This novel didn't really work for me. It reads like a series of short stories but it's missing the common narrative (the hay bales don't count!) and conclusion that I feel would have tied the distant narratives together. Frankly I started to just get annoyed rather than engrossed. The most interesting part for me was the implications of the families genetic inheritance and I really feel that it could have made for much more interesting theme than the romance.

Everyone meets people in their lives that they seem to know or act out of character inexplicably drawn to a stranger. Are they supposed to be together or merely to meet?

'Ivy and Abe' meet in school and then are torn apart only to meet again in the Autumn of their lives. This story explores what happens to them when they meet again and all the 'What If?' scenarios. Told from Ivy's point of view, all the stories have common characters, but they have different importance in Ivy and Abe's lives.

Poignant, romantic, selfish and tragic the stories map out possible lives and their consequences.
Whether Ivy and Abe are soulmates is left to the reader's interpretation. The ending adds yet another possible outcome but the hope for the future is undeniable and a fitting end for such a lovely story.

I received a copy of this book from Penguin UK - Michael Joseph via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Ivy and Abe were inseparable as children until an accident tore them apart. Several decades later, when they are both in their seventies, a chance encounter reunites them.

This is a well written book, but unfortunately it was not for me. The book centres round Ivy and Abe and how their relationship developed. There is a lot of different timelines to this story. I did enjoy some of the scenarios, but sadly not them all. Each scenario/chapter needs a new setting and a lot of explaining. I'm sure there will be many readers who will enjoy this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and the author Elizabeth Enfield for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

" '....I know you, I always have,' he says. 'You're a part of me, and if I lose you, I won't even be myself.' "

This is a quote that really spoke to me as I read Ivy and Abe. It wasn't plain sailing at all for them but there seemed to be an invisible cord that linked them no matter what stage of life they met and the circumstances of their meeting. They were always going to be drawn to each other.

This is an unusual book. It's told in chapters ranging from 2026 right back to 1965 when the main characters are ten years old. Each one is almost a short story in its own right and in each one Ivy and Abe are brought together in some way, even if it's only a brief meeting. As the blurb says, they've always been destined to meet.

It's something that fascinates me. If you were in a different place at a different time, how altered would your life be? And is there that person out there who is the other half of us, the perfect fit? In each chapter Ivy and Abe have some interaction, sometimes they meet, sometimes they have a relationship, other times they are childhood friends.

It's actually quite a sad book. I don't mean that in a bad way, but it has a melancholy feel to it and there is quite a bit of trouble, angst, all the way through. In a way, with a book about the subject of two people who have this incredible love for each other I would have expected more happiness. But it's a beautifully written story of love, more often than not against the odds, and I found it very moving.

There are little markers throughout the book, little ways to ground us, to remind us that although each chapter has a different set of circumstances surrounding it, ultimately the underlying circumstances are very similar. I'm not going to say what they are but I thought it was a clever touch by the author to always bring in these constants in an ever-changing story.

I would recommend reading each chapter in one go if possible, rather than stopping part way through. I found it quite difficult to get back into whichever story I was reading at the time without having to go back and remind myself of events so far. As I said, each one is self-contained, a different version of reality, so you have to approach each one without thinking too much of what has gone before.

Ivy and Abe is a fascinating, clever and bittersweet read and I won't forget it in a hurry.

I loved the idea of this book. 'what if..', sliding-doors type stories really interest me and the blurb for this book pulled me in. Unfortunately, I felt that the different stories did not do it justice. and were at times confusing.

This book is very well written, the characterisation and descriptions are excellent. However, the time travelling aspect didn't really work for me; I felt that this had been done before, in books such as The Time Traveller's Wife, and films like Sliding Doors. Initially the different meetings of Ivy and Abe read like a series of short stories, which I found a little frustrating, as I prefer a complete book. Then during the second half of the book, the awful ethical dilemmas involved with a family and inherited disease became apparent. This was particularly well dealt with. Overall I was disappointed with the book, but I think other readers may well enjoy it, so 4 stars.

Thanks to Michael Joseph and Netgalley for my advanced copy.

I loved the udea of this book. Two people destined to meet and destined to be together -or are they? The book begins in the future with a meeting between an elderly Ivy and Abe, and each chapter moves backwards to a childhood friendship that brings the book full circle. I thought this was a great start and the early scenes really touched me. The problem with each chapter being a very different encounter is that the backstory for each scenario needs setting so there is a LOT of exposition of how Ivy met her husband/who her kids are/health situations etc, far more than would be normal in a novel, and that really slows the pace and made some bits feel really repetitive. Also, Abe was kind of unlikeable in nearly all scenarios which was a shame! But it was an interesting read and a thought-provoking look at 'destiny, serendipity, love and loss

Effectively, this is nothing more than a string of romance short stories (and in some instances, there isn't even any romance), so if you're expecting some kind of mystical or magical theme to explain all the different ways in which Ivy and Abe meet, you'll be disappointing.

Unfortunately, the vignettes don't really establish the characters strongly enough for you to care about them or root for Ivy and Abe. Lots of details across the multiverses change, presumably to reflect the theory behind what's supposed to be happening, but it only serves to make the novel more pointless - it would have been more interesting to keep all the details the same, simply changing the ages at which Ivy and Abe meet.

Underlying all of this is an interesting concept. It is an intriguing question to ask, whether someone is Mr Right, regardless of the circumstances or nature of meeting, but in some of the stories, Abe and/or Ivy are so unpleasant as to not be the same person at all, which very much defeats the purpose.

Overall, it's very disappointing.

A lovely tale of two people destined to meet in different lives and connect in different way. But more than that, it has a light touch exploration of major issues too.

Ivy And Abe by Elizabeth Enfield is a most unusual story with a unique plotline that I really enjoyed. It was very different from anything I had ever read.
"Life is a series of moments." It seems like a game of chance as we interact with different people at different times. Our lives intersect but just a minute of difference in time and it could be a whole new story. The novel follows Ivy and Abe as they meet at different times, different scenarios play out. It was all very cleverly done.
The characters were extremely likable. Their unique bond was visible throughout.
I certainly had my favourite scenario. I wonder which one yours will be?
A very unique idea, cleverly executed.
I will leave you with what I found the most poignant and beautiful lines:
"All you were ever really looking for was someone to hold your hand through life."
I received this book for free from Net Galley. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

A decent romance about what ifs and destiny. I did enjoy it but I felt like it was rather similar to a couple of other books I have read. Probably a good book for anyone who is a big fan of romances but it wasn't original enough for me to rave about it. Sorry.

I really wanted to love this book!!! The concept really spoke to me - I loved the idea of seeing the same characters meet in other at various times in their lives...slightly Time Traveller's Wife, slightly One Day (and those are two of my favourite books). However, most of the meetings were quite arduous and drawn out, and I didn't really 'feel' anything. I didn't really think we got to know each of the characters properly, and I couldn't get a true idea of their personalities. I might have preferred it if it was a little more chronological? Although that was obviously a very intentional decision. Such a shame as I really wanted to add this book to my favourite list!

In life events happen at random times. Throughout this book the same events and objects crop up in different scenarios and cause events to take a different turn.
All the events relate to Ivy and Abe, if they meet, when they meet and in what circumstances. What if they meet as children then meet again in their 70’s; what if they are married when they meet; what if they marry each other? Each scenario has varying degrees of happiness and isolated incidents, random events and damaged genes all play their part. What could be a confusing read is expertly turned into an engrossing read – highly recommended.

Interesting if not slightly confusing story to begin with. It's a story of being in the right place at the right time. The story starts with Ivy and Abe meeting each other again 50 years after they first met but what would have happened if they met in their 20's , 30's or 40's? would they still have been together ? This is a very clever book with lots of scenarios of how they would have met. There are some things that always appear in each story - Hay bales and Illness. I found this a bit confusing at times as If I left the book and came back to it It took me a while to catch up with which 'Ivy and Abe' I had got to - harder to read on a Kindle as it's not so easy to go back to reread but I did enjoy the book and loved some of the scenarios more than others. A love story of what if's .

Many thanks for the opportunity to read and review Ivy & Abe by Elizabeth Enfield.

This is a book about chances and opportunities and explores whether the situations we find ourselves in are the ones we were destined to have or were there other, alternate versions of our lives being lived out elsewhere. Whilst I understood what Elizabeth Enfield was trying to achieve and why she used this particular narrative device of many Ivy & Abes it didn't really resonate with me unfortunately. I really struggled to connect with the characters because they were so vastly different between each alternate life and this made it difficult to have any empathy or sympathy with either of them. The 'mystery' of Ivy's possible illness was the reason I kept reading it and although I understood the fear and her gratitude that she was loved regardless it didn't feel like a big enough pay off for me unfortunately.

Gave it a good hour, but 50pp in the feeling that this would just go on and on, treading a routine path til the end, was too much, and that was confirmed by other reviews. I certainly wouldn't have wanted all the medical details it promised. It might work as a saga of different variants on the same story, but it certainly isn't a bloke's read.

The blurb for this book grabbed be straight away - I enjoy 'what if' stories where we get to see how characters lives play out in different ways if they'd made a different decision/gone a different way etc. while this book certainly delivered that it didn't grab me as much as others of a similar style have done. I think this was partly because the segments were fairly short and we never really go to know Ivy and Abe well - compared to say Kate Atkinson's brilliant 'Life after Life' where you got to know Ursula extremely well throughout the book and absolutely rooted for her.

Still it was an enjoyable enough read. With thanks to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ever wondered if two people are meant to be? Ever wondered if them being meant to be depends on where they are in life, what their ages are? Where they're living? Well, you should probs check this out.

Two people. One love story. A million possibilities.
They're soulmates.
Ivy and Abe were inseparable as children until an accident tore them apart. Several decades later, when both are in their seventies, a chance encounter reunites them. But time is not on their side.
What if they'd met in a different time and place? 
In another life, Ivy and Abe meet in their forties, when both are married already. Unable to resist the attraction between them, they embark on a passionate affair. 
In yet another, they marry young, with a bright future ahead of them - only for a dark shadow to threaten their happiness.
Throughout various incarnations of their lives, they come together and go their separate ways, fall in and out of love, make or break promises. 
In every universe, Ivy and Abe are meant to meet. But are they meant to be? 

I'll be honest, I mostly picked this up because the cover is super cute and the premise sounded interesting - I've got a weird fascination with the idea of fate and things being destined. The idea of soul mates is one that intregues me and who doesn't love seeing people, friends or otherwise, that just seem to fit together, like two pieces of the same puzzle. So, I grabbed this.

This was super cute, Ivy and Abe were just so adorable but I did struggle with the layout of this in places, because this visits the same characters in a multitude of different circumstances and at different ages. The first introduction was my favourite - but it did get old very quickly, I really liked the concept of the book but I did start to struggle by the half way mark. The repetitiveness just got a bit much for me.

Ivy and Abe is told through a series of short stories which visits different versions of them in different circumstances, putting them together and exploring the idea of them being meant to be. I loved the characters, Ivy and Abe were both amazing and I loved how they interacted with each other and it was nice reading about people older than 18 for once! I do get stuck in a YA rut from time to time! I think this would be the perfect holiday read, especially if you're on a beach because each segment is so short and sweet it doesn't matter if you get distracted, you can easily finish off one version of their lives without losing the thread too much. I just found for me, the individual chapters were a little too short, I wanted more from everyone!

Thanks to Michael Joseph and Netgalley for the e-ARC, this is, as ever, an unbiased review.

I loved the premise of this book. Two people, in a multitude of similar universes (no scifi here, although that would have been cool, lots of really alternative universes), who are destined to meet in different ways throughout, sometimes meaningfully, other times fleetingly. There are things that stay somewhat static, Ivy's family's medical problems, an accident involving a bale of hay, but other things change. The book begins in the future with a meeting between an elderly Ivy and Abe, and each chapter moves backwards to a childhood friendship that brings the book full circle. And the book did deliver. So why three not five stars? The problem with each chapter being a very different encounter is that the backstory for each scenario needs setting so there is a LOT of explanation of how Ivy met her husband/who her kids are/health situations etc, far more than would be normal in a novel, and that really slows the pace and made some bits feel really repetitive. Also, Abe was kind of unlikeable in nearly all scenarios which was a shame! But it was an interesting read and a thought-provoking look at 'what if'.

A really interesting concept, executed well. The author did a great job at keeping the characters consistent, despite the changing time periods and situations. I particularly liked the ending which was unexpected to say the least! I'd definitely recommend this book as a really refreshing alternative to standard romance / chick-lit fiction.