This highly character-driven story examines the interconnected lives of 10 people all impacted by the same book. It is beautiful and intimate, and I loved how it showed the way the fictional book was able to speak to so many different people. The structure was amazing as well with each chapter focusing on another person's life and point of view — it all felt brilliantly done. If books are a major part of your life, or even a minor part, I think that you will love this story.

4.5/5

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

Wow! I listened to the audio version of this book which I have to say was almost magical. Each character in the book was played by a different actor, which made for keeping up with who was who much easier. Erica Bauermeister just has a way with words. She uses them in a manner that makes you want to take time to get through them, so that you can think about and relish in them.
No Two Persons is a story about how one book, one really good book, can affect so many different lives and each one of them so differently. This is almost like a book of short stories that are connected and intertwined via one common novel called Theo. I cannot recommend this book enough. I encourage you to listen to the audio version. It will take you away, like a good book should!
Thank you for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

No Two Persons is a wonderfully special and unique book. I just loved how it felt like a short story collection held together by one book. I loved how all the different characters were so well developed and how the book that connects them changes them.

This reader loved this magical story and cant' help but think of it as an ode to the written word and to the novel. To me it is a beautiful tribute to the stories we tell.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc in exchange for this honest review.

“No two persons ever read the same book, or saw the same picture.” -The Writings of Madame Swetchine

The above quote was the inspiration for Erica Bauermeister’s book, No Two Persons. The sentiment behind the quote is quite profound. The beauty of literature is that while a book tells one story, it can be viewed in endless ways. After all, each reader’s outlook on the world is based upon their individual experiences with people, places, and things.

I had the pleasure of both reading and listening to this book. Usually, I would prefer one format over the other. However, just like no two people read the same book, the way a reader consumes a book, impacts how they view it.

I loved physically reading this book because it allowed me to see the words as I slipped into the worlds Bauermeister created. She is an articulate writer gifted with turning emotions into words on a page. As a result, there are tons of quotes that I had to stop and jot down. Reading allowed me to go at my own pace and ruminate on the things that stood out to me.

As much as I loved physically reading the book, I equally adored listening to it. They way the book is organized, each chapter is told by a new person whose life was impacted by the book. Thus, each chapter is narrated by a different voice actor. Hearing the distinctive differences in the way the narrators chose to read their parts impacted the way I viewed the characters and their stories. It was easily the best audiobook I have ever listened to.

I highly recommend picking a copy of the this book up in any and all formats. I loved my time with No Two Persons. I see this being a huge literary hit!

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️💫

🎧Song Pairing: Connection - One Republic

💭What I thought would happen:

I mean I really gathered it was something along the lines of no 2 people are alike…I mean wasn’t wrong.

📖What actually happens:

One book. Nine readers. 10 changed lives. Alice has wanted to be a writer as long as she can remember. After a tragedy strikes her family she writes an instant bestseller. The book flips from several persons perspectives - how the book came into their possession and its impact on their life.

🗯Thoughts:

Hooookay so this book truly surprised me in the way it was structured. It very much reads like a collection of stories that are all intertwined through one book, the concept was *chefs kiss* the execution…I’ve had better.

Erica’s book The Scentkeeper has been on my tbr since it was chosen as a Reese book pick. I am now curious if its style is similar to this.

I don’t have much to say about this one. Truly it just didn’t work for me. Some of the perspectives were just as dull as beige paint. There was some skipping forward for sure.

I wanted more from the origins of the book and how the author was doing many years later after her book became a global sensation.

There was a slight dig at book reviewers and that made me laugh. 10/10 accuracy to this funny community of enthusiasts.

At the heart of this story is a tale of how profoundly a book can touch a person's life. For some, the release of writing the book restores hope. For others, the journey the story takes them on helps them transcend life's pain and difficulties, providing new insights and desires.

I loved how the book is written from various viewpoints, with some of the narrators slipping into the stories of other narrators. And I especially enjoyed how the story they were each reading was revealed to us in bits and pieces as each shared a part of the book that spoke to them the most.

At the same time, there were some viewpoints that resonated with me more than others, and I did wish there was a bit more tying up of some of the storylines. But I know some readers will be okay with the "unknowing." It's just against my nature. Yet that's so much of what this book is about... Showing how we each can perceive the same thing differently.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves books and all that they bring to our lives.

Thank you to Erica Bauermeister, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Entertaining and engaging, the multiple narrators help bring this to life. A recommended purchase in all formats

No Two Persons
by Erica Bauermeister
Narrated by Barrie Kreinik; Braden Wright; Carol Jacobanis; Cassandra Campbell; Gabra Zackman; George Newbern; Jesse Vilinsky; Max Meyers; Rachel L. Jacobs; Stephen Graybill
Pub Date 02 May 2023
Macmillan Audio
Women's Fiction

In this novel, we are shown how reading a book can be profoundly transformative for people from all walks of life, backgrounds, and eras. Presented as a book within a book, the various narrators offer their own perspective on each character.

No Two Persons audiobook begins with an author named Alice and her haunting journey towards writing a book. Through the shared reading experiences of Alice's book named Theo, the characters become intertwined, despite not knowing each other. They live different lives, work in different occupations, and have different timelines. Theo becomes a defining point in each of their lives when they discover it at different points in their lives.

Listening to this audiobook was unlike anything I've ever experienced before. This is a touching and unique story.

Thank you NetGalley, and Macmillan Audio, for sharing this incredible audiobook with me. Your kindness is appreciated.

This novel reads like a series of lightly connected character studies. Each main character in some way is affected by the novel written by the first character. This is a love letter to reading and to the way the same story can have different meaning to different people based on what they bring to the story. I enjoyed listening to these stories and discovering how they overlap. I think the audiobook enhanced the book because each individual story was read by a different narrator. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

I absolutely loved how uniquely written this novel was. Each chapter introduces a new character and the connection between them is a book by the name of Theo.

I truly enjoyed getting to know every character in this book and appreciated the emphasis on how each person who picks up a novel will have a different experience and reaction when reading it.

I think my favorite chapter was getting the perspective of an audiobook narrator. Learning the process of preparing for the reading and all the nuisances that go into it gave me a deeper appreciation for the craft.

There are also some blurbs from fictional book reviewers on places like Goodreads and Amazon that made me step back and more consciously consider how praises and criticisms effect both author and readers alike.

This was such a great audiobook thanks to the huge cast. All ten of the narrators embodied each character perfectly. 4.5 shining stars from me. I highly recommend giving this one a try!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the #alc via Netgalley.

In a series of short stories that begins with Alice and the process of writing her haunting but beautiful book Theo after a tragic event in her personal life, we learn that the simple act of reading a book can take shape for people of all different backgrounds and timelines. The characters are from different walks of lives, occupations, timelines, and who don't know each other but still are intertwined through the reading of Alice's book. Each find their way to Theo at separate points in their lives, but the book itself becomes a distinct story and defining point to each of them.

I found this book to be beautiful. It was hard to put down. All the stories were created so fully, but left me wanting more. I loved how all of them had tie-ins to each other, and feel that the author could pick right back up on their stories at any given time and make a full length book off of the characters that she developed. I also felt like this book gave me insight into how writers might view creating their own books. I never considered how they might not want to release a book because it felt too personal to them; the story too true. Especially one such as Theo. It was important as well that each character touched on different parts of the book and it was interesting to see what they got out of it without, so to speak, spoiling the entire plot line of the fictional book. I really enjoyed listening to this book as an audiobook as well, I felt like all the narrators really did an amazing job at bringing all the characters to life. It was easy to differentiate between them, but they flowed and were easy to follow. I felt this audiobook was imaginative, and special, and will be recommending this book to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers as well as the author for an advanced copy of this book. I highly recommend this story to fellow readers, and all opinions within this review are my own.

I’ve been sitting on this book for entirely too long. It was an utter delight to see multiple points of view on the same book. As a book-lover, audiobook lover, mother, daughter…. it resonated with me on so many levels.

The audiobook narrators were amazing! All very neutral accented naturally, but could adapt and vary to suit anyone in their sections. No annoying tics or frequently mispronounced words.

What a gorgeous study in the way a single book can impact countless lives in a variety of ways.

It all starts with our author, Alice and the loss of her brother. One day while swimming she simply finds a story waiting to be told.

Then person by person we see this story begin new lives, uplift, break hearts, heal hearts, become an outlet for feelings and even save a few lives along the way.

Book lovers will definitely enjoy.

Erica Bauermeister's No Two Persons has a very clever premise. At the beginning, you meet the young author of a soon-to-be bestselling book. Her book is deeply personal - the kind of book that touches people's lives. And that is exactly what No Two Persons is about.⁠
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The book will pass from the hands of the author to the assistant and then on to the actor (who narrates audiobooks), an artist, a competitive diver, a homeless teenager, a bookseller, a caretaker, a coordinator and an agent. Each person has their own chapter - really their own short story and there is some overlap. ⁠I loved all the different jobs/lives represented and how the book came into each of their lives. ⁠
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Having read and enjoyed Bauermeister's The Scent Keeper, I was really hoping that this would be as good. I think it definitely is - I really enjoyed it and recommend it. I listened to this ARC and it was well done as it has a different reader for each section. I enjoyed that change. Also, the story sections are usually only 20-30 minutes so it's a great book to pop in and out of. ⁠
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Thank you to Macmillan Audio and @netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Hands down a 5 star read. The kind of book, where once I finished, I felt sadness that it was over. And, it took me a couple days to completely process my feelings in order to write a review.

No Two Persons was an audio arc from Netgalley by an author I'd never heard of - it was the cover that caused me to request for review. The premise is an author who writes a debut novel, at a very young age, about a very sensitive subject. She then lived her life and had no more stories in her. It's the book, the impact it has, that connects a bunch of "short story" equivalents. We travel from person to person, each with their own personal challenge who reads the book -who walk away with a profound impact from the book. Erica Bauermeister captures what each lifelong reader understands - books make a difference, and the difference changes from person to person. It was stunning.

Some of the people we encounter are so awesome that when their vignette ended I wanted more. I could see Bauermeister, in future work, pick up one or more of these characters and write a standalone novel about where they ended (and began). Bauermeister, if you are reading, I vote for the widow, his wife and how his daughter went on.

Loved this one and highly encourage lovers of books to give it a look when it releases on May 2, 2023.

I absolutely LOVED this story about a young debut novelist who writes a book out of the depth of her pain but then struggles to write anything again.

Told with a full cast of narrators, this was great on audio and perfect for fans of books about books and the power that reading can have when the right books find us at the right time.

Written like a series of interconnected short stories, we get to know nine different characters (plus the author Alice) as they each encounter her book and find it changing their lives in different ways.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early digital and audio copies of this book in exchange for my honest review! It's definitely going to be a favorite of mine for the year!!

I tend to enjoy books about books and this one tugged at my heartstrings right off the bat and until the very end. I also tend to enjoy stories where a book connects multiple readers and this one was extremely well done. The characters were so unique and their circumstances were all compelling. The full cast of narrators really brought the novel to life for me. This will be a go to audiobook recommendation for me.

I was intrigued by this book the minute I read the synopsis. No Two Persons is essentially a collection of short stories, each focusing on a different character who is touched in some way by the fictional book, Theo. Some of the chapters were heartbreaking, but all of them were beautiful in their vulnerability. I loved how Theo was woven uniquely into each of the stories in varying degrees and how different characters would cross over into other chapters. As hopeful as some of the stories were, this was not a light and fluffy read. I found myself taking breaks between chapters to really reflect on the characters. The Writer, the Teenager, and the Caretaker were probably my favorites, but I enjoyed each chapter so much. This is definitely a 2023 favorite for me.

I know this book will resonate with readers in many different ways and that the short story layout might not work for everyone, but that’s the beauty of it all and isn’t that the point?

Edited to add - I had the chance to reread the book via audiobook and it’s incredible! A full cast of narrators - Barrie Kreinik, Braden Wright, Carol Jacobanis, Cassandra Campbell, Gabra Zackman, George Newbern, Jesse Vilinsky, Max Meyers, Rachel L. Jacobs, & Stephen Graybill - brings this book to life. The performances added so much more depth and feeling to the story. Truly an audiobook not to be missed and I definitely recommend experiencing the book on audio if possible!

CW: suicide, death of loved ones, assisted suicide, stroke, homelessness, financial hardship, child abuse, bullying, food insecurity, strained parental relationships, grief, addiction, parental abandonment

*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*

This novel reads like a collection of short stories with an eclectic cast of characters who all have a connection to the book that was written in the first chapter. Some of the characters’ lives obviously overlap, but others were subtle more distant relations spread apart by several chapters and then revisited. There are a variety of male and female narrators, and the variation of voices is appropriate to portray characters of different ages and personalities.

People who love to read and appreciate finding a good book that they can recommend to others so they can share the joy they found in the pages will enjoy this story. It would also appeal to those interested in the publishing industry and the craft of writing a meaningful novel.

I really liked how the plot of the book within book was gradually revealed as we approached the end, and characters raved about the book to others without giving away any spoilers. It was a very clever premise, and I would recommend it to my reader and writer friends to each interpret it in their own way.

The cover design is exceptional as well.

I cannot wait for others to read this do I can discuss it with them. This book lends itself to a lot of conversation. I loved the concept and different perspectives.