"And now I know why the prospect of being ordinary scared me so much: not because it's unpleasant, but because it's so easy."

Have you ever wondered what your life would look like if you had made a different choice, even if just a small one? Would you still have the same people in your life, or would you have journeyed down a different path altogether? These are some of the questions addressed in Jeng's debut novel, The Other Me.

Please note, this one does have an "other natural" explanation to it; I know it seems obvious from the synopsis, but I wouldn't want someone to get the wrong impression in thinking this would be a purely psychological gambit and have a realistic ending to resolve the plot.

Kelly is living her best life by her 29th birthday. She's pursued her passion in becoming an artist, and is currently a single, childless (by choice) woman who is supported by loving friends, and escaped the small town she grew up in. So why is it that, when walking through the door of the bathroom at her best friend's gallery showing, she ends up walking into another life? One where she never left Michigan, married a man that she went to high school with, and settled for a career she isn't passionate about?

As you can imagine, there's quite a bit of suspense surrounding many mysteries in this novel. Why and how did Kelly end up in this alternate life? How can she find her way back to her old life without alerting suspicion to her friends and family without them thinking she's mentally unstable? And why is her husband acting so strangely?

I love how we get to learn things as the main character does, and how memories play a large role in this book. I don't want to say too much, but this was a unique mystery to puzzle out. I did see where it was going fairly early on, but this didn't dampen my enjoyment at all. Well written, engaging, and particularly thought provoking about technology that doesn't seem all that futuristic in today's age, do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

The Other Me is a splash between Sci-Fi and thriller. In a fast past form, Kelly is living her fun life in Chicago, when all of a sudden, she is living the life of domestic suburban bliss in her hometown in Michigan. She isn't sure how she got here, but she is sure she she sure doesn't like it. Married to her highschool/college sweetheart Eric, she is bound and determined to find out the parallel between the connection of the two lives. She remembers Chicago, but no one remembers her. She can't figure out what is going on, but she knows Eric is being evasive. This is one heck of a book! Enjoy!

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro

The Other Me is a thrilling mystery with a touch of sci-fi that had me putting the pieces to this puzzle along with Kelly. The book begins with Kelly celebrating her birthday and Linnea’s, her best friend, gallery opening. Both events have Kelly stressed out. It’s her thirtieth birthday and she feels as if she hasn’t achieved the level of success as Linnea’s. Not feeling well, Kelly runs to the restroom and opens the door into another life.

This is when as a reader, I am as confused as the main character, and don’t know what just happened. My initial theories were: 1) Kelly fainted and her other life is a dream, 2) Kelly being an artist and living in Chicago is a dream, 3) Kelly has always been married to Eric, but somehow she’s been brainwashed, she could have even been the AI.

As the story progresses, things start to make sense as Kelly tries to unravel the mystery of her alternate life. She becomes more suspicious of Eric as she learns to read his overprotective and anxious personality. After Kelly takes a trip to Chicago, in the hopes of finding more about what happened to her, Eric questions where she goes or what she does, and installs a tracker on her. Kelly also starts having more and more déjà vu symptoms. Memories of her Chicago persona and her Michigan house wife reality begin to shift as she has memories of past events difficult to pin down.

When Kelly finally realizes what happened and how, she has slight second thoughts of staying in her current life. She is told that if the App that caused everything gets fixed, she won’t remember her alternate life and go along with the new one. I was worried she was going to stay with Eric even if he had cheated his way into her life. He loved her a little too much, so it was interesting to see how Kelly forgave him at the end. Once the time lines were restored, it did give Kelly the opportunity to take her life in a slightly different direction. She kept her dream of being a painter and accomplishing a career out of it, so it was nice to see her push herself to be better than before and take risks.

The Other Me is a thrilling book about what your life could have been like if you had said yes to that one person that asked you out in high school, or if you had gone to a different college than what you had intended. The slightest decision made differently can change everything in your future. Kelly experienced it and learned from it. Definitely recommend this book.

What would you do if you were a tattoed Artist living in Chicago one minute and then BOOM, now you're a glorified housewife in Michigan... WHO GOES ON RUNS?! 😮

I really, REALLY don't want to say too much about this one or it'll just give it all away so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Around page 80-something, I (weirdly) put a finger up ☝ and said outloud in my "haha" voice, _______ DID THIS! To fill in the blank, you'll have to read this story... and I really think you should!! Turns out I was right (no paparazzi please 🚫📸) and I was unreasonably happy that I was... and I really loved the intricacy of what was happening throughout the read.

I will say that sometimes it could feel a bit repetitive and there are definitely some plot holes but I don't mind creating fillers in my head for these. I also felt if this story stopped after Chapter 42, I would've been satisfied.... however, I really did enjoy that last chapter, some bowties are meant to be tied.

This is a fun, crackling type of read - if you love psychological thrillers with a bit of sci-fi then absolutely pick this one up. Hell, do it even if you don't. 😉

I received a gifted galley of THE OTHER ME by Sarah Zachrich Jeng for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

THE OTHER ME starts on Kelly’s 29th birthday, an evening she is spending at her best friend’s gallery opening in Chicago. An artist herself, Kelly is both happy for her friend and a little bit sad at her own lack of artistic success. When she begins to not feel well, Kelly decides to step outside. But walking through that door is not what she expected.

Suddenly Kelly is back in her hometown. Though single only moments before, now she is celebrating her 29th birthday with her husband and their extended family. As she tries to get her feet under her, she realizes she has memories of an entire life with this man Eric in addition to all of her memories of her single life in Chicago. Suspicious things keep happening and reality keeps warping, but Kelly is determined to figure out what is going on.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going into this one, but I was immediately hooked by the idea of Kelly’s alternate life. There were similarities between the timelines, but also differences that really made me think about what had happened. The author did a fantastic job of layering Kelly’s lives together. For example, in one life she was a vegetarian and in her other life a meat eater, now she must navigate having both of those preferences warring in her head at the same time.

This was a read full of twists and turns, many of which I did not see coming. I think the author did well at making something that was fairly complicated easily understood. Any lingering confusion made sense because our protagonist was equally confused! I thought she did a great job of bringing it to a very satisfying conclusion.

THE OTHER ME is perfect for those who enjoy an intriguing, mind twisting read and it is out today!

I started reading without thinking too much about the synopsis and that is exactly how I suggest you read it! While you know there is an element of alternative realities, the complexities and how they are navigated was well thought out and will take you by surprise. The storyline is very unique and so intriguing trying to decipher what has happened to the main character Kelly to suddenly question which version of her life is real. I was so invested in rooting for Kelly, who is a strong female lead not afraid of putting herself first. The thriller element was just the right about of suspenseful done in a non-cliche way. Deciphering who she can trust and how the story will unwind kept me guessing until the very end. I was hoping the story would not end in a predictable way and Sarah Zachrich Jeng did not disappoint. This was a read I just could not put down.

An interesting take on time travel and a bit confusing at times as time travel stories tend to be. I liked the spunk of the main character in dealing with her dilemma of an alternate life. A fast paced, fun read that I couldn’t put down.

The Other Me by Sarah Zachrich Jeng

Twenty nine year old Kelly's life is not perfect. She's a poor, struggling artist whose work doesn't sell, while her wealthy best friend's art career is thriving. Still, Kelly loves her life in Chicago, it's her life, built on her choices, and she'd not giving up on making it as an artist.

She's at her best friend's art show, when she walks through a door and POOF! That life is gone. Now she is graphic artist Kelly, who never took that scholarship to art school, who never met her best friend, who's art supplies have been left untouched for years, who is married to Eric, a high school nerd she'd barely knew in her other life.

Her tattoos are gone, she has conflicting memories of the exact same points of time, and Eric acts suspicious, distracted, nervous, and weird. She remembers nervous and weird Eric from her high school days but now she has memories of being attracted to him. Her memories of this life are there but they don't seem real, not as real as the life she thought she'd been living in Chicago. This life might be nice, Eric might be nice (although he makes her uncomfortable), but how can she tell anyone about this shocking change without them thinking she is crazy?

As Kelly searches for answers, even this new reality starts changing. Can she "fix" this? She knows time is running out because the old life is feeling even farther away and that's the life she doesn't want to lose. What does Eric have to do with this, how did he become the center of her life?

I was fascinated with this dilemma. We may not like everything about our lives but to have those lives erased for something "better", a better that someone else seems to choose for us, may not be what is best. I do think that the new life had way too many people cluttering up the story. We didn't need to meet so many of Eric's family members because they did nothing to move the story along.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

📕: The Other Me
✍️: Sarah Zachrich Jeng
🌟: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (round up from 3.5

📝Synopsis:
Have you ever wished you had a chance to live a different life? Or maybe you didn’t wish that, but you walked through a door and suddenly find yourself living a very different life. Kelly walks into an art gallery on her birthday as a single struggling artists who is estranged from her family, to suddenly she’s at a family birthday party and she’s married. But did Kelly really want this change?

✅📚Check Out This Book if you like:
•Slight Sci-Fi elements
•If you wonder the difference of what one conversation could make
•Strong and smart female characters
•Slight thriller vibes, that don’t get too crazy
•Redemption stories

💁🏻‍♀️💬 My Thoughts:
Very unique twist on a sliding glass doors type story. I also love the mix of sci-fi and thriller vibes you get in this modern day story. I love the idea of what you want out of life isn’t always what you need, I love the idea of second chances and reliving past mistakes and past things you would never change! Kelly has such an interesting story here and I while I did like seeing what happened in the end, I feel like Kelly still had a lot to figure out on what she wanted but I was happy with the choices she made!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley publishing for an e-arc in exhange for an honest review!

Sarah Zachrich Jeng's The Other Me is the authors debut novel. This book takes the perpetually interesting question of What if I could do it all over? and instead asks it from the point of view of a woman who got a do-over she didn’t ask for. This fresh, totally inventive novel twists the time-travel concept and makes sharp commentary on toxic masculinity and women’s choices—both the ones we make and the ones that are made for us. This books mixes mystery, suspense, with science fiction.

29-year-old Kelly Holter is eking out a living as an artist in Chicago hoping to one day be as big as her best friend Linnea. But during Linnea's Art Show, Kelly suddenly feels sick and walks into the bathroom. When she comes out, she's back in her hometown in Michigan, and married to a man named Eric Hyde who she knew in High School but chose to go to art school over the objections of her parents. Eric works for a mysterious company which has created a product known as GNII; Your wish, our command.

Over the course of the next 12 days, Kelly has to figure out why she has memories of both lives and who is responsible for screwing up her life. All she wants is to return to her former life, but as she starts developing memories of this current life, she has to face the possibility that that may never happen. As Kelly delves deeper into her investigation, she embarks on an unnerving and perilous journey in search of the truth. The book actually moves quite slow for my liking. There are things that you can put your finger on, but if you say you honestly know what is happening, you'll likely be wrong.

Then again, you'll likely to be correct. I honestly felt for Kelly. Here's she had her entire life ahead of her and maybe an career which she trained for, and is now living someone else's idea of what she's supposed to do with her life. For better or worst, I hated Eric. He was absolutely selfish. Everything he did was because he thought he could control another persons life and get what he wanted while making Kelly's more difficult than it needed to be.

This was an intense Sci-Fi thriller. It was a cross between Sliding Glass doors and Recursion.. Like Recursion, the main character is dealing with different timelines, and false memories. Similar to Sliding Glass doors with every decision made your life has the opportunity to branch out on a different path Where Recursion left me with a headache trying to make sense of everything, Jeng wrote this in a very digestible, easy to follow manner, which is much appreciated for someone who tends to shy away from sci-fi.

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself living an alternate version of your life? For Kelly this is what happens at her 29th birthday party. After using the restroom, she emerged into another version of her life. In this version she wasn’t a struggling artist in Chicago anymore but in Davis City, Michigan married to a man she had barely spoke to in high school. She doesn’t know which world is her real world. Is her Chicago life just a false memory, or is her life in Michigan the one that’s not real?

Afraid to tell anyone what she is going through, Kelly plays along as Eric’s wife. She soon learns that he is involved with a tech company that is working on a time machine. He is very sweet and attentive, but can also be controlling and somewhat manipulative. She can’t shake the feeling he is the reason for her dual timeline. Confusing matters, she has memories of love for him and feels inexplicably drawn to him. Desperate to find answers, Kelly looks for clues to her dilemma and finds evidence that Eric might be who caused this. She could just be endangering herself by playing along with this alternate life.

I liked that Jeng wrote Kelly as a strong female character. It was more important to her that she live life on her own terms and make her own choices instead of being “taken care of”. Jeng wrote the characters balanced so even characters that could be deemed evil had redeeming qualities. I really enjoyed the resolution in the book because it wasn’t cliche or predictable. I recommend adding this to your TBR immediately!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Books for gifting me a digital copy of the wonderful debut novel by Sarah Zachrich Jeng - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Kelly is happily single, living in Chicago and trying to make it in the art world. On her 29th birthday, she's attending a gallery show of her best friend's work when she opens up the bathroom door and finds herself back in her Michigan hometown, the guest at a surprise birthday party thrown for her by her family and her husband, Eric, a boy from her high school. Knowing that she would sound totally crazy if she told anyone, she quietly slips into this new life while at the same time trying to understand what happened. Where did her tattoos go? Why in this life didn't she go to art school? Which life is really hers?

While I'll happily watch Star Trek for hours, sci-fi books are a hit or miss for me but this one really captivated me and transported me into a different world (pun definitely intended). This is intriguing sci-fi without things being technical and making your brain hurt. This is a glimpse into what would happen if we chose different paths in life or if different paths were chosen for us. I think this is one best gone into sort of blind to add to the mysterious, blurry world feeling. Fabulous debut and I can't wait to read more from this author!

Whattttttttttttttttt? This book blew my mind. I am going to keep this review very short because I don't want to spoil anything. I went in blind and I suggest that you do too.
Kelly is celebrating her 29th birthday at her friend's art show in Chicago when she starts to feel faint. She heads to the bathroom and blinks and she's in an alternate universe. She's at her birthday party, in her hometown, with her husband. A husband she barely recognizes as a kid she went to high school with.
Kelly has memories of both lives fighting each other for purchase in her brain and she is desparate to find out what happened to her and just wants to get back to her real life. But what is her real life?
Will she be able to just leave her friends and husband behind when she figures out what happened?
I enjoyed this book because one of my favorite and most watched movies is Sliding Doors. Kelly knows exactly where her life splits off too. She knows it is on her 17th birthday. It was where her course changed. She remembers Eric, her now husband, asking her out and in one life she says yes, and in the other one she brushes him off.
I had no idea what was happening. Literally no idea what the explaination would be for this happening. The story had me captivated from the beginning and I needed to know what happened.
Thank you to Sarah Zachrich Jeng, Netgalley and Berkley for an early copy!

This was such a unique and interesting story. It started off with big The Family Man vibes (one of my favorite movies) but then took a turn and was actually very different!

29 year old Kelly is a single artist in Chicago, when on her birthday ends up going through a door and winding up in her hometown in Michigan, married to Eric who she started dating 12 years ago. She has memories from both timelines and can’t understand what is going on.

I read this story in a day because I couldn’t put it down. I was so curious what happened and what was going to happen. The ending was very satisfying. I loved the inclusion of all the secondary characters and trying to figure out who Kelly could trust.

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

I’m struggling to write this because I really didn’t care much for this overall, but there were parts that were worth the read. Part “sliding doors” and part “butterfly effect” this is the story of Kelly, a 29 year old artist who goes to her best friends art show and steps outside into…
Kelly is a suburban housewife married to her high school sweetheart and while she’s at her surprise birthday party she starts having “flashbacks “ of a life in Chicago that may or may not have happened.
She tries to fissure out which life is real, or are they both real at the same time? If so, how can that happen? Her husband knows more than he is telling her, but why?
In theory this sounds kinda interesting, but tbh I wanted to DNF several times, and had I now been buddy reading, I probably would have. I’m sure this will be a hit with certain audiences, but not with me.
Thanks to Berkley Publishers and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review

Ahhhh I absolutely LOVED the writing in rhis book!!! The thing I love most in a book is great writing. I love that when I have to do real life stuff, I’m thinking about what’s happening in the book and I’m desperate to know what happens next! That’s this book. I typically don’t read sci-fi types of books but this one grabbed me by the face and I loved every second of it! Ms. Jeng is now on my list of auto buy authors! I’m so excited to see what she writes next!!!

The Other Me was a quick, sometimes suspenseful read, that ultimately fell flat for me. On her 29th birthday, Kelly suddenly finds herself in a different version of her life. Rather than being an artist in Chicago, she lives in her Michigan hometown, married to a man, she barely knew in high school. Although Eric adores her, Kelly knows that this is not her life and is desperate to get back. Determined to get to the bottom of the unexpected switch, Kelly attempts to learn more about the mysterious gnii, a tech startup where Eric's best friend Peter works, and to discover if any shred of her Chicago life remains.

Jeng's premise is unique and a lot can be said for the exploration of free will, particularly how Kelly's has been taken away. But overall, the story seemed silly and repetitive. Kelly spends so much time in her head, wondering which of her memories she can trust and whether or not she can love Eric. The explanation of gnii's technology is dubious at best and ridiculous at worst (an AI that taught itself to build a wormhole AND invent time travel?!). Some elements were predictable and some seemed to come out of nowhere. Some readers will enjoy this thriller, but it was a miss for me.

What a fantastic read! The Other Me is everything a book should be-- transportive, thought-provoking, and beautifully narrated. This book stayed with me long after I read it and made me reflect on the choices I have made as well.

Kelly enjoys her freedom and lifestyle in the big city as an artist. Then she walks through a door and she’s in a different life.. married to a guy she kind of remembers from high school. She doesn’t know what happened but she has alternating memories of the last twelve years.

I liked this book because it’s science fiction but not too in-depth. If you are new to sci-fi or you don’t want to worry about your brain hurting trying to figure out the jargon and physics, this would be a good read! I did have a few issues with the ending, but it was still very satisfying. I didn’t love all the characters, but the plot was so engaging I was still all in!

“I need to find out what happened to me. To know for sure if this is real or all in my head. And if it’s real, then I want to know who did it to me.”

I think this will be a good book for others, but the "big twist" wasn’t really what I was hoping for..

Kelly is attending her best friend’s art opening on her 29th birthday when suddenly, she walks through a door and into an entirely different life. Now she’s married to Eric, a man she barely knew in high school, and is back in her hometown. The memories from both of her lives begin to merge, and things keeps getting stranger. With no idea what happened, she tries to find a way back to her old self. But Eric may not be what he first seemed…

There was a lot that I liked about this book. I think the mystery was done pretty well, and while some parts of it were predictable, there were other twists that genuinely took me by surprise. The desire to find out what happened was really what kept me turning pages. I also was interested in Kelly’s life, but really only the one she led in Chicago. Which is where the first problems came in for me.

Right after the switch happened, everything was fast-paced and suspenseful, until suddenly it wasn’t. I really wanted to know about artist-in-Chicago Kelly more than married-in-a-small-town-Kelly. Her “investigative” period was very drawn out, and there wasn’t enough happening to really keep me focused on the story. But, somewhere after the halfway point, things picked back up again.

My second issue was the “big reveal.” To be fair, I don’t think it was bad exactly, it just wasn’t the most original (which is all I can say without spoiling anything). I was hoping for something new and unique, but didn’t get it. And at the end I was still a little confused about how exactly Kelly ended up living two lives. I think the resolution/explanation needed a little bit more depth, and then maybe the whole thing would have come together better.

Then there was Eric. I just hated the man, and even at the beginning his relationship with Kelly was unhealhty. I think that was the point, but it really bothered me how much Kelly put up with from him. Especially since this wasn’t even her “real life,” I kept waiting for her to get fed up and just leave. Like I said, I don’t think we were supposed to like him, so he was written well. But I felt the need to complain about him, just for the record.

Finally I will say that there ends up being a relationship between a high schooler and, essentially, much older adult (you’ll understand why I say “essentially” after reading). I don’t think it was romanticized, but it still gave me the creeps, just as a heads-up to other readers.

If you’re someone who is more about the journey than the destination, I think this will be a good book for you.

Rating: 3.5/5
Pacing: fast beginning/end, slow middle
Intended audience: Adult
Content warnings: manipulation, toxic relationship, murder, inappropriate minor/adult relationship