An interesting book with some holes in the plot. I wish all the lose ends would have been tied up. But a nice book for a cold, rainy afternoon.

After Chloe's parents decide to get a divorce, she has to start a new life with her mother in Texas, where she starts Senior Year as the "New Kid". There she attracts the attention of Cash Colton, who is broody and mysterious, and they even share the same background. Chloe was adopted when she was three years old, the memories of her old life long gone. But Cash lets her relive her past and soon she starts to doubt everything she has ever believed in - especially the love and care of her adopted parents.

What I liked
I loved the topics that the story explored, especially with the background of Chloe's adoption. The mystery element was very thrilling and exciting.

What I didn't like
The romance element was quite upsetting for me, not just because it happened quite sudden, but it was also very unnecessary. Further, the writing style was, in my opinion, not the best, and I had to check a couple of times, if this really wasn't the author's first novel.

Conclusion
I have never read a book by C.C. Hunter, but if you have enjoyed her previous works, you might enjoy this one too. The story hat many good points, but in the end the writing style and some of the plot elements didn't really work for me.

Not a fan of the way she wrote the main character. Very childish. Couldn't finish it because the girl was so annoying.

The romance over powered this story way too much. The actual mystery was not believable at all. The events were way too convient and did not make any sense. I wanted to love this but it ultimately fell very flat.

Storyline was interesting and it.covers a variety of emotions. At times it was a little slow but enjoyable. Liked the characters and supporting cast but felt some of the conflict resolution was too easy.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I was a little worried about reading this book. The FMC was raised knowing that she was adopted and she lived a good live but her life changes when her parents go through a divorce and she and her mother move away and she meets another student that has been adoptive. That Cash might have some connection to her and the past that she is not sure of. There are some issues with this story. I found a few places where things were over described and there were some things about Cash calling her several times. IT was just a little weird. I have read other works by CC Hunter this just seemed a little off.

Chloe was adopted, but it has never been a hindrance to living a good life. She had loving adoptive parents, until one day they announce the relationship is ending and Chloe is moved to Joyful, Texas. She has to start her senior year at a new school in a different state. She makes a good friend who turns out to believe she is the foster child his foster parents lost year ago. She is thrown into a mystery about her past and what really happened before she was adopted. But would someone actually kill to make sure she never finds out the truth? This was a super-fast read that makes you question the adoption process and the foster system, but also what it's like for those kids who are forced into those systems.

Not exactly what i was expecting, still a neat read for a slow afternoon. I did however really liked the way the writer uses words

Chloe Holden was adopted when she was three but she hasn't let that shape her life. Then Chloe learns that her entire life has been a lie but unraveling the lies may lead to the end of her life.

This young adult book has been talked about between adults and teens. More adults seemed to enjoy it. The book is about a young girl named Chloe who was adopted as a toddler. She lived a decently good life until the devoirce of her parents. After the devorice her mother moved away. Cash, who chloe thinks is a con also spent some of life in foster care. Though they both have families that love them they still have issues. Chloes facing the effects of devorce, her moms health, Cash is dealing with shame of the past. A slight twist is who Cash thinks Chloe is! Turning this YA book into a thriller!

What would you do if your whole life was a lie?
C.C. Hunter has done it again in an impressive book and in the midst of a suspense the reader will get involved with the plot from beginning to end with Chloe's story

In Another Life by C.C. Hunter is a young adult contemporary mystery. It is a story about a young woman who doesn’t realize that she was possibly kidnapped as a child until she meets a young man who thinks she is going to con his foster family into giving her money by pretending to be their daughter. At first, I was really intrigued by this premise. The story played out pretty much like I hoped it would so it was a little predictable. If you are a fan of drama then you should love the story and the interactions between the characters.

Chloe Holden’s parents have separated and after spending the summer with her father, Chloe officially moves in with her mother in a new town. But just before her father drops her off, Chloe runs into an extremely rude boy at the local gas station. He throws some strange accusations at her but instead of being completely put off by this boy, she is strangely intrigued by him because of his good looks. When Chloe starts school, she sees the same strange boy getting into a fight with a bully but because strange boy stood up for someone, she is even more intrigued by him.

Cash Colton believes that Chloe is up to no good and he’s going to find out why and put a stop to it. Because of his awful childhood, he just automatically believes that Chloe is bad and he begins to investigate her story. Unfortunately, that means he’s going to have to get close to her and talk to her. When he realizes that Chloe isn’t the person he pegged her to be, he begins to get close to her. He doesn’t know how he is going to reveal to her that she isn’t who she thinks she is because he knows it will ruin their relationship.

Chloe doesn’t believe Cash at first but then memories start to haunt her and she begins to think he could be telling the truth. There are too many coincidences. The further they dig into her past, the more mysteries they discover.

The reason I say if you are a fan of drama it is because all the characters in this book are Dramatic. With a capital D. Almost every other page is someone yelling, screaming, crying, pissed off or extremely depressed. I do get some of the reasons why the characters are upset, especially Chloe’s mom. She has every right to be but I was getting a little tired of Chloe constantly using her dad’s affair against him and Cash’s super moodiness against his foster family (which he claimed he cared for) constantly ruining his family interactions.
In Another Life is told through different perspectives but mainly through the eyes of Chloe and Cash. Chloe is first person while Cash is third person. It was kind of weird at first but it made it easy to read when the perspectives changed.

In the end, I found the story a bit predictable but otherwise I did like the relationships between the characters. I didn’t like the constant crying and drama. I liked enough about the story and the mystery that I wanted to know how it would end.

I enjoyed this book but the fact that it's being marketed as a thriller threw me. I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't gone in expecting a mystery. Overall a decent read.

Musings:

Reading this book brought up a lot of emotions in me. It was a story way more intense then my own, but I was taken by the similarities in feeling. Chole was happy with her situation for most of her life. Living with the family that loved her and gave her all that she could have ever wanted, but her parents divorce changed everything. Then, Cash comes into her life and her world is flipped inside out and upside down. When he presents the idea that she was the kidnapped child of his foster parents and slowly reveals to her his own checkered past she is thrown into a state where she doesn’t know what to believe.

What I Enjoyed:

The action. It’s slow building to this point, but it has many tense thriller moments. I really enjoyed the way the events added up and built suspense as the story went on.

How suspicious Cash always was. Cash had constant suspicions to the 10th degree. Sometimes, I had no idea where they were coming from. But, I enjoyed how he began to trust Chole slowly as time went on.


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Watching the two come together. I liked the relationship between them. It was complicated yes. It brought up a lot of baggage in them both, but what mattered was the love that was there and they decided to be there for each other and accept each other as they were.

That Chole had a good relationship with her parents. Yes at times due to divorce that the relationships were strained. However, at the end of the day the love was there. It was nice to read an adoption story where the parents weren’t abusive.

All and All:

In Another Life is a unique read with curious situations and some really great writing. You’ll keep guessing what the real truth is till the very end.

What an interesting premise; a teen adopted at age three finds out that her story may not be what she thought it was. As Chloe discreetly tried to find the truth of her adoption, it was interesting to see how her relationship with her adoptive parents developed and changed, as she is not sure of their role in the adoption and whether it was legal. The side plot of the romance between Chloe and Cash was sweet, although perhaps a bit contrived in the coincidental manner in which they meet and are connected through their pasts. I plan to purchase a copy for my classroom, as I think my students would enjoy this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I think a number of my students will as well. Chloe Holden thinks her life has turned upside down when her parents get divorced and she has to move house and school in her final year of school. Little does she realise just how much her world is about to be rocked. Chloe meets Cash and despite his tough exterior, they start to forge a connection. The story focusses on a mystery that needs to be unravelled, but also on the relationships of Chloe and Cash with each other and their families. The book also explores adoption, the foster system and ideas around identity and belonging.

A heartwrenching story that turns one girl's life upside down. Leaving it so that nothing will ever be the same again.

Chloe's life may not have been perfect, but it was going well until she literally ran into Cash Colton. The quiet and brooding guy at school and her new unwanted companion.

Cash's intentions aren't as pure as he's making them out to be. While he searches for the truth behind Chloe's past, he also can't help giving in to the feelings that he starts developing for her.

What Cash doesn't count on is stirring up a lot of trouble for him and Chloe. Trouble that may be fatal if they don't figure out the web of lies fast enough.

“In Another Life” begins on the road with Chloe Holden throwing tantrums at her adoptive dad for leaving her and her depressed cancer-stricken mom for a younger girlfriend. While stopping by at a convenience store and as the father-daughter arguing ensues, Chloe accidentally bumps into Cash Colton who is a tad suspicious of her about something. Chloe and Cash meet again in school with Chloe as a transferee student. It turns out that Chloe resembles the age-progression photo of his foster parents’ missing daughter. Cash thinks that she is going to con them, as he did so many years ago as the partner-in-crime to his deadbeat biological dad, so he is determined to keep an eye on her.



My first gripe about the book is why it is being marketed as a YA mystery when it is more of a YA contemporary? I don’t know who to blame for this: the readers or the publisher. Look at Goodreads and most users filed it under mystery. Then read the blurb and it sounds like a Kara Thomas book. What I got is something like a Sara Dessen book instead. Granted, the first few chapters seemed like leading to an intriguing mystery: Are Chloe’s loving adoptive parents kidnappers? Why are people accusing Cash of murdering his dad? But, the book gradually shifts into the generic plot points of a YA contemporary that is basically more focused on romance: girl meets boy, they become close and eventually date, there will be some conflict or something, but then they resolve it, the end. It’s not that I don’t read and enjoy romance-centric YA contemporaries, because I do. My issue here is that I felt duped by the clickbait nature of the blurb and the bait-and-switch nature of the plot.



And then there are these main characters who become annoying bit by bit as I read along. Cash is your typical broody chick magnet YA lead, with a bad reputation and who of course falls for the hapless new girl in school. He is a bit of a creep at first, stalking Chloe around and letting the air out from her tires so he can get a chance to talk to her. Chloe lets him be close to her despite catching him as the culprit of the said creepy act because good looks trumps creepy behavior, I guess. Or because Chloe is a whiny baby who whines about everything and a boy with a huge hero complex like Cash is what’s perfect for her.



The supporting characters fared no better. So the real kidnapper is revealed too soon and is given bits of PoV narration. Despite this, the villain is cartoonishly evil for the sake of being evil. Chloe’s new next-door neighbor and insta-friend, Lindsey, has no immediate purpose but to be Chloe’s rant person when Cash is not around. And the parents, whew, are mostly there to be the source of these teens’ angst. The dialogues between the characters were cursory, any emotions that could’ve flown the scenes were clipped. And some periphery characters, like a gay cousin of Chloe’s adoptive dad and his husband, add no value but to crowd the scenes they are in.



The overall message of the book for me is not letting the pain in the past damage what you have in the present. But it missed on a lot of chances to make this message soar. The annoying main characters, shallow supporting characters and cursory dialogues blocked me from feeling anything aside from boredom. “In Another Life” has the initially intriguing set-up of a YA mystery that ultimately switches to a middling YA contemporary.

There’s something eerie about In Another’s Life’s synopsis that I was drawn to it right away. The story follows the story of Chloe Holden who was adopted when she was three years old. She then moved to Joyful, Texas after her parents’ separation and she had to start new in this new city with her mum. In her new school, she met Cash Colton, who tried to get close to her. Turned out that Cash sought her out because she looks like his foster parents’ long-lost daughter. Cash is convinced that she’s their daughter and wanted to find out the truth. Chloe, on the other hand wasn’t convinced at all until she started to remember little details, she started to realise that there are things that don’t add up.

Although I was intrigued by the synopsis, I still read the book with a degree of skepticism. Based on my experience reading mystery/thriller books, when you start a book with high expectations, chances are certain aspects of the book will disappoint. Fortunately, In Another Life was a great read.

There are many different tropes presented in this book. Cash and Chloe’s budding romance, Chloe being her mum’s main caretaker, Chloe’s fight with her dad, and put the adoption mystery on top of it – so many things are going on and somehow C.C. Hunter made it work. I love that she could make the stories flow effortlessly and her characters to develop well. The mystery aspect only appear on the later half of the book, though. While I could still feel the suspense and mystery in the book, it still felt like a primarily YA book. For some reason, the romance and family issues take centre stage in the book for me. Despite all that, In Another Life was truly an enjoyable read.

In Another Life is my first C.C. Hunter book but it made me want to read more of her books. I actually requested the book from NetGalley and didn’t get it. However, I got an email few weeks later informing me that I was given the chance to receive the ARC as I’ve read books from Wednesday Books previously. Also, if you are curious about the book, you can read the excerpt below. Once again, thank you St. Martin’s Press & Wednesday Books for introducing me to a wonderful author!

This is an interesting g story that keeps you reading to find out what happens. This story comes some important topics and handles them well. This is a great story to make available to teens.