap of a butterfly's wings can impact the whole world. I am huge fan of the show Frasier, and one of my favorite episodes also uses this trope in "Sliding Frasiers", a nod to the film Sliding Doors as well. The underlying theme that can be found in all three is that the choices we make ALL have consequences: some positive, some negative, and the most important aspect of that is that we take ownership of them. Despite some dramatic differences, both 'versions' of the story have key similarities and highlight the importance of honesty, the support of friends and family, and the freedom that can be found when you dare to take a risk. Hannah was a wonderful main character who felt so authentic, and although both endings veer towards the happy, neither one provides a perfectly smooth path. This is my fourth Taylor Jenkins Reid, the first two were for me quite a disappointment that I was about to shelf Reid as an author. Maybe in Another Life and One True Loves made me fall in love with this author’s writing. I am convinced that this book was more about Gabby and Hannah’s friendship than the romances combined and don’t try to convince me other wise. I am absolutely not complaining. They are the type of friends who can read each other’s minds and are there for each other no matter what. Their relationship is so envious. Gabby is also here to constantly remind us that what society thinks about women is usually bullsugar, and I was here for it. Honestly, I did not care for the romances. I do not think they were the main focus of the book, but rather, there was a bigger picture. They were still cute though.