The Lost Life of Sylvia Song

by Ann Liang

Would you love every version of me? Would you love me in every life?
Sylvia had her whole life scripted. But when her boyfriend, Laurence, died suddenly, it felt like the movie cut off mid-frame, and she can’t seem to figure out how to live without him.
Until she accidentally stumbles into another world, where her family never moved to San Francisco from China. One small difference, and Laurence is alive.
And he isn’t hers. He barely knows her name. Certain she can make him fall for her all over again, Sylvia sets about recreating their love story, scene by scene, and finds herself falling in love all over again.
But all stories, even the best love stories, have to end. Sylvia will have to choose a world—his, or hers. Can she be brave enough to write a new ending?

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult, Magical Realism, Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

272 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication January 19, 2027

About the author

Ann Liang is the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of the critically acclaimed YA novels This Time It’s Real, If You Could See the Sun, and I Hope This Doesn't Find You. Her books have sold into over twenty foreign territories. Born in Beijing, she grew up traveling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. She now lives in Melbourne, where she can be found making overambitious to do lists and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog.

Reviews

[levi (starboy) (s.ia)]

“When the only boy you’ve ever loved is dead, it’s a little hard to care what the poets think.”

[aoife · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

ִ ࣪𖤐 🪽﹒the lost life of sylvia song by ann liang﹒౨ৎ ˚₊‧
      ⤿ 3.75/5 stars.      

“When the only boy you’ve ever loved is dead, it’s a little hard to care what the poets think.”

^ heart shattered. this book is absolutely devastating 😀 brb gonna go cry another pacific ocean.

the lost life of sylvia song is truly one hell of a book. i cried every now and then while reading this, but my heart hurt the entire time. this was so addicting yet also heartbreaking?? i can definitely say this is different from ann’s other books and i’m here for it 🤭 although it did take me some time to adjust to the fmc switching into a parallel universe where her boyfriend is alive by drowning, but it started to make sense pretty quickly.

i haven’t related to a character more than sylvia in a long time and i saw myself in her. i really relate to her way of grieving and she’s painted as such a real character. she handles grief like real people do and it hit a bit too close to home 😭 idk if i’ll ever recover from her and laurence. the comparison of sylvia’s grief to the feeling of suffocation/drowning was so relatable esp, and i liked how her grieving journey took time, as it does in real life.

the beginning of this book already had me in tears + the writing is so unique and i love the way she depicts grief. it was so painful but also poetic in some ways (?). kind of similar to you’ve reached sam and if he had been with me except with a whole alternate universe.

i fear i’m in love with laurence too 🥹 what a well written mmc. julius gong + cyrus sui all over again 😽 i loved seeing his relationship with sylvia build up again through the story as she recreated their romance from before. the flashbacks she had of them had me full on sobbing 😭🫂 love sylvialaurence forever.

also, THE ENDING????? omd. i will never know happiness again 🧘‍♀️😭 hugs and tissues needed. this was heartbreaking in the best way 🥹 ann never disappoints !! i’m so sat for her future releases 😛

“Would you love every version of me? Would you love me in every life?”

^ me this whole time. 😭🧍‍♀️

಄ mini playlist ˙ —
∙ loml - taylor swift
∙ back to me - the marías
∙ visions of gideon - sufjan stevens
∙ watch you sleep. - girl in red
∙ bigger than the whole sky - taylor swift
∙ someone you loved - lewis capaldi
∙ lie - nessa barrett
∙ funeral - phoebe bridgers

huge thanks to netgalley and ann liang for the ARC! 💌

.𖥔 ݁ ˖╰⊹ .𖥔 ݁ ˖╭ ⊹ .𖥔 ݁ ˖╰⊹ .𖥔 ݁ ˖╭ ⊹ .𖥔 ݁ ˖╰⊹

   💮 ⌇ ׁ ׅ . pre-review .ᐟ 🐚【 09.30.26 】   
⤿ genuinely crying just thinking about this book. RTC!

   🪽 ⸝⸝ ׁ ׅ . pre-read◞ 🦢【 09.25.26 】   
⤿ I'M SOBBING I GOT THE ARC. buddy reading with my sister, i just know this is going to be heartbreaking 😭😭

🫧 | huge thanks to netgalley and ann liang for the advanced reader copy <3

[vaishnavi ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*]

so I was planning to read this closer to release date but I lowkey feel myself going into a reading slump and I just know Ann Liang will pull me out of it. so wish me luckkkkkk 💖
--------
sorry for the multiple pre-reads but I'M SOBBING?? ? I GOT THE ARC??? 😭😭😭 OH I AM SO EXCITED!!!
--------
GUYS THIS IS COMING OUT REAL CLOSE TO MY BIRTHDAY. DO I GET IT AS A GIFT TO MYSELF?? 😛
PLEASEEEE GIMME 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[ଘRory ( semi-hiatus)]

This sounds INCREDIBLE. Well, guess I'll just hibernate. Wake me up in January 2027!

[ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

࣪ ˖ ֪ꮽ᱖܄ 4 stars˚ִִ꒱꒱ ִ݂

⤻ no spoiler review .

་ 💭 ⊹ ࣪୨୧ preface. sylvia song has recently lost her boyfriend and is reeling through the convulated stages of grief. one day, she discovers that she’s able to travel through this world and an alternative one - one where her boyfriend, Laurence, is still alive & she’s living in beijing with parents that are still together. this is obviously a reprieve and only something a person going through grief could want, and sylvia has to live through these two lives and at the end, choose the world that she wants to stay in, forever.

𐑺゛🎨 general thoughts . i say this everytime i review an ann liang book, but SHE NEVER MISSES. all of her books are so quick to read, but give you the most emotional gut punches out of any romance books i’ve ever read. she’s one of, if not the most consistent author that i’ve ever had the pleasure of picking up, and i always admire how she creating such interesting & different concepts ( such as with this book ). ‘ the lost life of Sylvia song ‘ was all of these things, and i had such a wonderful time with it ( even though it almost made me cry at the end ). going into this book, i was already excited because of how the synopsis sounded, and to say that this was a good book would be an understatement. thank you again to mother liang!!

𖥻 ׁ ׅ characters ! ﹒ ◡◡

・・・୨୧ sylvia song . this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but sylvia’s character development throughout the book was my absolute favorite part, not the romance ( although i had fun with that too ). i wouldn’t say i related to her, since i’ve ( fortunately ) never lost someone close to me, but the way that we get to see her grow into someone that takes this event and uses it to mature and become a better person. wow, sylvia, you will forever be remembered in the ann liang catalog. i’m writing this review a week or so later after i read the book, and what still stands out to me is her arc.

・・・୨୧ laurence . one criticism i have with this book is that i didn’t feel like his character was fully fleshed out; he felt more like a supporting character in sylvia’s story rather than a person. however, sylvia’s character development was truly phenomenal, so i can ( mostly ) look past this part. he was still a good character, though, and i believed their connection throughout the story.

𓄲 𓏼 warning 𓈒 !̮ ̮⋆ this book has a high possibility of making you cry.

ꕤ ⧽ overall, i wish ann liang releases were everyday.

છ˖ lastly, thanks so much to netgalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹

˒ 🪶 pre read ˒˒࿐・xxvi 𖦞.˖
ꕥ ⸺ 9/22 ⋆˚✿˖°
I GOT THE ARC I'M SCREAMING 😭 immediately starting this with my sister & fellow ann liang enthusiast, yienne ! going to savor this because what a world we live in that ann liang is actively releasing books 🫧

˖⸂⟡ thanks immensely to netgalley & harper collins for the ARC!

[Dawn Solaris]

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ⋆˚⋆｡˚☽˚｡✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

⭑𓂃꒰ ᎮᏒᏋ-ᏒᏋᏗᎴ ꒱

❥ Remember how I was whining about eating cement and committing arson when this title was announced? Because 2027 seemed too far away?

Yeah, well… fear not, this insufferable bitch is about to become even more insufferable than you were anticipating her to be cuz she just got the ARC.


The actual tears I shed just seeing my request was accepted must be nothing in comparison to what’s about to come as I open this book.

I’m not your strongest soldier, Ann. Please don’t send me to my therapist again.

P.S. Julius Gong cameo? Please? PLEASE? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! I’ll give you both of my kidneys, woman. I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN BEGGING SINCE YOUR LAST THREE RELEASES. One cameo. PLEASE FUCKING PLEASE 𓁹‿𓁹

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ⋆˚⋆｡˚☽˚｡✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

[Taskin⋆彡⭒ (s-ia) · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

"When the only boy you’ve ever loved is dead, it’s a little hard to care what the poets think."


One year after her boyfriend dies in a terrible drowning, Sylvia is still lost in sorrow when she is thrown into a different reality. In it, her family stayed in Beijing instead of relocating to San Francisco when she was seven, and Laurence is alive, but the two are hardly acquainted. This heartbreaking and lovely novel is about loss and the bonds between people. It opens right in the middle of Sylvia's mourning, then abruptly shifts her into a life where Laurence is just a classmate who barely knows she exists. Determined, she sets out to win his love all over again.

Ann Liang's prose is absolutely gorgeous. Laurence is flawless, plain and simple, and it pains me that he was taken from the story, since he deserved so much better. He and Sylvia seemed destined for a lifetime together. Nothing about this is a lighthearted romance, though it carries a wistful, bittersweet warmth. At its core, it explores how love and suffering are tangled up, how mourning and recovery are slow, untidy, and illogical, and how you have to ask yourself whether the hurt was worth the happiness. Mostly, it's about letting go. Just when I thought I'd hit bottom, the book kept knocking me down further. I'd be in tears, then smiling over a sweet little moment, then pulled straight back into the sorrow, and it left me exasperated. Sylvia's way of coping with loss is painfully poetic. She pours her happiest memories into an imagined life, one she might have lived, and the most devastating part is that she mourns Laurence twice over, in the world she's in and the one she left behind. The ending was stunning. It broke me again, naturally, but it also felt oddly soothing. I appreciated that Sylvia's recovery isn't hurried or miraculously complete. She's still learning to carry her grief, rediscover who she is, and take steps forward. Maybe that's the whole beauty of it. Healing comes with time, perhaps not right now, but someday, and that's the thought I'm leaving this book with.

''i grieve siwen too. the girl who grew up quieter but laughs louder, who is too shy to speak up in class, who only eats at the fancy restaurants, who is sheltered in ways she wouldn’t understand, the girl who has been excluded at school before, but not excluded because of how she looks. she is me and she is not. the person you are is the life that you’ve lived, after all.''


''The truth sinks through me like a stone. This version of him belongs with another version of me. He belongs with Siwen''

Liang captures grief in a way that feels raw and achingly true. You're not just mourning Laurence's death but also the future that vanished with him. Through Sylvia's flashbacks, you see what the two of them shared, and believe me, he was the dream boyfriend. By the time you know him this well, each of Sylvia's breakdowns hits you right in the heart. She's given the chance to be with him in another world, where he might love and treasure her again, yet the idea of moving forward for those still living, and for the life she's meant to have, while holding onto his memory, is both lovely and unbelievably hard.

''You cannot be two people at once. You cannot be in two worlds at the same time. You cannot kiss your beautiful boyfriend good morning and then sit down for dinner with your family that night. You cannot have two first languages, there must be an order to these things, so what came first for you? What comes first for you? When you dream, do you dream in English or Mandarin? Do you wish for people to call you Siwen, or Sylvia? You have a choice, that is the best and worst part of it.''

Her decision to return to her real life, distant from him but still so near, and to lose him a second time to the harshness of reality, leaves me at a loss for words. Even typing out that someone could face a choice like this makes me sad. Sylvia's mourning and her gradual path toward acceptance feel so true to life that I felt like I was living it myself. The ever-present sadness lets you picture her beyond the story and understand how deeply loss changes a person. One moment you're smiling, and the next you're sobbing before you realize it.

Grief is such a blunt knife that stabs you when you don't even expect it

∿playlist :જ⁀➴

ʟᴏᴍʟ ʙʏ ᴛᴀʏʟᴏʀ sᴡɪғᴛ
ɪ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ʙʏ ᴘʜᴏᴇʙᴇ ʙʀɪᴅɢᴇʀs
ᴠɪsɪᴏɴs ᴏғ ɢɪᴅᴇᴏɴ ʙʏ sᴜғᴊᴀɴ sᴛᴇᴠᴇɴs
ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ʙʏ ᴀ ᴛʜᴏᴜsᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴜᴛs ʙʏ ᴛᴀʏʟᴏʀ sᴡɪғᴛ
ʜᴀʀᴅ ᴛᴏ sʟᴇᴇᴘ ʙʏ ɢʀᴀᴄɪᴇ ᴀʙʀᴀᴍs
ᴅɪᴇ ғɪʀsᴛ ʙʏ ɴᴇssᴀ ʙᴀʀʀᴇᴛᴛ
ʜᴇᴀᴠʏ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀʀɪᴀs
ᴄᴇɪʟɪɴɢs ʙʏ ʟɪᴢᴢʏ ᴍᴄᴀʟᴘɪɴᴇ
ʙᴀɢs ʙʏ ᴄʟᴀɪʀᴏ
sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜ ʙʏ ᴇʙʀɪʟ
ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀʀɪᴀs

[Aqsa · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

devastating. started crying in the middle of chem (and left early bc that was lowkey embarrassing) (it’s day 1 of my period guys don’t judge). will be recommending this book to everyone I know, forcing it into the hands of my friends, and preaching about it for the rest of my life. will I ever read it again? absolutely not!!

[cat · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

"Would you love every version of me?
Would you love me in every life?"


on repeat 𝄞 ࿐♬ 𓍢ִ🎧ྀི ᯓ ‎♪ˎˊ˗
“ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ’ꜱ ᴍʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ” x ꜱʏᴍʟ
0:18 ─♥───────── 3:59


╭➤ the premise ────────────────────────────╮
Sylvia Song thought she had her future all figured out until losing Laurence turned her world upside down. But when she finds herself in an alternate universe where he’s still alive, she gets the chance to find him again, even if she’s now a stranger to him. As she tries to reclaim their love, Sylvia must confront her grief and question whether holding on to the life she lost is keeping her from living the one she still has
────────────────────────────╯

wow. I honestly was NOT ready for this book. Not even a little bit. From the very beginning, I was heartbroken, especially because the death explored in this book is something I’ve personally known through the loss of a young boy i once knew. So there were moments that hit particularly close to home, and I had to sit with those feelings for a minute 😭 This was definitely a more emotional read than I anticipated, and I don’t think I fully understood just how much it was going to make me think until I was already in it.

I will say the pacing was a little slow for me, particularly in the beginning and through parts of the middle. I also struggled a bit with the writing at times because the shifts between past and present tense and the different universes weren’t always easy to distinguish. There were moments I had to stop and figure out where I was and what was happening. BUT the heart of this book? The message? Absolutely beautiful. 🥹

What I loved most was how much this book explored grief beyond simply losing someone. It explored what happens when life keeps moving but you feel like yours stopped. How easy it is to become so comfortable in the familiar sadness that you forget there’s still a whole life waiting for you outside of it. Grief isn’t something we can just skip over, rush through, or pretend isn’t there. Sometimes we have to let ourselves sit with it, as painful as that might be

“I couldn’t skip over the grief. At some point, I had to let myself feel it. Everything. I had to let myself be sad, and if the sadness was overpowering, that’s only because the love was. And that was a relief, in a way. To have proof that the love was real, even if it came to an end.”

I think that’s one of the most beautiful things this book has to offer... the reminder that healing doesn’t mean forgetting, and moving forward doesn’t mean leaving the love behind. We can carry what we’ve lost without allowing it to become the only thing left of our lives

This book reminded me that endings don’t necessarily mean our lives are over, even when they feel that way. We aren’t obligated to spend the rest of our lives chasing after or living in the chapter we lost. There’s still room for new beginnings, new memories, happiness, and a future we never expected to have. And choosing to move forward doesn’t mean what we had before mattered any less💗

And maybe that’s what I walked away with most. That even when life doesn’t turn out the way we imagined, even when we lose pieces of ourselves along the way, there is still so much life left to live. We can grieve the future we thought we’d have while still making room for the one that’s waiting for us. We don’t have to forget where we’ve been or who we’ve loved to allow ourselves to become someone new. And maybe the question isn’t how we get back to the person we were before everything changed, but how we learn to embrace the person we’ve become because of it 🤷🏼‍♀️

because after all,
"The person you are is the life that you’ve lived."

favorite quotes ↓

"I am more aware of him than I am of my own heartbeat."

"It's okay to just be sad sometimes, even if you can't always explain why. You're not overreacting or being too sensitive or weak."

"I never stopped being scared."
"I just figured that I'd rather be scared than sad that I missed out on things I could have had."

"I'm glad you found me. I would hope ... no matter what, I would have wanted it to be you who found me."

things to know about the book ↓

🌊 alternate universe
🌊 magical realism
🌊 "strangers again"
🌊 second chance (with a twist)
🌊 grief and healing
🌊 finding yourself
🌊 YA romance

swearing: yes
spice rating: just kisses

Thank you NetGalley, publisher & author for this arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

─────────
・❥・⁀➷ 𝕡𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕

october 26th- would you believe me if i said this is my first ann liang book?? hoping the hype for her books delivers 🤞🏼 ANYWAYYYYYY buddy reading with my gorgeous girls angelina, makenzie, & ellie

september 25th- WYM I GOT ACCEPTED?!?!?!? 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

[sofi&#x1f380;&#x1f9f8; cortis’ version~off hiatus!&#x1f9f8; · Rating 5 out of 5]

i don’t know what to say.
all the stars for this one.
there are times that my heart feels so full it hurts. it really hurts. i’m the saddest when im happiest, because i have this ever present awareness that the happiness will pass, that life is short and death is in the air itself, that i can’t stop the sand from trickling out of the hourglass.
that is how i can best describe what this book felt like. ann has this talent for combining raw aching pain, tender love, and witty lines into a masterpiece. before i get started, i should probably thank netgalley. thank you netgalley, thank you publishers, and most of all, thank you SO much ann liang. when i got the notification that i received this arc, i literally screamed. then i read it all in one sitting. and now im sitting, trying to find the right words, tears dripping down my face (and WAY too much snot — like this is a concerning amount of mucus) let me collect my thoughts im literally dizzy from how hard im sobbing. oh ann never disappoints but this may be my favorite book of hers yet.
allow me to stop rambling and actually, you know, review the book.

💕 𝓶𝔂 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓼𝓾𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝔀𝓮𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓼𝓸 𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓾𝓬𝓴 𝓷𝓸𝔀
💐now playing:
snow angel by renee rapp
silk lingerie by kali uchis
supercut by lorde
fear. by kendrick lamar
life boat by raye
goodbye henry by raye
what was i made for by billie eilish
teen idle by marina
angel wings by maddison beer
love older you by illit
the 30th by billie eilish

there is one word that i think suits this book perfectly. its theme can be explained in one single word: ephemeral. i will elaborate later.

𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓽🎀

okay yall consult a blurb not me but basically girl sad bc her bf died —> able to go to alternate world where bf alive —> bf doesn’t even know her in that world —> can she make bf fall in love w her again? —> so many beautiful memories that somehow are so vivid each one had me sobbing, full body shaking and shit.
i. loved. this. book. the plot was so addictive i read it in ONE. SITTING. it’s so dif from ann’s other books and i adored the prose. does my neck hurt? yes. does my hand hurt from holding my phone for so long? yes. does my very soul hurt?
what do you fucking think obviously. there are some books that make you feel so immersed that reality blurs until nothing is real but this book in my hands. (well on my phone but you get the point). nothing is real but the pit in my stomach when things go horribly wrong; nothing is real but the searing pain deep in my chest; nothing is real but my laughter over silly lines; nothing is real but choking sobs because this is why i love reading. because there are some things i carry with me every day, and i carry them so dutifully i don’t even notice them weighing me down down down, far away where no one can help me. this book brought those things to light with its horribly relatable prose, made me stew in the pain, and then alleviated the burden. i sound melodramatic but i promise this is how i truly feel. how this book make me feel. there are so many specific things i always feel that this book expressed, and it all comes back to ephemeral. nothing lasts as long as we want it to, not even perfect love, as sylvia would know when her boyfriend died.
that ending tho. my stomach hurt horribly from how emotionally damaged i was. and yet i think it was the best possible way to end it.

💔 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼

🫶🏼sylvia

sylvia my love. so much stronger than me. i see myself in her and this is what i love about ann liang’s writing — her characters all feel so painfully real, like i could reach out and feel them.
like i could look in the mirror and see them reflected in pieces of me.
this is the most like metaphorical ive been in a review but that’s just the kinda mindset this book puts you into lmfao. i genuinely feel like ive learned the meaning of life or seen heaven or looked into the sun or some shit😭🙏 i like how realistic her grief was. grief isn’t pretty nor is it logical.

💝laurence

he no okay give me a min im crying again.
try #2
he was the most considerate, kind, perfect, perfect, sincere, caring, fuck i’m crying again.
try #3
oh my lord it hurts.
try #4
laurence is perfect okay. he just he is. and i hate that he died i hate it so much because he didn’t deserve it. him and sylvia were supposed to live forever together and be happy because they were so perfect tg. the flashbacks of their relationship literally had me SHAKING. he was so considerate and while this book was about him i honestly wouldn’t say the romance was the point. he wasn’t the point. hot take. this isn’t a romcom, and it’s fun in that nostalgic bittersweet way. it’s about love and pain and how intertwined the two are; it’s about grief and healing and how healing isn’t perfect or easy or quick or rational and it’ll hurt real fucking bad but wasn’t the pain worth the joy? it’s about letting go.
life isn’t perfect, but this book was. it’s not a happy book, be warned. it’s depressing and with each happy flashback i felt as if i was being speared through the gut over and over.
but i would choose that pain over and over.

𝓭𝓸 𝓲 𝓻𝓮𝓬 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴?

if ur wondering this did you even read the review💔 read it NOW.

thank you so much for reading this LONGGG ass review and thank you soooo much netgalley for giving me the arc! my words could never do this book justice but i hope they were adequate. this is why ann liang is my fav author of all time🙂‍↕️

[ellie]

🪶 — pre-read .ᐟ ⌗

𐔌 ♯┆9.2.26
⤷ dont mind all my prereads but THIS. oh my gosh this. i can't believe i get to read this right now ☹️ thank you so much to harper collins for the e-ARC copy!!! it mean SO much to me you dont even know. this is my very first ann YA arc, so this means a ton 💐 will be sharing thoughts soon, out in january 2027!! 🥹 but AGHHGHAHGHHG


april 11, 2026
WAIT ANOTHER ONE..... LIKE AFTER THE ONE THATS ALREADY COMING OUT LATER THIS YEAR?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DONT TALK TO MEMEMEEEE

[Sarah]

WAIT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. I GOT THE ARC?!?! I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED AND HAPPY 😆🤭😭💙💙💙💙

[₊ ˚ ale ࿓ ♡ ⋆｡˚]

‎ ‎ ‎ ⌗‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ──🍋‍🟩🐈‍⬛ᝰ .ᐟ pre-read.
I JUST WOKE UP TO SEE THAT I GOT THE ARC, OMG, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. I'M CRYING. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE.

thanks to Ann Liang, HarperCollins US and Netgalley for an arc in exchange of an honest review.

[yienne ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

post-read 𓏲๋࣭࣪˖🪼.ᐟ ┆5 stars ☆
⌞fin. 09.22.2026⌝

im actually inconsolable. thank god my roommate was showering because i genuinely burst into tears and sobbed my eyes out. rtc if i can stop crying (impossible)

. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁.. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁.

🎐 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖ ┆pre-read ⋆˙⟡
⌞beg. 09.18.2026⌝

the SCREAM i withheld opening up this email in my 8:30 am bio lecture 🥹 im dropping everything right now to read this omg ; getting this arc actually made my whole month im not even kidding 🙈 biggest thank you to harpercollins, netgalley, and my favorite author ann liang for the arc 𓏲๋࣭࣪˖🪼.ᐟ

and as always, im so excited to be reading this with my twin and favorite ann liang girl vee ୨ৎ and also crying about this to my best ann liang enthusiast lili⋆˚࿔ im beyond excited to read this and cry my eyes out <33

[angelinabvby ۶ৎ]

°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ 𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 #2
as honored as i am to have the arc, i will not be reading this as merkenzie, ellie, & cat have been SUFFERING

°‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ 𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽
all you ann liang fangirls will be jelly to know that i have been blessed with the arc 💖💗🥰💞

[jo ❣︎]

꣑ৎ˚⊹ 🍥 ｡𖦹

i got the freaking arc bro

the cover artist for this book deserves to have her pillow be cold on both sides and like 5billion dollars

[makenzie ⊹ ₊]

i'll make a pre read later but for now i just have to say i'm lowks bored :'(

[ellie ⭑.ᐟ (ANGELINA DAY)]

dnf @ 30%

this hurts so much, if i read anymore i will not be okay 🥺 i actually love the symbolism of there being an alternate universe where laurence didn't pass, and where sylvia tries to figure out where she is and what she is doing there, but something about the hope of it maybe being real is PAINFUL 😭😭i also adored the writing, and def going to read a dif ann liang book soon!! i still may pick it up in the future if i'm in the mood!!

thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review 💖

𝜗ৎ pre read 𝜗ৎ

already 20% thru, but haven't done a pre read!! buddy read with cat and kenzie!! lets hope we don't get too traumatized 🙏🙏

ARC SECURED YAYYYYYY

[joni ౨ৎ]

𐙚⋆°｡⋆♡ ── pre-read
crying because ann's publicist reached out to me and knows me 😭

thank you x100 epic reads for the physical arc

[madi · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

⋆˙⟡ — 4.25 stars
⌗ ┆started: oct 8th ● finished: oct 10th
⤿ arc review with no spoilers

৻ꪆ thank you so much harpercollins, ann liang, and netgalley for the arc!!
⤿ release date: january 19th, 2027

thoughts ⋆˚࿔

oh this book broke my freaking heart 😭 i had no idea what this was even abt, but as soon as i finished the first chapter, i knew this book would make me sob. this is definitely my fav book by ann liang so far. i was hooked from the beginning and never wanted to put my kindle down bc i needed to keep reading to see what would happen next. let me just say that u will probably be thinking abt these two for a while 🥹💔

characters ⋆˚࿔

⋆˚࿔ ― sylvia + laurence

MY HEART 💔💔 every sentence i read made me want to jump into the book to give her the biggest hug. reading abt how she was dealing with the grief of losing the man she loved was so heartbreaking. i'm seriously just so proud of her for everything that she did. many of the decisions she made weren't easy, but she knew that in the end, they were the right ones 🥹 honestly, i freaking loved her character development.

now laurence... i honestly loved all the moments with him. i will just say that i wish i got to know him a little more (obviously, that could be a little hard considering what happened), but i just wish we got to know him as his own person too. the romance was also so good, but it just broke my heart knowing how everything would end with them ☹️ i seriously wish we could've had some chapters from the past where we could see them together in the moment 🥲

let me just say that this book was so freaking good in my opinion, and i hope everyone runs to buy it when it gets released 🥹💗

⊹ ﹒ ♡ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ♡ ﹒ ⊹﹒ ♡ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ♡ ﹒ ⊹

˒˒ ⊹⌇ pre-read ᝰ
i’ve seen sooo many amazing reviews for this book that i can’t put it off any longer 🤭 also can we talk abt how stunning this cover is?!

৻ꪆ thank you so much HarperCollins, ann liang, and netgalley for the arc!!

[Casey Reads &#x1f338; · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine your first love dies tragically, but you are able to transport to another life where everything is different to see him again. Would you stay in the new life or go back to the people you have always known? 💜

This was a very interesting book about grief and choices. I can’t say I loved the ending even though it did make sense. It did make me think about what I would do given this option and it would be a hard choice to make.

Thank you to netgalley for the free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[vxmpslibrary [back!!]]

.preread. 💗
it's good to be back on gr again🥰 but I just want to get out OF MY READING SLUMP-
anyways I got this gorgeous arc in ann liang we believe🥰🤭💗 .

[chi ౨ৎ (semi-ia)]

⸝⸝ 🪶 — pre-read .˖𓂃 .ᐟ

⌗┆ 11.02.26 ˚‧
omggggg what the actual hell!! i just saw the email and i literally lost all of my self-control 🤭🎀 i'm so ready to cry and feel all the emotions 🥹💖 ANN + NETGALLEY I LOVE YOU 🌸💕🫶

𑣲⋆ thank you so much to netgalley for the arc!
⤷ prediction :: ★★★★☆ ˎˊ˗

------------------------------

[09.20.26] -- ann?? liang?? 👀👀

[emelie &#x1d717;&#x1d71a;⋆₊˚ (exams!!)]

₊˚⊹ ᰔ 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞:
you know the SECOND i hear about a new ann liang book i am going to figure out EVERYTHING about it🤭!!

the title is giving fantasy 👀 but it could also be so many genres 🤭🤭

[soleil.]

I'M GAGGED I JUST SAW THE COVER REVEAL

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 3.25 out of 5]

Ann Liang, I adore you, but I would like to file a formal complaint about the emotional damage you keep causing me. 😭❤️ And yet, every time you release a new book, there I am, dropping everything to see what you have planned for my poor heart.

The Lost Life of Sylvia Song is a different kind of reading experience from what I've come to expect from one of my favorite YA authors. This time, Ann takes us somewhere much more bittersweet, exploring what happens when the future you've imagined with someone disappears before you're ready to let it go. Add an alternate universe, a second chance at love, and the impossible temptation of rewriting your own story, and naturally, I was intrigued.

Sylvia's grief is the emotional center of this novel, and I could understand why the possibility of finding Laurence alive again would be almost impossible for her to resist. When you're desperate to recover something you've lost, even an imperfect version of it can look like a miracle. Watching Sylvia step into a reality where the person she loves is still around, but their shared history no longer exists in the same way, creates some genuinely poignant moments. There is something both beautiful and heartbreaking about loving someone who means everything to you while realizing that, in another life, you might be little more than a stranger to them.

And that's where the story really got me thinking. If you had the chance to reclaim the person you lost, but doing so meant leaving behind an entire life, would you take it? Would love be enough to make that sacrifice worthwhile? Or can holding on to the past become its own kind of prison? I loved that the premise opened the door to these questions, because grief is rarely as straightforward as the stories we tell ourselves about healing.

Ann's writing is another highlight. Her prose has a lovely softness to it, and she knows how to give an ordinary moment an almost dreamlike quality. There is a tenderness to the romance that makes Sylvia's longing understandable, even when her choices are complicated. I also appreciated the way her journey gradually becomes about more than getting Laurence back. Beneath the romantic premise lies a young woman trying to figure out who she is when the future she planned no longer exists. That emotional evolution gave the story some of its strongest moments.

However, as much as I appreciated the heart behind this book, I wanted the execution to reach the same heights as its premise.

The alternate-universe concept had SO much potential, and I sometimes wished Ann had explored its possibilities more deeply. I wanted a sharper sense of how the different circumstances shaped these characters and how unsettling it might be to enter a life that technically belongs to another version of yourself. The story occasionally made that transition feel a little too effortless, especially when it came to relationships that should have carried more uncertainty and emotional complications.

I also struggled to connect with Laurence as fully as I wanted. I understood why Sylvia might remember him through the glow of love and loss, but I wanted to know more about him as a person beyond his importance in her life. Their relationship has tender moments, yet I sometimes needed more development to feel the full weight of their connection. The same goes for some of the emotional turning points. A few important decisions could have benefited from more internal conflict and reflection, allowing us to sit with Sylvia's uncertainty before she reached them.

And while the story touches on the relationships Sylvia must leave behind in choosing her future, I wanted those connections to receive more attention. The emotional stakes of her decision are enormous, and exploring those competing attachments more deeply could have made the final stretch even more powerful.

Still, I can't dismiss the beauty of the central idea or the feelings this book stirred up. Ann has written a story about the painful distance between wanting something desperately and understanding what it would cost to have it. Sometimes love means fighting for another chance, and sometimes it means accepting that a beautiful chapter can end without making everything that came before it any less meaningful.

Did this become an all-time favorite for me? Not quite. I wanted richer characterization, a more fully realized alternate reality, and a little more breathing room around some of the biggest decisions. But there is a tender, affecting story here, and Ann's writing kept me invested even when I wished certain elements had been explored further.

3.25 stars from me. A bittersweet YA fantasy about grief, love, and the temptation to rewrite the past, with a beautiful emotional core that I wanted the storytelling to explore just a little more deeply. 🥹💗

Special thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | HarperCollins US for sharing this sweet fantasy from one of my favorite auto-approved YA writers, Ann Liang, with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

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[ari [gin’s vrsn &#x1fa75;] [semi ia]]

somehow I landed myself on harper's automatic arc mailing list for Ann Liang....

anyway, I'm so unbelievably grateful and life is actually surreal

[justine ⊹ ࣪ ˖ (back-ish?)]

A NEW ANN LIANG BOOK?!?

STOP THIS COVER IS STUNNING

[ava ★]

𐙚 ꒰ 💌 ꒱ 𝘱𝘳𝘦~𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 ౨ৎ

why did no one tell me about this?? omg yayayay I can’t waittt

[&#x1f342; emma &#x1f342; · Rating 5 out of 5]

age rating: 14+ (grief, underage drinking)
spice: none
language: 3/5

when i tell you i have not cried over a book since fearless… WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION, MS. LIANG. 😭😭

it’s been a hot second since i’ve rated a book five stars, and coincidentally, that book was also written by ann liang. her writing style and imagery will never ever cease to amaze me. the way she crafts her fmc’s and captures traits that i couldn’t even begin to explain about MYSELF. somehow she just gets it.

sylvia is so so precious to me as a character. i felt what she felt so deeply—her pain, and her overwhelming grief. i wanted to give her the biggest hug and just reassure her that she’d be okay. a lot of good that’d do, since i was sobbing right there with her. 😀

i won’t give much away, but every time a fountain or body of water was mentioned a jolt of utter dread went through me. i couldn’t tell you which was worse—the flashback memories and crushing parallels, or the rekindled snippets of hope and longing. my gosh did it hurttttt.

ann, you’ve truly outdone yourself this time. though respectfully—you will be paying for my therapy.

thank you netgalley and harpercollins for the e-arc 🥹🤍 this title releases 1/19/2027!!

🎵: i wish i knew how to quit you - sombr
chasing shadows - alex warren
the way i loved you - taylor swift
save you a seat - alex warren