Published by Random House on March 12, 2019

If, Then is populated by an ensemble cast of people who want to change their lives. The title suggests possibilities: if this happens, then that will happen. Bu it also suggests the counterfactual: if this had not happened, then other things might have happened instead of the things that did happen. If Cass had not forgotten her birth control pills on a camping weekend, then she would be finishing her dissertation instead of changing diapers. Our lives are filled with might be and what might have been, as the residents of a neighborhood discover.

Dr. Ginny McDonnell is married to Mark, a biologist with Fish and Wildlife. They have a young son named Noah. Ginny might be losing interest in Mark, or she might be gaining an interest in a female co-worker. Her confusion does not stop her from exploring the possibility of a physical relationship with another woman. Might that be what she needs, instead of (or in addition to) Mark?

Mark is a researcher who believes frog behavior can predict volcanic eruptions. Research for his funding is likely to be discontinued. He has been behaving strangely since he thought he saw himself, but older, in the woods (perhaps the self he might become?). Mark has taken it into his head to build a bunker, something like a fallout shelter, to protect his family from harm, including an unlikely volcanic eruption. Unsurprisingly, he causes harm in his desire to prevent it.

Samara has moved from Seattle to take up temporary residence in Ginny’s neighborhood. She has been helping with her mother’s real estate business since her mother died on Ginny’s operating table. Samara blames Ginny for the death, unfairly in the view of Samara’s father, who surprises Samara with news about his plans that his mother made and that he intends to execute. Her father’s plan leaves Samara with a choice about her future.

One of Samara’s listings is the home of Robby Kells, on whom Ginny performs life-saving surgery after he drank himself into a coma. Cass is the new neighbor of Ginny and Samara. She’s caring for a newborn while her husband Amar is on a research trip. Cass is writing a dissertation on counterfactual (if, then) statements. Kells is an authority on counterfactuals and served as Cass’ advisor before he ended up in the hospital. Kells thought Cass had the potential to be a gifted philosopher. Can she get that back? Cass believes her skill at abstract thinking vanished with childbirth, replaced by the endless distractions of breastfeeding, diapers, and baby monitors.

So where’s the plot in all this? Some of the story borders on the supernatural. Mark sees himself more than once. Samsara thinks she sees her mother in the front yard, but younger and not dead. And then there’s the mystery of the house that Samsara’s mother purchased without telling Samsara.

Most of the plot, however, consists of related domestic drama. The story is about connections: what we know and don’t know about our neighbors and family members. And obviously, the story is about choices, options pursued and options foregone. The story challenges the reader to look at life as a series of choices: If I do this, then I can’t do that, but maybe I can do that later. We cannot plan everything that will happen in our lives because life is too complex, too full of variables we cannot anticipate. Feelings change. People die. Shit happens. All we can know with certainty is that the future is uncertain. Possibilities, which perhaps can only be understood through counterfactuals, are infinite. Maybe they all exist in an unseen multiverse, but the possibilities that matter are those that we experience, possibilities that become fact.

While some aspects of the story are interesting, others are puzzling. Is Mark’s obsession with shelter construction evidence of precognition? Unexplained ghosts/duplicate people/time shifts appear throughout the story for no reason that I could discern. The most plausible theory, a cross-over of our perceived universe with some part of the multiverse that we don’t usually perceive, is too contrived to be convincing. Even some parts of the story that correspond to reality struck me as problematic. Are we supposed to agree with Ginny when she suspects she made a mistake by pursuing a career as a surgeon instead of staying home with her kid? Are we supposed to think that fathers should not play a primary parenting role because Mark is reckless and unbalanced? People must make choices in their lives but so must authors, and I didn't understand some of the choices that Kate Hope Day made.

It is difficult to care about the characters, except for Kells, who makes only brief appearances. The characters are largely whiny and self-absorbed. While that might be an accurate portrayal of most people, Day gave me too little reason to want to read about them.

Still, the novel held my interest, even if building a novel around the counterfactual is more interesting in concept than in execution. Day is a capable prose stylist. I didn’t dislike If, Then, but I didn’t like it well enough to give it an unqualified recommendation.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

We all play the If, Then game. You know the one: If I had...then.... Somtimes we envision results from minor situations such as If I had not eaten so much at dinner, Then my dress wouldn’t be so tight. Sometimes we fantasize about major events in our lives such as: If I had gone to law school, Then I would be a rich successful lawyer today. But ultimately we put If Then aside and return to reality.
But what if reality becomes difficult to determine? What if the visions we ponder in the If, Then game seems to become real? Kate Hope Day in her novel, If, Then, explores the idea of parallel or alternative realities.
Kate introduces us to four neighbors living on the same cul de sac in Clearing, Oregon. Ginny is a skilled surgeon, dedicated to her work, ponders an affair with a coworker as an escape from her failing marriage.
Mark, Ginny’s husband, is an eco scientist, who has become overwhelmed by visions of mass destruction and detestation. These premonitions have consumed his life.
Neighbor Samara deeply mourns the death of her mother, wonders why her father is so easily adapting. When she sees a younger healthy manifestation of her mother, she begins to question what it is that she really knows.
Cass, the fourth neighbor, is a brilliant scholar and new mother. As she prepares to return to her promising research she is troubled by her recurring vision of herself pregnant again. The visions are troubling to her.
And then there is the volcano. Clearing, Oregon has a dormant volcano.
Kate Hope Day gives us a story of possibilities. Is there a theoretical universe? Are four neighbors connected in other ways? Is the volcano awakening? Kate Hope Day’s attention to detail makes the book a mind bendy, time twisty, all to real speculative drama. This book may not be enough for hardcore sci-fi aficionados but those of us who have spent a few minutes applying If, Then to our own lives, this is a story that lets us believe in the unbelievable. I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #IfThen

This is a mesmerizing view of trying to examine all versions of our selves and the role we play in the world with each of those selves.

I love the premise of this story. I have never seen Sliding Doors but I welcome any story or media that portrays that same ambiance. What if you could see into an alternate reality and what would this do to you and the people surrounding you? How would it change how you look at your life? I liked how she wrote her characters and its what kept driving me towards the end. I'm not sure I loved this book but it was worth the read. The premise alone is so beautiful that you feel compelled to continue reading.

I thought the story and write-up was boring. But thanks to the publisher for the ARC and all the best to the author.

Well goodness, this book was a fun little ride! I was not expecting to have so much fun with a parallel-universe type book (not usually my genre), but the characters were so delightful and it was fun to imagine yourself in this scenario.

The premise of this story is intriguing. Although I feel it could have gone more in depth, I enjoyed reading about each of the characters and their parallel realities.

I love a good parallel realities story (think Maybe in Another Life and Sliding Doors). If, Then follows residents of a sleepy Oregon town as they begin to have visions of what might have been, I FLEW through this book (at just 250 pages it wasn't a chore to get through), but I left feeling disconnected the characters and, ultimately, the story. I still found it worth reading, it just wasn't a favorite.

I was mostly confused, which was very sad considering how much I looked forward to reading this. I was never sure what was happening or why. I did finish, to see if I could figure out what was happening, but this novel was just okay.

I really had high hopes for this book. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. The book held my attention, but it wasn’t always easy to follow. It was a unique premise for a book though!

I received an ARC of this book in return for my unbiased opinion.

The residents of Clearing, Oregon have started having visions of alternate realities every time the earth tremors. Mark keeps seeing a version of himself who seems dirty, wild-eyed, and crazy, as though something terrible is going to happen. Ginny, Mark’s wife and a surgeon, sees visions of living a life with Edith, a nurse friend, instead of Mark. Samara, their neighbor, sees visions of her recently deceased mother alive and healthy. Cass, another neighbor who took a break from her graduate studies to give birth to Leah, sees visions of herself pregnant.

This story was definitely unique. It was easy to get sucked in once I started reading the story, but the ending left me unsatisfied. I’m not really sure what I expected for closure, but I don’t feel like I got it. Despite the aspect of multiple universes, this book is more of a character drama than a science fiction novel.

3.5 stars

A group of neighbors, friends, and coworkers in a small Oregon town live quietly in the shadow of a dormant volcano. Or do they? A series of strange occurrences lead the characters to consider alternate lives for themselves. If Ginny never married Mark, then...

Unlike several books I have read recently, the characters in Kate Hope Day's debut novel feel entirely realistic and the connections and interactions between them are organic. I look forward to reading Kate Hope Day's next novel.

I received this book free from NetGalley/Random House in exchange for an honest review.

I very much enjoyed imagining & reading the character's parellel lives. Although I'm not typically a fan of the science fiction genre, the premise of the book piqued my interest & curiousity so I'm happy to have requested & read this book and look forward to reading and discussing it with one of my book clubs this year.

This is a lovely meditation on the possibilities of the multiverse and the incalculable potential lives we all lead. Told through the stories of a group of neighbors in Oregon living under the shadow of a volcano, Day's storylines weave in and out of different timelines and paths. Each neighbor has visions of what might happen--or be happening--in their lives in alternate universes, and the entanglements of their lives and visions propels them into new beginnings, new outlooks, and new ideas. A doctor sees herself falling in love and living with a coworker; her husband sees himself as a homeless, unstable ex-academic; a woman who has left academia and had a baby sees herself with different children and careers. The book is elegantly and often beautifully written, and the characters--and their different selves--are well-drawn and developed. This would be perfect for book clubs and groups of friends to read together.

If, Then is a beautifully written speculative fiction novel that seamlessly weaves domestic drama with science fiction, philosophy, and parallel universes. Seems like it would be a rather large undertaking that would end up unfulfilled, but Day excelled. It is a relatively short novel that provides a look into the lives of neighboring families, alternating between points of view.

The novel pivots around time, which was confusing at first but Day was able to make it work. Soon, I was following the story without issue. The main characters have depth and each have their own backstory that is properly fleshed out enough for the novel to flow well. For instance, Samara's grief over her recently deceased mother is tangibly real - I was definitely able to relate.

This one left me wanting more from Kate Hope Day.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you #katehopeday for #ifthen!

If, Then is a short, quiet novel--but it's also a fascinating one. I wish If, Then had gotten more attention because it's absolutely wonderful.

Set in a fictional town near a (also fictional) presumably dormant volcano in the Pacific Northwest, If, Then posits that we live multiple lives in multiple ways at the same time (aka multiverse) and has her characters get a glimpse into these other lives--some better, some worse--as the volcano starts to rumble. What's interesting is that for two of the main female characters, it offers pleasant changes from their current lives (in one, a different partner, in other, the return of a lost loved one), while the main male character sees nothing but pain and suffering.

But who I really want to talk about is Cassandra (who is so perfectly named) -- a one time graduate student who stopped work on her philosophy dissertation because of her newborn daughter, Leah. Cassandra wants to start working on her dissertation again, but she can't find a way back into her work on the study of a unifying theory of everything.

Then, a note from her former mentor--who is ill in every varation of every mc's life--one that leaves a clue that has her negotiating what seems to be the same place as everyone else (it isn't) while seeing "flashes" of herself as somehow pregnant again but with no sign of her daughter.

By the end, Cassandra has found a way back into her dissertation and feels content with the idea of the multiverse and how it works, imagining (actually seeing) a bunch of different babies in her arms as she reflects on the area volcano being monitored for signs of a one day maybe erruption, to how everything is connected, how happy her family is and makes her, and contentedly falls asleep to the sounds of their breathing.****

Also by the end--the two other female mcs have lived through the volcano errupting (but not in a major way, largely infrastructure loss with only a few deaths) but also decided to understand what they want and can have and to go for it. For the male mc, Mark--well, he doesn't end up as tragic as the "other" self he sees, but he still can't see the folly of trying to keep fate/change/whatever you want to call it at bay. If, Then falters in Mark's sections because it tries to make a point that eludes itself. (Which might have been the point, but it doesn't gel as a sense of anything except overwrought in a novel that's otherwise very well calibrated)

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The last bit, with Cassandra--she's dead, right? Alive in the other characters' existence, but as a new mom to a baby boy and no signs of going back to school--her theory of everything only exists in a place where it will never be seen. She, Cassandra, has a truth no one will hear.

And I love that! It's just so well done. And if you've read it, what did you think happened to Cassandra?

I always find alternate reality stories intriguing; after all, who hasn't thought of the proverbial fork in the road and wondered how different their lives would be if they made a different decision? What would it be like to find out just how different things would be? Would you regret it?

While alternate realities are a part of If, Then, it turns out the story is not so much an exploration of the road not traveled so much as it is a story about the line between alternate realities blurring. It is about seeing an alternate self and wondering how and why your lives differ. It is trying to make sense of the differences and questioning whether your alternate self is happier. It is about the choices we consciously make and those we don't recognize as choices but which impact our lives all the same.

I loved Kate Hope Day's If, Then. It is intelligent but approachable. It is clever, with an ending that took me by surprise even though I thought I knew how the story was going to end. It is supremely well-written, balancing characters and drama with the right blend of development for each. The novel itself is not very long, but Ms. Day makes excellent use of each word to extract the full amount of world and character building necessary for understanding and connection. I just wish it was making more of a splash among readers because it is so creative and an excellent overall read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Beautifully written. Lovely story about the different paths our lives can take based on our choices. I enjoyed the journey...would have liked a little more in the ending, but overall, thoroughly enjoyed.

An interesting story of a set of neighbours that have been having strange experiences (seeing deceased family members or even encountering versions of themselves), seemingly triggered by minor volcanic activity in the region of Clearing, Oregon. We follow the stories of Cass, a grad student who is dealing with new motherhood; Samara, who is grieving her mother; Mark, a professor who worries that a disaster is imminent; and Ginny, a surgeon who begins to wonder if she is with the wrong person. We shift between these neighbours, as they grapple to understand these strange experiences and whether they are living their best lives. A quick read that kept my attention.

Thanks to the author, Random House, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I requested this book because I am a sucker for sci-fi, parallel universe plot lines, and because the publisher is comparing this book to Little Fires Everywhere, one of the best books I’ve read in the last few years.

Unfortunately, this book did not work for me. In trying to be both a character drama and maintain this sci-fi, parallel universe-type plot, the book did not really succeed at either. I enjoyed Ginny's character and story but not Mark's; I enjoyed Cass's character and story but not Samara's. The fact that Ginny's story and Cass's story were being told in two different worlds was, ultimately, more of an afterthought that should have been developed and explored to a much greater degree. Finally, I’m unsure what the book was trying to say. Seize the day? Take time to consider if you're living your best life and change it if you're not? I got the sense an argument was being made, but it remained just out of reach.