Fun premise—a woman walks through a door into a different life and with memories of her previous life. What appealed was the science fiction without the science—so easy to follow. The story was good. The buildup and the pacing was too slow for my taste, though. Not enough action and tension. It felt too slow for this kind of story. Just when I thought it would pick up at different spots, it reverted to how it was. The twist at the end was good but not explosive. A solid debut.

Very gripping story. At one point I thought this book would actually be a DNF (did not finish), but I’m glad I picked it back up and gave it a second chance, because after I did that I devoured it. I look forward to more from this author, and I do recommend picking this up for a fun, plot twisty, thriller.

Another thriller with a sci-fi angle! Kelly is an artist living a modest life in Chicago, until she goes to the bathroom at a party, and steps into a different existence as a suburban housewife to high school classmate, Eric. She has active memories of both lives, and a strong sense of dysphoria for the life she walked into. It’s never in question which reality is legitimate, but the tension remains that she could end up in this one. The book has fun with Déjà vu and ghost memories haunting the periphery of Kelly’s existence, and questions of what makes a person whole or authentic. The tension of the final act is double downed upon, by adding extra elements, but the conclusion left me unsatisfied, as the author bends over backwards to play apologist for the sins of the ultimate antagonist. There are hiccups here and there that smack of a new author getting their legs under them, but until the very end, this is a pretty good read.

This storyline was fabulous and I really didn’t know how it was going to end. It was hard to put down and very easy to get involved in all the characters!

Kelly walks through a door on her twenty-ninth birthday and finds herself in another life. A moderately-successful Chicago-based artist, she suddenly finds herself married and living the suburbs. The problem is, she has all the memories of both lives coalescing in her mind, and no idea about how she got there.

‘The possibility of my entire history ceasing to exist, of it never having existed, induces a dreamlike horror that stops up my throat. I can’t speak.’

She remembers, for example, that she loves her husband, Eric. She knows the name of her nieces and nephews that do not exist in her ‘real’ life. She knows the contents of all the cupboards in her suburban kitchen. But at the same time, she has the memories of her Chicago life – her best friend, Linnea. Her cat and roommates. Her beloved art studio. Experiencing, understandably, a profound sense of disorientation, she bolts to Chicago when Eric has gone to work, desperate to retrace her steps and find any traces of the life that was once hers. It’s a slow burn mystery, and I was intrigued to see how it would play out within the confines of the genre.

‘What I’m searching for is some emotional connection to the life I find myself living. But even with my entire history laid out in front of me, I’m unable to feel that it’s mine.’

The narrative gets even more interesting when the two timelines appear to begin to bleed into one another – Kelly’s tattoos begin to appear on her arms, before fading immediately. Photos disappear and reappear on the walls. And there’s a general unease about Eric, too. He seems almost too perfect – and those of us acquainted with a thriller know that can only mean one thing.

It’s a great concept, and compelling reading for the first 60% or so. I haven’t read anything with this premise, so to me, at least, it felt like a refreshing take on a manipulative relationship. My main problem was that it was sort of sci-fi, sort of thriller – without accomplishing either entirely effectively. Taking on a sci-fi concept, like this, requires real finesse. I’ve never read anything that falls into the science-fiction without the science category (though if this is a well-established genre, I stand corrected!) and to me the light-touch on how the time travel actually worked just left too many plot holes for me to truly buy in to the concept.

This may not be a deal breaker for other readers, and this book certainly had its merits. I just wish there was a little more of an investment in the details for the world-building and central premise to be fully and effectively executed.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Time travel, weird tech start-up, and multiple memories? Yep - this one had it all.

Whoa. This book was a mind-bender. The idea that one minute your living the life you chose and the next your living a different life but still maintaining memories from your previous life. I will admit, at first, I was a bit confused. I realized I kept reading that I was supposed to be, because the main character, Kelly is. The reader is helping here unravel what is going on in real-time as she is. It didn't take long for the story to take hold, and I couldn't put it down.

I'll be definitely recommending this one. It was a bit outside of my normal thriller reads and it was exactly what I was looking for.

I really liked the premise of this book. Two lives lived, neither perfect, which would you choose? The book spends most of it's time figuring out why there are at least two memories and the suspense keeps you reading. The only thing that was a little hard to believe was that Kelly spent 17 years reliving her life and I'm glad we didn't read about that! As with most time travel novels you can't really pick at the logistics or it all unravels.

What a clever, beautifully written suspense book! The whole premise of time travel and being able to remember your other lives really fascinated me. The book reads so well and kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what happened to Kelly's life and why she is suddenly in a parallel life than the one she was living. The twists were unexpected and the whole concept so smart and unique. It really makes you think about what you would do if you had a chance to redo your life, and if you'd even want to. Definitely recommend this book as a must read!

The premise for The Other Me hooked me from the beginning. Kelly, an artist living in Chicago somehow finds herself in an alternate life, in her hometown in Michigan. This one had me hooked. The atmosphere and the little clues along the way sucked me in. Mind blown! Highly recommend if you’re looking for a time travel and science thriller that will keep you guessing.

Wow this book really had me on the edge of my seat! Once I started reading this one I could not put it down. It was exciting and attention grabbing for sure. However, I was a little disappointed in the “plot twist”. I guessed it early on and was hoping that I was wrong in my guess, but I wasn’t too surprised. I did enjoy the storyline and the character development. All in all, it was a really excited read.

This book has it all: Fast pace, superb writing, well-developed characters, and fascinating plot. It is the definition of a page-turner. On Kelly's 29th birthday she walks into an alternate version of her life that is completely unrecognizable. All she wants is to return to her former life, but as she starts developing memories of this current life, she has to face the possibility that that may never happen. The author does a fantastic job of bringing the reader along with Kelly as she navigates this "other" world, and keeps the pacing and tempo fast and even. This is a must read debut novel from an up and coming bright new author.

*Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC.

The Other Me definitely had a strong start! In only one chapter I was immediately intrigued. The idea of the book was smart and fresh and I thought it was a great pace until right about the time the big twist was revealed. Here’s my problem: I did find the twist pretty easy to guess. So once I got to the whodunit, I was bored with the chase. I didn’t care for Eric at all but I appreciated that Kelly didn’t leave him for dead and that they formed a relationship at the end, as weird as it was. I also found it brilliant that she included the extra timelines as part of Kelly’s identity in the main one we were reading. Overall a interesting and captivating read but a little too drawn out.

Another brain cell fryer, nerve bender, mind number Sliding Doors meets Fringe with Russian Doll vibes kind of sci-fi without science premise! Hell yeah! Bring it on!

Imagine 29 years old self attending a gallery opening/ birthday party, you move to the bathroom to put a distance from the noisy crowd, you just push the door and ta ta da daaa! Nope, you didn’t catch somebody in the act! Actually you didn’t even reach to the restrooms! You open the door of another alternative universe! It’s freaking crazy, right? This is how Kelly’s story starts. At least she didn’t find herself at the restroom like Russian Doll’s Nadia Vulvokov to live the same night over and over again.

Instead of that she finds herself at another version of her life, married with a guy named Eric she barely knew from high school ( they became history project partners but that’s all! They never see each other after high school, at least that was the story for Kelly’s life who were pursuing her dreams to achieve something great in arts in Chicago )

But interestingly she has recorded memories about her new life which comes into her mind as she sees new versions of people in her inner circle. Actually both her old and new life memories start merging which makes things more complicated for her.

The mystery of the book kept me reading and questioning, brain storming about what might be the big secret about new timeline of Kelly is living.

The story’s progression was slow burn and till I reach to the half of the story, I lost my focus a little, found the development a little flat but thankfully things get changed after the second half. Surprising conclusion of the story was a little foreseeable. I was expecting something more original and it didn’t answer my entire questions but it was still okay. At least it didn’t give us something illogical and not satisfying enough to complete the entire puzzle.

I liked the unique idea and the way of mystery’s execution. Kelly is also relatable character.

I hate the guts of Eric as you may imagine, who earned his throne at my most dislikable and perfectly punchable human waste characters. At some parts I wished Kelly should have left his not so sorry a*s and moved on her life freely.

Overall: I’m rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 mysterious, mind numbing, intriguing, hooking stars! I liked the promising storyline even though the final was a little mediocre! It was still one of the most interesting reads kept my attention intact and pushed me to finish it in one sit.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This was my first ARC and I was so excited to read it - the premise sounded so interesting. I have to be honest though, this one just didn't do it for me. I recently read the book Recursion by Blake Crouch and I kept finding myself comparing the two stories - they both deal with time travel and in them the main character has vivid false memories of a life that drastically differs from the one they are currently living. The main difference is the science, or in this case, the lack thereof. It's science fiction without the science, so it just didn't add up.

There were so many plot holes and times where I had to reread sentences thinking I missed things when I in fact did not. At one point, Kelly is sitting on a bed looking through old photos with Eric and all of a sudden she freaks out and bolts downstairs to drink water from the kitchen tap. Eric follows after her and they don't even acknowledge her freak out, he just leaves to go pick up take out for them... seriously? That's it?!

The warning signs were right in front of Kelly and instead of voicing any concerns or questioning anything she just went with it, which made it both frustrating and much less believable. She just went along with things and trusted everyone despite all the signs, even knowing she was in some weird time warp. Overall I was never bored but it still just didn't do it for me - with some more editing and filling in the holes it could be a great story.

I AM MIND BLOWN.

This book was so so so good! The premise was fantastic and unique (girl walks through a door and finds herself in another person's life--or, how her life would have been if she'd done something different 12 years earlier), but what I really loved was the fact that at the end of the book something supposedly magical and impossible started making perfect sense to me. Kelly is trying to solve the mystery of how tf she ended up in this different reality and of the different sets of memory she has, and every little thing that she does gives you clues about what happened, and the cues build and build and you get super excited because you're starting to piece together all the different players and all the different element and hints, and when you're 3/4 of the way through you're like "HA, I KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON HERE, I KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING, I HAVE SOLVED THIS MYSTER" but no friend, you have not solved sh*t. The ending is pretty mindblowing, in the best possible way! Also, inside the mystery there is this commentary about the different roles women play in their lives and the lives of their families, and about how often they're not give the possibility to choose. The prose is tight and engaging, I loved Linnea best, truly an excellent read, 13/10, will buy for my friends who love thrillers and mysteries!!

We all sometimes wonder what our life would be like if we made different choices, but THE OTHER ME asks, what if it wasn’t our choice? On her 29th birthday, Kelly steps through a door to another life, the life she didn’t choose. She swaps her big city dreams for the life of a home town wife. She must fight to get her real self back, before she loses control of her reality for good. Satisfyingly intricate and genuinely innovative. Five out of Five Elizas!!!

This book has a very sliding doors feeling. Which life is actually real Is a question that you’ll find yourself asking again and again until the shocking climax. I really loved this and identified with the main character. Highly recommend

Very well developed characters and an extremely engaging story. Well thought out and very suspenseful story line that keeps the reader guessing until the final twist! This is the book to read this year! Highly recommended!

An artist who is not very successful starts to feel ill at a friend’s art show. When she opens the door to the restroom, she finds herself in an alternate reality. She discovers that in this alternate world, she is not an artist and her friends are all different, and she is married! Is she having a mental breakdown? Is someone playing games? Or is she truly in an alternate reality? Once I picked this book up, I could not out it down!