I’ve been waiting over four years for this book and kept it unopened for a further four weeks, so scared was I that it wouldn’t live up to expectations. Suffice to say, I should have had more faith. Life Number Nine is a wholly unique masterpiece of imagination and form, a love story like no other and, more than that, a paean to the mysteries of the universe.

It is the story of bank employee Jem, who spends his days winding up the accounts of the deceased, and Mika, an illegally employed chef from Eastern Europe, who has overstayed her UK visa. When their paths cross at a lucid dreaming workshop, the connection is immediate and made all the more powerful when they start having vivid dreams about meeting in past lives.

What follows is a hypnotic and thought-provoking tale of two souls tumbling through time and space and repeatedly colliding briefly before spinning off again in opposite directions. Their encounters take place over millennia, are fleeting but memorable, are not always romantic but consistently meaningful. In the here and now, Jem and Mika finally have the chance to realise their destiny as soulmates. Or do they?

I’ll be honest and confess that this is a challenging book to read. It demands the suspension of belief and logic and a commitment to the author’s creativity and intellect. Trust me, though, when I say you’re in safe hands.

Joe Heap writes with the soul of a poet, in language that speaks to the heart as well as the mind. He couches the tales — the dreams — of past encounters in multiple forms: in verse, as playlets, as stories taken from ancient scripts. Scattered at intervals throughout the main narrative, each one of these is a tiny work of art in its own right and a constant reminder that Jem and Mika are but puppets in the overall scheme of the universe, their fate as precarious as life itself.

As much as I looked forward to these transportive little vignettes, it was Jem and Mika’s present day romance that held me in its thrall. Would they overcome their individual trials to reach a happy ever after or would there be yet another twist of fate?

One doesn’t have to believe in reincarnation or the notion of soulmates in order to appreciate the beauty and sheer heft of Life Number Nine. It’s a stunning work by any measure and consolidates Joe Heap as one of the UK’s most gifted literary talents.

This book turned out to be a wrong choice for me, unfortunately. I could not get to grips with the whole premise of the narrative, of people linking up in previous lives on several occasions. I could not become invested in the characters or their stories. A DNF for me.
My rthanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

This is definitely a different genre and read for me. It's not one I like to move into much. Just not s favourite. But every now and then I do like to be open and read other things from blurbs that are so different from my usual. And so it was this books time.
It was good. And from someone who doesn't read this as a given I didn't feel the genre or tropes were pushed upon me. Because it dealt with emotions and characters we all root for. It felt genuine and real. The characters were so lovely. And the plot was enoguh so I didn't spend the whole time thinking " this wouldn't happen" or "this stuff doesn't happen" which my cynical brain usually goes to with Sci fi esq books.
And it made you think. And I love that in a book.

It’s quite difficult to write a review for this book. I have read The Rules of Seeing and When the Music Stops so maybe had preconceived ideas before starting. I loved the present day storyline and the idea of two people meeting sporadically throughout history but somehow couldn’t get as engaged in the meetings in the past.
I did, however, find the characters interesting and all in all it was an enjoyable read.

3.5 stars rounded up

When perfect strangers Mika and Jem first meet by chance, they recognise each other - not from life, but from a shared dream. Both are wary of forming new connections and have their dreams. Jem is in recovery from a near fatal accident, and Mika is undocumented and under scrutiny from the authorities. As their dreams - or are they memories? - grow in intensity, they are forced to consider the possibility that they've known and loved each other over and over, across the centuries. Will they find happiness together this time?

This book was completely different to the books I normally read, but it made me think long and hard before I wrote my review. How often have you locked eyes with a stranger and think that you know them? This is quite an emotional read., it's well-written, but it's not always easy to follow. I loved the parts that were written in the past. The pace is steady.

Published 13th February

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #HarperFiction and the author #JoeHeap for my ARC of #LifeNumberNine in exchange for an honest review.

A Hauntingly Beautiful Love Story That Transcends Time

*Life Number Nine* is the kind of book that lingers in your mind long after you turn the final page. Joe Heap has crafted a mesmerising, thought-provoking tale of love, fate, and the invisible threads that connect us across lifetimes.

From the moment Jem and Mika meet, there’s an undeniable pull between them—something deeper than attraction, something almost otherworldly. When they realise they’ve been dreaming of each other before they ever met, their connection takes on a whole new meaning. But are these dreams just figments of their imagination, or echoes of a love story that has played out time and time again?

What follows is a breathtaking journey through time and across continents, as fragments of their past lives come to light. From modern-day London to distant eras, Heap weaves a story that is both intimate and grand in scope. Jem and Mika’s struggles in the present—Jem’s recovery from a traumatic accident, Mika’s precarious life as an undocumented immigrant—are beautifully intertwined with the mysteries of their past, making for a deeply emotional and compelling read.

The writing is exquisite—lyrical, immersive, and packed with moments of quiet brilliance. The novel explores the idea of destiny versus choice, of love that defies time, and of the forces that keep bringing two souls together no matter the odds.

If you’re a fan of books like *The Time Traveler’s Wife* or *Cloud Atlas*, *Life Number Nine* is an absolute must-read. It’s romantic, thought-provoking, and utterly unforgettable. A truly stunning novel that left me spellbound.

Having given The Rules of Seeing 4:*, I have to give this title 5 solid *!
It is described as a love story - which is not a genre I am keen on but this tale is so much more than a love story. It is a connection between two people with history who have engaged over time, continents and characters. It is not always easy to follow but is worth the effort. One of those books I want to reread the minute I finished the last page. It elicited so many emotions in me.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Joe Heap/HarperCollins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Wow this book is fabulous. I admit to being slightly confused at the start, but once I’d grasped what was happening I devoured it in a very short time. Not only is this book informative about times gone by with incredible clarity that you feel you could be there with the characters, but also each meeting gives more and more depth to the story. I’ve probably spent more time thinking about the implications of the book than I did reading it. A book that I will definitely be reading again.

Before I launch into my review, I would like to say a warm thank you to Joe Heap, Harper Collins UK, The Borough Press, and Netgalley for the Advanced Digital Reader Copy of this title. For the audience, here is my personal review of the book to help you decide whether you are interested or not. All opinions offered are my own.

Reasons for selecting this book:
• I have just finished reading a heavy, emotional WWII drama and wanted something a little lighter.
• Despite my Catholic beliefs, I have always maintained that I have a soulmate whom I believe I have met in other lifetimes, maybe in different capacities, that I have been unable to fully understand or explain.
In essence, this book just called to me and captured my attention in a way that I could not deny. Whilst I disliked the modern names, I felt an affinity with the characters before I really met them and was already invested in their journey before I completed the first page.

The Epigraph should have been the first clue that this book was going to have a unique format. Perhaps because I had a PDF Digital Advanced Copy of the novel, I felt that the font was smaller than I was accustomed to, and that spacing between paragraphs would have been beneficial for accessibility purposes for people reading on smaller screen. This prompted me to scan ahead where I noticed:
• Each section of the book is comprised of three chapters excluding the Epigraph and Epilogue.
• Other than the Epigraph and Epilogue, each section corresponds to a month of the year, starting in May and finishing in December.
• Every third chapter, i.e., the final chapter in a section has an unusual format to accommodate different mediums e.g., poetry, ancient tablets, stories, and scripts.
Without much reading, I was overcome by the author’s creativity and uniqueness. The book was reeling me in without even trying, and at this point, I was ready to dive in and hoped that the story was every bit as interesting as I was beginning to imagine it would be.

Now, as suspected, I loved reading the short, succinct extracts of past lives and I loved how different Mika and Jem were, demonstrated in both content and writing styles. Like my own take on soulmates, not all the lives saw the characters involved in romantic relationships, and on occasion, their genders differed. However, this is where my interest and love died.

Mika and Jem are fated to continually cross paths in each lifetime. Sometimes the cross is fleeting, other times it is more profound. There is always a pull between them, but it is rarely understood. Through lucid dreams, will these two characters finally understand why they are on a shared trajectory?

I’m not often stumped for words, so I’m flailing here. To cut a long story short, I did not really enjoy Life Number Nine. I found it hard to pay attention to the current life and only sprung to life when I was transported to the past. I struggled to relate to the characters and didn’t really care enough about them by the midpoint of the book. Aside from a belief in past lives, there was no similarities between me and any of the characters. They just felt alien to me.

I usually like a hard and fast ending where I am not expected to fill in the huge gap left by the absence of the author writing it, however, on this occasion, I enjoyed that there was the opportunity to form my own judgement.

This book is for someone that likes a unique writing style and is probably in their late teens to mid-twenties. They may also appreciate historical fiction. Other than that, my opinion is that this book has the Marmite Effect. You will either love it or hate it. For me, it just did not connect, and I have probably underestimated a lot of signs and symbolism. The blurb hooked me, but the writing was not enough to keep me. For this reason, I have only mustered two out of five stars for this book.

I expected to be transported from one life to another and I wasn’t disappointed. The
story flows effortlessly from one setting or century to another and Mika and Jem always find each other in each life, even though they may each be very different from the previous life.
This is a really different read; sometimes sad; sometimes happy and always romantic.
I really loved the ending. Maybe there is more to life than we think!?
Very well worth reading

The synopsis of this book really drew me in, but unfortunately I found it very difficult to get into.

I liked the premise of this novel, a couple share dreams and realise they have met before in past lives. However, I did not connect with the characters as much as I wanted to.

This is an emotion wringing story. This is a difficult one to rate and write about as I know some people will read this and find it’s the best story of the year, and if you connect with the characters then that will be your go to, however if you struggle to get to grips with them, like I did you will see it’s a great story and well written, but sometimes you just don’t click, unlike the characters themselves. The overall story was great, it was just the characters that I struggled with at times.

I’m afraid that I couldn’t really connect with the characters and the storyline and gave up part way through the book. I had intended to have another try at becoming more involved in my reading but decided against wasting any more time

Jem and Mika are the hero's of our story, they share dreams, but why? That's the big mystery and it's fun finding out.

After a near death experience a lad called Jem craves an adventure what he didn't realise was the girl (lady) Mika he briefly meets at a dreams workshop is found to be, or is it was part of that adventure. Just like that last sentence dreams don't always make sense, but by the end of this novel all will become clear. It's a love story but no Mills and bloom thankfully 2 very different people with troubled pasts walk through life but all will.cgange after that one brief moment in a dream workshop.

So the storyline is very different to what I've read before and some wonderful characters that bring a life to this story. Mike and Jem are fascinating in many ways and their own stories withinthis one are gripping and absorbing at the same time. I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it to you. I really hope you enjoy it as well.

This was an emotional type of story but it failed to reach into me and I found it a tough read.It had a really good sounding premise of shared dreams/memories but over the periods of the their lives it was too repetitive for me to enjoy. The author has written this well but to make the love story complete you needed to believe in previous lives and meetings, which I am undecided over past events. I did not feel that this cleared my feelings of the future but added more confusion.

Two strangers share dreams. A lyrically written book and beautiful story. I loved the two main characters. Recommended.

Interesting premise which I thoroughly enjoyed until about halfway through when it started to become a bit rote and repetitive.
The writing is quite lovely in places, especially the magical realism sections.
Ultimately it reminded me of Sally Rooney’s Normal People, in that you get quite frustrated with the constant comings and goings of the protagonists who seem to separate abruptly for no obvious reason, before immediate reuniting, once again without any obvious reason.

Very different, a shared dream that unites two very different people. Theirs is an emotional journey across continents which asks the question of how do our lives connect.

When perfect strangers Mika and Jem first meet by chance, they recognise each other – not from life, but from a shared dream. Both are wary of forming new connections and have their demons to fight: Jem is in recovery from a near-fatal accident, and Mika is undocumented and under scrutiny from the authorities.
As their dreams – or are they memories? – grow in intensity, they are forced to consider the possibility that they have known and loved each other over and over, across the centuries. Will they find happiness together this time?
Moving from present-day London through eras and across continents, LIFE NUMBER NINE is an epic literary achievement and a groundbreaking love story.
A very emotional story that will rip your heart.
I was so engrossed in the book where I was not aware until the story end.