The Other Year by Rea Frey is a deeply moving novel that explores a mother's worst fear. The story follows the main character, Kate Baker, whose life is split into two parallel paths after a single, heart-stopping moment at the beach. In one reality, her daughter Olivia is pulled under by a wave and drowns. In the other, Olivia reappears from the water moments later, safe.

The book takes readers on an emotional journey, chronicling the vastly different ways Kate's life unfolds over the next year. You feel Kate's raw grief, fear, and profound sickness in the timeline where she loses her daughter, and the everyday joys, challenges, and memories in the timeline where her daughter lives. Rea Frey does an impeccable job of bringing both narratives to a satisfying conclusion, allowing the reader to decide which ending feels most true.

This novel is an incredibly insightful and thought-provoking read that will stay with you long after you've finished the last page. It’s a powerful reminder to cherish the life you have and to love harder and play longer, because these are the memories that truly matter. It's an excellent choice, especially for mothers who will find this story both relatable and unforgettable.

Audio Review: Brittany Pressley is an amazing narrator and was the perfect voice to bring this story to life! I'd highly recommend this audiobook for anyone looking for an inspiring and emotional story.

Can the entire course of a life be traced back to a single moment?

This book is very emotional. Single mom, Kate Baker, and her nine year old daughter, Liv, are on vacation when tragedy happens. While at the beach Kate takes her eyes off of Liv for just a few minutes and then she can't find her in the water. After a tense search her body is recovered.

The story is told in two story lines, the first Liv has drowned and Kate tries to carry on with her life. In the other story line Liv is fine and life goes on as normal. Except for the romantic stuff going on in Kate's life. Her best friend, Jason, wants to turn their relationship romantic. Plus, her ex-husband, Michael wants to be back in her life. I'll be honest and admit that I found the antics both men get up to be pretty juvenile.

All in all. it was a good story. I can't imagine the pain of losing a child. I listened to the audio version of this book, narrated by Brittany Pressley, one of my favorites.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Muse and Rea Frey for the opportunity to share my honest review.

As a single mother, I expected this book to pack an emotional punch. The death of a child is one of the most devastating losses a family can endure, and I anticipated an unflinching exploration of grief, fractured relationships, and the ripple effects of those haunting “what if” moments. Instead, the tragedy serves mostly as a backdrop for the protagonist’s romantic entanglements.

The biggest missed opportunity is in the structure. Timeline 1 could have explored romance while Timeline 2 delved into the harsher realities of loss—alcoholism, drug abuse, counseling, fractured family bonds, even suicide attempts or thoughts. Instead, both timelines circle back to romance, leaving little room for raw grief or messy humanity. The alternate timeline concept had enormous potential for emotional and philosophical depth, but here it’s reduced to a light narrative device.

That said, the premise is intriguing, the pacing brisk, and the writing clean and accessible. The dual timelines are easy to follow, and the story flows smoothly, making it the kind of book you can read in a few sittings. It’s not without its strengths, especially for readers looking for something emotionally gentle despite the heavy subject matter.

Ultimately, this isn’t a bad book—it’s engaging enough—but it skims the surface rather than diving deep. If you’re looking for a poignant meditation on loss, you may walk away wanting more. If you’re in the mood for a romance lightly framed by tragedy, this might be a better fit.

I enjoyed 'The Other Year' by Rea Frey, narrated by Brittany Pressley, for its unique parallel timelines narrative, which added depth to the story.
The author's handling of grief and loss was particularly well done. The concept of exploring what life could be like if we could choose our fate was captivating.
Brittany Pressley's narration was excellent, skillfully navigating the dual timelines, 3 stars specifically for her great work. However, the writing style didn't resonate with me, and I wasn't a fan of the romantic subplot.
Overall, it was an interesting read with some standout elements.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the opportunity to listen and review this Advanced Release Copy audiobook

"The Other Year" is a profoundly emotional novel that weaves together two parallel narratives. One follows Kate Baker, who has a nine-year-old daughter named Liv. In one storyline, tragedy strikes when Liv drowns in the ocean on the very first day of their vacation. In the alternate timeline, Liv reemerges from the water after being out of sight for just a few minutes. The theme of a child's death is incredibly challenging to confront, yet the author presents it in a manner that compelled me to see the story through to the end. The other narrative explores a typical mother-daughter relationship, marked by tension and conflict. This book is sure to resonate with me for a long time, and I rated it four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rea Frey for access to this audiobook.
This is a beautiful multiverse timeline story about a mother’s journey—one in which she loses her daughter in a tragic accident, and another in which she does not. It shows her experiences running parallel in time and explores how everything that happens—her relationship with her daughter, her grief, her career, and her love life—is deeply affected.
I’ve read many books on grief, and this one was extremely powerful. Rea does an absolutely amazing job of describing the various phases of grief and the impact it has on you and your relationships. I cried throughout this entire book. It was just so stunningly written.

As someone who has recently lost a loved one and watched a family member bury their child, I can say that it’s incredibly difficult to express the emotions and experiences you go through after something like that. Rea captured those feelings beautifully.

The ending was perfect, especially as the two timelines crossed and showed how, in both universes, the main character ends up exactly where she is supposed to be.

Content warnings: Loss of a child and spouse, trauma, and grief.

This was my first book by this author, and I cannot wait to read more!

Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 on Goodreads

As a grieving mother, I was drawn to The Other Year for its exploration of motherhood and loss. The dual timelines were compelling and the writing was fluid and thoughtful. The ending delivered a sense of quiet closure that resonated. However, the emotional weight of the story didn’t reach the depth I anticipated. The love triangle arc felt dominant and somewhat diluted the space where deeper grief and healing could have been explored.

Author Feedback

What worked for me:

Engaging dual timeline structure.

A satisfying, well-paced conclusion.

Audiobook narration added strong emotional texture.


Mixed feelings:

While themes of motherhood were present, the portrayal of grief felt more implied than examined.


What didn't work for me:

The love triangle subplot felt too prominent, competing with the central storyline.

The Other Year
Rea Frey
Forty-year-old, Kate Baker is a single mother. Rarely does she take time for a vacation but this year she and her nine-year-old daughter, Olivia is on a two-week vacation at the beach. It is the first day and Olivia can’t wait to get in the water. They see the water hazard/riptide flag, but Kate allows Olivia in the water anyway. She is an excellent swimmer and knows when she is in trouble to swim parallel with the shore. Kate is watching from shore and talking to her best friend, Jason, on the phone. Jason and his daughter are planning to join them on vacation the next day. Kate looks away for a moment and that’s all it takes; Olivia disappears in a wave.
This tale has two timelines that run parallel to each other. In timeline 1: Olivia’s head pops back up and all is well. In timeline 2: Olivia is gone.
In timeline 1. Olivia is alive. Kate’s ex-husband, who abandoned them years ago, now wants to get to know his daughter. He seems to feel remorse for the past and wants to draw closer to both Kate and Olivia. Jason, Kate’s best friend, admits he has feelings for her, romantic feelings. Olivia throws tantrums and they are getting more frequent and worse.
In timeline 2: Kate is dealing with any parent’s worst nightmare; her daughter is gone forever, never to grow any older, never to take another breath, never to graduate from school, never to walk down the aisle, never to hug her mother again; how does a parent survive such a loss. Olivia is gone. Kate’s whole life has changed; she struggles to come to terms with her new life. She needs a change of scenery and signs up for an apprenticeship at a farm. Is it that easy to escape grief?
This tale is written from Kate’s point of view. The author begins with a note to the readers. The most important thing she said, “Life isn’t always about the good stuff.” She’s right, it isn’t.
The characters in this tale are flawed, which makes them realistic. None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes. I call this book a “what if” book. What if your child dies? What if your child throws tantrums? What if your child turns to her father after years of absenteeism. Brittany Pressley did a fantastic job narrating this tale. Kudos to author Rea Frey.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.a

I picked up "The Other Year" expecting one thing and got something entirely different. This sliding-door style narrative explores two timelines for protagonist Kate, but while some sections are brilliantly executed, the characters left me frustrated more often than not.

What worked:
The grief storyline in Timeline II is absolutely exceptional. Frey's portrayal of Kate grappling with the loss of her daughter Olivia is raw, authentic, and heartbreaking. I could genuinely feel Kate's helplessness and devastation - this section alone showcases the author's talent for emotional depth. As Frey writes, "Life isn't always about the good stuff," and she captures this reality beautifully in those chapters.

Kate herself is realistically flawed - she's not the perfect mother or career woman, which I appreciated. The work-life balance struggles felt genuine.

What didn't work:
Unfortunately, my connection to Kate ended with the grief storyline. The more I got to know her character, the more annoying she became. She's judgmental, stubborn, and bossy, but worst of all, she behaves like a lovesick teenager rather than a 40-year-old woman. Her daughter is equally grating. Because Kate was so irritating in the first timeline, I couldn't muster much sympathy for her struggles in the second.

The dual love triangles were my biggest frustration. Not a single male character displayed any common sense - they were all absorbed in their own needs. I genuinely didn't care which one ended up with Kate because none of them seemed worth rooting for.

While Kate does show some emotional growth by the end, it felt like too little, too late for me.

Bottom line:
This book has moments of brilliance, particularly in its exploration of grief and loss. However, the character development and romantic elements overshadowed the stronger aspects of the story. If you're looking for a well-crafted examination of alternate life paths, you might find something to appreciate here, but be prepared for some frustrating character choices along the way.

The good: I really enjoyed the double timelines in this novel, and the way it all tied together in the end. It was very clever. The prose was lovely, and I really enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook.

The less good: I didn't expect there to be such a focus on the main character's love life. I'm a romance reader. I love romance -- But I just felt, with this particular story, there was SO much potential and so many avenues to go down, I was surprised this was the choice. Felt like a missed opportunity.

Feel all the emotions with this one! The what if and the agony of loss and the joys of love, friendship and the sometimes frustration of being a parent all mixed with the unthinkable. I found having both timelines of life's possibilities very interesting and was invested in both! I loved all the characters! Thank you netgalley for early listen to the audiobook! The narrator was excellent!

This story. I have so many thoughts and feelings that are hard to put into writing.
Firstly, I LOVED the dual POV. I like how the timelines synced up, how there were parts of one POV that made it into the other. There were a lot of things where I wondered how the timeline in the other POV would be affected, and many of those questions were answered.
Secondly, I loved how this book discussed grief. With grief being such a major theme in this book, I appreciate the multiple perspectives on it. The anger, the hurt, the pain, the battle between feeling the need to move on and feeling the need to hold on.
Thirdly, I think this was just a beautifully written story. It broke my heart and put it right back together. Both perspectives really focused on the main character finding herself, regardless of her circumstances, and I loved that. We don't see many stories that feature a woman in her 40s who gets to explore who she is and what she wants in her life, and I think we need more of that. Life doesn't end after your thirties, and a lot of stories don't talk about that.
Finally, I loved the narration. Brittany Pressley's ability to convey different moods really added to the listening experience for this book. The switch up between a more sombre tone and a cheerful one really helped to differentiate the storylines in the beginning, which helped a ton as the story progressed. I'll definitely be looking for more of her audiobook narrations.

Overall, I really enjoyed this audiobook recording and the story. I give it 4 stars and would recommend it for someone wanting a book that feels reflective.

This was a sad book about grief and telling her story from the perspective as if her daughter was still alive vs current reality of losing her 9-year-old daughter due to drowning. I find it hard to rate books like this as it almost seems as though it's the authors personal experience and how do you rate someone's grief journey. What I could appreciate is giving others that are in the midst of grief an opportunity to relate to something such as this book. The perspective was great and still some sweet moments in the midst of a tragedy.

The authors note at the beginning asked us to consider the following question: “Do we end up where we are supposed to no matter what or does grief send us on a different path completely?”

Basically, do we life a life governed by fate or does what we choose and what happens to us alter our destiny. While the story makes clear the author’s viewpoint. I don’t know that I necessarily agree with it. I don’t think anyone can answer that question with certainty- too many variables and there’s no way to prove a hypothesis. Ultimately, a story about someone who experienced unfathomable grief didn’t put me in a place of strong emotion. I still enjoyed this book, but I wasn’t gripped as i hoped to be. Still a good book, still very thought provoking.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me review it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Grief often leads to beauty. Grief is part of life. Because grief gets us to the other side.”

“Every time someone dies, we learn how we need to live.”

“…The first step. That’s the one that counts.”

“Even with good intentions, love rarely turns out the way you would expect.”

“It’s easier to talk about her with a smile on my face than tears on my cheeks.”

“…and like so many privileges, you don’t realize how lucky you are until it’s too late.”

“Not all great loves have to be romantic.”

“I will move on, building a new life while I have this one still in my bones.”

From the first few chapters to the epilogue I cannot fault this book. Following Kate we are taken down two possible futures after her 9yo daughter is caught in a rip at the beach - one where she survives and another where she does not. The dual timelines work perfectly and the stories in both are realistic.
The narrator Brittany Pressley was able to convey Kate's heartfelt emotions so well and she gave Olivia the sass of a little girl who knows what she wants.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for the audiobook arc for review.

I really enjoyed this book and genuinely could not stop listening wanting to know what was going to happen.

The audiobook: 4 stars
Brittany Presley did an excellent job of demonstrating the emotional resonance of Kate's panic and sadness in the early chapters. I really liked her natural voice but her 'child' voice was a bit shrill.

------------SPOILERS AHEAD--------------



The story: 3 stars
Essentially a dark version of my favorite movie, Sliding Doors. Because I am the mother of a daughter with a lot of similarities to Olivia, I was afraid to read this book. I was worried that it would launch me into some hardcore anxiety, and the first summer section (chapters 1-7) admittedly gutted me. But by chapter 10, it was becoming tedious to sit with Kate's grief page after page. Thank goodness the transitions between timelines allowed for some much-needed relief from the heartbreak.

However, as the story progressed, Kate's love life took center stage in both timelines. She's pretty much horny for every guy in her orbit (across both timelines) and she never seems bothered that they just show up unannounced and expect her to accommodate their emotional needs. (Jason is especially bad about this.)

A boring love-triangle storyline is not what I came here for, and I certainly didn't come for 2 different boring love-triangles in 2 distinct timelines. I wanted "life spent without your child" vs "life spent raising your child". Instead, I got "torn between two lovers" with a side of "Liv". She's so desperate for a man that she puts up with some really toxic behavior-- like in the -Liv timeline when Kate explains that she doesn't have romantic feelings for Jason, but Ian is still mad at her because Jason has feelings for her. Like, say what now? SHE'S responsible for another person's crush on her? No sir. Kick rocks, please. And then when he's peaced out of the relationship, she decides that maybe she DOES have feelings for Jason after all. I much prefer the +Liv timeline where she comes to the conclusion that Great Love doesn't have to mean Romantic Love.

The Sliding Doors ending is great, though. Maybe some things really ARE meant to be, across all timelines. And I looked up Serenbe to see if it was a real place, and was thrilled to find out that it is. Next stop: Zillow.

I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for access to a digital ARC. My honest review is my own opinion.

DNF, couldn't get into this one unfortunately, but I'll be giving it a standard 3 stars cause I have no complaints on the writing or narration I just personally couldn't particularly get into it myself.

Oh my heart. This one was heartbreaking yet beautiful. Definitely shed a few tears throughout it. Rea has a great way with words. ❤️

Audiobook through NetGalley.

I think this book will really hit hard for parents. Personally, I'm not a parent, and don't have a desire for kids, so I can't really put myself in Kate's shoes, but I can still empathise with her.
I really enjoyed how this was written, and set up. The way the characters evolved in both timelines felt very real, and I can't find any flaws within.
The timeline with the daughter still alive, made me think back on me as a 10 year old, having these same arguments with my mum.

All in all, I'm very positive about my experience with this, and would recommend it to others, maybe especially people, who can relate more to Kate.

(3.75 stars)