Not for me. There was too much going on. I’m not a sci fi person so the quantum physics was a no from me. The FMC was also aggravating.

This one just wasn’t for me. It didn’t hold my interest like I was hoping and I skipped through a lot of it. The premise was intriguing but the back and forth jumping was at times hard to keep up with. There were times I thought she was with Drew but she was with Ollie and vice versa. It was just a lot. I also wasn’t a fan of the MFC. She wasn’t someone that I wanted to root for in either universe tbh.

ARC Review – What If It’s You by Jilly Gagnon
⭐️ 3 stars
📅 Release Date: May 2025

What If It’s You explores the emotional unraveling of Laurel Everett, who tests a simulation called AltR to explore a life she didn’t choose—one where she’s with someone else, chasing dreams she left behind.

The concept is compelling and thought-provoking, and Laurel’s internal conflict felt deeply relatable. I appreciated the emotional nuance and how neither love interest was framed as the villain.

That said, the constant back-and-forth between realities gave me reader whiplash, and some setting descriptions felt overly detailed. I also struggled with the ending—it leaned heavily on ambiguity and left me wishing for more closure after such a layered journey.

Spice Level: 2/5 – Light romance, more emotional than steamy.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Received an ARC via NetGalley.

I don’t really do a lot of romance. I want the ones with witty dialogue, not trying too hard to be funny dialogue that makes me cringe. I also tend to look for ones that have some other hook than just boy meets girl.

This one got me with the quantum physics aspect and though I don’t have a mind for quantum physics, slipping between two worlds does make for an interesting premise. And the dialogue was fun, not cringy.

Def hooked me and def didn’t make me roll my eyes. I could see the premise being a little confusing, like the technical aspects but I didn’t get bogged down in it. I liked the heart of it and that’s what mattered to me.

I love it when a book surprises me, not because it had twists and turns I didn't expect (although I'll take that, too), but when I went in without high expectations and they are exceeded. I read Jilly Gagnon's rom-com of 2024, Love You, Mean It, and I had a good time with it, but there were a few parts of it that just didn't work well for me. It was a solid read, but I didn't find myself immediately wanting to read everything by this author. When the publisher emailed to offer an ARC of this book, I hesitated, but I went ahead and read the description. I'm a bit of a sucker for time travel, time loops, and alternate realities, so I figured I'd give this a shot. It was a little more open-door than my usual comfort zone, and I can see how readers could get lost in the weeds of the physics/science parts of it (I chose not to), but honestly, I was blown away.

Laurel Everett is in a 5-year committed relationship and one morning she finds a ring in her boyfriend's drawer. She's immediately filled with anxiety and doubt about whether forever with Ollie is right for her. Meanwhile at work, her best friend/work husband, Drew, is working on a program called AltR that allows users to revisit an inflection point/decision in their lives and see what might have happened instead. Laurel becomes a test subject, and it seems the quantum computer can't complete her user profile, but of course, you know what's going to happen here. She wakes up the next morning and instead of a life with Ollie, she's spent the last five years in "World D" with Drew.

This could be seen as a book that includes a love triangle or even hints at infidelity, but I didn't see it that way. There are certainly people who are satisfied with their lives and don't wonder about inflection points, but there are others, myself included, who have a resounding voice that chants, "what if, what if, what if." The voice in my head doesn't ask about romantic partners, but it's asked many times, what if you'd chose a different college, what if you'd moved to a different city, what if, what if, what if.

And that's why I think this book worked so well for me, because it was less about who Laurel should be with and more about who Laurel should become. She doesn't wake up in life with Drew and suddenly feel like all is right with the world. Instead, she hardly recognizes herself. Through this alternate reality storyline, I felt like this book held up a mirror and asked the question, "how are we shaped by the people we love." I know I'd be a different person without my husband or even my closest friends.

I laughed, related big time, and even shed a couple tears reading this. I'd categorize this as less of a romance and more of a coming-of-quarter age book. I appreciated Laurel's journey and saw echoes of my own. I loved the resolution and the epilogue and hope that Jilly Gagnon keeps writing books like this one.

I love a slightly sci-fi inspired rom com! The multiverse elements were cool, but I found the romance lacking. The dialogue just felt stilted and unrelatable. I didn't find myself caring enough about any of the main characters to get invested in the story. However, the plotting was clever and I was satisfied overall with the ending!

I absolutely loved reading this book! The entire premise is so unique and thought provoking it really makes you stop and wonder. Imagine getting the chance to live out two different versions of your life, to see how things might unfold based on one choice versus another. No more “what ifs” lingering in the back of your mind just the clarity of experience.

We follow Laurel as she begins to question whether her life with Ollie is truly what she wants. With marriage looming as their next step, she’s more uncertain than ever. Enter the AltR project at her workplace, a groundbreaking opportunity to step into an alternate reality. And this is where things get really interesting. Through this project, Laurel gets to explore a completely different life, one where her path leads her to her charming coworker, Drew.

The story is both heartwarming and deeply reflective, offering a glimpse into the universal human desire to understand our choices and where they lead us. It’s a beautiful exploration of love, identity, and the roads not taken.

If you're on the fence about picking this book up consider this your sign. It’s a must-read for anyone who’s ever found themselves wondering, "What if?" You won’t regret diving into this one.

This was such a fun read! I loved stepping out of the traditional romance genre and exploring this wonderfully executed multiverse, quantum physics, sci-fi romance!
My anxiety almost couldn’t handle all of the stress this book put me through, but it ended up being such a beautifully written love story underneath all the science. It created a lot of self-reflection in my own life and really makes you ponder all the big and small “what ifs” in life.
Ollie is a dream MMC and Laurel’s self-growth through the book perfectly counterbalanced the anxiety-inducing alternate reality jumps. It was such a fun journey to go on with the characters, and the epilogue literally gave me goosebumps because it was that perfect of an ending. Thank you to Dell Romance and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, What If It's You missed the mark for me. This alternative-reality-romance went much harder on the possible science behind the big switches than it did on character development. The characters weren't very likeable, which I can get behind if they are well developed (I know every character won't be FOR me) but these characters were not given any help here. We got the tiniest glimpse into Laurel's family history and why that might have her wondering "What If" on her relationship, but there isn't anything built off of that. The book just follows Laurel as she jumps to World D to realize she isn't happy there, must get back to World O, only for her to immediately want to jump into bed with Ollie and then panic that she doesn't want to be with Ollie. All we really learn about Ollie is that he's hopped from band to band, goes with the flow, but wants to ask Laurel to marry him as if everything is perfect. Then the two different Drews were so drastically different that I even laughed at the logic that just being with Laurel in this alternate world made him into an overly confident rude guy when he's wholesome and such a good friend in the current world. There are too few big conversations happening, too little character growth, and too many open door scenes that felt entirely out of place for me in this read. I'm bummed this one wasn't right for me given how much I enjoyed Love You, Mean It and I appreciate NetGalley and Dell for the ARC in exchange for my thoughts.

It's hard to root for a romance when you don't care for the main character.

Look, I like unlikeable characters, but in the "they're a bit questionable and incredibly flawed but have good intentions" sort of way. Not the "whiny, entitled, selfish" way. This isn't knocking her anxieties for the future, those are valid and completely understandable, but it was hard to feel her actually love her boyfriend?? She didn't seem to view him as a fully functioning adult a lot of the time and it was quite obvious she had this superiority complex thing going on. This isn't to say he was 100% perfect but he wasn't bad enough for her to have been treating him the way she did. It's like she wanted these life things (marriage, children, etc.) but couldn't actually see them with him because he was more of the free and loose type. No, he wasn't on the corporate grind but it's not like he was a freeloader with no direction.

Yes, there was character development and a HEA but for this to have been under 300 pages, it felt like it took forever for us to get there.

As far as all the science stuff goes, I was fine with it. A bit overexplained at times and a few too many metaphors, but it was interesting and was the only thing to keep me going besides my rage and annoyance.

She truly thought she was all that important that she figured her friend was still harboring a crush on her from five years ago. I just hate that Laurel has me out here wanting to defend a man.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book!

Another really great novel by Jilly Gagnon! A colorful cast of characters that kept me burning the midnight oil. I think the premise of this book was really interesting. The theory of six degrees of separation proved useful. Captivating from beginning to end.
Thank you NetGalley, Jilly Gagnon and DELL for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Romance? Alternate universes? I am in!

However, this book was not what I expected. I was looking for a fun. lighthearted read and this is NOT what I got. I finished the book, but admit I had to skim here and there just to get through. I am sure that didn't help me understand. There was soo much detail on the time travel and not enough character development. I was confused at times, and I didn't like the characters. At all. I didn't root for them and I didn't understand why some of the decisions were made.

I hate giving two stars. An author puts their heart and soul into a book. But to me, this was below average. I just didn't enjoy it.

I do want to thank #netgalley and #randomhouse for the opportunity to read an ARC. It obviously didn't impact my opinion.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Random House for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. So, I like Romance novels. I like Alternate Universe novels. I thought I would like this romance/alternate universe book. I did not. The story is about Laurel, whose boyfriend Ollie is about to propose. She is not ready for this. She works at a tech /social media company, Pixel. She has a work friend,Drew. Drew asked her out 5 years ago. She had just started seeing Ollie, so they never dated. Drew is working on a project that predicts alternate universes. Laurel sneaks into the project and asks the computer it she should be with Drew. The next morning Laurel is in a new apartment with Drew. Over the next week, Laurel has episode of vertigo and ping pongs between universes. It is confusing and full of quantum physics jargon. It doesn't help that none of the characters are well written or likeable. Even the epilogue was confusing. ( I am still trying to sort it out). Just not for me.

When Laurel walks into the restaurant to meet Ollie for their 5th anniversary, she can feel it. He's going to propose. But how can she be expected to be ready for forever? How can anybody? Yes, she loves Ollie, but what if it goes wrong? What if he's her person now, but not her person forever? As the "what ifs" begin to grow, Laurel does what she can to assure his proposal gets postponed. Just until she's had time to think.

At work, her friend - and work crush - Drew invites her to try their latest test run. A quantum computer, and the program AltR, where you can set scenarios and ask those "what if" questions. What if you turned left instead of right? Or, after Ollie's failed question, what if she'd said yes to Drew? He'd asked her out 5 years ago, when she and Ollie had first started dating. What if that's who she was meant to be with?

The program gives her an error, and Laurel leaves it. Maybe it was foolish. Maybe she'll try again another time. Except the next morning, she doesn't wake up next to Ollie. She wakes up next to Drew, in a new apartment, in a new reality.

All Laurel can think about is getting back to her reality. World D, as she starts to call it, may have some fancy new upgrades - better neighborhood, better apartment, better organization. And here, she's even taken the plunge and quit her job to give her dream a shot - to become an author. Yet, somehow, she's not writing. And this Drew isn't the Drew she's come to know. By saying yes to Drew here, what happened to change both of them into these versions of themselves?

So, I wasn't sure how I would feel about this one going into it. I felt crushed by how she treated Ollie at their anniversary dinner (team Ollie all the way!) and couldn't relate to her commitment hang ups. She had a sweet, caring man she loves asking her to marry him, and she's doing everything she can to make sure he can't ask the question? And wondering what if you said yes to someone else is one thing. Getting dumped into that life 5 years in the making was another!

I didn't see how things had a chance of working out with Drew - the veneer looked nice, but the things that mattered, the small, everyday things, seemed to be missing the mark. However, the story did hook me, and I started to sympathize with Laurel a bit more. When she finds Ollie in World D and later looks him up to see who he's become, that's when the story really shifted for me. Team Ollie, remember?

In the end, this asks a lot of good questions. Who am I in a relationship? Who do I want to be? What matters more when it comes to support - freedom or belief? As Laurel asks these things of herself, looking at the men she knows in her world, and the men they've become in World D, she starts running out of time. The program is getting more unstable, something is running but they can't find how to stop it. If nothing else, they'll have to shut the program down and start from scratch. But with Laurel switching between realities, what will that mean for her?

This book definitely hit a little heavier, it wasn't the light read I expected. I think I enjoyed it more for that though, even if I had my doubts about Laurel to start with. And the ending, agh! I loved that last little glimpse.

Thank you to the NetGalley and Random House for the ARC for this one!

I really enjoyed the premise of this book and was excited to give it a try. There was nothing really wrong with the book I just didn't really enjoy it and was debating making it a DNF a few times. The main character was ok but had a hard time to relating to her issues with her boyfriend and why she was hung up on her friend. My other issue was there was something about the boyfriend character I just really didn't like and honestly wasn't rooting for either of the relationships. Would still recommend was just a miss for me, and be warned there is a good amount of sci-fi and suspending belief involved in this read. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for a honest review.

🌟Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (rounded up)
💧Drip-o-Meter: 💦💦💧
💗Something I Loved: The premise was an interesting one and although it’s not entirely original (think Sliding Doors circa 1998 mixed with a little Black Mirror), it was different enough to keep me guessing and was completely addicting. It kept me up into the wee hours of the morning because I NEEDED to know what happened next and that in itself bumped this from 3 to 3.5 stars for me.
🫤Something I Would Have Changed: Ok, so Laurel, the FMC… she’s a bit… frustrating? While I understand that some of her feelings were necessary for the plot, talk about an infuriating character. Not gonna lie—there were definitely times I wanted to throat punch her. At first I wondered if the “what if” trope itself was my problem but I quickly realized it was just Laurel and her wishy washy selfish nature. I kept thinking that instead of an alternate reality, she really just needed more therapy. Luckily though, she does grow (both on the reader and as a character) and by the end, if I looked past her earlier misgivings, I was able to root for her happiness.
🥰Favorite Moment: The epilogue. I saw it coming from a mile away and yet it still warmed the cockles of my heart.
🌶️Spiciest Scene: Chapter 9 or 16. I did enjoy the (fairly tame) spice but also thought that if done right, this could have been a book that was just as good without the inclusion of multiple sex scenes. Blasphemy, I know!
📚Standalone vs. Series: Standalone
📖Would I Recommend: Yes, but if you’re not a science-y person, be prepared to be a little confused at times, especially in the beginning. Still, even though I don’t really know anything about quantum physics, I was entirely sucked into the story, wanting to continue reading despite my “something I would have changed.” I do think all of the characters needed a bit more fleshing out and that the book would have been a slightly more enjoyable read, for me at least, if it was a little less technical (I prefer more magical realism than science when it comes to things like alternate realities), but overall I still enjoyed it and would recommend to… some.
💬Tropes: Parallel Universes, “What If?”, Dual Timelines, Love Triangle
🙏🏼 Thank you to the author, Jilly Gagnon, @netgalley, and @dellromance for this ARC.

I found “What If It’s You?” to be a uniquely refreshing take on meshing sci-fi and romance! Laurel’s journey through the multiverse is interesting and her story is captivating. I like that this story started 5 years into her relationship with Ollie and wound up with her on a mission of self discovery as much as finding her footing in her relationship. This is definitely less romance and more speculative science fiction but I really enjoyed it.

I must say that this story confused me. I almost DNF this but I plundered through. Very sci-fi based mixed with romance. Lots of computer jargon that lost me. A bit far fetched for me living in parallel universes. Just okay. Thanks to #netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

What If It's You was a really interesting story that combined sci-fi and romance. It was a unique story which made it a really fun read and I looked forward to how Laurel would handle each situation she encountered. It was a bit stiff in places, but overall I really enjoyed it.

To be honest I DNFed this book! There is nothing inherently wrong with the book, just the more I read the book the less I was comfortable with the idea of it! It just didn’t sit well with me that she was so far into a relationship and daydreaming about another man. I do think that the fact it touched on her hesitation four to her mother makes sense, but I cannot relate to that unfortunately so I think that’s why I couldn’t fully grasp it.

It was written very well and does well to pull you in. Where you’re wondering who is she going to wake up with now? Who will she be with in the end? Drew? Ollie? No one?

This is a romance book where a woman sees there’s a ring in her long time boyfriend’s dreams drawer and suddenly is frightened by the word “forever.” When she gets to work her work husband is working on virtual reality project and after a fight with her boyfriend she finds herself thrown into an alternate reality where she was dating her work husband!