Happy pub day to Insignificant Others by Sarah Jio! I’m so grateful to @williammorrowbooks for a copy of this time loop (ish) romance and to HarperAudio for ALC!

Lena Westbrook plans her life down the minute, including the night she expects her boyfriend to propose. She’s so sure that the restaurant has violinists on standby. Instead, he breaks up with her. She drags her broken heart—or maybe it’s just outrage that her plans have been derailed—to her beloved aunt’s house in Bainbridge, WA. But when she wakes up the next morning, she’s in France married to a Frenchman she met years ago. And the next morning she wakes up in another city with another man she briefly knew. And the next morning she’s with a different husband. Lena needs to figure out how to get back to her own life, and along the way she learns that she might not be as certain about how that life should turn out.

This wasn’t exactly a time loop book, because there was no time loop, but I can’t think of another term for it. The point is, I love a time loop book. This one was a lot of fun and it was interesting to see all the different lives Lena could have led and what she learned from each of them. I enjoyed the ending and liked knowing that Lena was on a path that made sense to me. I found the diversity of careers Lena had to be a little unbelievable, although I would love to think we all have that many paths to success in us. As much as I enjoyed this one, I think it suffered for me a bit because of its similarity to one of my favorites last year, The Husbands. To be clear, this is a completely different book and I’m sure it was written before The Husbands came out, but Insignificant Others has a similar structure, while being a bit less quirky and a bit more straightforward. I think people who struggled with The Husbands absurdity will love this one unconditionally.

Brittany Pressley narrates, which means I probably don’t need to say much else about the audiobook. She’s beloved for a reason, and she brings her usual charm to the narration.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I usually love a good 'what if' sliding door esque romcom but there were so many scenarios that it was hard to know who to root for and I honestly felt a little uninterested overall. I did love Brittany Pressley's narration - she is one of my very favs, so I still would definitely recommend listening to the audiobook for this one. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I love thinking about “what if” regarding paths not taken. Not dwelling in it in a melancholy way - I love my life. But sometimes a memory will be triggered and I can’t help but wonder what would have happened had I made a different choice.

In this book, Lena gets to find out - without her consent or knowledge beforehand. She plans every detail of her successful life except for the break up with her boyfriend when she’s expecting a marriage proposal. After returning to her childhood bed, she wakes up each day in a new situation with a love partner she passed on the first time around.

This sliding doors story is a fun look at how her life might be different if she had pursued relationships with men she encountered at various points in her life. This will get obvious comparisons to 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 by Holly Gramazio but I think this one takes a more lighthearted approach.

I loved this one! This is a time loop done right! ⁣
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When Lena’s longtime boyfriend pulls out Coldplay tickets instead of the engagement ring she was expecting, she feels like life is not going according to plan. ⁣
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But when Lena awakens the next day, she finds she has been transported to Paris and is the wife of a handsome Frenchman. What ensues is that every 24 hours, Lena wakes up in a different scenario of what her life could have been had she chosen differently. Each man she spends the next day with is someone she had already met, if only briefly. ⁣
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What I adored about this story was how it felt like several little romances or meet-cutes in one book. Each time Lena jumped, I was delighted to see what kind of person she would be with and their relationship. And then, there was the anticipation of who, or if, she would end up with any of them—I had my favorites! ⁣
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I loved Lena and most of the men, plus Lena’s friends, Frankie and Christian, and of course dear Aunt Rosie, who were all somewhere in the picture. ⁣
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This book is a testament to the author's skill. It's not just fun and romantic but also a thoughtful exploration of if there is a right one at the right time as Lena searches for the one that might have gotten away.⁣
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🎧 I had a great time pairing my reading with the audiobook narrated by Brittany Pressley. She did a fantastic job portraying Lena and her various romantic encounters, adding humor and emotion throughout. ⁣
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Thank you @williammorrowbooks and @sarahjio for the gifted book. Thank you @harpercollins #harperaudio for the gifted audiobook via #NetGalley.

Audio review: I've listened to a few books narrated by Brittany Pressley, and this was my favorite so far! The narrator really showed range with all of the different accents, which were executed flawlessly! Great quality narration and really enjoyable to listen to.

Book review: I thought the concept of this book was so interesting and unique! A time loop of waking up every day and getting a glimpse into the "what if" of different lives if the MC had ended up actually dating/marrying an array of missed connections and ex-partners.

The writing was engaging and well-done, and there was a nice bit of humor to add to the fun of it. I enjoyed the sweet moments too, and traveling to different places. Time loops have been popular lately and I really enjoy them, and I like that this one added something else to it that I haven't come across. There are also some really lovable side characters!

I found some elements to be disappointing, mainly the MC, Lena's lack of growth throughout the book. She came off as stuck up and judgmental until the last 5% of the book, rather than slowly growing and developing through all of these experiences that she got to have. I also think there was a missed opportunity for her to have been happily single in at least one of the time loops. Why does she NEED a relationship to learn about herself and her own happiness?

As soon as I saw that "Insignificant Others" was narrated by Brittany Pressley, it was an automatic request for me. Her performances always elevate a story, and this was no exception—her narration was flawless, as always. Unfortunately, the book itself didn’t work for me.

I struggled to connect with Lena as a character, and the format didn’t quite land. It reminded me of "The Husbands" by Holly Gramazio, but I found the execution here less successful. While the premise had potential, it didn’t fully deliver for me.

That said, I think readers who enjoyed "The Husbands" or those who prefer lighter, more whimsical fiction may enjoy this one more than I did. And if nothing else, Brittany Pressley’s narration makes it a pleasant listening experience.

Thank you to Sarah Jio, Brittany Pressley, HarperAudio, and NetGalley for sending me the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

In the vein of The Midnight Library and Resurrection Blues, Insignificant Others gives a glimpse into the what-if of paths not taken and loves not chosen.