I really enjoyed this one. It will stick with me for a while as it was very thought provoking. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

A beautifully written and emotional story about grief, healing, and self-discovery. Paige Harbison crafts a compelling narrative with a haunting yet hopeful atmosphere, weaving past and present seamlessly. While the pacing felt slow at times, the heartfelt characters and poignant prose made it a rewarding read. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for the ARC!

Aimee and Meg are high school besties. What could be more fun than visiting a fortune teller?
Well, Meg got a reading and Aimee was refused by the fortune teller.
Can one small decision change your life?
A multilayered story, friendship, second chances, grief and much more.
Some magical realism, time travel.
Story that kept me engaged from start to finish.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book.

“*Do I keep a diary or something?” I ask, thinking that would be incredibly useful.*

*“As far as I know, you buy a new one every time you get a good idea or read something about gratitude journaling, then you either don’t write in it until you think the idea is fully baked, not wanting to waste any pages, or you write in it for about seven pages and then never touch it again. Then you need a new one the next time you have a good idea, since the other one is sullied.”* - I don’t think I’ve ever felt *so* seen in my entire life.

*friendship
*slow burn
*second chance
*found family
*destined
*Ireland setting

Meg Bryan is about to live her second life (according to the fortune teller she and her best friend went to during a childhood fair).

*The Other Side of Now* is so engaging and well written; it pulled me right in and kept me turning the pages while I laughed and cried. I loved the characters, I loved the setting, I loved this story ❤️

Whole heartedly recommended!



Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC

This was absolutely lovely, heartbreaking and bittersweet, and also so different from everything else I read recently.

Ultimately, this is a story about grief, which in the end makes you believe that after loss, everything might not be the same, but it *will* be ok.

I loved the characters: Meg and Aimee had depth, there were great conversations and an amazing balance of drama and comedy.

I left a lot of “Lol”, “meeeee”, and occasional “😭😭😭” notes, and made a ton of highlights which is also not typical for me. Paige Harbison created very relatable characters I could imagine being friends with, so it was also very hard to let them go at the end of the book.

As for the story, I honestly didn’t know I could cry so much: last time I had so many tears about a book, Dumbledore died when I was 14, and now I’m nearing 30.

I really wish I could say more without spoiling the plot, but this goes on my list of books to recommend to others. Really loved it. No remarks.

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC!🤍

Omg!!! This book is soooo good! I went into it blind and holy it was amazing!! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc!! Loved loved loved!!! 🥰

If you can let go a bit and lean into this being incredibly far fetched...you will LOVE the story!
I definitely struggle with suspending reality, but I did enjoy this all around!

This might be my favorite book of the year!

I always love a good Sliding Doors story and "The Other Side of Now" is just perfect. It's a story about friendship, love, grief and what-ifs.
The book is beautifully written and its characters Meg, Kiera, Cillian, Aimee and of course the city of Avalon and its inhabitants will stay with me for a long time.
I envy anyone who still gets to read this book for the first time and I'm sure they will love it as much as I did.

This was so satisfying, I absolutely inhaled it and loved every minute of the reading experience. Harbison did something special with her Sliding Doors premise. And the ending: chef's kiss. Very much looking forward to more from this author!

A very sweet story of grief and the paths not taken. I especially adored the side characters of Kiera and Cillian. The setting of Avalon was lovely (I always love an Irish setting), and the fish-out-of-water magical-realism experience is one of my favorite to read about. This will be perfect for fans of books like The Good Part by Sophie Cousens (an all-time favorite of mine).

The only thing that took me out of this story was the incessant name-dropping...it makes it feel like this story won't be timeless. But the message itself SHOULD be timeless - this is a book about feeling your feelings in all of their messy glory.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I adored this book and everything about it. The characters were perfect and I am ready to move to Avalon. This somehow feels entirely relatable and real while telling what should be an impossible story. I flew through this in one day and raced to the end but am so sad to leave this story behind. Will be thinking about Meg, Cillian, Aimee, and Kiara for a while!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the #advancereviewcopy

Release Date: June 2025
Genre: Romance, Magical Realism

Summary: After finding her famous boyfriend alone with another girl in their California mansion, Meg questions her luxurious lifestyle, and impulsively packs a bag and heads to Ireland on a solo trip. The kicker is that she’s going to the county where the famous acting school is that she and her late best friend were supposed to have attended together. When she arrives, she’s transported to another life, one where her best friend is still alive! Treading lightly as Meg tries to convince everyone who seems to know her that she is a famous actress from California, Meg questions her life again. Is this the life she should have lived?

My Thoughts: Loved this! I was drawn in from the beginning and the grip grew tighter the more the story progressed. The characters ALL had depths and severed a meaningful purpose in driving the story forward. I read this fast! I kept wanting to read because I just needed to know if Meg would be ok!

The ending was super sweet and as I read the last page, I already yearned for more.

Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

I'm giving this 3 stars mostly due to the last third of the book which i enjoyed the most. I didn't particularly like Meg, the middle part was very repetitive, I would not call this a romance, and we never get to see Meg's timeline when she was in Avalon for college. Overall, it wasn't bad, and I do love Sliding Doors-type stories, but this didn't really work for me. I was expecting more. Not sure I liked that ending, either, where it just....stopped. I thought there would be more on the next page but...nope, that was it.

“You’re not on the outside of your life looking in. Everyone isn’t off having some perfect moment and you’re left out of it. You’re alive right now.”

What would you do if you had the chance to take a different path? Meg Bryan has the perfect life; or so it would seem to the average bystander. But underneath the fame and fortune, she’s a restless soul trying to outrun the grief of an earth shattering loss. So when she unwittingly stumbles into an alternate reality— one where her best friend is still alive— she realizes that facing her painful past head on may be the best way to move forward.

This was such a warm and fuzzy read! Think “13 Going on 30” if Jenna had unprocessed grief to deal with. I think this book did a good job of portraying all of the messy and beautiful complexities of real friendship. I loved the characters. They were all relatable in their own way. Meg and Aimee’s relationship was the glue of the story, but the unexpected friendships she made along the way were so heartwarming. Kiera— with all her Irish sass— deserves her own book! And Cillian may just be my new book boyfriend; he was absolutely perfect.

A big thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC! All opinions are my own. Expected publication date is June 3, 2025.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

I knew this last name was familiar, and it turns out her mom is author Beth Harbison! This was an easy read about a famous actress who is losing sight of herself and is still reeling from the death of her best friend in college. She travels to Ireland on a whim and is suddenly transported to a village where she has been apparently living another life with a boyfriend, a career, and where her best friend is actually alive. (And her actress self does not exist.) This is one of those 'alternate realities' types of books, and it took me a bit to feel invested, but I eventually came around to it. I found the ending to be emotional in a good way, so I'd say this is 3.5 stars.

*+:｡.𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓼 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓪𝓼 𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭. 𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽. 𝓣𝓸 𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓮. 𝓣𝓸 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓶𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓶𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼, 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂’𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓲𝓰𝓰𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓘’𝓶 𝓽𝓸𝓸 𝓫𝓾𝓼𝔂 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓸𝓯𝓯 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮, 𝓮𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓻 𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓽, 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓲𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰. 𝓘’𝓶 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮. 𝓘’𝓶 𝓲𝓷 𝓲𝓽. 𝓘𝓽’𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓷𝓸𝔀!.｡.｡:+*

4.5 ⭐

I finished this book in one freaking sitting and don't we all know what that means?!! It was AMAZING, chef's kiss. It was like "The Holiday" meets "The Unmaking of June Farrow". I couldn't simply put it down. It has friendships, love, found family, trauma, and healing. The character development is so good; the whole experiment is so unique; it absolutely deserves your time. Mind you, I'm new to this genre and 5his types of books. It's mainly about friendships rather than romance. The ending also made me over the moon.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝕯𝖔𝖔𝖗 𝕸𝖔𝖉𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

SKIP CHAPTER: 19

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Someone said that this was the best book they'd read in 2025 so I trusted them and requested it so thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for approving my request 💋🫶🏻

I love a great story of deep friendships between two best friends. This story was both uplifting and heart breaking. I am reminded of how deeply and long lasting the feelings of friendship, grief, and love truly are.

I adored the magical realism aspect and how cathartic it would be to be relieved of feelings of guilt and to know that your lost friend is ok in an alternate universe.

The ending swept me away! I was at first sad that Meg couldn’t stay in Ireland but then it ended in the best possible way that made me happy for her!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC. The opinions expressed are my own. I appreciate the opportunity to review this adult debut!

Megan misses her best friend that passed away. But what if Aimee didn’t… what would her life have really been like. We all have that one person that keeps us sane LOL.

I have really enjoyed stories with multiverse concepts within it. The whole, what if, has always been a curiosity in my own life. This is the perfect one for you if wonder as well!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Paige Harbison for an advanced reader.

The Other Side of Now is a mesmerizing, thought-provoking novel that explores the weight of choices, the lives we might have lived, and the meaning of second chances. With a unique blend of speculative fiction, emotional depth, and a touch of romance, this book is both heart-wrenching and uplifting.

Meg Bryan, better known to the world as Hollywood star Lana Lord, seemingly has it all—fame, a hit TV show, and a high-profile relationship. But beneath the surface, she’s unraveling. A spontaneous trip to Ireland, the place she and her late best friend Aimee once dreamed of moving, takes a surreal turn when Meg finds herself in an alternate reality—one where she never became famous, where she runs a local shop, and most shocking of all, where Aimee is alive. But this Aimee isn’t thrilled to see her, and Meg is left questioning everything she thought she knew.

The novel beautifully captures the nostalgia of “what if” moments, blending themes of friendship, grief, self-discovery, and the pursuit of happiness. Meg’s journey is deeply relatable—who hasn’t wondered how life might have unfolded had they taken a different path? The writing is immersive, the emotions raw, and the characters layered and real.

While the premise leans into magical realism, the heart of the story is grounded in human connection and the realization that happiness isn’t found in fame or success, but in the choices we make and the people we hold close. Fans of Sliding Doors and The Midnight Library will love this captivating, heartfelt re

What a lovely surprise this book turned out to be! It has a strong sliding doors vibe to it. On the surface, Meg Bryan (known professionally as Lana Lord), has everything going for her - she is an actress on a hit show, her boyfriend is a a Hollywood hunk, and she lives in a beautiful home. But after her 30th birthday party, she decides to hop on a plane and head to Ireland to the village that she and her best friend Aimee; who died tragically years earlier, dreamt of moving. When she arrives, everyone acts as if they know her. Meg is a different person there. Not the bleached blond glammed up actress but the meg who runs a shop and has not altered her looks. Plus, her friend Aimee is alive!!!

This was a joy to read and had me smiling and feeling all kinds of good feelings. This book was like a breath of fresh air. Who hasn't looked back on their life and thought "what if". This book had a little bit of everything, friendship, loss, romance, being happy with yourself, relationships, forgiving, following your dreams, etc.

When I started this book, I had no idea just how much I would enjoy it. I found it to be such a wonderful surprising in all the right ways book. Wonderfully written, well thought out, and gripping!