A woman wakes up every morning to a different life with men who she has met in the past, discovering what would life have been like with them.

This book follows Lena, as she is trying to navigate her romantic love life. She has a romantic dinner with her boyfriend, but instead of proposing, he ends up breaking up with her. Lena goes to her aunt's house and falls asleep in her cabin. When she wakes up, she finds herself in bed with a man. Turns out she's married to this guy and he is someone from her past. She has to put the pieces together and tries to tell her best friend what is going on. It's a little far-fetched.
Because it happens again and again.
It doesn't seem that Lena is learning anything but somehow we get to the end and she gets back to her "normal" life. I wish there was more about the pieces that she learned from each relationship - that would tie this together better. There were some lives that she seemed very happy with but those didn't necessarily work out. It was an interesting concept but I think it could have been fleshed out a bit more.

I really enjoyed this book as we followed Lena through several different time flips… Over 12 days meeting all the men and all the What Ifs of her past life. She has left her high paced life in San Francisco and is reevaluating her next steps as she is able to have the brief glimpse into What might have happened if she had stayed in past relationships. I just really enjoyed this book with its lighthearted elements, even though there were some emotional bits too. Having lived in western Washington for some time. I really enjoy any books that take place in the Puget Sound area! Just a fun overall read. I have never read this author, but I’m certainly gonna look into more books by her.
Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced reader
copy!

our mc lena spends the story falling through time and space and spends a day with every relationship, hookup, and crush she's ever had after enduring a nasty breakup right at the start of the novel. lena learns more about what her life could have looked like if she had pursued other relationships.

i liked this, but there were wayyyy too many different relationships that she ended up in with a whole new set of characters. i wish there had been less relationships and we got to spend more time with each one.

This turned out to be such a heartfelt love story, with a twist of Groundhog Day energy that kept me hooked. It plays with the idea of “what if,” and Lena doesn’t just wonder… she gets to live it.

The more I read, the more it pulled me in. What started as a fun premise became something deeper and more emotional, and I’m really glad I got the chance to read it.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review!

I first looked up this book because she is one of my mom's favorite authors when she first started listening to audio books. Highly recommended for readers of women’s fiction.

I have loved all of Sarah Jio's previous books. This one is different from the rest and I'm not sure how I felt about it. I liked the premise of seeing what your life could have looked like had you chosen a different path. But I didn't like any of those paths, nor did I like the ending. I didn't feel invested in Lena's final choice. It pains me to give 3 stars, but I still have hope for future books from this author!

I’ve been a fan of Sarah Jio for quite some time, and this book was up to her usual standards. Highly recommended for readers of women’s fiction.

This was a mostly light-hearted book that reminded me of The Husbands. It was fun to see the different realities and the story moved along quickly. I feel like I've read better alternate reality books, but this one wasn't bad by any means. It was really funny and endearing at times. It wasn't the most exciting book I've read, but it's worth checking out if the premise appeals to you.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

DNF I felt like I wasn't really engrossed in the characters. I tried so hard to like it but it was so slow.

One of my favorite book tropes, and it doesn't have to be a romance is the alternate universe/timeline tropes and Insignificant Others definitely delivered.

The book follows Lena as she wakes up each morning following a failed expected marriage proposal to a new husband - someone that she had shown interest in the past, but the relationship never evolved. What I loved about this scenario is that Jio explored not only those longer term relationships that one always wonders "what would have happened", but the random hook-ups or people we've met and connected with, but for some reason or another never reconnected. In each of Lena's "lives" she learns within a day what is important to her, what she thought was important to her, but ultimately ended up not being as crucial to a partner as she thought, and what she definitely did not want in a relationship.

Although this book is ultimately a romance, it is also a fun beach style read of self-reflection and the decisions that we make that end up changing our lives. I remember talking to some girls in my dorm room after a random stranger had sat down with them for lunch in the cafeteria and intimated that he was wanting to go see a movie that had just been released. The girls all said they thought it was weird, and "what if he is a serial killer?" I said to them a the time, "or what if he was your future husband and now you'll never know because you didn't give him a chance." A few nights later, that handsome stranger asked if he could sit with me while I was alone at dinner. We just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. So, basically, this book got me in all the feels.

For fans of the movie Sliding Doors and other "what if" plot lines.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Jio, and William Morrow for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

"This experience taught me many things, but, above all, that our choices matter, more than we know. Life can often feel so one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, so prescriptive: Must be successful. Must find the perfect mate. Must check all the boxes... I was so fixated on the finish line that I neglected to see all the beautiful moments along the way. I understand now that we're writing our stories every minute of every day, and all of it counts."

Insignificant Others is a fresh take on the idea of love and felt new and innovative in a way that I've never read in romance books before. I love that as Lena time hops through different potential realities we see while, yes, she could have had a happy life with a few different men, we also get to see that some of the men she could have ended up with wouldn't have had happily ever afters and that just felt so real (while also being really entertaining to follow). I loved that each of the different realities had Lena in a different job, and thriving in them even though she couldn't believe she was capable of doing so. The idea that you can do anything you want and succeed in it if you make the choice to do so and try hard was uplifting to see. It was so fun to follow along with her on all these very different realities she experienced, I didn't want it to end! I think I would have liked this book more if she didn't end up with any particular person at the end but rather left it open ended with her kind of being at peace with not needing to check off the "find a perfect person" box. Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

I absolutely love time-loops and especially enjoyed the science-fiction aspects of Lena’s adventures! In fact, I think I would’ve enjoyed more about the science and less about the romances, but there are other book for that 😂 A usual romance for sure, but super fun!

Thanks to the author and William Morrow for this #gifted copy and delicious smelling candle, as well as early NetGalley access in exchange for my honest opinion. I spent the morning alternating between listening to the audiobook and reading this physical copy - until the audiobook returned! I finished the last few chapters with my eyes while trying to also give FT all the Caturday pets. He was too active to model with the book, but he is glad that I’ve now finished and can dedicate my weekend to cuddling him (as all weekends should be, of course!).
Insignificant Others is a fun time-loop romance, where the FMC, after dumping her boyfriend when he presents her with Coldplay tickets instead of an engagement ring, flees to where she grew up and proceeds to wake up each day after in a new place with a different significant other. Each experience varies, from living in Paris to working on a yacht near Santorini to vacationing in Hawaii, but each of the men she is dating or married to is someone from her actual past. It’s interesting to see how Lena’s career and lifestyle vary based on the man in each scenario, and the reader begins to wonder who Lena actually is. Some men and situations seemed great, whereas others seemed nightmarish. And I’m sure we’ve all wondered, “what if…” a time or two before. The novel does wrap up rather quickly and smoothly, but I enjoyed reading it. This is the first book I’ve read by Jio, and I will read more. I loved learning about her Farm Jio brand, too, and I can’t wait to burn the candle. The book is now available everywhere!

I feel like there is a lot of romance stories about the one that may have got away. This is sweet story we can all relate to, we all think about the ones that got away. What our life looks like if we stayed?

Lena is perfectionist workaholic, with a perfectly planned life, so when her boyfriend of two years breaks up with her perfect life is shattered. She goes to the only place she feels love, her aunts home in Bainbridge, little island of the coast of Settle. She goes to sleep in the guest house and wakes up in a different life. She learns what is important and what is not, also life is messy, but it is your mess.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for copy of this book for my honest review.

First I would like to thank NetGalley, HarperAudio and William Morrow for the early ARC and audiobooks of this novel.

This was my first Sarah Jio novel but it won’t be my last. I unexpectedly loved this book. I went back and forth between the kindle version and the audiobook and I really enjoyed both but the audiobook was my favorite. Brittany Presley might be my new favorite narrator. This audiobook was so well done.

I loved the touch of magical realism in this book. This book was so unexpectedly touching and lovely I can’t wait to tell everyone to pick up this book. I will admit i have been struggling to enjoy romance books lately but this was a new fresh take on a romance book and i loved it.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending but overall I loved the book.

4.25/5 stars

I appreciate the opportunity to read this title, but unfortunately it didn’t quite capture my interest. While the premise was promising, I found it difficult to stay engaged. That said, I’m sure it will find its audience with readers who connect more strongly with the writing style or pacing.

I've been a fan of Sarah Jio's books for many years now, starting with The Violets of March back in 2011. Her novels never fail to impress and delight me. Sarah's latest, Insignificant Others, is an imaginative and heartfelt story with magical realism and romance.

A truly fun read from start to finish, I loved the growth arc of Lena’s character as she meets each new boyfriend/husband and awakens to hopes for the future far different than she had ever imagined. The side characters add tremendously to the story, from Lena’s friend Frankie and her husband, Chris, to Aunt Rosie, the woman who raised Lena after the death of her mother.

Read if you like:
▪️women’s fiction
▪️magical realism
▪️found family
▪️journey’s of self discovery
▪️The Good Part meets The Husbands

We live a time slip novel and this one hit the spot! I was skeptical going in to this due to another book with a similar premise that left me disappointed but this was wonderful. It was the perfect balance of fun and emotion!

Insignificant Others was an absolute joy to read! I always love Sarah Jio’s books, but this is her best yet. Lena is a young woman who is left heartbroken when her boyfriend asks her to a Coldplay concert instead of asking her to marry him, and through a fluke of the universe, finds herself magically transported to alternate lives each day. After falling asleep in her aunt’s guesthouse on Bainbridge Island, she wakes up in an unfamiliar bed in Paris, married to a man from her past with zero clue on how she got there or any memory of their history together. Every day she wakes up married to a different man from her past. As day after day presents a new life that could have been, she learns more and more about herself and has the opportunity to truly reevaluate what she wants and needs in a partner. Some days are easier than others, some days are true struggles, but each one is an opportunity for Lena to learn more about her true self and values. The story moved along quickly, with the appropriate amount of time spent on each day and partner/relationship. The characters were well-developed, some more likable than others. Despite Lena starting off as a slightly unlikable character, its not long before you take this crazy alternate life trip with her and are on her side, hoping she finds what she’s looking for and what she needs. I also liked that the ending suggests what her happy ending may be, but leaves it a bit to interpretation.