“Thora and Santi have met before…

Under the clocktower in central Cologne, with nothing but the stars above and their futures ahead.

They will meet again…

They don’t know it yet, but they’ll meet again: in numerous lives they will become friends, colleagues, lovers, enemies – meeting over and over for the first time, every time; each coming to know every version of the other.

Only they can make sure it’s not for the last time.

But as they’re endlessly drawn together and the lines between their different lives begin to blur, they are faced with one question: why?

They must discover the truth of their strange attachment before this, and all their lives, are lost forever.”

This was such an enjoyable audiobook which I listened to whilst crocheting my Coronation Celebration blanket. It is such a thought provoking novel and I find I am still thinking about it and wondering ‘what if’.

Breathtakingly Brilliant. I have never been so absorbed by a book, just an incredible look at life, from a "Groundhog Day" perspective but with a wonderful twist. 2 characters intertwined for a journey that will leave you stunned by the end. Thank you

I had to DNF this ARC, both the ebook and the audio. I simply was not vibing with the story. The fact the main character, as an adult, had a strong connection to a child, and in another scene/chapter he was in love with that person as a different character... it felt weird.
Only giving it 3 starts because it was nicely written, original, and somebody told me the ending, which makes me want to try and pick it up again. What a twist!

The book appealed to me because it explored the same characters meeting up in different lives. The story could have been edited down, and I got a bit bored of it. I also felt the character backgrounds, names, and decades in the time frame didn’t really make it believable with the past lives. I would have liked this to have been a better story as it had a lot of potential.

An incredibly unique audiobook that is really hard to fit into one genre. The narrator is perfect for the story and reads the book perfectly.

Thora and Santi are destined to be in each others lives in one way or another. They relive their life over and over and always find each other. Sometimes as partners, sometimes as family and sometimes as friends. With each chapter their story starts again. It did take a few chapters to work out what was happening there.

The idea is unique and generally well done.

I loved Santis character and really warmed to him straight away. I did find Thora quite an unlikeable character though.

Once you realise what is happening with the story almost resetting at the start of each chapter it is easy to follow.

I enjoyed most of their lives, but did find the "parent and child" relationships slightly uncomfortable.

As the characters begin to become aware of what is happening to them the story becomes more frantic, which I enjoyed the pace of.

Unfortunately I found the ending quite disappointing. I think this is a personal situation though, I wanted it to be more Time Travellers Wife / romance through the ages ... and not the Sci-Fi it is.

This books follows Thora and Santi and the many different scenarios they could potentially meet in. Santi as the adoptive father to Thora, Thora as the professor and Santi the research student, Thora and Santi married with children. As the book develops they start to become more aware of each other and the other ways their lives could have intertwined.

I found the first half of this book hard to engage in. Each chapter is like a short story and this structure prevented me from getting engrossed in a storyline or connected with the characters. Another reader said similar but that it does start to come together which helped me continue reading, as I feel I may have put this one down otherwise.

The part of this I did enjoy is the part I can’t really review spoiler free! So this is trust book. The beginning may feel drawn out and disconnected but trust me, it does all come together.

I struggled with Meet Me In Another Life by Catriona Silvey. I listened to this as an audiobook and kept taking rather long breaks, listening to whole books in between. This is the story of Thora and Santi, two people destined to meet again and again in Cologne, at different points in their lives, but with a shared love for the stars. There are some elements that stay the same across all of their lives, but some elements, especially their relationship to each other keep changing. Still, this makes the story feel very repetitive – there are only so many times I find the same characters meeting over and over again interesting. While there ultimately was a reason behind the story being what it was, I ended up mostly bored after the third repetition or so, and only kept listening because I didn’t want to give up. I don’t think this is a book I’d recommend, personally. It does explore interesting questions of how circumstances can change a person and how nurture influences character, and I can see how it might appeal to a more literary oriented reader. Ultimately it seems to put form over substance, and that is not the kind of reader I am.

I first heard about Meet Me In Another Life when it was reviewed on BertsBooks podcast. It sounded right up my street so I immediately pre-ordered a copy then was lucky enough to be approved for an audio version on NetGalley and also be invited on the tour – it was totally meant to be! The stories of Thora and Santi are captivating and beautifully written. Each could have been a standalone tale but alas life moves on and each draws to a close in a variety of ways. I loved how their dynamic changed throughout the book and with each setting. Sometimes they are equals, other times one is in a position of power over the other in ever changing ways. There are core elements to each one that isn’t always immediately obvious but runs like a little thread through the book.

The story is quite unlike any other books I have read. It is a love story which looks at all aspects of love and what it is and can be. I was actually a little surprised by how quickly I fell into the rhythm of the changes in role and circumstance and how interesting and well considered each one was. There were definitely chapters where I preferred the circumstances over others but none that I didn’t like. Even when their relationship to each other is not plain sailing, their interactions and plot lines are very enjoyable to read.

I really liked listening to the audio version of Meet Me In Another Life. The narrator is pleasant to listen to and I looked forward to getting some time to myself to play another few chapters (even when that meant in the car commuting to work)! I was never someone who thought audiobooks would be for me, particularly fiction. I always thought it would be too hard to keep tabs on what was going on. So you might imagine that this particular book would be a challenge but I didn’t find it so. It was easy to stick with the story and know where I was and which roles Thora and Santi were in. I am pleased to have my hardback copy too as I will be going back to read some of my favourite parts again. A very clever and beautiful book!

With Thanks to HarperCollins and Catriona Silvey for an advanced readers copy of this book.

3.5/4*

This is really hard review to write. While I appreciate the skill, and uniqueness of this book I don't think I actually liked it?

We follow Thora and Santi who are living countless lives that intertwine, each chapter deals with a different moment of meeting. Sometimes they are Twins, others student teacher, others friends, lovers etc.. they always encounter each other again in Cologne. Think a mixture of groundhog day and the time travellers wife.

The reason I don't think I enjoyed it is it just sort of ended? There was no plan or mission, something to aim and route for it just ended and torn my heart to pieces.

Inception meets Time-Travellers Wife

This was brilliant and took twists and turns that I didn't see coming. This was so well written that even though I didn't feel I fully connected with the characters I still loved them and their stories.

A brilliant stand alone to refresh your reading pallet. This was so easy to read that I ended up reading in a day. The writing style flows really well and easily and you find yourself flying through Thora's and Santi's lives with them.

This book jumps between time and lives but it was still easy to follow as an audiobook. The narrator did a good job and the story was interesting. However, I didn’t feel satisfied by the ending and I still had lots of questions. 3.5/5 stars

You know, there are those books that are just calling to you. The ones you lay eyes on and just know you have to read it. Meet Me in Another Life was like that for me. I’ve seen it popping up on my feed a couple of times and I was tempted to request it on Netgalley, but I wouldn’t be able to fit into my schedule. Then as I was looking for audiobooks, it was just there and it felt like an invitation, and so I requested it. I keep having hit or miss results with my Netgalley requests, but I had a good feeling about this one. And my instincts proved right. I. Freaking. Loved. It.

Meet Me in Another Life is the story of Thora and Santi who are destined? cursed? to live and meet over and over and over again. They are the same people at their chores, have the same constant people and the same town to live in – Cologne – but their experiences and roles are always different. Why are they meeting all the time? What brings them together? Can they figure it out and break the cycle? Well, you’ll have to read to find it out.

Meet Me in Another Life hooked me with the first chapter and never let me go. I just couldn’t stop thinking about the book, whenever I stopped listening for the day, my mind was still lingering. The way it’s written, as the characters have new lives in each chapter, new situations as they slowly get aware of what’s happening to them, it shouldn’t work, but it does. It won’t be a book for everyone, as it takes a good while until things start making sense, as we learn what is actually happening and why. And while I was interested in those questions, I was glued to the pages because I was intrigued to watch their lives unfold. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you did just one thing differently? And what if you had countless lives to make different decisions? Assuming you are the same person with the same experiences – which you are not. Silvey plays around with interesting questions. Can we really know someone? And ourselves?

I connected with Thora right from the beginning. She feels out of place, she doesn’t believe in the divine, and she approaches their problems from a practical standpoint. Santi, on the other hand has faith and believes there is a meaning to the world, to the fact they are coming back all the time. That they have to atone for something. Santi and Thora are opposites, but they are fit well together, whether they are family, friends, lovers, mere aquintances. They also rub off on each other and it’s fascinating to watch how they are changing as the story progresses. I loved seeing all these different lives playing out and wished some of them were more in depth. But then, through all the little or big pieces, we get a pretty good idea about Santi and Thora as people. Maybe the secondary characters got a bit sidelined, and not as complex, but there is an explanation for that too.

Meet Me in Another Life is a love story, but it’s also not. Well, not in the general sense. Catriona Silvey eplores all the type of loves there is – between friends, between family, between lovers which makes it so real. It drags the reader through all kinds of emotions, and breaks their hearts. Over and over and over again. I swear I did not get misty eyed at the end. I SWEAR! I absolutely loved every moment of it – the characters, the mystery the way it all unfurled. The way the little details later come back to paint a much bigger picture. It was just absolutely awesome. Meet Me in Another Life easily earned a spot on the best books I’ve read in 2021 list. I’ll make sure to keep an eye on Catriona Silvey‘s books in the future.

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. Audio for a review copy, via NetGalley, of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘Meet Me in Another Life’ by Catriona Silvey in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook is narrated by Kristin Atherton with a running time of 11 hours 07 minutes.

This is a novel that defies description and one that I would recommend reading ‘cold’. I read it with very little foreknowledge of its plot, which allowed its story to unfold very naturally.

Thora Lišková and ‘Santiago López (Santi) have met before… They first meet under the clocktower in Cologne, with the stars above and their futures ahead of them. They are not aware of it then but they will meet again and again. In numerous lives they will take on different roles: as friends, siblings, lovers, husband and wife, parent and child, teacher and student, and even enemies. They debate many subjects including religious and philosophical ones. Ultimately as they gain more awareness, they question why is this happening and why Cologne?

Catriona Silvey’s writing was exquisite with lyrical descriptive passages that were a joy to read/listen to. Santi and Thora were complex characters that were easy to engage with. It also has a wonderful feline character, Félicette, named for the first and only nonfictional cat in space. Thora explains “She doesn’t really obey the laws of physics.’ I smiled every time Félicette showed up in the narrative.

With respect to the audiobook, Kristin Atherton has narrated an impressive number of audiobooks and I have enjoyed her reading of various titles in my audiobook library. She has a voice that is very clear and a delight to listen to. She also has a great range, which is very important with a novel such as this with characters of various ages including children.

Overall, I found ‘Meet Me in Another Life’ excellent. It is a novel that is powerful, perplexing, and poignant. It asks questions about life and death, fate and free will. An intellectual novel that was also very readable with moments of humour and heartbreak.

Highly recommended.

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎She's the sea, she needs a rock to crash against♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎His little Magpie will never settle, she will batter herself bloody against the bars of the cage he's built to protect her♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎Like a childhood home seen so close and so often that you stop seeing what it looks like, until you leave and ache with missing it♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎



This was one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read.
I was absolutely glued to it.
I consumed it by audio and I was beyond impressed with Kristin Atherton as the narrator.

When I normally listen to audio books, I'll do other tasks at the same time but this book was all consuming and I didn't want to do anything else but concentrate on the words, the story unfolding.

In the story we have 2 main protagonists, Thora and Santiago.
They find themselves intertwined by fate. Each chapter is cleverly written to take us to a different lifetime but Thora and Santi always end up a huge part of each others lives. Whether they are lovers, colleagues, family or just close friends. Both characters are extremely loveable and can make you mad at the same time. The character building was done to perfection by author Silvey.
I don't want to go into too much detail about the story because I want the reader to be as surprised as I was as the book progresses.

I am a big fan of Sci fi and for the first half of the book I was confused by it being characterised as a Science Fiction. But I'll just say that if that's what you are here for then do not fret, Sci fi you'll get ha. On the other hand if you're not a huge Sci fi fan, I would say this book can be enjoyed by lovers of other genres.

It brings out many emotions. I will say that it does bring up the big questions of life and possible afterlife from the very beginning. If you're dealing with grief then just be aware of this. Personally I found it a comfort to think that those I've lost could meet me in the next life and we will always find our way to each other.

I'd like to say a big thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for kindly sending me the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The rating I have given, along with the thoughts I have on the book are all my own.

The most beautifully written book I have read in years. The writing was like poetry and Kristin Atherton's voice was like silk reading it to me.
I was invited to read this by the publisher, and the blurb intrigued me and I couldn't resist it!
It was a fascinating read- how much does fate play a part in uniting souls together? If we are from different lives, do we still find each other? I have often wondered things like this- would I have still met my fiance 7 years ago had we both not moved to Chester for different reasons and worked with our mutual friend? A beautiful idea, and executed with remarkable ease.
This book is admittedly a little into the fantasy genre, but if that genre is not your thing, PLEASE do not be put off. You will be enthralled, I cannot believe this is a debut novel.
Thora and Santi are beautiful people who I immediately adored, and their dazzling connection was palpable through the pages.
The 'lives' Silvey chose were incredible, a huge array of different relationships that I would never have even thought of, but were utterly perfect.
An absolutely sublime debut.

This book is so gooooooood. My first overwhelming thought after flipping past the last page was literally about how amazing the ending was, because it was that good. I don’t know why I was expecting a reincarnation love story or time travel, but both of those preconceived assumptions were thrown out the window by the second chapter and the story didn’t suffer from veering in a completely different direction to what I assumed was happening at the beginning. Each chapter begins with Thora and Santi in different roles, from teacher and student to brother and sister. Each new life is a toss of the dice: who will they love? when will they die? who are they to each other? From chapter to chapter my interest kept increasing until I was desperate to know why they had to keep living different lives.

The mystery is such a big part of what makes the reading experience so enjoyable so I won’t say too much, but I thought all the little clues and foreshadowing led to a really satisfying conclusion. Santi and Thora were interesting to read about, particularly in how their dynamic kept switching up and changing in each lifetime. The way they changed throughout lifetimes but also seeing how they stayed the same was compelling. They had character traits in some timelines that made them annoying or less likeable than in previous timelines but this only made them better, letting us see their flaws but also seeing how different actions altered their perception of each other.

The concept was unique and well executed, and Catriona has beautiful prose that made the book lovely to read. Part two was where the plot really started to focus on the how and why they kept coming back after they passed on in their previous life, and when the puzzle pieces started to fit together it was incredibly satisfying. Even though the story is about the same people living different lives, it never felt repetitive, which I appreciated.

I read Meet Me in Another Life partly by audiobook which was really good and Kristin Atherton did such a good job of drawing me into the story. Her narration was particularly good at distinguishing different voices and I would definitely recommend.

I can see why some people may not enjoy how each chapter switches to a different life but I loved it and I’m definitely interested in seeing what Catriona comes up with next.

Thora & Santi meet each other in many different lives. Sometimes they are lovers, other times they are family, or colleagues, or many other iterations.

They start to remember their previous lives, they both have different ideas on the nature of the universe and try to make sense of their situation. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I will stop there, but I highly recommend you read this book!

I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator did a fantastic job. I will definitely look out for more by this author.

Thank you so much to #NetGalley and the publisher for my free advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

In a Nutshell: Whoa! What a debut work! This is one author I’m going to keep my eye on.

Story:
Thora and Santi are strangers who meet in in a city foreign to both of them. They seem to have an instant connect to each other until a sudden accident cuts off the continuity of their relationship. But hey, they meet once more, in another lifetime and in a different relation. Destiny brings them to each other again and again; sometimes they have just minutes together, sometimes an entire lifetime. Their relation to each other is constantly changing: teacher-student, parent-child, lovers, colleagues,… There seems to be no pattern. But after multiple reiterations of this seemingly endless loop of lives, they discover that there’s something larger at play. Is this “something” within their control, or is the universe just playing games with them? Read and find out.

At the surface level, this seems like a weird combination of The Midnight Library (the book) and Groundhog Day (the movie). But this book is so much more than the repetition of lives. As I usually do, I started jotting down points I wanted to discuss in my review. And many of the points I wrote seemed to be plot holes. Why do these two keep meeting in some kind of strange reincarnation? Why is the city the same every time? Why don’t their names change in every lifetime? Why don’t the other persons in their lives change their relationships, how come only these two change? Why is the timeline not changing, how come every life seems to be in the same age? And on and on… But then comes the Big Reveal at about 70%! (I’m not sure of the exact location because I was so stunned by it, I forgot to make a note of it!) Plot holes resolved, doubts clarified, mysteries uncovered, and all this leads to the discovery of a greater, more potent problem at hand. I couldn’t rest until I reached the ending from this point onwards!

The book seems to fall in two distinct genres that don’t traditionally go hand in hand but blend wonderfully in this story. Of course, purists might not be able to put their head around this but as I am comfortable with almost all genres, I enjoyed that change in momentum and plot. I don’t want to reveal the second genre here as it will take away your fun of discovery, but the first half is much philosophical. It raises pertinent questions about determinism and free will voiced via Santi’s and Thora’s characters respectively. You will find yourself too pondering over deeper existential questions. But after the big reveal, the focus shifts to the other genre and I was so irritated with myself that I didn’t see it comings There are enough clues and Easter eggs scattered throughout the story for the reader to be able to make the logical leap, but I was so caught up in the philosophical side of the story that I missed out on the obvious segway. It was so smart of the author.

Thora and Santi are fabulously created characters. Just like their physical contrasts, their beliefs are poles apart. Thora is a firm believer in free will and random events that needn’t have an obvious cause of purpose or correlation. Santi, on the other hand, is a staunch adherent of determinism and that everything springs from a divine plan, and everything has a purpose. But something seems to be brings them together in every lifetime and it’s mind-blowing to see their behavioural patterns and thought processes over the ages. Some other character names are mentioned at regular interims and their relation to the two main characters remains almost the same throughout. But as they have just a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance in most of the lives, it’s only Thora and Santi who stay in your mind.

All this is not to say that it is a perfect book. The section in the second genre was a little abrupt. I would have loved more details about the who’s and the why’s behind the whole episode. But this is such a minuscule complaint in the face of the overall experience that I’m happy to let it go.

Now to come to the 11 hour long audiobook, narrated by Kristin Atherton. If I could her 10 stars, I would. What a phenomenal experience it was to hear her voice Thora and Santi in each lifetime without it sounding tedious even once! She was amazing.

If you don’t have stringent requirements for watertight genres in your books, and you like books that make you wonder what would you do if you were in that character’s position, do give this book a try. It was a fabulous listening experience for me.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thora and Santi meet at a party in the German city of Cologne. They have an instant and almost familar connection until Santi dies suddenly weeks later....but Thora and Santi will meet again. In fact, they will meet time and time again forming every possible relationship between two people across multiple lifetimes. Eventually their multiple lives blur and they begin to spot patterns. Now they are sentient to the process, should they try and escape the pattern and if so how do they do it before it's too late?

I really loved the first three quarters of this book. I was totally enthralled by Thora and Santi's characters as I observed them lead sixteen different lives together. I began to eagerly anticipate what form their relationship would take in the next life, having already seen them merge from one life to the next from lovers to enemies, parent and child, colleagues, teacher and student and many more. I loved spotting the similarities between lives whether it was objects, pets, or attitudes and personal baggage. It's written in a brilliant way which throws up a number of different issues for the reader to contemplate - religion vs science, optimism versus realism, what responsibilties you have if you are given the gift of multiple lifetimes.

In the last quarter of the book, the reader is given clues that all is not as it seems and Thora and Santi are in danger. It became strange and confusing and I became a little disengaged at that point. If you're someone that needs answers to be revealed at the end, you needn't worry, you will get them in this book. I am that kind of reader too but in this instance, I felt like the answers didn't really add anything to my enjoyment of the book, more than anything I loved the process of the multiple lives and how more information about Thora and Santi were revealed in each one. They are an absolutely brilliant set of characters.

I was lucky enough to be given both an ebook and audiobook for this title. If you can, get the audiobook - the narrator is definitely the best narrator I have ever listened to in any audiobook experience. Kristin Atherton's narration is flawless for all the different accents, ages and states of emotion contained in the audiobook. Her narration absolutely made the book for me, drawing me in to the story immediately and keeping me entertained throughout.

"Meet me in another life" is a beautiful, hopeful and poignant book. I am so glad I got a chance to experience it.

Thank you to Catriona Silvey, Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Audio ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Audio review: Great choice of narrator, clear and nuanced for a literary scifi.

Book review:

Three stars is reflective of the enjoyment I personally got out of the book. I can objectively see that it's easily a 4 or 5 star book in terms of writing quality and structure, but I can be very hit and miss with reading group/ literary SFF and this just didn't rock my world. That's entirely down to me as a reader not a lack in the book.

The story is deliberately obstructive to start with. Thora and Santi meet for the first time under a clock tower in a darkened city. Both are university students and both have very decided bents to their personalities. Thora is sceptical, looking for facts. Santi seeks to make sense of the universe by observing the repeating patterns in life. It's a short encounter and Thora does not pursue the relationship, angry and bitter, and trying to keep something sacrosanct. And then Santi dies. From there the pair meet again and again and again, filling the roles of mother, father, lover, sister, brother, husband and wife to each other. It's through this endless procession of possibilities and variations that they really come to know each other, or maybe to admit that they don't know each other at all.

I don't want to spoiler anyone but the payoff, when it comes, is satisfying. I'm afraid I worked it out early on, however that didn't lessen the impact. The prose is exquisite and the observation of human nature was sharp and believable. After a couple of lacklustre moments when I nearly gave up, the book did keep me completely absorbed. It was very cleverly plotted. I have a great deal of admiration for the art of it as a whole. Did I enjoy it? Not exactly. It was a good book, it made me think, but it didn't capture my heart. I really don't want to damn with faint praise because execution wise this book was brilliant. I think I'm just a bit outside the target audience on this one. Still recommended for those who like multilayered sci-fi which is about people and connections.