The Other Year by Rea Frey

Thank you @netgalley @harpermusebooks for this ARC releasing August 15, 2023.

This book starts off with single mom Kate and her daughter, Olivia, enjoying their first day at the beach during their annual vacation. After a moment of distraction, Kate briefly loses sight of Olivia playing in the ocean. The book then splits into two timelines: one where Olivia is safe, and another where she drowns.
One timeline follows Kate navigating raising her daughter and all the trials that come along with it, while searching for a love of her own. The other is a difficult to read timeline of loss and grief, and slowly rediscovering a new life after such a devastating loss.
I don't consider myself someone with triggers when it comes to books, as a mom with a young daughter, this was very difficult to get through the loss timeline. This book was a heartbreaking and tear-jerking tale of love and grief, and a reminder to not take your life and loved ones for granted. This is a heavy read but I definitely recommend it.

5 stars! I started this book a couple of weeks ago, and for some reason it just wasn’t the right time for me to read it. I picked it up again today and devoured it. Told in 2 timelines, one in which Kate and her daughter go on a trip to the sea, and return home together, the other her 9 year old daughter Liv, drowns. Each chapter alternates and in each their is love, and heartache, and some grief. I loved Liv’s sense of humor, and felt Kate’s struggles. This was an emotional read, but a very satisfying one in the end! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. It was my pleasure to read this book.

This is the first book I have read by Rea Frey. This was a very emotional book. This story is based in a parallel timeline takes you down 2 paths. 1 Path is when Kate and Olivia go to the beach and Kate is answering a text, she takes her eye off of 9 year old Olivia, when Olivia goes into the water and ends up drowning. The other path is that Olivia resurfaces above the water and Kate is able to save her. Both stories are told and what happens over the next year. Where will they end up. This was a very good story but if you have kids this is very emotional. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

The other year By Rea Frey set to be published on August 15th 2023.
This story basically is focused on dual timelines. A story about love and loss, grief and healing and the what ifs if things have happened differently, if you didn’t turn awAy for that brief moment. If we could go back in time and change the course of our actions.
Not the first book I’ve read of Rea Frey and definitely will not be the last one.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this one early and submit a honest review.

I personally have a hard time with time travel type books so was hesitant to read this one. I have to say the author did a great job with the dual time lines. There was no problem knowing what time line you were in.

This is a very heavy book dealing with the death of a child t, and that is just something I think will skip in the future. I have to be honest, being a mother is was made me feel for the main character. I can't imagine the pain if losingachild, but I honestly couldn't connect with this book otherwise. I just really didn't like anyone and didn't feel any real connections with the romantic story lines.

So for me this was just an ok book.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

On day one of her two week vacation with daughter Liv, Kate is destroyed when she doesn’t see her sweet head pop back up from the ocean. Heart pounding out of her chest, she breathes a sigh of relief when finally Olivia surfaces. But what is she hadn’t? Suddenly Kate’s life is split into two very different paths and we follow along as each leads her down a different road.

I always love Rea Frey’s books so I had high expectations going into this one. What I can safely say is not only did this book meet those expectations, but it will tug on all your heart strings and emotions. I can not imagine the pain of a parent after losing their child, and the chapters in that “world” just tore me apart. On the flip side, we see the struggles of being a single mom, and having a “there when he wants to be” second parent. This book is definitely a tale of “what if” and I just loved every second.

Thanks to Suzy Approved Book Tours and Harper Muse for the copy of this book!

A sliding door story told in parallel alternate timelines that will leave you choked up and holding your kids a little tighter and longer. In one timeline, Kate's daughter Olivia drowns in the ocean while Kate is on her phone. In the other, Olivia survives.

This is hard subject matter and every parent's worst nightmare, but it is done so well. It's an exploration of "what if" and how small moments can make a big impact. It definitely had me thinking through how I live my life and is a concept that will stay with me for awhile.

Highly recommend the audio of this one - Brittany Pressley is one of my favorite narrators!

This book was very different. It is a book about the lose of a child. But it is also a book of what happens if the child lives. It is written in parallel timelines. After the first chapter I was confused. I then had to read the synopsis again to realize about the different timelines. Kate is the single mom and Liv is her daughter. They have that mother-daughter relationship that you have with a 9 year old. But when the unthinkable happens and Liv drowns in the ocean, that story is sad. It takes you on the journey of a heartbroken Mom dealing with her grief. The other timeline deals with Kate and Liv and their journey. Liv's father wants to also have a relationship with his daughter. He has been away working and hasn't been available much. Then there is the guy best friend who lost his wife a couple years ago. He wants to be more than friends. This book is very well written. It will have you crying and laughing and hoping that Kate can find herself after her terrible loss. I would recommend this book.
Thanks to #netgalley, #harpermuse and @reafreyauthor for an ARC of this book

First, thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Other Year is like the darker sister to Taylor Jenkins Reid's Maybe in Another Life (probably my favorite book of hers). Both hinder on two choices in one single moment, showing the difference in outcomes from each option. In The Other Year, the single moment is a parent's nightmare- the fear of losing a child. The novel jumps back and forth between the two options stemming from that moment. One, the frightened mother can't spot her duaughter in the ocean, but luckily soon finds her and ends their beach day early. The other, her daughter never resurfaces and drowns.
I really enjoyed how the author portrays each scenario, the good and the bad, and how the main character finds her destiny out of each circumstance. Well written, thought provoking, and touching read.

The Other Year examines parenting and the loss of a child in a rapid fire way that's sure to draw attention -good and bad!
Look, I'm a trade blogger having read well over 3k books as a speed reader and for me this book didn't quite make the mark for a variety of reasons.
The most prominent issue for me was in character development and lack thereof, in which I didn't feel anything for the emotions that were being displayed.
The romance felt forced with multiple men that became more tedious than enjoyable.
The ending felt too much like the, "Dating Show" in which two of the three were eliminated with one hopeful left to choose from and just didn't do it for me.
Thanks to Rea Frey, the pub, Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Oh my gosh this was so heart wrenching! Following Kate’s life through two possible paths was such an incredible premise. I haven’t read anything like it. As a mother who has lost a child it was tough at times but also relatable. Good job on giving believable emotions.

This book was tearing me up. Absolutely heartwrenching. It was a really good book, but not one that I will re-read.

This is one of the most unique books I have read. It is about a mother and daughter, Kate and Olivia. It has two parallel timelines. Some may remember Sliding Doors, a movie from about 20 years ago that shows the effect of one moment or action on the rest of one's life. That moment in this book occurs when Olivia goes into the ocean for a swim. In one scenario, she has her swim and comes out. In the other, she drowns.

The story is told in alternating chapters. A little confusing for a bit, but the reader will get the hang of it quickly.

There is a lot of emotion in this story. It may be triggering for anyone that has lost a child.

Each storyline has its ups and downs. Grief is a huge factor in one. The other storyline has the issue of a precocious but bratty and entitled child. I'm being judgmental but that is how I feel about Olivia. Kate gets a lot of support in both timelines from a great mother, an amicable ex-husband and a male best friend.

The book has a great premise and it is presented well. Kate and Olivia’s characters are well developed. And, therein lies my problem. I did not like either one of them. Olivia is a brat and Kate does not seem to handle her well. I have other issues with Kate but to include it would create a spoiler. In other books, characters are sometimes portrayed in such a way that the reader is not supposed to like them. I don't think this is the case in this book. It's just my personal opinion. Because of this, I can only give it a 3 star rating.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One single moment could change an entire life trajectory. Kate has booked a beach getaway for her, her 9 year old daughter, Olivia, Kate's long-time friend and current crush, Jason with his daughter. While watching Olivia playing in the ocean during an impromptu swim, Kate is momentarily distracted by a surprising text message from her ex-husband. When she looks up Olivia has vanished. What would she do if Olivia drowned? In one scenario, Olivia instantly reemerges from beneath the wave playing and smiling . In the other, she doesn't. In a sliding-doors story Kate's year plays out drastically different as each scenario unfolds. She must traverse a dicey relationship with her ex, a budding romance with her best friend and career shift all either with or without her daughter.
I am a massive fan of Rea Frey and this gripping and heart breaking story doesn't disappoint.
It unfolds in a dual time line as Kate's life carries on as usual (with her daughter) or is shifted forever (losing her daughter). The unique written style was a little confusing at first but easy to follow as the story progresses. I did struggle with Kate's relationship with Jason, it felt a bit flat and forced, the back story of his late wife and adopted daughter felt a bit convoluted and would have like to have seen that done differently. Overall this is an enjoyable novel.

The Other Year is Rea Frey's latest book and while I didn't find it as suspenseful as her past books, it still had a strong emotional family pull in BOTH storylines. You read that right. TWO storylines.

The Other Year is about a single mother that vacations with her daughter at the same place each year. We get two parallel stories of what could've happened when not being 100% present for 5 seconds and the outcomes are very very different. Seeing Kate grapple with grief, love, loss, moving on, how she handles the people in her life under the different circumstances all has her growing and learning from what life has thrown at her.

While this story had a very prominent emotional pull for me with some serious subject matter, I didn't feel as connected to the characters and what they were going through. It seemed just matter of fact. It did take me a little while to get through it and I feel that had to do with being a mother and needing to take breathers from the actual story. But in the end, I didn't really connect with the deep seated emotional aspects because I wasn't FEELING it. It was just there on the page, but not making me be pulled into the story.

Even though I didn't fully feel all the emotions I was meant to feel, I did like the uniqueness of parallel lives being lived within one story (although ironically enough, this is the second book this summer I've read like that). I think the content of the parallel lives was well thought out and it helped engage the reader and the way life can work out after 5 seconds changing your life forever.

Overall, I liked the idea of the book and also enjoyed the side characters of both storylines, but still didn't absolutely love the story as a whole. I just wanted to FEEL more rather than be told. It lost me there, but had great potential to be more if I connected with Kate and her struggles.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for the copy of The Other Year by Rea Frey. I have read and enjoyed the domestic drama books by Frey, and this one was labeled as women’s fiction, so it was a little different. I was intrigued by the idea of the book but I’m not sure it met its promise.
The two realities format was confusing at first and they kind of melded together for me. You don't know which was real and which was the alternate reality timeline but finding out didn’t have as much of an impact as it could have. Maybe I’m not part of the intended audience but while I found one reality sad it didn’t really affect me emotionally. I actually loved each reality separately and thought they could have been two different books because the writing style engaged me in the stories. If you’re looking for a well-written book with a unique (but sad) premise you should check out this book. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I loved this book! I love this Author! Rea has an amazing ability to weave together characters and tell amazing stories.

4 stars

The Other Year by Rea Frey is a novel that explores loss in a very real way. The main character, Kate, is a single mother who loses her only daughter, Olivia. Olivia drowns on the first day of what was supposed to be a fun summer vacation. As the plot progresses there are two main storylines. One storyline explores love and loss and how one proceeds after a tragic drowning. The other storyline proceeds and explores what would life have been like if Olivia had not drown. What an interesting premise! At the end of the novel there are discussion questions that could be used for a very interesting book club . Overall, this book will be given 4/5 stars due to the somewhat confusing beginning of the book where I did not think it was clear as to what was happening. Thank you to NetGalley, Rea Frey, and Harper Muse Publishing for allowing me to read and review this worthwhile novel.

In every life there comes a moment which defines us. We meet someone, we miss a
bus or a train with life changing results. In this case Kateloses sight of her
nine year old daughter Olivia for a second, and she drowns.

The entire story devolves from this moment told in two different frames - what
if Olivia bounced back, and then she did not. It wasa slightly unnerving read,
what happenedto Kate as a result of the drowning, and what happens if life goes
on as normal for Kate as a single mother, having an ex husband plus two men friends
interested in her.

The trauma,the emotions in each alternate scenario were heartbreaking, normal, like a
roller coaster. good reading.

Wow! This book was different from any book I have read. It is told in two timelines, one in which Kate's daughter Olivia lives and one in which she doesn't. We see all the emotions Kate goes through in both timelines. As a mom, this book broke my heart in multiple places! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.