Many thanks to Netgalley for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

This book starts when Laurel Everett finds an engagement ring in her boyfriend of five years Ollie Hughes’s sock drawer when she’s putting up his laundry. Laurel starts freaking out and starts to think about the what if’s and if she should have said yes to her friend Drew’s date request when they first met. Drew and Laurel both work at Pixel and Drew is working on a program that lets you look at a different path from the one you actually took. After messing up Ollie’s proposal Laurel goes to Pixel and starts the calibration process for the program Drew is working on. When the program doesn’t seem to work Laurel goes to sleep nest to Ollie and wakes up next to Drew who in this other world she has actually been dating for five years. At first Laurel is happy but realizes her life isn’t as fulfilled as she thought it would be by becoming a writer. After a few times of switching universes Laurel realizes that she needs to change herself after talking to an MIT professor who tries to help her. She finds out that Drew from the other universe did the same thing in his universe that she did in her own. When Drew shuts down things in his universe and Laurel decides to change herself and realize how much she loves Ollie and what he was sacrificing for her and what she know realizes she needs to do for the both of them. Laurel is able to stay in her own universe and her and Ollie end the book about to get engaged. It took me a little bit to read because there was quite a bit of things to wrap your head around at the beginning but once you get past that it’s a smooth ride. I enjoyed this quite a bit.

I LOVED this book. I LOVED how it followed the genuine fear of not knowing if a choice is the right one for you. I like the incorporation of some sci-fi and technology elements, I thought it was a fun twist on the "What if things were different?" question. The story is intriguing and funny and really makes you think about how you want your own life to be.

I was so excited to be able to read this book and I was not disappointed! The cover is what initially caught my eye and then I discovered this beautiful story.

2.5/5 ⭐️

The concept of this book was very interesting and I enjoyed the theoretical physics idea but got lost a bit. The main character, Laurel was not a likable character for me and I struggled to cheer her on. I also lacked some romance in this storyline and felt it might have just not been the book for me as I anticipated more of it. I wasn’t rooting for the FMC and MMC to end up together and that makes a read harder for me!

Great premise, execution was a bit lacking. I feel like Laurel wasn't that strong of a character and by building her out a little the novel would have been much stronger.

I won’t pretend to understand the scientific aspect of this story in any amount, however I get the wondering if you’ve picked the wrong life for yourself…the near constant frustrations of cohabiting with another and wondering if this is truly all your life adds up too. I think that’s where my frustration begun with Laurel, I often thought as she slipped between worlds it wasn’t the man she needed to consider BUT who she wanted to be and WHAT she wanted to accomplish for herself, NOT what these men could give her. And yes wrestling with missing the warmth of a relationship of my own, I understood the longing ache of known comfort. Comfort built on many years together and a life in which only the two of you exist. Laurel’s slipping between timelines thankfully leads to some serious self growth and she starts to be really honest about what’s important to her, for her. Gagnon did a really good job of bringing to light hard insecurities over oneself, the things we are willing to become complacent to in the name of love and the anxieties we all face at some point in deciding our futures. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group & NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was very clever and had me so enthused with the sci-if aspects I found myself forgetting the romance plot, (in a good way)… I really loved the idea behind the ALTR project. I have never read a book like this and I will be recommending it to others

When commitmentphobe Laurel unexpectedly finds an engagement ring in her longtime boyfriend Ollie’s sock drawer, she immediately gets cold feet. Panic-filled, she can’t help but wonder about what her life would be like if she’d said yes when her colleague Drew asked her out years ago.

The next day, at the big tech company she works at, she signs up to test out an experimental program that uses a quantum computer to give users the opportunity to explore their what-if moments- allowing them to see how a different choice would have affected their lives.

But something goes fantastically wrong when Laurel wakes up the next day to find herself in an alternate universe where she did say yes to Drew and now they’re in a serious relationship. At first, everything in her life seems upgraded. But as she bounces between two disparate realities, two different boyfriends, and two distinct versions of herself, she realizes she needs to figure out which version to choose- and quickly before a glitch leaves her stranded randomly.

This smart, fast-paced romance successfully blends elements of science fiction and women’s fiction to create a unique and thoughtful love story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced reader copy.

What If It's You will be out in the world on May 13, 2025

This was such a fun and weird novel. Lo Everett, a VP of Marketing at a Google-like tech company, realizes that her boyfriend, Ollie, is going to propose and freaks out at the idea. When the opportunity to test out her company's newest project--seeing if people can be thrust into alternate world versions of themselves--she takes the chance to see what would've happened if she hadn't stayed with Ollie but had said yes to a date with her cute work husband, Drew. Somehow the system glitches and Lo is pulled back and forth across the two versions of her life--one where she stayed with Ollie and one where she and Drew ended up together.

Some of the writing about quantum physics got a little heavy handed (maybe a case of the author doing too much research that she didn't want to whittle down?), but overall the characters were delightful and the vehicle of a program that pushes Lo into the opposing alternate realities was a fresh twist on the sliding doors trope and was a good embodiment of Lo's inability to make a decision about what she wants her life to look like.

Absolutely loved this. Inventive and imaginative storytelling with a wonderful balance of heartfelt and a grounded storyline.

3 ⭐️
1 🌶️

This was such a fun “sci-fi esque” romance that really hooked me from the beginning. I too would be like Laurel and have to look at a ring if I found it in my boyfriend’s drawer too and again, I too would have probably spiraled lol. This story gave Laurel a chance to see her life with Ollie and Drew and while this was interesting to read, the ending didn’t leave me as satisfied as I hoped.

Thanks NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an ARC!

What If It’s You? Is an interesting idea for a story that I feel wastes the potential it has. Blending The Midnight Library and Eternal Sunshine sounds fantastic but Jilly Gagnon writes this story more like a YA story where I see so much more that could come from it.

This book. I was so worried about Laurel’s safety as she would travel from multiverse to multiverse (am I even getting that correct?). However, I am getting ahead of myself. Laurel is like many of us, I assume, and sometimes thinks “What if?” The difference in her situation is she somehow made her what if happen. This results in quite an amazing story of love, loss, decisions and growth. How do you decide what is right? Laurel navigates this in the way she believes is best and it is definitely worth the read.
Thank you to Random House Publishing/Ballantine and NetGalley for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Ollie wants to propose to Laurel. They've been together for 5 years and she finds a ring in his bureau drawer, and she freaks. She works with Drew and wondered what life would be like if she said yes when he asked her out 5 years ago. By some stretch of technology, she finds herself switching between alternate realities.

2.5/5⭐️ 1/5🌶️

“What If It's You?” follows Laurel through her multiverse, string theory love triangle between her current boyfriend and her "What if."

The book opens with Laurel stumbling upon an engagement ring that she literally treats like a bomb. Yikes. Ollie, her super hot, romantic, doting boyfriend wants to commit after five years and she is dreading having to answer his upcoming proposal. Laurel was questionable as a strong lead quite often and had some sketchy behaviors that bordered on an emotional affair. She works in a social media/tech firm where her "work husband" (yes, she actually calls him that. Ick.) works in some variation of alternate reality. Some things happen, Laurel is less than likeable as a character, she meddles and lands herself stuck between realities. She gets to experience the alternate universe where she chose Drew over Ollie five years ago. Only it is giving the grass isn't always greener.

I really enjoyed the theoretical physics/string theory stuff, even if I didn't fully understand all of it. I did not feel that this was actually a romance to be honest. There were a lot of moments that felt more like a nightmare than a genuine look at the other guy. Throughout the entire book I was hoping that she would figure out how to get back to her reality and it never felt like a question of which guy she should choose.

To be honest, she probably would have been better off not choosing either dude and just getting some therapy for her emotional trauma and extreme commitment issues.

Anticipated Publication Date: May 13, 2025

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Dell, and NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

this was a new romance style for me and i loved it !! at first i wanted her to end up with someone else but at the end of the book i understood why she ended up with the one she did. it was such a fun dynamic reading about different “multiverses” its like a marvel romance story but the normal people living in the cities if that makes sense. sooo recommend

As a huge fan of time travel books, I was immediately drawn to this story. I especially love plots that allow a character to explore “what if” scenarios—getting the chance to choose a different path in life and see how it unfolds. How many of us haven’t wondered about the roads not taken?

The premise of this book was fascinating, and I loved the idea of a character navigating between two universes and two very different lives. However, I struggled to connect with the protagonist. The most compelling grievance she had against her current boyfriend was that he didn’t pick up his laundry from the floor. That’s...it? For someone willing to risk tampering with the space-time continuum (something I only vaguely understand thanks to my boyfriend’s Star Trek obsession), I needed a more substantial reason to justify her inner turmoil.

I understand that the conflict couldn’t hinge on an unforgivable flaw—after all, the story’s tension relies on us feeling torn between the two men just as she is. Still, I found myself wishing for stronger stakes and more emotional depth. While the love interests were lovely, there wasn’t anything especially swoon-worthy about them to make me root for either wholeheartedly.

On top of that, the science explanations flew over my head. I’d have to reread sections to fully grasp how it all worked, which pulled me out of the story.

That said, I don’t regret reading the book. The plot itself kept me hooked, and I’d be open to giving this author another chance. With a little more depth and clarity, I could see her future works becoming must-reads.

I loved this! As a STEM girl who loves reading romance I loved that I got to read about quantum computing at a high level. At the rate AI is developing none of what happens to Laurel feels implausible. This story had a lot of heart and in true romcom fashion a lot of giggles. Laurel is an extremely complex character but we don’t get to dig into why for a long time. While this story dives into its main premise quickly, it’s not until halfway through that we get past the observations and into the solutions. This story wasn’t anything but boring though. It’s all about love and the multiverse and whether you can accept (or change) your life based on the choices we make.

I really enjoyed this book that tells about a woman who gets stuck in a computer program on a super computer. This program flips her back and forth between 2 different realities of her life and shows her how different things out have been if she had made a different choice at a specific point in her life. Watching her wrestle with the 2 different versions of her life and how she decides which one she really wants to live and how she figures out to to get to that version and stay there will keep you turning the pages of this book.

This book is about a woman torn between two men and the what if, thankfully for her she works in the biggest tech company in the USA so she enlists the help of a newly developed Artificial Intelligence to help her sort out the predicament.

She did not predict though, that she would wind up stuck in the multiverse.

While this has the potential to be super interesting, I just really struggled to connect with any of the characters, and that just made it a chore for me to finish the story. However I did persevere because it was an interesting enough concept.

It’s just the conflict of choosing between two perfect love interests without a solid enough reason (to me) is just not my cup of tea.