I was very intrigued by the premise of this book and especially by the comparison to Lydia Bird. However, the characters did not hold the same charm and I never found them to be likable. The story seemed to bounce around in a less clear fashion and was hard to follow at times.

Thank you to Netgalley, One More Chapter, Harper Collins UK, and Hannah Emery for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!!!

I really enjoyed this book! I love the idea of being able to travel through time, it’s such a fun concept! There are parallels to The Time Traveller’s Wife to me, so if you enjoyed that one give this a try!

I like the characters and the authenticity of their behaviours and reactions to events of life. It is by no means a happy and straight forward love story, but it sure is a love story! I think the author was very creative in the use of time travel and how it evolves within this story.

I love the authors use of the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I don’t believe there is one person on this planet who has not at one time or another thought “what if...” or “if only I had...”. This book takes a good look at what the alternative could be and shows that life will never be what we think it would be if only we had done things differently.

Give this book a go and see what you think!!!

Trigger warnings: sudden death, domestic arguments

This book was weird AF and all over the place, but I found it strangely enjoyable. Erica was a hot mess, I wish there was more explanation of her situation and with her dad. It had a lot of potential. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Even if the style of writing and the concept are interesting the story didn't keep my attention and it fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I love the concept of this book, unfortunately it just did not work for me. There was just some thing about Erica and Daniel that got to me. And I am not sure why I was of the opinion this was gonna be more uplifting, but I found it quite depressing. Although it could’ve just been a case of bad timing.

The author's description paints a vivid picture of Erica and her life(s). The story floats in and out of different stages and the style is smooth enough that it is easy to follow. The narrative's ebb and flow are especially fluid in the first act where we get to know Erica and Daniel. Erica is a frustrating character as she is too flat to be compelling. Daniel is more dynamic, but he's written too thin to drive the story forward. The second act becomes more stagnated and bogged down and mirrors Erica's moods of despair and resignation. I like this parrallel, but the stroy does not build enough and seems to miss the climax. The ending is too brusque considering where Erica and Daniel end up.
The Start of Us has an interesting idea of time travel, but the traveler is not especially enamored of her gift and does not accomplish much with it. The secondary characters lack the depth that can round out the story and the one character to root for is not the protagonist (Daniel) and becomes background fodder. It is difficult to see where this book falls, it is not romance as the chemistry is a tad too tepid. The unresolved angst is reminiscent of YA OR NA, but it's not marketed as such. It lacks the lightness of chick-lit and there is not enough set up to be fantasy. Contemporary fiction technically fits the bill, but it lacks resolution. I like the writing and the concept, but this story faltered out of the gate.

Honestly i really tried to love this book, but I just couldn’t get into the writing. I guess I didn't found interesting the story or the characters.
I did finish the book but it fell flat with me, so it's just not for me 🤷

Thank you to the publisher and the NetGalley for the opportunity to try something different.

Erica has an unusual ability. She can travel through time where she is able to live a completely different life.

Dealing with love and loss along the way. This reminded me of the tv show “Goodnight Sweetheart”.

I really tried to love this book, but I just couldn’t get into the writing. I ended up DNFing about 20% in.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it well written and the time travel aspect really appealed.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Hated everyone. The main characters had no chemistry. People getting lost in grief and "escaping" is not relatable to me. Pick yourself up and deal with it.

I think that this book was a really miss for me, it was forgettable and uninteresting. I decided to DNF at 30% because I was bored and struggled to even read a page I had to keep reading the sentence over and over and I just had to come to the realization that it wasn’t for me:

I had really high hopes for this book given the examples to Josie Silver, but really feel like it fell flat. I never fully understood Erica’s time slipping abilities and found Erica to be dull and not that great of a laid.

I absolutely adored this book even with it's unbelievable storyline.
The focus of this book is Erica, a young woman who at the age of 12 found that she could time travel and also visit herself in a parallel lifetime, although this is out of her control and somewhat unwanted. When Erica is unceremoniously 'dumped' by Mike at a party she is rescued by Daniel and their romance unfolds. Moving to Blackpool, marrying Daniel and giving birth to their son, Joshua, they have the idyllic life. However following a tragedy in their lives Erica sets out to visit her parallel self in an effort to make everything right. Does parallel Erica really live the life that this Erica wants, and can she find Daniel in the other universe and make him fall in love with her all over again.
A fantastic read!! Loved everything about this book.
Thanks for allowing me to read!

Beautifully poignant story which goes deeper than your average romance to discover if they life you chose really is the best it could be. If you could visit another version of you, loving another version of your life....would you stay there?

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I liked the fact that two different worlds collide and come together. Throughout the novel there some questions which all will ask and wonder the answers too! Thanks for the copy to review

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper-Collins UK for providing me with this ARC.

Admittedly, the first half of the book seemed to drag and I had a hard time giving it my full attention, but once I got into Erica and Daniel’s story, I was intrigued.

This book is about Erica, a woman with the unusual ability to time travel to an alternate world where she lives a completely different life. She has no control over this “Gift’” which comes and goes as it pleases. She can be gone for minutes, hours, or days at a time.
Then, she meets Daniel, they fall in love, get married and they have a son, Joshua, TRIGGER WARNING; Joshua tragically dies when he’s six months old.

Daniel and Erica are swamped with grief, and, in desperation, Erica gets the idea that slipping into her alternate existence and meeting Daniel again would mean they could start over and forget about their devastating loss.

It’s not something I’d normally read, and if you’re looking for your typical rom-com, this is not it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Erica never lets anyone in too close, a result of a weird phenomena that has her dropping into other times. When she meets Daniel at a party though, that changes. She shares her secret and they begin to build a life. When a tragedy occurs her will to fight the pull of leaving falters, and she has to decide whether to stay in the life she has, with all the pain, or fly away to her other self, and the unknown.

i felt the premise was interesting, and the writing kept me involved. I wish Erica had been more proactive about finding out why she had this ability, and how to better control it. That part of the story wasn't explored at all. I also wish there was a little more character development Other than that, a decent book that I would definitely read again.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and was under the impression that this would be a standard contemporary romance; it's not.
It's unusual, heartbreaking, and beautiful.
I tend to reach for these cartoon cover romances when I need a light-hearted escape, but you shouldn't make that mistake. You should read this book understanding that it is about loss and grief, but most of all love. THE START OF US deserves an infant loss trigger warning.
I requested an ARC based on the unusual premise, that Erica can slip through worlds and maybe fix her relationship. She compares her life and choices to these alternate versions of herself struggling with what might have been and how she could prevent it. While Erica's story will break your heart, it will put it back together. I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did.

Wow this is one of the most unusual books I have read in awhile. The idea of someone time traveling back and forth between two worlds really intrigued me and I was excited to go on Ericas journey. At times she seemed a bit dull but overall I enjoyed learning her story. I will warn you that some parts of this story are extremely sad and there was a point I wasn’t sure if I wanted to finish. However I urge you to read to the end because it is very intriguing and I enjoyed how the author concluded this story. I do wish we learned why Erica was able to travel through time but overall the plot was good and the story moved quickly. I give this book four out of five stars. Thank you to netgalley and publisher for the early read.