I am always in for any “sliding doors” trope, so I had to read this book. Really enjoyed the premise and how the author weaved themes of regret, grief, and love. I had tears towards the end of this book at the power of everlasting friendship. As someone who always thinks of the “life not led” this book was so interesting to me. It was propulsive and I couldn’t put it down! Note for language and one open door scene that is skippable.

Magical realism is a genre we really enjoy. Yes you have to suspend your disbelief and just go with it but that’s what we love about it.

The Other Side of Now is a book that asks what if? What if you made a different choice? What if déjà vu and gut feelings is just our soul remembering our other lives/timelines? The possibilities are endless and this is where magical realism shows its magic!

Meg has a once in two lifetimes opportunity to reconnect with her best friend when she finds herself in an alternative version of her life, a life where she chose to go to Avalon.

This desire to see Aimee again is what drives the story, but it’s her personal growth that kept us reading. Meg was not handling her life well and it’s like the universe gave her a chance to see what if? but more importantly to heal. And also let go of the guilt and pain and embrace who she really is.

There’s a little bit of romance that made our hearts happy. Who doesn’t love an Irish bartender with a heart of gold? Cillian was the perfect man to show Meg she can love. And we can’t forget about Keira! She was a fantastic and understanding friend. They were both welcomed characters to the story. Also, that ending! It’s nearly perfect! (we’re greedy and want more 😂)

The Other Side of Now is a funny, heartfelt, pull at your heartstrings, make you believe in second chances read that we can’t stop thinking about. It’s Paige Harbison’s first adult book and we look forward to reading more from her.

Read if you like:
▪️Alternate realities/timelines
▪️Second chances
▪️Magical realism
▪️Found family
▪️Irish countryside

I was unexpectedly taken in by this adult debut. I read the synopsis and was intrigued, but assumed it would be a pretty run of the mill "girl gets to experience what life would be like if she chose path B instead of A," It certainly was that, but it also ended up being a pretty profound conversation about grieving that I wasn't altogether prepared for. I think some will complain that the romance is weak, which is a little true, but it is so far from THE key to the story that I didn't mind at all. And that resolves itself nicely too!

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

Lana Lord aka Meg Bryan NOT Meg Ryan, has everything she's always wanted. She's famous, she is on a hit TV show (well kinda a hit) and she has a boyfriend that is...also okay...oh and did I mention she has BAD panic attacks frequently? Oh and it's been a decade since her best friend, Aimee, died, but she has thought of her everyday since. So yeah her life really hasn't turned out that amazing. With the realization that everything has come to a head she books a flight to Avalon, Ireland; but thing is when she gets there everyone knows her...as Meg, not Lana. Lana doesn't exist. Never did. How? The show?
Through this experience she learns that maybe the grass isn't always greener on the other side...aka her previous life vs what her life COULD have been.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book, but wow. I loved it. I was rooting for the story to end one way, but I am very satisfied with the ending. I would love to see a sequel maybe, for me thats one way I know I love a book. Sometimes some books are great how they are as standalones, but then there are some that I would love a continuation of 🥰

If you are a millennial as well you'll love the nostalgic references! Go read this like...yesterday!!

**Thank you to NetGalley, Paige Harbison, and St. Martin’s Press for a free ebook ARC copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

This book broke me. I absolutely loved it. I really don't have words to describe how much. Unfortunate since I'm trying to write a review! Ha. If you loved Rebecca Serle's In Five Years or Matt Haig's The Midnight Library you will love this one. All the stars.

I am a huge believer in multiple universes and I really love reading books that have that as their plot line. I was very excited when I read about The Other Side of Now since the entire premise is an alternate universe.
I love the relationships Paige Harbison crafted. The friendships were so real and so deep and they truly jumped off the page.
I really wasn’t a fan of the last quarter of the book, though. It felt sloppy and rushed and it seemed to cheapen the rest of the beautiful book.
At the same time, I was left with wanting more. I know we are following famous Meg Bryan as she’s in the life that could have been, but I found myself wondering about Alternate Meg and if she was suddenly in Famous Meg’s life and what she thought of it. I would have loved an extra chapter after the epilogue letting us see how that Meg fared, a la Helen in Sliding Doors.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this. The Other Side of Now hit the shelves on June 3rd.

Meg has been living as actress Lana Lord since she ran off to LA following the death of her best friend ten years ago. After learning that the tv series she is in may be cancelled and her 30th birthday party, she decides to run away for a week, and is drawn to a rental in the town in Ireland where she had really wanted to go to college, but did not due to her best friend not getting in. What follows is a really unique experience. This is a well written book that I really enjoyed.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one and was torn between a 3 and 4 star before ultimately landing on 3. I really loved the fact that this sliding doors type story centered itself around friendship, rather than romance, and watching the main character struggle to come to terms with and accept her grief was really moving.

However, I did not love the romance aspect in the book. Cillian was simply too perfect and seemingly had no real flaws which made her Irish life feel too much like a fantasy than an actual other life she could have been living. I also felt the ending was a bit anticlimactic, which left me feeling like the book I read was perfectly fine and good, but not a new favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Meg Bryan stars in a hit tv show called Brilliance. She is beautiful, famous, rich and turning thirty. Meg has everything she has ever wanted but is in desperate need of a break from the lights and cameras. She randomly books a week at a charming cottage on the coast of Ireland. When Meg arrives she is cold, wet, starving and heads to the nearest pub. At first, some local folks give Meg a funny look and when she retrieves her phone from the bartenders charger its her phone, but her old phone from a decade earlier. How can this be? And the hunky bartender with the irresistible accent? He knows her too. Avalon is the town where Meg and her best friend Aimee almost went to college. Inseparable since adolescence they wanted to study theater and travel the world. But Aimee did not get in and Meg would never leave her behind, hence, the path not taken. Back at the cottage where Meg magically knows where things are, she scrolls through the many photos on her phone. Her past is flashing in front of her eyes and many she has no knowledge of, a puppy, friends and boyfriend (hunky bartender!). When Meg examines her face in the mirror its the old Meg, the pre- Hollywood Meg. Like sliding doors, Meg is staring at her parallel life, one where her best friend Aimee is alive, married and living just a few minutes away. As Meg figures out how to maneuver through this new world she finds the answers to questions she buried long ago. Although I think the author had a hard time winding down towards the ending, I absolutely adored the premise and wonderful characters. Highly recommend this delightful summer read!!

The Other Side of Now is my favorite book so far this year! Keep reading to find out why with no spoilers to all the surprises that await inside this enchanting tale.

What if there are infinite paths created by each choice made in life? The Other Side of Now is the story of a successful actress, Lana Lord, who is haunted by the night her best friend, Aimee, is killed decades ago. Lana, née Meg Bryan, has an existential crisis on her thirtieth birthday and runs off to Ireland, her teenage dream of heaven. There she is thrust into an alternate version of her life, where Aimee is still alive. Even more surprising, Meg herself is back to her pre-Hollywood self: thicker in both body and nose but thinner in lip. Can Meg live forever in this new world? Will she want to?

It is hard to express how much I love everything about this book! I only have one negative comment: Move the playlist to the front of the book. Otherwise, every character and plot twist is perfect. I was worried that the ending would be disappointing. But it was perfect too. Truly a great novel that I look forward to reading again in a few years. Next time with the playlist queued up too. 5 stars and a favorite!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advanced review copy.

Magical realism can be hit or miss for me but The Other Side of Now was heavy on the hit! This debut novel from Paige Harbison had it all - love, loss, friendship and stardom. I enjoyed how the magic was incorporated and really enjoyed this.

A bonus was the mention of the author's mother, Beth Harbison, in the acknowledgments - a former must-read author for me - I loved this connection and can see that talent runs in the family!

I really enjoyed this book! It was sweet, funny, and heartbreaking all at the same time. I especially loved Cillian and wish we would have gotten more of his story! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

4.75⭐️

Oh, my heart. This was such a wonderful story. It contained so much emotional depth and explored themes of grief and loss in a poignant and heartfelt way. However, it managed to not sit too heavy as it held plenty of light-hearted moments through the narration and side characters. I was unsure how it would end, and to be honest that really worried me- I feel like these alternate timeline stories can be really difficult to close in a satisfying or authentic way. BUT IT DID! It had such a beautiful, perfect-to-me ending, and my heart is left feeling whole after an emotional journey.

I really enjoyed all of the characters. The main character felt relatable and I appreciated that the author seemed to anticipate the areas people would have difficulty buying into and got ahead of them through the internal monologue. I absolutely adored the love interest, Cillian, and side character, Kiera. A lot of the situations and interactions (outside the magical aspects obviously lol) felt very relatable. I also loved the setting- it felt a bit like Cameron Diaz from The Holiday in the Holiday (if she’d had amnesia lol).

My only critiques were that occasionally the pop culture references felt overloaded. I enjoyed them and they were mostly funny and great, but sometimes took me out a bit! Also, I wish there had been a little closer with the past situation with Theo. Maybe I missed it but did she ever tell Aimee what occurred? I would have liked that, even though it may have been small in the grand scheme.

Overall, I really loved this and could see myself rereading it again! I enjoyed the magical realism, characters, Irish setting, the character development and lasting message of this book. It felt like a lovely combo of Love & Other Words and One Italian Summer but for friendship, with a splash of Midnight Library. I will absolutely be looking forward to anything else written by this author!

Thank you so much to Paige Harbison, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! It was my pleasure to read and provide an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book so much. Yes, it follows the typical 'Sliding Doors' concept, and it is very similar to Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid. However, the writing is strong and the characters are full of depth. This story is full of emotion and plausible scenarios. If you can dispel your disbelief when it comes to alternate realities, you will definitely enjoy this book.

4.5/5

This was an unexpected hit for me! Life has been lifing lately and I’m behind on arcs which I HATE but when I saw some great reviews from some trusted pals I knew I had to make time for this and I’m so glad I did. I love magical realism and this was a fun take on parallel timelines. I also LOVE an Irish setting and I think this would make such a fun movie adaptation! Definitely will be recommending this one to eveyone.

The other side of now is part romance, part magical realism, part friendship and grief story. I love the premise and the idea of this book, a woman appears in the life she could have had if she had a made a different decision early on. I loved the setting of Avalon, Ireland. I love the character growth for Meg, and the themes of grief and friendship.

I struggled a bit with the middle of the story, it felt slow and I kept not wanting it to pick it up. It doesn’t help that I was not a big fan of the romance in the story.
I feel like things picked back up in the end and I loved the conclusion. The epilogue was perfection and wrapped everything in the best way.

So if you enjoy sliding doors type stories, this might be a good one to check out!

3.5 stars

I cannot put into words how much I loved this read. Meg Bryan (what a fun play of names) seems to have it all but beneath all of the glitz and glamour of her life she isn't happy to her core. As she experiences a breakdown on her 30th birthday she travels to an Irish village that she dreamed of going to with her now departed best friend Aimee. When she gets there however she finds herself living in a parallel life. I love magic realism and always am finding books with it, and Harbison did this so well to the point that I didn't realize I was crying for certain parts just based on the feelings it invoked in me.

3.75 stars that kept me reading and guessing what will happen next!

📖 The Details:
The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison
Magical Realism | Ireland Small Town | Romance and Friendship

⏱️ Quick Summary:
Meg (stage name Lana Lord) is a very famous actress in LA who is so tired of feeling unhappy and stuck that she books a trip to Ireland - a place she was supposed to go to for college before she made a different choice. All of a sudden, she's in Ireland and it's an alternate universe where she DID make that choice.

💁‍♀️ My Take:
This is the type of magical realism that I love! Very well done and written. The characters were all great - from the MCs to the supporting friends. Parts got me more emotional than I expected. The majority of the plot was focused on friendship and personal journey, with romance as a bit of a side plot. Hard not to give my full opinion on this without giving too much away. I was satisfied with the ending, but could have been satisfied MORE with a different option :)

Do you enjoy sliding doors type stories where the MC gets to explore what their life would’ve looked like had things played out differently? In this interdimensional take on that type of story, Meg Bryan discovers what life would’ve been like if she hadn’t abandoned her dream to attend school in Ireland to stay close to her best friend Aimee, who is later tragically killed in an accident.

Now a famous actress going by the stage name Lana Lord, she decides on her thirtieth birthday to book a trip to the “one that got away” - which in this case is Avalon, Ireland. When she gets there she finds that everyone knows her, she has a different best friend Kiera, an on-again/off-again relationship with bartender Cillian and weirdest of all? Aimee is there.

The story explores her journey of healing from her grief over losing Aimee in her “real” life, opening herself up to living life in the ‘now’, instead of in the past and letting go of regrets. These are all topics that I normally enjoy and connect with, yet here’s the big problem:

I never really connected with Meg. I felt oddly detached from her and frankly, found her a little obnoxious, which is a bad place to start when you’re trying to build the sympathy that the story requires. She comes across as a bit shallow with her frequent name dropping of celebrities, brands and places. The author’s L.A. connections show, but it feels like insider speak that kept me alienated.

I also didn’t feel the chemistry between Meg and Cillian. He seemed mature and balanced, while she felt too much like a YA character masquerading as a thirty-year-old.

Those things aside, I did enjoy the setting and characters of Avalon, especially Kiera and Cillian, Meg’s grief journey, as well as the ending, so there were likable aspects, but I really wanted to love it like so many others have.

Perhaps in another dimension I do?

★★★

This book was a big yes for me. I get a kick out of stories that switch time, location, presence of being, perhaps with an alternate self. Lana is a big TV star. She's twisted herself to be the "ideal" woman, starving herself, face work, hair color, working out... After shooting ends for the season, and perhaps a pending cancellation of the show, she decides go to visit the small university in Ireland that she and her best friend had so desperately wanted to attend. But life changed their intended pathways.

When she gets there, she finds her real self in the mirror - no plastic surgery, no hair coloring and her hair is much longer than she wears it. The towns people act like they know her well and they call her by her real name, Meg. And the bartender in the local pub is giving her the cold shoulder from the moment she's walked in. She's starting to think she's gone a bit batty, as do the people she's confided in. Supposedly she's lived there for the last 10 years and while she loves it, she's always wondered if she's missed her calling for acting. But she finds she's enjoying this life in Ireland and she's realizing more each day that being a big star isn't really what she wants anymore.

I found myself wondering how this dilemma would be resolved. Then I was worried that I wouldn't like the ending. And then I loved the ending. The author is new to me, but I'll be watching for her books.