What If It’s You by Jilly Gagnon offers an intriguing premise with the potential for a compelling mysterious sci fi-romance hybrid, but ultimately stumbles in its execution largely due to its unlikable female protagonist.

The story follows a classic mistaken-identity plotline, sparked by a mysterious, heartfelt letter left behind in a café. While the concept is charming and the pacing keeps things moving, the central character, Ella, makes it hard to root for the romance or even stay emotionally invested. Her frequent bouts of self-absorption, overreactions, and questionable decisions often distract from the plot and make her difficult to empathize with. Her development feels inconsistent at times, which undermines the emotional payoff the story is striving for.

That said, the book does have its strengths. Gagnon's writing is witty and accessible, and the story is full of small moments that feel relatable and sweet. The male leads are a welcome counterbalance, bringing warmth and sincerity that keep the story afloat when Ella becomes grating.
Overall, What If It’s You is an enjoyable, if slightly frustrating, read. It’s worth picking up if you're a fan of rom-coms with a twist just be prepared for a main character who may test your patience more than once.

Thank you, NetGalley, the author, and the publisher, for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What If It's You? explores the idea of being able to live out a “what if” scenario before making a major decision, in this case, getting engaged to your partner of 5 years and wondering where your life might be if you had taken your work crush up on a date offer instead?

I found this premise to be extremely relatable, but at times struggled fully connecting with the main character Laurel, but mostly because I felt she was having the same realizations about her relationship over and over, but not doing anything about it. While this was sometimes redundant to read about, it was still very relatable for how people might process making decisions like this. I also expected the university professor to have a bigger role once she was introduced.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this.

If I was just a bit more tech savvy maybe I could settle my worries too

Favorite quote: “What if the reason I was so terrified of the ring was that some part of me knew Ollie and I weren’t meant to go the distance”
:
Even though I’m not well versed in much of the lingo that’s used at Pixel I was still able to enjoy this read! It answers the question we’ve all had before “what if”. The blending realities has made this a tougher read for some people but I was only confused towards the end. So if you’ve been debating on reading this, do it! I’m really glad I did

Language: PG+ (4+ swears, 0+ "f"); Mature Content: PG13+; Violence: G+
The already intimate details of the main character's sex life in the first couple of pages suggests more sexual content to come, and I don't want to read anything more detailed.
The mature content rating is for groping, nudity, and innuendo.

This was a unique sliding door romance involving a rogue AI program. I thought the premise was strong but honestly I got bored and had to force myself to stick it out. I didn't particularly find myself cheering for either of the potential romantic partners plus there just wasn't the level of emotional depth I crave in a 5 star love story. Not for me sadly but fans of books like Life derailed might enjoy it more. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you made another choice in life? Where would you end up? Would your life be better? That’s the question that Gagnon asks in the novel about a women who is on the brink of getting engaged to her boyfriend but wonders what would have happened if she said yes when her friend Drew asked her out all those years ago?

The premise of this book was a sound one, that asked an interesting question but for me, the book was a bit too heavy on the quantum physics of what was going on. I understand there had to be some to explain what was going on but at times it felt like a bit much.

This was a fun read. I liked the time travel/switch - it felt like it brought the book a little more contemporary fiction + romance, instead of just romance. I enjoyed the tug and pull of which life was better for Laurel.

What If It's You? is a unique romance novel hidden within a very interesting sci-fi premise. The novel centers around Laurel, who, after finding out her boyfriend is going to propose, isn't sure if they are cut out for "forever" and starts to think about all the "what if" possibilities. Couple that anxiety with a new project at work that allows you to simulate alternate possibilities and even glimpse into the multiverse and you have this novel!

I found it so engaging that the premise of the multiverse was explored in this novel but entirely through a scientific lens. Having only recently read another novel with multiverses and the main character slipping in and out of worlds, it was natural to compare the two and I found this one to be very realistic in both the science and the uncertainty that comes from deciding to make a huge decision, like committing to spending your time with only one person.

While I felt that there were some avenues that did not feel fully explored (how her previous experiences as a child of divorce and her mother's leaving affected her), I found myself eager to know what was going to happen to her and whether my predictions for the life she would ultimately choose would be right.

This book was an engaging, lighthearted and easy read and I gave it 4.5/5 stars. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Dell, and NetGalley for providing an ARC!

Thank you to Jilly Gagnon and Ballantine for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. 💕

I love a good Sliding Doors book. The what might have been is usually a fantastic read! The problem is this one went way too deep into the science and mechanics and didn't delve enough into the romance aspect. I'll fully overlook a lot for a good book. Is time travel possible? Idk. But do I mind it in a good romance? Of course not! Get into your Tardis and find your Prince Charming! All this to say: just a little less science and a little more romance. Otherwise, it was a great read!

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

I requested to read and review this book for free from Dell an Imprint of Random House. This storyline makes you think about what if. Do you make the right choice in life? Is there a true love ? If you could find an alternative universe would you go? Or do you have the right life? Laurel has the case of What it's? Is Ollie the right guy for her or is Drew? Is being a VP what she wants or is being an author? When she is given a chance to find out what does she discover? Once she finds the answers which world can she live in? Can she choose one or both? Reflection can be make things very real and question ourselves but possibly others as well. This book can be read anywhere but by a mature audience.

I found myself unable to get into this. I was fairly excited to read it when I first saw about it but I didn't feel like picking it up after I started it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc of this book. All
Opinions are my own.

This was good! I enjoyed it. I read a lot of romance, but I always love new to me authors and this was one. I enjoyed the writing style and think this was super good! Definitely intrigued to read more.

dnf @45%. I just want my 3 days back that I tried getting into this book and connect with the characters. This one was not for me. If you know me, you know that I rarely do DNFs. For starters this one was way too, I mean WAY TOO filled with quantum physics info dump which at a point made my brain fog, I completely zoned out atleast a couple of times (I hated studying physics back at school, so no wonder) It made the insomniac me fall asleep 😃 Honestly speaking, I do not give a damn or care about the characters. None of them made me feel like the time invested in was worth it. The FMC was insufferable, she is sooo selfish, whiny and entitled. I so badly wanted to knock some sense on her pea-sized brain. Like what do you mean that you are not sure about your feelings for your current boyfriend who is with you for 5 years but then you also wish you were with your colleague instead of your boyfriend?! I despise infedility & cheating in all the forms, even staring at another he/she and thinking thoughts you aren't supposed to when you have got a partner already. Because it's better to end the relationship than hurting the other person by cheating or making them feel unwanted. And the MMCs, I do not even know what to say about them 😶 If you liked this book, good for you. All this book did was put me back into the slumpy hole I escaped a week ago 😒

Thank you to Random House Pnlishing & Netgalley for this ARC inexchange for an honest review!!

As a lover of romance and science, I thought this book would be better than I found it to be. The story didn't move me the way I expect a romance to expect to.

DNF at 25%.

Unfortunately, there was way to too much science minutia and way too little character development in this book, and I generally enjoy both science and speculative fiction. I couldn't remember the characters names at the 1/4 point, nor did I care about what was going to happen to them. This one just did not work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the advanced reader copy.

In this adorable multiverse rom com, Laurel freaks out when she realizes her boyfriend Ollie is about to propose. So when her colleague and sort-of-crush Drew asks her to input a test question to the quantum computer world-simulating AI his team is developing, she asks about the life she'd have if she were with Drew instead.

The computer doesn't provide an answer - but the next morning, Laurel wakes up as Drew's live in girlfriend. They're rich in this life, and she has better clothes, and Drew is actually quite hot. But as she switches uncontrollably between her two lives, she discovers that not everything in this new world is as she'd first thought - and that, back in the old world, her life with Ollie can still surprise her.

I loved the premise of this story, and the writing hummed along really nicely. I loved watching Laurel explore Boston and her life from two different points of view, and I especially loved watching Laurel's perception of Ollie and their life together evolve. The book did have a lot of discussion of the speculative aspects of the story, which I enjoyed and thought was realistic to Laurel's intelligence and analytical nature.

My quibble was with Laurel's relationship with Ollie, which didn't feel well-developed enough for me to care, at first, if she married him. I wanted to really feel her frustrations with him before the first world-switch so that I could appreciate the way those frustrations magically disappeared when she was with Drew, and then how that situation complicated over time.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

As a woman who has been in long term relationships plagued by my own “what if’s”, this story was exceptional. I laughed, I cried and I may have figured something out about myself?

“Love” is the heart of the story for sure, but it didn’t read to me as a romance. As much as I was rooting for one reality over the other (trying not to spoil anything), I was more rooting for Laurel to figure herself out. The isolation of losing touch with your partner, whether they are your “person” or not, and yourself was heartbreaking to experience along with her. AND THAT EPILOGUE!

The story is a worthwhile journey to take and the science isn’t terribly hard to follow along with. I highly recommend this book, even if romance isn’t your thing. Especially if you’ve questioned any of your life choices.

Laurel is terrified of marrying her boyfriend of five years, Ollie. And her fear leads to her asking a quantum computer/AI program 'what if...' she had said yes to going out with a co-worker instead of her musician boyfriend?

It leads to her sliding between two realities - her real life World O, and World D where her co-worker Drew is her boyfriend.

I really enjoyed the pace of this book. The first slips into each reality were on the slower side, but they picked up after that, making you feel how frantic Laurel is to be in the reality she wants to stay in. And I wasn't bothered by the quantum jargon. It was easy enough for me to follow.

I'm giving three stars because I do wish the author would have made each reality feel 100% real to Laurel - similar to the "Amy's Choice" episode of Doctor Who. Where Laurel would have felt completely certain that each reality was World A to her. Then it would have made her choice more satisfactory - because she would have chosen the kind of man and relationship she wants to be in.

I did however, enjoy her growth as a character.
"I realized that it's not just about who I want to be with, it's about how I want to be with them."

I think this is an easy sci-fi romance for beginners to get into.

Thank you to Dell for this ARC.

An alternate reality romance? Say less. As a longtime sci-fi lover, I was immediately intrigued by the multiverse theory angle. What if one choice could change everything? Sadly, the romance label on this one led to a few unmet expectations…

⏳ What did you love the most?
The science! If you enjoy cerebral, tech-heavy fiction, this one goes all in. It gave major Dark Matter and Sliding Doors vibes, exploring how a single decision ripples through time and reality. It’s smart, layered, and definitely aimed at fans of speculative fiction. 🖤

I also loved that the main character is a woman in STEM. Seeing a brilliant female scientist navigate both personal and theoretical conflict was a big win for me. 🥰

⏳ What to expect:
💻 Multiverse sci-fi plot
🧠 Lots of quantum theory
✨ FMC in STEM
💔 Minimal romance subplot

🔥 Steam level: open-door (but optional/skippable)

⏳ How was the romance?
This was the weakest part for me. 😬 Despite being billed as a romance novel, the actual love story felt more like a subplot, and the love interests weren’t very compelling. The emotional payoff just wasn’t there. If this had been sold purely as speculative fiction, it would’ve landed stronger. 🫠

⏳ Do you recommend this book?
Yes, with a caveat. If you go in expecting a sci-fi drama with romance as a subplot, you’ll likely enjoy the ride. 🤩 It’s smart and thought-provoking. But if you’re looking for a swoony romcom or emotionally charged love story, this one might not deliver what you’re after.

⏳ Perfect for fans of:
💻 Blake Crouch
💻 Matt Haig
💻 Andy Weir

⏳ Mood: 🧠 Thoughtful | ✨ Speculative | ⏳ Introspective

⏳ Read if you like:
🌀 Alternate reality love stories
🧬 Time-bending sci-fi books
👩‍🔬 Women in STEM representation
💔 Quiet emotional journeys
🎬 Sliding Doors meets The Midnight Library

I received an ARC of this book. I have read this author's work before and really enjoyed it. This book was harder for me to get into. I didn't care too much for the main character. Not really that interesting to me.