We meet four neighbors in the sleepy town of Clearing, Oregon. They live at the base of a dormant volcano and a typical day includes the ground rumbling a bit. Ginny, a surgeon and Mark, a scientist are busy working and raising their son. Mark is tracking a species of frog in the forest. Disappointed he did not receive a grant to further his study, he believes the frogs will foretell a natural disaster long before a man made detector will. Samara, a realtor, comes home to help her father and mourn the recent loss of her mother. Her boyfriend patiently waits while she searches for clues and signs she believes were her mother’s wishes. Cass, a graduate student of philosophy has taken a break from work to give birth to her daughter and is finding it hard to separate her mind from motherhood long enough to continue writing. Her mentor Robby, another neighbor, is very sick in the hospital and while Ginny cares for him, Samara has put his house on the market. It is clear that the destinies of these connected souls are about to change when the visions begin. Every time the earth rumbles these characters witness a parallel universe of themselves. Terrifying at first, the neighbors do not share their visions for fear of being thought insane but they all become desperate to know what these brief moments really mean. This very original novel had me on the edge of my seat. The reader cannot stop turning the pages as this rumbling, like the story itself quietly gains momentum. Highly recommend this well written, hypnotizing debut novel. It really makes the readers imagination run wild.

If, Then was a fast read, and I enjoyed the characters a lot. The sci-fi side of the story is not the most well developed - in my opinion. I really wanted to more answers about why the parallel universes were coming in contact with each other and why the people of one could see people from the other and why some could interact with their doubles and others could not.And why they stopped seeing those afterwards. The relationships, however, were well developed and I enjoyed that aspect more than I usually do. I liked this book and i wopuld recommend it.

'Ginny closes her eyes. She doesn’t want her life to continue just as it is. Her life can’t stay the same, because she’s not the same. She’s full of wanting when she wasn’t before.'

Visions of a parallel reality plays with the lives of four characters in Clearing, Oregon. When a surgeon named Ginny closes her eyes to check if her brain is the problem, Edith’s soft breathing enters her and doesn’t leave. Ginny’s husband Mark believes animal behavior is key to predicting natural disaster, of course his research of frogs on Broken Mountain isn’t impressing any of his colleagues, funding isn’t easy to come by, certainly not for junk science, there just isn’t enough data. He feels defeated. Soon his own visions are horrifying, serving as a warning he believes in, an obsession consumes him to protect his son and wife, to ‘shelter’ them from the future that is coming for them all. Their marriage is strained, if Mark feels like a failure in his field, than Ginny feels like a failure as a mother, consumed herself by her career.

Samara keeps seeing her deceased mother, maybe it’s grief? Why can’t she figure out what she wants to tell her? She is furious with Ginny, blames her for what happened to her mother, who was under her care. Her father is moving on and handling her death a little too well. It’s time for him to explain things. Samara can’t let go, she wants so badly to hold on to the past, physically and emotionally. Cass is a scholar, a ‘philosopher’ but then came her baby Leah, and her life as a graduate student came to a standstill. She is a loving mother, yes, but a part of her also still belongs in the world of academia. Can she ever go back, juggling motherhood, can she ever fulfill the expectations of her advisor Robbie who tells her she has so much promise? Why does she keep seeing herself pregnant again, is motherhood always going to be the obstacle keeping her from her dreams?

What will happen? “That’s the rub, isn’t it. The not knowing.” What if the visions are clues, or warnings and not just imagination or hallucinations caused by medical problems, like Ginny thinks? Choices are so often blindly made in life, that’s the gamble we all confront, even loaded with the best of advice or intuition, we can still take the wrong step but what if visions could guide us? That may well be what’s happening in If, Then. An interesting exploration on relationships and the choices that can make or break us. There are people who believe in us more than we do ourselves (as with Cass), and there are those nearest and dearest who think we are losing our grip on reality when we are true to our ‘visions’ or intuitions (Mark and Ginny). It also about the desires that tug, urging us to change and the secrets we keep from ourselves and each other.

Publication Date: March 12, 2019

Random House

Have you ever imagined a different version of yourself? What would you be like if you had turned left, not right; not had that car crash; vacationed somewhere else; quit that job; picked different friends or simply choose yourself over others?

If, Then was unlike anything else I have read. There were parts that were a bit confusing but when it all wraps up it really makes you think about how something so small can alter something so big! I read it in a day because I wanted to know what was going on! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

.

In Clearing, OR four neighbors, whose lives intersect each other, begin to see themselves in different realities- as different version of themselves. Ginny, a surgeon, who puts work over her personal life begins to see faults in her marriage. Mark, Ginny’s husband, is a scientist, who seems impending doom and devastation ahead. Samara, who is mourning her mother’s death, starts to see her around and can’t figure out why. Then Cass, a PHD candidate, is struggling with becoming a mother, sees herself pregnant again- is this the past or the future?

I don’t want to give anything away so you will just have to check out this book when it hits the shelves on March 12th! Thanks for Netgalley for my copy!

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

In the quiet mountain haven of Clearing, Oregon, four neighbors find their lives upended when they begin to see themselves in a parallel reality.

Although a quick read, this book just didn't resonate with me. The premise of the story was interesting enough but I never got attached to it or the characters.

2.5 ☆

I liked this book, but I definitely did not love it and found it to be somewhat disappointing. The multiverse concept with interconnected characters was a draw for me, but the novel ultimately didn't captivate me. At the 50% mark or so, I found my attention wandering and found the end unsatisfying- I wanted more from this talented author.

I love these types of books. Reality shifts for individuals that are just enough to leave the character questioning if it really happened.? The reader is left with wondering what is the event going to mean? And then another character has a reality shift. And so on. Four different characters tied together and yet not. At the same time, but actually the biggest part of the story, the book comes alive with the everyday relationship struggles of life. Losses, challenges, parenting, love. Kate Hope Day weaves it all together. Wonderfully done.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. An intriguing, imaginative plot that captured my attention and kept me interested in the characters until the very end. A one day read for me. Ordinary people living in the shadow of a dormant volcanic mountain begin to experience visions of an alternative universe that results in life changing events. Well developed characters that include a surgeon, a scientist, a philosophy academic and a realtor that required the author to do in-depth research to flesh out their various fields. The scope of her research was impressive. Although this book should not be classified as science fiction, I did feel at times that I had stepped into the Twilight Zone. Although it was a quick and compelling read, in the end it felt like a just okay story. I think I was expecting a more impactful ending...thus 3 stars.

If, Then follows the lives of 4 neighbors that live in a town at the base of a dormant volcano.
Throughout the novel, each character starts to see alternate versions of themselves and start to question their realities. If, Then is an excellent read that really pushes your mind and explores the possibility of an alternate universe.
This is the first novel by Kate Hope Day, and I am really excited to read more by her.
When I first started this book, it took me a few chapters to really grasp what was going on, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down.,

Kate Hope Day has woven several thought-provoking strands into this story about possibilities. She delves into philosophy, domestic struggle, environmental science, conspiracy theories, and quantum physics while developing captivating characters and an engrossing story. The book is set in the community of Clearing, Oregon, and it explores the interlocking lives of four neighbors and the possibilities their lives and decisions represent. They begin to see phantasms, specters of themselves, possibilities of alternate lives they could have lived, or maybe even do concurrently live in a different reality. The best kind of books, as far as I’m concerned, promise even more on a second reading, which this one does.

This novel has the spooky, melancholy vibe of Mandel’s Station Eleven and the musical chairs perspective structure of Ng’s Everything I Never Told You. It follows four people who live in the same neighborhood in small-town Oregon, who begin seeing ghostly visions whenever the nearby volcano—supposedly dormant—shifts and shudders.

Day stated that her book was written while trying “to understand the feeling of being split in two when you become a parent.” Much like each person will grapple with parenting in a different way, these characters struggle with these volcano-induced apparitions (who appear to be doppelgangers—or the same person—as the one viewing them).

I found the braided structure of this novel, and how it slowly reveals how the characters and their visions intertwine, to be beautiful and compelling. But I had difficulty understanding some (not all!) of the characters’ motivations beyond a superficial acknowledgment that, yes, that would be the obvious response to that situation. For example, one character decides to build a fallout shelter in a sudden and rather frightening fashion, yet I knew so little about him other than his paranoia and his love for his son that his decision-making was opaque to me.

Random fact about this book: it has a lot of animals in it and I LIKE that.

All in all, a beautiful debut book from a promising writer.

*4.5 stars!*

If, Then was totally different from anything I've read before, at least recently. The book centers around the residents of a small town in Oregon. Several of the residents start having "visions" of themselves in alternate realities, and as time goes on, the visions become increasingly dark and realistic. I loved how the past, present, and future were all intertwined, as well as the lives of the characters. Day's portrayal of the difficulties of new motherhood was incredibly poignant, and she successfully investigated the intricacies of marriage in a really raw, emotional way. I loved this book because it made me think, both about life as we know it, and about the lives that could have been. This was a really fascinating and touching read.

Hmmmm, a lot of thoughts for this book....

First of all, it's a bit of a mixed genre. What would otherwise be a pretty straightforward general fiction novel has elements of science fiction sprinkled into the plot to make it a notch different than other novels in the genre. Which, for me, as someone who reads across both genres, is not a dealbreaker.

The characters start slow and it took me a while to get into the story, to care about the characters enough to want to know what was going on. But after a while, I was definitely on board. I cared about each of them (a little less about Mark for some reason) and wanted to know how their stories were going to turn out.

I like that the ending was a mixed bag with some going one way and others remaining the same (i don't want to give away anything so I will leave this vague.)

In the end though, I felt like the story didn't take me anywhere. I didn't learn something new. I didn't think differently. I didn't gain some insight. And I think that's because the novel stayed pretty shallow throughout. The author didn't give me enough depth into any of the characters for me to "feel" their struggles. I didn't connect to their humanity in a way these kinds of books can accomplish. Maybe the plot device of using the scifi angle detracted the novel from having to be better.

But I wanted more.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced proof in return for an honest review.

I was surprised when I looked down and realized I was 91% finished with this book last night (provided to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).

I am so on the fence with this one - on one hand, I couldn't put it down, because the author's pretty good with suspense. On the other hand, I'm thinking it's because I kept expecting something to actually happen, and then I looked down and I was 91% finished with the book and then the earth rumbled a bit and all my dimensional existences got confused for a second and then they all lived happily ever after, sort of.

A bizarre thing, however: I actually DO live at the base of a dormant volcano that, it has been said, is about due for some activity. I also live with members of a Native tribe who have been here for thousands of years and have told me that, for fair warning in that regard, I need to keep an eye on the animals *cue creepy music here*.

I was, unfortunately, disappointed with this one. It has a great premise, but I expected more. It was confusing to keep everything straight, and boring during many parts. The plot moved forward well enough though. Also didn't care much for the characters, didn't feel they were fully developed. 2 stars from me.

I really wanted to like this book. I was really drawn into the characters and their stories, but something was just missing for me. Maybe it was that it was hard to follow exactly what was happening since it covered multi-dimensions. I kept looking for a "if she did this, then the outcome is this storyline" but it didn't really follow that path. It just felt like a lot of random stories all converging on one another but then other pathways of each story randomly showing up. It still kept me reading and wondering, so I give it 3 stars because it did captivate me.

I received an advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.

I found this book intriguing and engaging throughout. It was creative, and I enjoyed reading it. I liked getting to know the different characters and their (somewhat) interconnected world; the characters were distinct and had their own personalities, even if they could have been further developed at times.

I finished the book wanting a little more. I felt the book was hurtling toward something that never really came — some things were answered, but others weren’t. As others have said, I would have liked to see the characters communicate what they were seeing with each other. There were also a couple of times when I was confused about which “world” a particular character was in — elements that seemed true in every other character’s world were not true in another’s.

This book was well-paced, and I’m glad to have read it, but there were some elements that I would’ve liked to see fleshed out further.

I received an ARC of this book (with thanks!) from Net Galley/Random House Publishing House in exchange for an honest review.

The whole time, I kept thinking "I wish she (the author) had done this instead," which I don't really love. However, it was an enjoyable read and I'm glad I read it.

Can speculative domestic dramas be a new trend? Because I would like to read at least five more books like this one. It takes the kind of complex character building I really enjoy and adds unexpected elements and surreal twists that keep it from feeling like anything close to the same old thing.

At the heart of this book is what usually exists just in your mind as you wonder what other paths your life could have taken if you'd made a different decision. But in this book, those other selves are ever-so-briefly made real to a group of characters in an Oregon town. In the middle of a normal day they will see, for an instant, another version of themselves that is much the same but slightly different. As these visions recur, they have varying consequences for everyone involved. A woman starts to wonder about the possibility of life with a female coworker by her side instead of her husband. A daughter views glimpses of her recently-dead mother planning a new start and starts to reconsider who her mother was.

I particularly loved Cass, the brilliant-philosopher-turned-new-mom who is not sure she will ever go back to finish her PhD. She reminded me of two other recent brilliant female characters in 2019 novels, in LOST AND WANTED and THE TENTH MUSE, and I am hopeful there are even more coming.

This is the kind of book that could do really well in a book club, generating a lot of discussion and a good way to dip your toe into speculative fiction for clubs that may be hesitant to move into genre novels.

I was excited to receive an ARC of this book from the publisher. This is an exciting, thought provoking, and suspenseful book. The comparison to Little Fires Everywhere is correct - I love seeing how each of the characters are connected to each other.