Thora and Santi can't seem to stop meeting. But they don't keep bumping into each other at the supermarket or on the bus; they meet as new students, as teacher & student, brother & sister, colleagues, friends or lovers or enemies.

To start with, each new version is distinct with perhaps a slight sense of having met before, but as the book progresses Santi and Thora increasingly question the world they live in and their relationships in it.

Santi believes in God & fate, Thora definitely doesn't and Silvey explores how those beliefs affect their understanding of their situation & behaviour and also how those beliefs change as they gain more awareness of their world & struggle to understand what's really going on. I won't give away too much but I thought the 'reveal' was satisfying- if a little abrupt for my personal preference.

If you like Claire North or Stuart Turton but want a stronger emotional/personal element then you'll enjoy this sliding doors/groundhog (day) life mystery about relationships, understanding & choices.

I always have a moment of doubt with books I’m offered the opportunity to read by a publisher rather than actively request but I’ve learned by now that it’s worth giving it a try. After all, reading a wider variety of authors and styles was one of the main reasons I signed up to NetGalley. Despite my initial misgivings about the premise of Meet Me in Another Life, I was immediately drawn in. So much so that when the first story ended, it felt too soon; I wanted to know more.
As I adjusted to the pace, I started to appreciate each chapter’s story of Thora and Santi, of a Thora and a Santi. The stories each seemed rich enough to sustain a full story by themselves but of course that’s not the point of this book: it explores all the things we are to ourselves and to others – friend, lover, parent, child, sibling. We are the same person and yet we are different, at different times and with different people.
You might think that all this Escheresque layering of lives and worlds makes it difficult to follow. It doesn’t though – it has its own straightforward logic. Only Thora and Santi are aware of their many lives; everyone else is living as ignorant as we are. I can’t quite decide what I think about the big reveal; it’s certainly a clever resolution and the whole thing is a fascinating read.

I was left quite bereft after finishing this unique and genre defying debut novel. As I was crying at 7% in, sobbing at 20%, I knew I was going to love this book.

Santi and Thora's lives keep intercepting, occasionally as lovers, or colleagues, sometimes as relatives or even as enemies. The one constant in their many lives is each other. They begin to realise they have a puzzle to solve if they're ever going to end the cycle of regeneration.

I found this to be a wonderful, thought provoking read. I was certainly surprised by how it ended, taking a path I certainly didn't envisage while I was reading. I just loved Santi, I found Thora annoying but could see why she was the way she was.

Thank you to #netgalley for an ARC of this wonderful novel.

What an astonishing, mesmerising read. This book moved me far more deeply than I expected to be moved, and somehow made me question who I thought I was, and what I might know about the world. It’s a rare and remarkable thing that a book allows you to do that. A work of science fiction driven by love and by rich, complex characters. My favourite kind! A must for readers of Becky Chambers and Clare North.

I nearly DNF'd this book. For starters, it's in present tense, which I find it very difficult to get into. There's a good reason why Classics only ever have the occasional chapter in present tense. It doesn't work for a whole book. We have the self-publishing book market since 2010 to blame for this trend, mostly in YA and Romance, though I've seen it in two Horror novels.

Secondly, I didn't like Thora at all. The girl is abrasive. I thought Santi seemed like a nice boy and couldn't imagine why he would be interested in her when she insults him. She struck me as having a big chip on her shoulder.

However, after reading the description again and seeing a lot of positive reviews, I'm too interested in reincarnation stories to quit easily. I gave it a second chance and started again from the beginning. Having the forewarnings of my first try made it easier to focus more on the story itself.

It was interesting to see them relate to each other differently in each sketch, but they all appeared to be contemporary, as if they were parallel lives rather than reincarnations. I never did warm up to Thora and actually got more irritated with her as it went along. Some interesting concepts, but I could have put it down at any time.

As someone who does a reasonable amount of Netgalley reviewing I sometimes get emails asking me if I want to read a forthcoming title - and this is what happened here. I wasn't sure, I have 24 pages of unread books on my kindle, a tbr pile of physical books taller than me and shelves of books needing a reread at somepoint. And two people meeting over and over again. I've read this story before, right? Only the reviews I saw all said the same thing 'this is not what you expect it to be' and so intrigued I downloaded it. First, I am very glad I did and secondly, those reviews were right, this was not what I expected it to be and was all the better for it.

I don't want to give away a single spoiler which makes saying anything else hard. Thora and Santi meet in their first week as students in Cologne. Thora is English by way of Poland and Iceland, Santi Spanish. They connect, but Thora is unsure if it's romantically. All she knows is that she really wants to be friends. But an accident prevents them from meeting again - in that life.

I absolutely adored this book and will be recommending it to everyone I meet. The premise is clever and original, the book beautifully written, at times heartbreaking and always utterly absorbing. Buy it. It's not what you think it is.

Despite the beautiful narration and original idea, I couldn't get into this book. I tried to read it both in ebook and audio formats but it just wouldn't click in my head. I still love the idea and I wish the author all the success with their publication. This is very much a case of "it's not the book, it's me".

I'm not too sure how to summarise this book, and I tried on my blog but I will spare you here where you can see an actual official blurb, but I can say that giving the plot of this book away would be a real crime that I cannot have on my conscience because I enjoyed every second of the way that it unfolded before me last night when I read the majority of it in one go (leading me to finally go to sleep at 3am, whoops).

This book attempted to tackle some lofty topics and I would not say that it always succeeded in delivering fulfilling answers, but it never felt forced. The questions Thora and Santi are trying to find answers to are crucial to their experiences across their different lives and to their overall beings.

I read this immediately after reading "The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano" which was interesting because that book also explores alternate lives and something I liked about Rose Napolitano was the protagonist’s consistent voice across those lives. Meet Me In Another Life may rely slightly more on telling rather than showing in some ways, as most of the consistent characterisation comes from things like Santi’s ways of coping with what is happening in the world around him through documentation and creativity, or Thora’s penchant for colourful hair-dye regardless of which life she is living. However, the characters do develop in a satisfying way across all of the vignettes that form the overall arc.

And yes, there is a real story arc. Initially I was a little worried that it would feel directionless and lacking in plot due to the nature of the first few chapters which really do just feel like separate little stories played out by the same cast, but I was absolutely 100% wrong about that. The book is split into three parts and from part two you can easily see that what separates these sections is knowledge that you as the reader but also Thora and Santi acquire about the nature of their existence.

It’s difficult for me to find anything else to criticise, I loved this book. I don’t know if I could read it again because I’ll never have that same experience again, but I won’t be forgetting about it in a hurry.

This is the sort of book that defies description. I thought I knew what it was all about but was totally wrong. The premise is one that has been used before that two people keep meeting in different lives. The different lives are well thought out and as the story progresses more and more unlocks about the two of them.
The story keeps you going all the way through until the final pages. It totally absorbed me from the first to the last page and it is a book I will remember for a very long time. A must read.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I really appreciate it!

"Meet Me in Another Life" is about Thora and Santi who end up meeting at university and immediately click with each other. Unfortunately, Santi then passes away in the beginning of the book - But their story does not end here. Both characters suddenly start their journey of living through different lives in various relationships, e.g. teacher and student, brother and sister, etc. Thora and Santi suddenly realise that they actually know each other and that all of their new lives have been connected. With this realisation, they are trying to find each other in every single life they are living, trying to solve the mystery of what is going on.

But what does this mean for both?
Who are they?
And how can this cycle of living multiple lives finally end so they can get back to reality?
What even is their reality anymore?
How do our decisions impact us and our lives?

"Meet Me in Another Life" talks about the meaning of life, how we are always trying to find the right path for us, how our decisions actually shape ourselves and our future and the deep meaning of friendship and trust.

Honestly, this book was quite the rollercoaster for me. First of all, I was really confused when reading it. The reader first gets short glimpses into the different lives they have to go through - but as soon as the reader gets comfortable in this new world, it ends again. This confused me quite a lot and I did not understand what and why it was really happening in the beginning.
The investigation on why their lives are connected does not kick in until 35-40% of the book. Before that, I was struggling to connect to the book since one is introduced to their different lives and suddenly it is gone again. Yet, after both characters finally understood that both of them and their lives are connected, the plot got a lot more interesting and I was intrigued to find out what was happening.
The end was quite surprising and I did not see that coming. I was shocked and confused. As a side note, I managed to not cry throughout this whole book but the last sentences really got to me.

I actually enjoyed the characters involved into the story and I love that it had a queer aspect in it. Yet, I felt myself being more connected to Santi than to Thora.

This is one of those books where you either hate or love the plot. I really enjoyed the story but I would have changed it a bit since I was quite confused in the beginning and therefore missed some hints towards the big reveal. I also would have preferred this story to be longer since the last approx. 100 pages had a completely different pace in comparison. I would have loved to get more details on the lives they have lived, on the actual process of finding out and the big reveal.

Overall this was a really interesting book and I am intrigued to read it again since now it will be easier to connect all the dots.

My thanks to Catriona Silvey, Harper Collins and Net Galley for the ARC of MEET ME IN ANOTHER LIFE.
At first I wasn't sure what I was reading. I began to understand that each 'chapter' was a separate story with the same characters, Thora and Sante, with the same cast of family and friends, Jules, Heloise and even the cat. But then I realised that the different stories were actually taking place in Cologne and were leading to something greater than the individual stories. I began to think of Philip K Dick, a writer of science fiction with themes that included simulacra and perception. Two thirds of the way in and I wondered if this was an alternate reality of two people living in a world where they were being observed, like the Truman Show. The final answer was not a huge shock, it had occurred to me amongst other endings I had thought of, but when it came it was heart-rending. It stayed with me. A very absorbing read,

Wow, what a fascinating book!
I adored the unique take on time travel and alternate choices. It was very thought provoking, with excellent character dynamics.

I absolutely love and get so involved with books that don't quite fit in to a particular genre. This book blends so many genres into one story, that it becomes such a fun mystery to dive straight into!

As someone who reads at least 10 books per month, I'm forever searching for 'that book' that provides something a bit different and unpredictable. This story and the authors ability to create incredible layered world building, made it exactly what I was searching for.

While Silvey is a new author to me, I'll certainly be watching out for her now!

This was a fantastic, thought-provoking read! I love books that have multiple stories of the same people, though I usually find the endings very unsatisying, that certainly wasn't the case here. The heart of the book is about relationships in all their forms, and the consequences of your choices. I absolutely loved it!

This book was amazing. From page one I knew this book was going to good. The story and relationship between our two leads was beautiful, and seeing how they grew through time until the end was beautiful.
I will be recommending this book to all my friends and family. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

A stunning, magical tale that explores the complexities of life and love.

Are our younger selves simply different from us now or did those earlier selves cause us to be who we are? If we change over time or transform into someone new, how does that affect the idea of a soulmate? If we could live many lives, our love stories could reveal something critical.

In Meet me in another life we see these love stories connected not only through romantic love but across a spectrum of love for example platonic friendships or parental love.

This idea, that who we are, and who we love are intimately connected with the lives we and others have led are woven throughout its narrative. It left me thinking If we evolve across time does that affect the construct of love.

it is difficult to describe how moving and beautiful this novel is. I was enthralled by it and stunned by the author's exquisite writing. Her ability to write such vivid worlds and craft such an intelligent plot is breath-taking.

I adore Thora and Santi in their many reincarnations, even when they were at their very worse. In each one, I learnt something more about them and got closer to the truth. It was written in such a manner that I felt part of their investigation and searched for clues alongside them. The reveal had my heart breaking.

Ultimately this is a book about love and you will lose yourself in the wonderful world of Thora and Santi just as I did.

Highly Recommended for fans of The Time Traveller's Wife and The Invisible Life of Addie. Or if you just want something very special to read.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book; in the first half I wasn't convinced by the two main character's relationship, but was intrigued about why they kept living parallel lives, and in the second half, I was sold on their relationship, but didn't understand why they kept coming back to life! I think this is more to do with me though, as I don't usually read the fantasy genre, rather than the writing. I did find the book entertaining, but I do wish the overall plot had been a bit more structured so it was easier to keep track of what was happening.

Possible spoilers.

3.5 stars

I very much enjoyed the majority of this book,the way Santi and Thomas weaved in and out of each others lives... at different ages,but always in the same place.
How they had different relationships,friends,lovers,siblings... there was just something special always pulling them together.

Then when they become aware of whats happening,and start to question what that something special is,the whole book was now something very different.
Not better,or worse,just different.

Interesting.

I requested this lovely book from NetGalley and was so so happy to have read this.

This was such an intriguing book, full of mystery, romance, life changing events and full of questions and more questions. I loved the concept of Thora and Santi meeting each other in all these different lives and being connected by tiny things that crop up in all of their lives.

It can get confusing at times and doesn’t really get fast paced until about 70% in. But, I found this book matching the pace that it was written in and I liked the way it read. It made me have questions, emotions and just trying to find out why Thora & Santi were always in each other’s lives. I like the whole plot of why they are in each other’s lives that we find out 85% in. The ending actually shocked me as we were told one thing but it lead to another and it was so so sad. I definitely connected more to Santi than Thora. I really liked the ending but was also sad with the way it ended off for one of characters.

I knew that the moment I started crying 20% into this book that it would be one hell of whirlwind and boy was that true. The story is original, captivating and emotional. The chance of crying during this book is a high one, so get your tissues ready if you want to embark on this journey.

The story follows two main characters - Thora and Santi, who end up meeting each other for the first time whilst studying at uni. Santi is a strong believer that everyone has a life set out for them, whereas Thora believes that life is forever changing based on the decisions you make. They clash together in a strange perfect harmony and despite their different views, their friendship is a special one. After their initial meeting, Santi passes away and leaves Thora in shock. However, we then start to realise, it was never really the end all along.

The story continues to show a myriad of different lives for Santi and Thora. In each life they encapsulate a different relationship e.g. teacher and student, father and daughter, brother and sister. It becomes apparent that their lives are never-ending, trapped in a cycle that can't be broken. When one dies, they reappear again in another life. However, despite continuing on in their new lives without worry, suddenly they begin to realise that something is not quite right and memories from previous lives begin to haunt them. Who are Santi and Thora? Why are they always with each other? Why can't they leave this place?

This book was such a fun mixture of mystery, romance and it had an added twist at the end.
I will say that it does get a little tedious in the middle, after so many lives I found myself yearning for a change in the story but once they begin to clue in (60% through), I honestly couldn't put it down I had to know.

The ending was good but I think was a little rushed and could have been better! It was such a load of confusion suddenly thrown on the reader that it didn't leave me much room to feel emotional. Then again, they are my only two critiques.

I think if you love Addie LaRue and want a little mixture of time-travel and sci-fi, definitely pick up this book when it comes out!

“I thought of a labyrinth of labyrinths, of one sinuous spreading labyrinth that would encompass the past and the future and in some way involve the stars.” Borges. The Garden of the Forking Paths

Are our lives determined our choices? Are we truly free exert our free-will, or are our choices determined by our circumstances, the people around us, the cards we’re dealt with, or by a higher power? Do we make our choices because or the kind of people we are, or is the kind of people we’ve become determined by our previous choices? Is there a right path? Are faith and science incompatible?

We first meet Thora as a physics student in Cologne: a culmination of all the choices she has made, the path that she has chosen, one possibility among several others. And she wishes she could start again. She meets Santi, an intruder in her universe, gazing at the stars. He’s so different than her: he believes in God, and in fate, and in a higher plan. And yet, they both want to explore the universe and see what no one else has seen. In this life their relationship is cut abruptly, a tragic end to something that could have been. But they’ll meet again, and again, and again. Same city, different relationships: friends, lovers, enemies, partners... always bound together, trying to make sense of it all.

In Meet Me in Another Life, Catriona Silvey created a tight-knit universe, with carefully selected words and images, riddled with clues and full of meaning. Still, the book is never predictable and you’ll be taken on this journey, alongside Thora and Santi, until the very end — and it doesn’t disappoint.

I haven’t felt this excited about a book in a very long time and upon finishing it, I felt like reading it again.