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Some Other Time
A hopeful, funny, and untraditional love story about second chances, the ripple effects of love, and the myriad ways in which the simplest lives have the power to change the world.
The next step in Ellie Baker’s divorce. She and her husband, Jonah, are heading to Florida to break it to the family. No great drama to share. After twenty years of marriage, they’ve just fallen out of love. Simple.
Not to their college-age daughter, Maggie, who is devastated. Or to Ellie’s father, Frank, who grows as cold as a retiree can get in Orlando. As for Ellie’s mother, Bunny: no, no, no. She doesn’t want to hear it. After a dreadful weekend, Ellie and Jonah return home to New Jersey with hearts and minds still set on a split. Until the extraordinary morning Ellie wakes up to an alternate version of the present day—one in which she, and a passing stranger named Jonah, never married.
Over the span of an inexplicable week, Ellie sees how her world—and the world of everyone she loves—unfolded through a different course in time. And this time could change everything all over again.
The next step in Ellie Baker’s divorce. She and her husband, Jonah, are heading to Florida to break it to the family. No great drama to share. After twenty years of marriage, they’ve just fallen out of love. Simple.
Not to their college-age daughter, Maggie, who is devastated. Or to Ellie’s father, Frank, who grows as cold as a retiree can get in Orlando. As for Ellie’s mother, Bunny: no, no, no. She doesn’t want to hear it. After a dreadful weekend, Ellie and Jonah return home to New Jersey with hearts and minds still set on a split. Until the extraordinary morning Ellie wakes up to an alternate version of the present day—one in which she, and a passing stranger named Jonah, never married.
Over the span of an inexplicable week, Ellie sees how her world—and the world of everyone she loves—unfolded through a different course in time. And this time could change everything all over again.
297 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 554 reviews
January 15, 2025
There is a good chance that this book is propaganda funded by the Catholic Church. The two themes hammered upon incessantly are that divorce is bad, actually, even in an unhappy relationship that has run its course, and that getting married at a child-bearing age is the only path forward to happiness for adults and their parents.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with an It's A Wonderful Life-esque tale that concludes with the protagonist feeling grateful for the way his or her life has panned out. There is, however, something insidious about a story like this one that paints every unmarried adult as leading a deeply unhappy life. The wretched stink of their singleness and the fact that they did not meet and marry a partner by their late 20s has doomed both them and their parents to sad shells of the amazing lives they would have had if only they had received the blessed sacrament of matrimony.
Yes, that's right- this book presents not one, but two characters, who have stood in the way of their parents happily retiring and moving elsewhere in their golden years because... their kids never got married? Ah, yes... impossible to retire unless your children are happy and settled in life, and the only way they can get there is to be a husband or a wife and to have children of their own!
And as for divorce? You better not! Stay in that marriage, even if you want to explore other parts of yourself, and even if you woke up one morning and realized that your partner has become a stranger who does nothing to support you. There is nothing on earth that should stop you from saving your marriage, because handwave handwave, being married is the most important thing for a person to be!
Do you know what's even sadder than the saddest fate presented by the author, which is being an unmarried adult? Being unable to believe that you still would have a happy life even if you never got married or had children.
The writing was really repetitive and could have used a more careful eye during the editing process. It's actually surprising that the author is as young as she is because the characters are presented in such boomer-coded ways. For example, the protagonist's daughter is a vegan, which means... she only eats vegetables? I don't think that's how things work.
Grateful I was able to read this for free from Amazon because it's a big skip.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with an It's A Wonderful Life-esque tale that concludes with the protagonist feeling grateful for the way his or her life has panned out. There is, however, something insidious about a story like this one that paints every unmarried adult as leading a deeply unhappy life. The wretched stink of their singleness and the fact that they did not meet and marry a partner by their late 20s has doomed both them and their parents to sad shells of the amazing lives they would have had if only they had received the blessed sacrament of matrimony.
Yes, that's right- this book presents not one, but two characters, who have stood in the way of their parents happily retiring and moving elsewhere in their golden years because... their kids never got married? Ah, yes... impossible to retire unless your children are happy and settled in life, and the only way they can get there is to be a husband or a wife and to have children of their own!
And as for divorce? You better not! Stay in that marriage, even if you want to explore other parts of yourself, and even if you woke up one morning and realized that your partner has become a stranger who does nothing to support you. There is nothing on earth that should stop you from saving your marriage, because handwave handwave, being married is the most important thing for a person to be!
Do you know what's even sadder than the saddest fate presented by the author, which is being an unmarried adult? Being unable to believe that you still would have a happy life even if you never got married or had children.
The writing was really repetitive and could have used a more careful eye during the editing process. It's actually surprising that the author is as young as she is because the characters are presented in such boomer-coded ways. For example, the protagonist's daughter is a vegan, which means... she only eats vegetables? I don't think that's how things work.
Grateful I was able to read this for free from Amazon because it's a big skip.
January 2, 2025
I cannot finish this. I am so tired of the wife and her whining. I do not have the patience to see if this improves.
January 1, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Some Other Time is a moving book based on relationships, the path not traveled, parental expectations, and is a book for anyone who ever wondered what their life would be like….if only.
49 year old Ellie and her husband Jonah have just announced their divorce to their only daughter, Maggie, and her parents, Bunny and Frank. No one wants to hear it. The family is less than enthusiastic about the split, which they feel is simply unnecessary. But Ellie can’t shake the idea that her life would be different without the trappings of her identity being wrapped up in her role as wife and mom.
Sliding Doors, Vanilla Sky, The Butterfly Effect; there have been many movies and books along this theme, so to have another version of this feel so creative, so real and so raw is pleasantly surprising. This book hits home that although you have several other possible lives; there is beauty in the simplicity of each one.
Ellie’s father Frank gets the pinnacle line: “sometimes, Ellie, I think your mother feels that people get all wrapped up in the notion that their life has to be so big, so earth shattering, that they forget how significant a simple and quiet life can be, too. How meaningful love and commitment are in such an unpredictable world.”
I loved Angela Brown’s first book, Olivia Strauss is running Out of Time, which is another contemporary women’s fiction book that introduces magical/fantasy elements in a pragmatic way. I love the way she develops characters through unexplained fantasy elements. It’s a great way to explore human nature while not having to play by the rules of our actual world.
Thanks to @netgalley and Little A for the ARC. Book to be published February 4, 2024.
49 year old Ellie and her husband Jonah have just announced their divorce to their only daughter, Maggie, and her parents, Bunny and Frank. No one wants to hear it. The family is less than enthusiastic about the split, which they feel is simply unnecessary. But Ellie can’t shake the idea that her life would be different without the trappings of her identity being wrapped up in her role as wife and mom.
Sliding Doors, Vanilla Sky, The Butterfly Effect; there have been many movies and books along this theme, so to have another version of this feel so creative, so real and so raw is pleasantly surprising. This book hits home that although you have several other possible lives; there is beauty in the simplicity of each one.
Ellie’s father Frank gets the pinnacle line: “sometimes, Ellie, I think your mother feels that people get all wrapped up in the notion that their life has to be so big, so earth shattering, that they forget how significant a simple and quiet life can be, too. How meaningful love and commitment are in such an unpredictable world.”
I loved Angela Brown’s first book, Olivia Strauss is running Out of Time, which is another contemporary women’s fiction book that introduces magical/fantasy elements in a pragmatic way. I love the way she develops characters through unexplained fantasy elements. It’s a great way to explore human nature while not having to play by the rules of our actual world.
Thanks to @netgalley and Little A for the ARC. Book to be published February 4, 2024.
January 8, 2025
This book was a real disappointment, from beginning to end. My reading compulsion to finish what I start is all that got me to the end; I was so annoyed.
From the one-dimensional, trad-wifey main character to the strangely detailed visual cues (the bookstore friend offers a remark with glossy, opalescent lips? How many times must Ellie nonchalantly tuck her straight, honey-colored curtains of face-framing hair behind her ear, or make bizarre, unsafe choices while driving?) to the barely concealed homilies of "what a marriage is," I could hardly keep my supper down. I definitely wondered if the writer was a devout Christian, or a male author struggling to realistically write a female character. Nightmarish flashbacks to the passive female lead and overall facepalm that was Twilight. Blegh - do not waste your time on this one; but to Ms. Brown, all the best on your future endeavors.
From the one-dimensional, trad-wifey main character to the strangely detailed visual cues (the bookstore friend offers a remark with glossy, opalescent lips? How many times must Ellie nonchalantly tuck her straight, honey-colored curtains of face-framing hair behind her ear, or make bizarre, unsafe choices while driving?) to the barely concealed homilies of "what a marriage is," I could hardly keep my supper down. I definitely wondered if the writer was a devout Christian, or a male author struggling to realistically write a female character. Nightmarish flashbacks to the passive female lead and overall facepalm that was Twilight. Blegh - do not waste your time on this one; but to Ms. Brown, all the best on your future endeavors.
January 4, 2025
This book angered me. I wanted to like it as I usually enjoy these time-bendy sorts of romcoms. But in 2025- the parents can’t retire because their 40 something daughter, who is a successful business owner, isn’t married?? The horror! And the main character is a whiny self-centered person who can’t understand why her daughter might want to (gasp) go away to college or travel around Europe with friends in the summer. And I was livid at the ending where the mom was “proven right” and the daughter wants to come home. Is this 1950???
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2024
It took me a bit to get into this one because the first 30% or so was just so hopeless and sad, and I honestly did not buy the reason for this couple parting ways. It just didn’t seem like enough of a reason to throw in the towel, nor did it seem like they both even really wanted jt. But once the other “sliding doors” realities were introduced, I was in. I love that concept and love when it’s done well. This one was done pretty well, I just wish it hadn’t taken so long to get to them.
The emotional depth of this story was great, very realistic, lots of up and down. All the feels. Some very poignant moments that I could relate to.
My other complaint besides the rather long intro is the pacing of the dialogue. Someone would say something and we’d suddenly get a page and a half of backstory or flashback before finally having the responding dialogue, and a couple of times, I didn’t even remember what they were responding to. I actually skipped ahead to the response a couple of times (sorry, Angela Brown) and felt like I didn’t miss anything crucial.
Overall, a sweet book.
**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for my review.
The emotional depth of this story was great, very realistic, lots of up and down. All the feels. Some very poignant moments that I could relate to.
My other complaint besides the rather long intro is the pacing of the dialogue. Someone would say something and we’d suddenly get a page and a half of backstory or flashback before finally having the responding dialogue, and a couple of times, I didn’t even remember what they were responding to. I actually skipped ahead to the response a couple of times (sorry, Angela Brown) and felt like I didn’t miss anything crucial.
Overall, a sweet book.
**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for my review.
dnf
February 3, 2025DNF 12%
This was my Amazon First Read choice for January. I didn't make it past chapter two. Ellie is insufferable. I understand that she's on this journey and is going to learn a lesson or whatever, but I don't care. I can't go through a couple hundred pages of her being the most judgmental and passive-aggressive wife and mother on the planet before things start to turn around.
The following are just a few things that rubbed me the wrong way.
1. Ellie and her husband Jonah are flying and she can't get her AC to work. She's sweating and uncomfortable. Her husband helps turn on her AC and instead of thanking him she complains that it was jammed. Then we're told this:
Oh yay...a 'woman is so dumb she can't screw in a light bulb' joke. Super original and not at all misogynistic. 😒
2. Ellie's willful ignorance about her surroundings in the airport that she admits she's been in 'innumerable times' pissed me off. She mentions that Jonah knows his way around the airport and how to find things like coffee, water, bathrooms, etc. First of all, it's not difficult to find any of those things in most airports. Bathrooms are found throughout the terminals and are pretty clearly marked. Coffee stands and convenient stores are also plentiful. But it's really this line that got to me:
Listen, I'm not here to pass judgment on anyone's marital dynamic. As long as both parties are happy with the arrangement and it's not hurting anyone else, do whatever works for the both of you. But for me, going along for the ride isn't enough. I want to have some say in the destination and the route we're taking. Also, Ellie telling us what marriage is is wild, considering this book starts with them announcing their impending divorce. Obviously whatever she was comfortable with over the past 20 years wasn't actually what she wanted.
Also, this whole I'm-just-going-with-the-flow-no-thoughts-brain-off mentality is contradicted just a couple pages later when Ellie justifies her over-packing (no shade on that, I'm an admitted over-packer. I like to have options!) by saying:
3. When Ellie and Jonah see their daughter Maggie at the airport, Ellie runs across the airport and throws her arms around her and nestles her face into her hair and then starts to sob. Maggie, who in understandably uncomfortable, tells her mom to pull it together. Jonah, on the other hand, gives her a quick kiss on the cheek and rumples her hair, which earns him a smile. That is followed by this observation:
As if a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the head is at all comparable to running through a busy airport terminal and breaking down in tears.🙄 But if there's something Jonah or Maggie say or do that Ellie can hold resentment for, she will.
4. Ellie is critical of everything Maggie does, says, wears, etc. Here are a couple of winners from the first two chapters:
My first thought when I read that paragraph was that this is the type of mother who is shocked when their children go no-contact.
Ellie is such a privileged snob. And maybe that all changes throughout the course of the book and she has a complete turnaround a la Ebenezer Scrooge, but I can't lie, I do wonder how much of herself did this author put into Ellie's character? Also, making me defend veganism is kind of pissing me off, as someone who can't stop/won't stop eating butter and cheese. But the way she and the other characters (save Jonah) look down on Maggie for eating vegetables is wild. And I just need to know that the author understands that a vegan's diet is made up of more than broccoli and parsley. I'm only being mildly facetious here.
Oh! I have an idea! Maybe it's because you're the personification of a sneer. Just a thought.
5. Classist and racially/culturally insensitive remarks:
When she sees that TSA did further security checks on her checked luggage:
Ummmm, what? So what does a suitcase containing a gun or drugs look like, ma'am? And what does a person carrying a gun or drugs or smuggling exotic animals look like? Just curious for those of us readers who are more than a little grossed out right now.
So we're comparing name-brand hotels and outlet malls in Orlando, Florida to the poverty in a literal third-world country? Are you fucking kidding me? I couldn't believe what I was reading.
6. The writing in here just doesn't work for me. I like descriptive writing. But some of the descriptions we get in this book are truly strange.
I think she's trying to get across that the quality of the costume isn't great, but this is so clunky.
The author seems to find it necessary to mention the state of everyone's hair at least once in every chapter. She especially likes to call out if the hair is dyed or not, and goes even further to call out box-dyed hair, and not in a way that feels complimentary at all.
Literally one paragraph later...
Why? Why the heck is this second quote even in the book? She just talked about dyeing her hair, then says it again. I don't get it.
This book describes hair NINETY times.
There's also just a general clunkiness to the sentence structure. This woman never met a parentheses she didn't love and immediately use in a sentence. And I say this as someone who often uses parentheses when I'm writing book reviews. But this was excessive.
Also, she must've gone to the Sarah J. Maas School of em dashes, because holy moly, they were everywhere.
Okay, I think I've given enough of my mental bandwidth to something I only read 35 pages of. I actually considered hate reading to the end just so I could give the book one star, but there are so many other books on my radar that I'm really excited about, so I'm just going to move on and try to block Ellie out of my mind.
Edited to add: I just noticed that this book was published by the Amazon imprint Little A, which I found curious because that is the imprint that handles literary fiction and nonfiction, according to its own website. But really, that's the least of the issues with this book.
This was my Amazon First Read choice for January. I didn't make it past chapter two. Ellie is insufferable. I understand that she's on this journey and is going to learn a lesson or whatever, but I don't care. I can't go through a couple hundred pages of her being the most judgmental and passive-aggressive wife and mother on the planet before things start to turn around.
The following are just a few things that rubbed me the wrong way.
1. Ellie and her husband Jonah are flying and she can't get her AC to work. She's sweating and uncomfortable. Her husband helps turn on her AC and instead of thanking him she complains that it was jammed. Then we're told this:
"...Ellie always does things like this. Give her a book and she can provide you with an in-depth analysis. Give her a light bulb, and suddenly she doesn't know her left from her right."
Oh yay...a 'woman is so dumb she can't screw in a light bulb' joke. Super original and not at all misogynistic. 😒
2. Ellie's willful ignorance about her surroundings in the airport that she admits she's been in 'innumerable times' pissed me off. She mentions that Jonah knows his way around the airport and how to find things like coffee, water, bathrooms, etc. First of all, it's not difficult to find any of those things in most airports. Bathrooms are found throughout the terminals and are pretty clearly marked. Coffee stands and convenient stores are also plentiful. But it's really this line that got to me:
"Ellie should know these things too. She's traveled her just as frequently as him, though honestly, she's never fully paid attention. This has always been Jonah's job--to know where they're going, where to find certain things. And isn't this just marriage? One person in the driver's seat, the other person staring out the window, bouncing along, pleased to be enjoying the ride."
Listen, I'm not here to pass judgment on anyone's marital dynamic. As long as both parties are happy with the arrangement and it's not hurting anyone else, do whatever works for the both of you. But for me, going along for the ride isn't enough. I want to have some say in the destination and the route we're taking. Also, Ellie telling us what marriage is is wild, considering this book starts with them announcing their impending divorce. Obviously whatever she was comfortable with over the past 20 years wasn't actually what she wanted.
Also, this whole I'm-just-going-with-the-flow-no-thoughts-brain-off mentality is contradicted just a couple pages later when Ellie justifies her over-packing (no shade on that, I'm an admitted over-packer. I like to have options!) by saying:
"This is just one of the many symptoms of all the years she felt so responsible for everyone, always making sure the three of them had every possible thing, this forever maternal urge to overpack."
3. When Ellie and Jonah see their daughter Maggie at the airport, Ellie runs across the airport and throws her arms around her and nestles her face into her hair and then starts to sob. Maggie, who in understandably uncomfortable, tells her mom to pull it together. Jonah, on the other hand, gives her a quick kiss on the cheek and rumples her hair, which earns him a smile. That is followed by this observation:
"Apparently, this sort of affection from her father is still fine."
As if a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the head is at all comparable to running through a busy airport terminal and breaking down in tears.🙄 But if there's something Jonah or Maggie say or do that Ellie can hold resentment for, she will.
4. Ellie is critical of everything Maggie does, says, wears, etc. Here are a couple of winners from the first two chapters:
"Like always, as of late, her feet are covered by those ridiculous Jesus sandals. This is Maggie's look now, her vibe (oh, to still have the luxury of such self-indulgence as a vibe, whatever that even means), something to go along with her total protestation of eggs and gelatin. Apparently, according to her daughter, Ellie's love of fizzy grapefruit seltzer and certain baked confections is the sole reason there's a hole in the atmosphere."
My first thought when I read that paragraph was that this is the type of mother who is shocked when their children go no-contact.
"Maggie stares through the window, still gnawing her way through steak-size slices of dried mango. You know how you'd be less hungry? Ellie thinks. If you put aside these foolish new politics and actually ate a steak."
"Apparently, up at Middlebury, where Ellie and Jonah are paying more than some people's annual salary for Maggie to hand out and drink locally brewed craft beers for four years, someone has convinced their daughter that her comfortable upbringing is why the world keeps catching on fire. Probably the same individual who stabbed a needle and silver stud though[sic] her nostril. Ellie imagines that this person drives a bumper-sticker marked Subaru."
Ellie is such a privileged snob. And maybe that all changes throughout the course of the book and she has a complete turnaround a la Ebenezer Scrooge, but I can't lie, I do wonder how much of herself did this author put into Ellie's character? Also, making me defend veganism is kind of pissing me off, as someone who can't stop/won't stop eating butter and cheese. But the way she and the other characters (save Jonah) look down on Maggie for eating vegetables is wild. And I just need to know that the author understands that a vegan's diet is made up of more than broccoli and parsley. I'm only being mildly facetious here.
"She and Maggie aren't the same, due to reasons Ellie doesn't understand."
Oh! I have an idea! Maybe it's because you're the personification of a sneer. Just a thought.
5. Classist and racially/culturally insensitive remarks:
When she sees that TSA did further security checks on her checked luggage:
"Why, of all the bags, did the need to check hers? As if she--an unremarkable suburban mother, looking like a stock character of a typical late-forties woman on a film set--might be hoarding guns or drugs or exotic animals in her luggage instead of menopause medication and a few extra light layers in case she gets chilly at night."
Ummmm, what? So what does a suitcase containing a gun or drugs look like, ma'am? And what does a person carrying a gun or drugs or smuggling exotic animals look like? Just curious for those of us readers who are more than a little grossed out right now.
"International Drive is a showpiece of everything terrible. Fast-food joints. Name-brand hotels. Outlet malls. Chain restaurants. To arrive at the theme parks or her parents' small community or any place else desirable, one must navigate this road first. It's like flying to a sketchy island and have to drive through its upsetting third-world section before you reach your all-inclusive resort--a visual reminder of what has been sacrificed so you and your family can relax."
So we're comparing name-brand hotels and outlet malls in Orlando, Florida to the poverty in a literal third-world country? Are you fucking kidding me? I couldn't believe what I was reading.
6. The writing in here just doesn't work for me. I like descriptive writing. But some of the descriptions we get in this book are truly strange.
"Beside Ellie, a little girl dressed in a made-in-China princess costume bounces up and down like a windup toy."
I think she's trying to get across that the quality of the costume isn't great, but this is so clunky.
The author seems to find it necessary to mention the state of everyone's hair at least once in every chapter. She especially likes to call out if the hair is dyed or not, and goes even further to call out box-dyed hair, and not in a way that feels complimentary at all.
"Ellie pays $200 every three months so some twenty-eight-year-old can paint her head with chemicals and help fuel the cultural belief that women shouldn't age."
Literally one paragraph later...
"Air shoots through the vents, billowing Ellie's straight, shoulder-length (dyed and highlighted, definitely not natural) honey-brunette hair. "
Why? Why the heck is this second quote even in the book? She just talked about dyeing her hair, then says it again. I don't get it.
"[Ellie's mother] stands at the edge of the terra-cotta-colored walkway outside her condo. She's waving a white dish towel about her dyed-from-a-box blond bob of hair, as if she's watching a ship come into port."
"[Ellie] pulls her (dyed) hair--already frizzing--away from her face."
"Bunny joins her daughter at the table. Her thinning, dyed-blond hair is brushed back away from her face, her skin a map of wrinkles and time."
"She looks the same, like regular old Ellie. A few simple sweeps of makeup. Her professionally dyed honey hair hanging in two straight curtains around her face."
This book describes hair NINETY times.
There's also just a general clunkiness to the sentence structure. This woman never met a parentheses she didn't love and immediately use in a sentence. And I say this as someone who often uses parentheses when I'm writing book reviews. But this was excessive.
Also, she must've gone to the Sarah J. Maas School of em dashes, because holy moly, they were everywhere.
Okay, I think I've given enough of my mental bandwidth to something I only read 35 pages of. I actually considered hate reading to the end just so I could give the book one star, but there are so many other books on my radar that I'm really excited about, so I'm just going to move on and try to block Ellie out of my mind.
Edited to add: I just noticed that this book was published by the Amazon imprint Little A, which I found curious because that is the imprint that handles literary fiction and nonfiction, according to its own website. But really, that's the least of the issues with this book.
April 3, 2025
I thought this was a really compelling story. One about a married couple, Ellie and Jonah, who hit a roadblock in their relationship after being together for 20 years. They feel like they lost that connection. They make the decision to get divorced, but still have that nagging feeling that maybe this isn't what they should do. Well Ellie wakes up one morning to a completely alternate reality where she's not married to Jonah. She gets to experience how her life might have been had she never married Jonah. I loved the magical realism aspect to this story and how Ellie was able to reflect on her life and decide if they are making the right decision. I love a good “what if” scenario book, and this one definitely grabbed me. I also liked seeing the other characters in the book doing different things in these different realities. That was fun. I totally wasn't expecting it to end the way it did either. I'm happy I got a chance to read this one.
Thank you to the publisher, author, and Suzy approved book tours for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to the publisher, author, and Suzy approved book tours for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
January 28, 2025
Aw, I really enjoyed this. It’s on the slower side, but there were such thoughtful and insightful discussions on motherhood and marriage. I found myself highlighting so many quotes!
After twenty years of marriage, Ellie is set on divorce. Her relationship with Jonah is filled with constant arguments, and the love they once shared feels distant. With their daughter off to college, Ellie is grappling with a deep sense of loss. Her entire identity has been tied to being a wife and mother. So now, who is she? What is her purpose?
But then Ellie is thrust into an alternate reality, one where she never married Jonah. And of course, everything in her life is completely backwards, forcing her to confront the path she didn’t take!
I loved that it showed that each reality, no matter how different, had its positives and challenges. It’s about Ellie learning to appreciate the simple joys of life and rediscovering a love that might have been buried but never truly left. It was a sweet reminder that it’s also the small, everyday choices that shape our lives!
(heat level: none)
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
After twenty years of marriage, Ellie is set on divorce. Her relationship with Jonah is filled with constant arguments, and the love they once shared feels distant. With their daughter off to college, Ellie is grappling with a deep sense of loss. Her entire identity has been tied to being a wife and mother. So now, who is she? What is her purpose?
But then Ellie is thrust into an alternate reality, one where she never married Jonah. And of course, everything in her life is completely backwards, forcing her to confront the path she didn’t take!
I loved that it showed that each reality, no matter how different, had its positives and challenges. It’s about Ellie learning to appreciate the simple joys of life and rediscovering a love that might have been buried but never truly left. It was a sweet reminder that it’s also the small, everyday choices that shape our lives!
(heat level: none)
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
December 21, 2024
I was not able to finish this. The story started out slow and I did not connect with any of the characters. I do think the premise is fun!
Thank you to Little A and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.
Thank you to Little A and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.
March 4, 2025
Couldn’t finish it. Too many chapters of a woman who whined and complained and didn’t know why. And then, an alternate reality? I guess? Nope. I’m out.
February 5, 2025
Ellie thought she needed to change her life when her daughter leaves for college so she decides to tell her husband she wants a divorce. After telling her parents in Florida the news, they fly home. When Ellie wakes the next day she's in a different version of her life. Will she change her mind. I did enjoy the characters though I felt the book could have been shorter.
June 3, 2025
Imagine you are on the verge of a divorce with your husband now that your daughter has gone off to college. You two met when he hit your car shortly after a breakup with your ex. You thought that you were soul mates and the accident was a sign that you two were meant to meet and fall in love.
Then you are asking for a divorce as you realize you could have choose another pathway, had a sucessful career and blossomed more instead of being in a unseen role as mother and wife. Mayve your life could be more exciting then it is now. Your parents have retired to Florida and are still as thick as thieves.
You resent your husband for holding you back in life, hence the request for a divorce that he begrudgingly is going along with.
Then one day you wake up in an alternate universe. One where your parents are divorcing, you never met your husband nor had children. You own a successful business and run into your ex.
Then one day your husband crashes into you and your ex bf crashes into you in the same day. You have to revaluate both your current life and the life you lived as you realize maybe it was fate that your husband crashed into you in both universes.
This was a good read but there were some slow times that I had to walk away from the story. It did pick up but I realized that maybe I had to walk away because the Fmcs personality ground my gears. I know that the theme of the book was self realization but there were some parts I felt like trying to shake the fmc to get to her senses about realizing what she did have Instead of complaining about what she didnt.
Then you are asking for a divorce as you realize you could have choose another pathway, had a sucessful career and blossomed more instead of being in a unseen role as mother and wife. Mayve your life could be more exciting then it is now. Your parents have retired to Florida and are still as thick as thieves.
You resent your husband for holding you back in life, hence the request for a divorce that he begrudgingly is going along with.
Then one day you wake up in an alternate universe. One where your parents are divorcing, you never met your husband nor had children. You own a successful business and run into your ex.
Then one day your husband crashes into you and your ex bf crashes into you in the same day. You have to revaluate both your current life and the life you lived as you realize maybe it was fate that your husband crashed into you in both universes.
This was a good read but there were some slow times that I had to walk away from the story. It did pick up but I realized that maybe I had to walk away because the Fmcs personality ground my gears. I know that the theme of the book was self realization but there were some parts I felt like trying to shake the fmc to get to her senses about realizing what she did have Instead of complaining about what she didnt.
January 24, 2025
Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours and author @angelabrownbooks for the gorgeous copy
TITLE: Some Other Time
AUTHOR: Angela Brown
PUB DATE: 02.01.2025
I love a unique story about second chance at love and Some Other Time by Angela Brown was exceptional - how often do you ever wonder the "what if" and what would the trajectory of your life be if you just made a different choice.
I will be celebrating my 30 years wedding anniversary this year and as wonderful my marriage is, it doesn't stop me from thinking about the what ifs - Brown wrote a beautiful story, that addressed important themes in relationships, marriage, motherhood, and so many more. I found the story to be insightful and truly understands the complexity of our everyday life.
QOTD: "some other time ..."
#suzyapprovedbooktours #angelabrown #someothertime
TITLE: Some Other Time
AUTHOR: Angela Brown
PUB DATE: 02.01.2025
I love a unique story about second chance at love and Some Other Time by Angela Brown was exceptional - how often do you ever wonder the "what if" and what would the trajectory of your life be if you just made a different choice.
I will be celebrating my 30 years wedding anniversary this year and as wonderful my marriage is, it doesn't stop me from thinking about the what ifs - Brown wrote a beautiful story, that addressed important themes in relationships, marriage, motherhood, and so many more. I found the story to be insightful and truly understands the complexity of our everyday life.
QOTD: "some other time ..."
#suzyapprovedbooktours #angelabrown #someothertime
January 5, 2025
Meh
Wornout plot. The unhappy spouse wishes she'd done things differently, then longs for her old life back when her wish comes true. Nothing new here.
The writing style is both mundane and overdone. Meandering metaphors and banal symbolism in the place of actual plot points. The moral of the story is *gasp* it's okay to be content with a life where you've done nothing except raise a family. While I enjoy themes of simplistic living, finding joy in the day-to-day, being gratified by everyday life and brief human interactions... This book inspired none of those feelings. I was bored, and it just kept going long after it should've wrapped up.
Wornout plot. The unhappy spouse wishes she'd done things differently, then longs for her old life back when her wish comes true. Nothing new here.
The writing style is both mundane and overdone. Meandering metaphors and banal symbolism in the place of actual plot points. The moral of the story is *gasp* it's okay to be content with a life where you've done nothing except raise a family. While I enjoy themes of simplistic living, finding joy in the day-to-day, being gratified by everyday life and brief human interactions... This book inspired none of those feelings. I was bored, and it just kept going long after it should've wrapped up.
January 20, 2025
Gosh, this was so painful to read, not just story wise as it's chock full of highly dislikable characters who make your face droop...I was forcing myself to pick this up and it was just not happening. I found the writing to be a bit robotic and droning on repetitive, there is no tangible human emotion here as it goes on and on with the whineee stuff, the on repeat golden dyed hair being some anchor to the main character.... maybe some AI helped cause it's cold, detached and just not good.
I love reading about flawed characters navigating through life but this was not it for me.
I love reading about flawed characters navigating through life but this was not it for me.
January 22, 2025
Damn, it was so boring and like pulling teeth to read for me.
September 24, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.
There were two or three things at the end of this book that I did enjoy, little twists, but overall unfortunately this wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the main character at all and felt it was a bit slow and at some points repetitive.
There were two or three things at the end of this book that I did enjoy, little twists, but overall unfortunately this wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the main character at all and felt it was a bit slow and at some points repetitive.
February 12, 2025
Have you ever wondered what your life might look like if you had made different choices? Would you still have the same career? Live in the same area? Interact with the same people?
Stay-at-home mom Ellie Baker feels lost. Her only child, Maggie, has moved out of state for college and seems to no longer need Ellie. She and her husband of twenty years, Jonah, seem to have fallen out of love and have decided to divorce. Her parents now live miles away, having retired to Florida. Ellie is alone and without community, stuck in the same town she’s lived in her whole life.
On a trip to Florida to announce their divorce, things seem to go from bad to worse when the divorce news rattles Maggie and Ellie’s parents. Returning home to New Jersey, Ellie and Jonah still plan to go through with their divorce, even though both are questioning if it’s really the right decision. When Ellie wakes up the next morning, she finds herself in a different world. A world in which she never married Jonah, her parents never retired to Florida, and she owns the local bookstore. As Ellie lives each day in this alternate reality, pieces of the life she remembers, including a stranger named Jonah, continue to pop up. Over one life-changing week, Ellie gets a peek into what her life could have looked like if she had made different choices and must decide if this life is worth staying in or if she can find her way back to her real life before it disappears.
I loved Some Other Time! This beautiful story gave me all the feels! I found Ellie incredibly relatable, and I connected deeply with her journey. I enjoyed the magical realism/alternate reality twist on the story and seeing what elements of Ellie’s former life appeared in the alternate one.
If you want a feel-good read, I highly recommend Some Other Time. It was engaging and thought-provoking, and I think it would be an excellent choice for book clubs.
Stay-at-home mom Ellie Baker feels lost. Her only child, Maggie, has moved out of state for college and seems to no longer need Ellie. She and her husband of twenty years, Jonah, seem to have fallen out of love and have decided to divorce. Her parents now live miles away, having retired to Florida. Ellie is alone and without community, stuck in the same town she’s lived in her whole life.
On a trip to Florida to announce their divorce, things seem to go from bad to worse when the divorce news rattles Maggie and Ellie’s parents. Returning home to New Jersey, Ellie and Jonah still plan to go through with their divorce, even though both are questioning if it’s really the right decision. When Ellie wakes up the next morning, she finds herself in a different world. A world in which she never married Jonah, her parents never retired to Florida, and she owns the local bookstore. As Ellie lives each day in this alternate reality, pieces of the life she remembers, including a stranger named Jonah, continue to pop up. Over one life-changing week, Ellie gets a peek into what her life could have looked like if she had made different choices and must decide if this life is worth staying in or if she can find her way back to her real life before it disappears.
I loved Some Other Time! This beautiful story gave me all the feels! I found Ellie incredibly relatable, and I connected deeply with her journey. I enjoyed the magical realism/alternate reality twist on the story and seeing what elements of Ellie’s former life appeared in the alternate one.
If you want a feel-good read, I highly recommend Some Other Time. It was engaging and thought-provoking, and I think it would be an excellent choice for book clubs.
March 5, 2025
2.5 stars, rounded down
I really thought that this would be a sweet, light-hearted book, and in some ways it is. But it almost can't decide *what* it's going to be. There are comparisons to It's a Wonderful Life and The Butterfly Effect. However, it is not a reimagined story of either one.
Ellie and Jonah have traveled to Florida to tell their parents and daughter that they're getting a divorce. After 20 years, they are empty nesters and have grown apart. Of course, it's a terrible weekend and no one is happy. They return to New Jersey and experience a bad storm on the way back. After they land, they go their separate ways. The next morning Ellie awakes to a different world, one in which she had not married Jonah. The rest of the story is involved with the good and bad effects of their relationship and how they eventually resolve their relationship.
Okay...that doesn't sound too bad. There are a few things that really had me eyerolling and I just couldn't get into it as I thought I might have when I picked it up.
****Spoilers ahead**** as I can't discuss the problems without going deep into the novel
This was not a terrible book but there were so many plot holes and inconsistencies that I simply couldn't rate it higher. It was not bad enough to DNF, so there's that.
Quotes I liked:
Life...is not a study in destiny, but an experiment in choice.
To know that wherever you are in life, wherever your journey might take you, when you have this other person at your side, you'll always feel like you're at home.
I really thought that this would be a sweet, light-hearted book, and in some ways it is. But it almost can't decide *what* it's going to be. There are comparisons to It's a Wonderful Life and The Butterfly Effect. However, it is not a reimagined story of either one.
Ellie and Jonah have traveled to Florida to tell their parents and daughter that they're getting a divorce. After 20 years, they are empty nesters and have grown apart. Of course, it's a terrible weekend and no one is happy. They return to New Jersey and experience a bad storm on the way back. After they land, they go their separate ways. The next morning Ellie awakes to a different world, one in which she had not married Jonah. The rest of the story is involved with the good and bad effects of their relationship and how they eventually resolve their relationship.
Okay...that doesn't sound too bad. There are a few things that really had me eyerolling and I just couldn't get into it as I thought I might have when I picked it up.
****Spoilers ahead**** as I can't discuss the problems without going deep into the novel
This was not a terrible book but there were so many plot holes and inconsistencies that I simply couldn't rate it higher. It was not bad enough to DNF, so there's that.
Quotes I liked:
Life...is not a study in destiny, but an experiment in choice.
To know that wherever you are in life, wherever your journey might take you, when you have this other person at your side, you'll always feel like you're at home.
January 31, 2025
If you like It's A Wonderful Life, Quantum Leap, and Groundhog Day - then you will love Some Other Time! Who hasn't a time or two wondered how their life would be different IF ONLY. Each small action, reaction, and non-action in our lives sets us upon a path - sometimes not the path we want and others times exactly where we are supposed to be. The main character Ellie is struggling with her path in life - questioning her purpose and existence now that her daughter Maggie doesn't "need" her anymore. She is not even sure she loves her husband Jonah anymore. They decide to divorce, and the news isn't received well by the family including Ellie's parents. The reader and Ellie get to see what her life would have been like if she had traveled that path not taken. Ellie will see the impact her life has had on those around her and one small change can cause a seismic shift in the universe. I enjoy Angela Brown's style of writing, as I also read and loved her debut novel Olivia Strauss is Running Out of Time - wait, both novels are about "time" - is this to be a recurring theme? If so, I can see why because time is a concept that we all obsess about whether we are wasting it or wanting more. This is Brown's time as her writing just keeps getting more thoughtful, moving, and emotional. Thank you to NetGalley, and Little A for the ARC... book to be published February 2025.
November 3, 2024
2.5 stars rounded up.
This author is a good writer. There was so much specificity to the places, situations, and characters in this book. I just hated the main character. She was so immature and whiny. She created all her own problems, didn't think things through, and was surprised when things didn't work out. Jonah was a saint! I'm all for magical elements in stories and this one was interesting. But I don't know if the ending really landed for me (both heavy-handed and too easy like voilà everything worked out). Ashley Poston does this better, but if you like her, you will probably be interested in this book.
I feel like Maggie's subplot was not as well crafted. Bunny was such a pip though. This book was a real mixed bag for me... maybe because I'm in my 40s and a mom and a therapist? I just couldn't get behind Ellie. But I could see this as a Netflix movie with Jennifer Garner or someone who could bring more depth to her character, but is still kinda quirky and doe-eyed.
Thanks to Net Galley and little A for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
This author is a good writer. There was so much specificity to the places, situations, and characters in this book. I just hated the main character. She was so immature and whiny. She created all her own problems, didn't think things through, and was surprised when things didn't work out. Jonah was a saint! I'm all for magical elements in stories and this one was interesting. But I don't know if the ending really landed for me (both heavy-handed and too easy like voilà everything worked out). Ashley Poston does this better, but if you like her, you will probably be interested in this book.
I feel like Maggie's subplot was not as well crafted. Bunny was such a pip though. This book was a real mixed bag for me... maybe because I'm in my 40s and a mom and a therapist? I just couldn't get behind Ellie. But I could see this as a Netflix movie with Jennifer Garner or someone who could bring more depth to her character, but is still kinda quirky and doe-eyed.
Thanks to Net Galley and little A for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
January 3, 2025
coming off the heels of the holidays i was excited to start an amazon first reads that was described as a reimagined tale of it’s a wonderful life (my favorite christmas movie!!) ellie & jonah have felt off for a while and decide to get divorced—ellie wishes she made different decisions in life and then one day, discovers that she did. her & jonah were never married and she has no clue where her daughter is.
missed the mark a bit for me (a slow start and too quick realization that she did have a wonderful life) but it was an enjoyable story!
missed the mark a bit for me (a slow start and too quick realization that she did have a wonderful life) but it was an enjoyable story!
September 16, 2025
I liked the concept of this book, but I felt like it was trying too hard to be overly thoughtful. As though the book was trying to be super quotable. I also felt like it was trying too hard to be overly emotional, but the only time I really felt engaged or had a moment where I felt moved was near the end when one character didn't end up where I thought they would, and they weren't even a main character! So again, good concept, just not executed very well.
(and I struggled to finish it, like a just-get-on-with-it feel, hence the 2 stars when I rarely give a book that low of a rating!)
(and I struggled to finish it, like a just-get-on-with-it feel, hence the 2 stars when I rarely give a book that low of a rating!)
January 19, 2025
1.5
Bit slow, repetitive. The beginning just made me really dislike our FMC.
Bit slow, repetitive. The beginning just made me really dislike our FMC.
Read
February 15, 2025This my first DNF that I can say with my full chest that I will not come back to. The writing is boring and the characters are insufferable
Read
May 5, 2025I have decided to DNF this story, I have not had the desire to pick this book up again. I got 50% in and even that was a struggle.
April 7, 2025
Amazon first reads choice. it was cute, not my normal type of book to read
January 26, 2025
Deeply unlikable protagonist is cast as center of a world in which her wish that she never married her husband is granted. Not just her life, but that of everyone she knows is ruined.
Mousy, no-risk Ellie is somehow blindsided when her daughter grows up. Ellie judges the choices of literally everyone: her parents retired to Florida, which Ellie finds too hot, and wear clothes Ellie thinks are silly; her husband doesn't back her insistence that the daughter stay home forever; her daughter became vegan and wears clothes Ellie didn't pick out; even a long-ago roommate wears necklaces that somehow offend the very vanilla tastes of Ellie.
I know moms who were sad when their kids moved on. But this is next-level.
All this setup could have been an interesting book, except it's not. There's tedious and cliché d introspection, all characters are cardboard, inexplicable things happen constantly (I don't mean the magical realism, I mean the instant plane tickets).
Oh, and the writing is littered with the kinds of sentences (mostly about motherhood) that feel like highlighter bait.
And the end! After everything, Ellie actually talks to her husband, finds a few vegetables for her daughter, and considers getting a part-time job, so her daughter decides she DOES want to be mama's carbon copy after all and move home forever.
If you live in the same small town your grandparents did, have never wanted to travel outside the county, and don't understand why you should consider anyone else's point of view, ever, this is the book for you.
Mousy, no-risk Ellie is somehow blindsided when her daughter grows up. Ellie judges the choices of literally everyone: her parents retired to Florida, which Ellie finds too hot, and wear clothes Ellie thinks are silly; her husband doesn't back her insistence that the daughter stay home forever; her daughter became vegan and wears clothes Ellie didn't pick out; even a long-ago roommate wears necklaces that somehow offend the very vanilla tastes of Ellie.
I know moms who were sad when their kids moved on. But this is next-level.
All this setup could have been an interesting book, except it's not. There's tedious and cliché d introspection, all characters are cardboard, inexplicable things happen constantly (I don't mean the magical realism, I mean the instant plane tickets).
Oh, and the writing is littered with the kinds of sentences (mostly about motherhood) that feel like highlighter bait.
And the end! After everything, Ellie actually talks to her husband, finds a few vegetables for her daughter, and considers getting a part-time job, so her daughter decides she DOES want to be mama's carbon copy after all and move home forever.
If you live in the same small town your grandparents did, have never wanted to travel outside the county, and don't understand why you should consider anyone else's point of view, ever, this is the book for you.
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