Lena is a very goal oriented and ambitious women. She approaches everything in her life , whether it is her career or finding a romantic partner with the same methodical precision. When her long term boyfriend breaks up with her, it sends her into a tailspin. She returns home and becomes stuck in a bizarre alternative reality time loop situation. Every morning she wakes up with a new husband and gets to experience a different life if she had made a different choice in the past.
It’s an interesting read. I enjoyed the book and plot line.

A fascinating story about the various crossroads of our lives, lost loves and all the what-ifs. Our protagonist Lena went on a wild ride through her past lost loves and missed connections, but it was an important journey of self-discovery as well. If you're into magical realism, missed connections and time loop type tales, Insignificant Others will work for you! 3.75 stars!

I was captivated with the plot to this story but by the 11th alternate reality I had enough and could not finish the book. Less alternates, more character development would make this a great book.
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the privilege of reading this book before its release.

After breaking up with her boyfriend, Lena travels back home and becomes stuck in a time loop-situation. Every morning, she wakes up in a different version of her life with a different partner. She gets to see where life takes her in all these different versions of time and who she ends up with (for better or worse).
I really enjoyed this book. It's a very entertaining premise, funny and emotional, and more complex than I expected. The self-reflection that Lena goes through along this journey felt pretty beautiful. I also really appreciated how complicated many of Lena's relationships were and the deep connection she makes with some of her lives. I was fully immersed in the story and her journey, and think other readers would find it an enjoyable, low stakes read as well!

"Insignificant Others" by Sarah Jio is an enchanting and imaginative novel that swept me off my feet. Lena's journey through a series of time-looping relationships is a beautifully woven tale of love, choices, and second chances. Jio masterfully blends romance with thought-provoking "what ifs," transporting readers to stunning locations across the globe. Each chapter left me eagerly anticipating the next twist in Lena's story. It's a perfect blend of heart and adventure, making it a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered about the road not taken.

I love Sarah Jio books! A fresh premise that will warm your heart and maybe even make you stop and smell the roses! I wish it was longer and continued the story!!

Definitely preorder this one. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was a pretty fun rom com that I enjoyed due to the different and interesting premise. Reading about Lena going through all these alternate realities with different men was funny. The book's theme of enjoying the moment and finding who you are is prominent, I thought.

Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for this arc. Insignificant others is a Groundhog Day style romcom story about a woman struggling to find herself post-breakup. She has to navigate tough relationships from her past and learns about the value of being present in love and about what she appreciates in partners & friends. This was fun in a Hallmark-style way. I think it would’ve been excellent with fewer, but longer, repeat days. Some of them felt a little underdeveloped to me, but most were great. Solid choice for a beach read kind of vibe!

Insignificant others arc review I received the advance reader copy though net galley. I was so excited to read this one it was so magnificent and interesting concept. What if you had to chance to see how each relationship or interaction with the men in your life would work out. That is the case for Lena after breaking up with her boyfriend who she thought would propose to her. She returned home to Seattle to deal with this and her feelings of what if she chose a different road. Until she gets to find out what if . She wakes up Married to a French man in Paris. She realize he was date that didn’t work out years ago or did it . She the realize every day she wakes up with a different man from her past, whether it be a miss connection or change meeting she get to see how Life plays out from a farmer wife in Pennsylvania or a Irish man in Ireland or a businessman or different walk of life and different circumstances. While dealing with the knowledge of what might have been she have decided what choice to make and hopefully get back home to find her right path in life. Will she figure it out you have wait to see. This was fun fast paced read i enjoyed this novel it was a great idea. I love the magical realism aspect. It was a great way to show what life could be like if we chose one road or the next and we never really know what going to happen we just have to hope for the best. I highly suggest you check this one out it was a lot of fun journey to take.

Lena, struggling to move on from a difficult breakup, decides to spend a weekend at her Aunt’s house in hopes of finding some peace. But when she wakes up the next morning, she's startled to find herself in bed with a man who claims to be her husband, living a life she has no memory of. The situation grows even stranger when, every day, she awakens to a new husband and an entirely different life, each one more unfamiliar than the last.

As Lena navigates this bewildering series of alternate realities, she begins to confront the rigid expectations she’s held about love and what makes the perfect partner. It dawns on her that her uncompromising standards may have been the very thing keeping her from experiencing genuine happiness. This journey through multiple lives forces her to reevaluate what truly matters in a relationship and what she really wants from life.

While I found the book enjoyable and thought-provoking, I couldn’t help but wish for a deeper exploration of Lena’s life once she returns to the present. Seeing how these surreal experiences influenced her choices moving forward would have added an extra layer of depth to the story. My thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a review copy of this intriguing novel.

When Lena wakes up next to a man she doesn’t recognize, it isn’t after a bad one night stand. No, something is going on—every time she goes to sleep she wakes up next to a different man, and in a completely different life, with only faint memories of their past together.

So what is happening to the protagonist in Sarah Jio’s Insignificant Others, is she stuck in bizarre marriage meta-verse that she can’t escape? Or is this getting her closer to a future she could only imagine?

Insignificant Others is a cute, whimsical story about finding who’s decidedly wrong for you, and, ultimately, finding yourself. The book is upbeat, enjoyable, and a quick, easy read. I recommend it if you’re looking for a ‘finding the right one’ type story or just something light and fun to read.

I received this free advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

I'll start out by saying I LOVED this book. I devoured it in 2 days. That said, I browsed some other reviews and can see why this book may not be for everyone.

Quick summary - think Groundhog Day... but not exactly. To me, this was more in the vein of "The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano," or "The Midnight Library" but not quite as literary. (Which doesn't have to be a bad thing.) It's an exploration of how the small choices we make can change the course of our lives, an exhortation to not follow the pre-determined path, but to brave and consider what makes us happy, what does life look like if we think outside the box or follow a path that is more than check boxes.

Some other reviewers have mentioned they dislike the main character. I could see this. She is rather self-centered. I would argue that she grows and changes throughout the book. There is a hypocritical moment where she criticizes one of her romantic partners - (possible spoiler, skip if you don't want specific details, go down to the next paragraph).... she meets one person twice. In one version they end up together, in another version he ends up with someone else. His priorities are different and she is disappointed in him and how he is blown about like the wind... when, in reality, she is the same across the different timelines she inhabits.

That said, I loved all the different realities, the exploration of not only the different men but the different careers and families and paths. If you also love exploring the "what if" of the path not taken, I would recommend. Again, not a heavy exploration. The book shares copyright with a screenplay author, and there is a cinematic feel to the book. It would adapt easily to the screen. This is a shallow dip into each life, not a long exploration.

Insignificant Others is a Groundhog Day of romance showing the main character what her life would have been like if she had married different men she had met throughout her life. The concept is great and the author is skilled at building characters. The FMC in particular was flawed in a way that was both incredibly frustrating and real. Some of the most interesting aspects of the books were sadly the things that were the least developed. The main character, for example, seemed to be a completely different person in each setting, including key goals and feelings. Is the because she's completely different in each reality or is she that totally influenced by the men she stays with? If it's the latter, what does that say about her sense of self? By completely ignoring this insight into the character and instead making her simply exist in the different worlds the ending feels hollow.

Pros:
Magical Surrealism
Variety of Settings
Characterizations

Cons:
Fatphobic
Way too many title drops within in the story
Romance not developed, which would be fine except this is also marketed as a romance

CW: miscarriage/loss of child, emotional abuse, cheating (by the MFC but in past/off page)

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC in an exchange for an honest review.

PUB DATE: March 31, 2025

Thank you again to NetGalley for the ARC of this novel!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and the multiple ways that the story veered off as the FMC experienced different “lives” everyday. Having a story about someone who puts everything in order in their life, only to find that it’s not what they want at all, is always a huge sense of comfort. The story reminds us that one small decision can change our lives, but also— what we think we want isn’t always what’s best for us.

The drastically different storylines made this novel unique, but slightly hard to follow. I lost a sense of Lena’s character when she woke up to some of her alternate lives, struggling to find the parts of her that would’ve gotten her where she landed.

Overall, I truly enjoyed the creativity of each chapter and the messages that it held.

Sarah Jio is one of my all time favorite authors so I was super excited to get an ARC of this book. This book has all the feels. It makes you realize that life isn't perfect but you need to savour the little moments. The settings and sentiment of this book is perfect. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Imagine waking up everyday married to a different man from your past. A single day to live the “what if” of all the men that got away.

When workaholic Lena is dumped on the same night she thought she’d be getting engaged, she flees to visit her Aunt on Bainbridge Island. That night she falls asleep in the guesthouse, but the next morning she wakes up in Paris next to a man who is calling her his wife.

For the next 11 days Lena wakes up in a different place, with a different man in this groundhog day-ish magical realism novel.

I love a good time hop magical realism story and was pretty excited about this one. Unfortunately this fell flat for me. I love the concept and was really looking forward to a book with a little magic and a lot of self-exploration.

It delivered on the magic and pretty much nothing else. I found the FMC to be insufferable, a cardboard cutout of “perfectionist city girl” with a major lack of likable traits. Given the nature of the plot I expected to dislike the FMC at the beginning of book and then fall in love with her - that did not happen. I disliked her throughout the entire book and found her self-discovery journey to be more of a journey of what kind of guy she is into.

I am also very confused how some of these “what-if” husbands qualify as “romantic partners” - half of them were random guys she met one time…

Overall I couldn’t see the point of this book. Maybe I’m asking too much but I would have really liked a little character development.

This felt like a women’s fiction novel that would have been popular in the early 2000s, not a book published in 2024.

3⭐️ because it wasn’t horrid and the writing was decent, I was just bored and it lacked substance.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for sending this book (eARC) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

What a fun read! The whole time I was putting myself in Lena’s shoes. I actually had moments of my own life that were very similar to hers so it was cool to read something so relatable but not relatable at the same time lol. I enjoyed the characters and the different settings. It aloud the book to have a nice pace. It may have dragged on a bit longer than needed but that’s not a huge deal to me. Overall I would recommend this!


Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review..

Lena is just coming off a bad breakup and goes to stay with her Aunt for the weekend. When she wakes up the next morning she is in bed with a man calling himself her husband and living a life she knows nothing about. Everyday she wakes up with a new husband and a different life. She soon realizes that her qualifications for love and the perfect husband are holding her back from being truly happy.
I did enjoy this book but I wish we got to see more of Lena's life after she returns to the present day. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for review.

Time loop first dates? Thai is exactly what happens in Insignificant Others. This book was well done.

Here I am with barely any sleep because I started this at bedtime (dumb) and didn't stop until I'd finished! Imagine if you could go back to people you've dated and relive it, but "seeing it through." Sort of like Groundhog Day, but only with relationships. I loved watching her go through each morning, living a new relationship. She learns about herself, what might have been, and hopefully, what will lead her to the "one." I really loved this offering from Sarah Jio, and I've read all her books. I have to say a bonus is that I know her love of Seattle. I always come away feeling like I know Seattle just a bit better.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.