The Next Together

The Next Together #1

by Lauren James, Wren James

Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again, century after century. Each time they are total strangers thrust together under unusual circumstances. Each time their presence changes history for the better. And each time they fall hopelessly in love, only to be tragically separated.

Why does fate keep bringing them together to save the world, and what must they achieve before they can finally be left to love in peace? Maybe the next together will be different. . . .

Told in parallel time streams through a mixture of prose, diary entries, letters, “original” historical documents, news reports, and Internet articles, and spanning the Crimean War, the Siege of Carlisle and the near-future of 2019 and 2039, The Next Together is a glittering, sweeping story of time travel, fate, and the power of first love for fans of Outlander , Passenger (Disney), and The Girl from Everywhere (Harper).

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Historical

368 pages, Hardcover

First published August 20, 2015

About the author

**This is my old author profile - follow https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1... for ongoing updates!***




Wren James is the Carnegie-longlisted British author of many Young Adult novels as ‘Lauren James’, including Green Rising, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker and The Loneliest Girl in the Universe. They are a RLF Royal Fellow at Aston University and the story consultant on Netflix’s Heartstopper (Seasons 2 and 3).

Wren is the founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League, editor of the anthology Future Hopes: Hopeful stories in a time of climate change, and a member of the Society of Authors’ Sustainability Committee. They work as a consultant on climate storytelling for museums, production companies, major brands and publishers, with a focus on optimism and hope. They run a Queer Writers group in Coventry.

Their books have sold over two hundred thousand copies worldwide in seven languages. The Quiet at the End of the World was shortlisted for the YA Book Prize and STEAM Children’s Book Award.

Their other novels include The Next Together series, the dyslexia-friendly novella series The Watchmaker and the Duke and serialised online novel An Unauthorised Fan Treatise.

Wren’s writing has been described as ‘gripping romantic sci-fi’ by the Wall Street Journal and ‘a strange, witty, compulsively unpredictable read which blows most of its new YA-suspense brethren out of the water’ by Entertainment Weekly.

Wren was born in 1992, and has a Masters degree from the University of Nottingham, where they studied Chemistry and Physics. They have taught creative writing for Coventry University, WriteMentor, and Writing West Midlands. Their next release is Last Seen Online.



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Reviews

[Lauren James]

[June 2025]

This September marks the ten year anniversary of my debut novel The Next Together! I'm going to be doing a reread of the book on my instagram to celebrate - come join me at instagram.com/wrenjameswriter, starting on June 25th, when we'll discuss chapters 1-6.

[June 2017]

This is out now in the USA!

"Perfect for holidays" - Marie Claire

"An author to watch" - Kirkus Reviews

"Fans of Alexandra Bracken’s Passenger and Heidi Heilig’s The Girl from Everywhere will enjoy this romance through time and history. This science fiction take on European history will excite any historical fiction reader." - School Library Journal



The Next Together is published by Walker Books in the UK and Australia and Sky Pony Press in the USA. You can read the first chapter here and buy it from the following places:

Amazon UK | Waterstones | Amazon US | The Book Depository| Barnes & Noble | Wordery | Foyles | Kobo | iBooks | WHSmith

You can add the book on Goodreads or subscribe to my newsletter to receive an exclusive short story about one of Katherine and Matthew's other lives.

You can read a short story Snails about Kate and Matt here.

If you leave a review of the book on a retail site like Amazon, Waterstones or Barnes & Noble, I will send you a signed, personalised bookplate. Fill out this form to claim your bookplate.

Translated editions:

První konec ("The First End") - Czech Republic (CooBoo)

Em Nossa Proxima Vida ("In Our Next Life") - Brasil (HarperCollins)

Bir Sonraki Hayatımız ("Our Next Life") -  Turkey (Yabanci Yayinlari)

Любовь И Другие Катастрофы ("Love and Other Catastrophes") - Russia (Ripol)

Forever Again: Für alle Augenblicke wir ("For all our moments") - Germany (Loewe)



My blog posts about The Next Together are all collected here. Here are some links to get you started:

My writing journey
My fancastings of Kate and Matt
Buzzfeed quiz - Which timeline should you live in?
Chapter One from Matt’s Point of View
The book as different genres
Deleted scenes
Harry Potter crossover 
A Snapchat conversation between Kate and Matt
Playlist for the book
Kate and Matt's wedding

Reblog

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Fanart by the wonderful Alice Oseman

Art by Dani

The book in emoji format

Moodboard by simonlevvis

Art by the art traveller

 

Moodboard by Arianne

 

The fashion in each time period

Initial cover sketches by Jack Noel

2019 Kate and Matt & 1854 Katy by Sarah

[December 2014]

I've read this book more times than I can count. Probably because I wrote it.

You can read the first chapter here, and see character pictures and other extras here and listen to the soundtrack here.


Source

[Dear Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow... just wow.

When you hear the word "time-travel", the first thing that comes to mind (usually) is "science fiction". You think of the technology and machines that make this feat possible; you think of the physics involved, of subatomic atoms transferring from one place to another (or however that is supposed to be done); you think of action-packed plots, of conspiracy theories, that push our heroes and heroines to time travel in the first place.

But... romance? With time-travel? To be quite honest, the cynic in me long believed a time-travel with romance in the center would be hard to pull off without it being too cheesy. With a different audience in mind, it would also be hard to talk about the technicalities of how time travel works in the context without it being such an info-dump.

Then I read The Next Together by the lovely Lauren James. And my heart and soul fell in love with it... deeply and completely.

Guys, this book makes you realize that yes,  LOVE does transcend time and space. It knows no boundaries. It is limitless, timeless, and will stop for nothing.

Meet Matthew and Katherine, two lovely people in love, who have found each other multiple times in their different lives. They were once a servant and a noble lady, a journalist and an assistant, two scientists who uncovered a deadly biological weapon, and two chemistry students who have stumbled upon the lives of their ancestors and are finding out what they mean and what they are called to do with the information they unearthed. And every time they meet, they would find themselves gravitating and falling for one another, as if their souls recognized each other from their lives before, as if destiny found ways for them to be in each other's arms again. And every time, it would be a heart-warming and heart-wrenching experience, for the characters and the readers who've become involved in their romance and plight.

You're probably wondering - four different stories, four different Matthews and Katherines, same souls?! And the book somehow successfully pulled that off? Incredibly, yes - I don't know if it's the amazing way Lauren divided the scenes and the pacing, or if it's the beautiful and poignant writing, but the four different Matthews and Katherines made me fall in love with them each time. I never felt lost. I never felt confused or out of the loop, even when the chapters kept on jumping from one period to another. This book is really just so spectacularly well-written, evoking strong emotions from me as our couple continuously encountered trials and tribulations.

When wealthy lady Katherine and carriage dude Matthew fell in love with one another at the face of a possible Scottish invasion? My heart ached for them.

When orphan Katy and ambitious journalist Matthew fell in love with one another while reporting at the front lines during an English vs Russian war? My heart swooned and hurt for them.

When married scientists Katherine and Matthew died while trying to unearth a deadly biological weapon in the making? My heart died with them.

When chemistry students Katherine and Matthew fell in love with each other as they try to clear their relatives' name? My heart soared with them.

If you're a lover of romance, this narrative will let you see once more that love, the most universal truth out there, cannot be chained by anything, not even time, not even space. It is all-encompassing. Realizing this was what made this book so beautiful and special to me, made me believe that love is powerful force to reckon with. And it's not just this theme that makes this special, but Katherine and Matthew's personalities, too, make it so easy to root for them. They are one of those couples that you can't help but fervently wish they find their happily ever after because they're perfect for each other and you know that they deserve it.

Heart-warming, bittersweet, and somehow painful, this is a love story that you cannot and should not miss. As Aentee said, if you loved the Time Traveler's Wife, then you would no doubt enjoy this book, too.

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[Alice Oseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I loved so much about The Next Together was that it's a book of everything. You like history? It's got history. You like science? It's got science. You like romance? It's got romance. Mystery? Regency era? War? Corrupt governments? The future? This book is as if you crushed several different stories into one.

Holding all of these things together are two protagonists that I loved from the start - Kate, who is passionate and motivated, and Matt, who is shy and collected. I cared a lot about these two a LOT, and seeing them reappear again and again in different times and forms was like reading a collection of fanfiction AUs. Very well-written, heart-wrenching fanfic AUs.

This book is advertised as a romance, but I need to stress how much more it is than that. It's an explosion of storytelling. It's everything that I love about books. Read it.

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
September already promises to be a month of successful debuts. There have been several excellent first works already, but none as shiny, well written or as deeply romantic as The Next Together by Lauren James.

James tells the tale of one love affair in four different places and four different time scapes. Matthew and Katherine are, at once, a wealthy young lady and her servant, an ambitious journalist and his assistant, married young scientists uncovering a conspiracy and two college students intent on clearing the names of their relatives. In every time scape, Katherine and Matthew are different, but the love they feel for each other is immutable. We watch them time and time again as they discover each other and inevitably collide, desperate to be together despite so many obstacles.

The narrative itself is beautifully assembled as one story bleeds into another seamlessly. The pacing is pure perfection – James somehow achieved simultaneous crescendo in all four stories, thus ensuring our equal interest in them all. A single small mistake had the potential to ruin everything, to make us care more about one couple than all the rest, but all the threads were handled masterfully and the result is a thing of beauty.

If not for Katherine’s extraordinary sense of humor, the story would have been suffocating and grim at times. Instead, I found myself laughing out loud when the sense of foreboding threatened to overwhelm me, swooning when I should have been biting my nails in terror, and generally reacting unexpectedly to anything Lauren James had to offer. Even more spectacular than the book itself were my reactions to it, my emotions manipulated so skillfully by an author with so much to give. The Next Together demands your full attention and dedication and it simply refuses to settle for anything else.
As someone who reads a lot of romance, I shouldn’t have been blindsided by my reactions to this book, a novel that’s not primarily a romance. However, I found myself in utter disbelief and more than a little awestruck. This is one of the most deeply romantic books I’ve read in ages.

Overall, The Next Together broke my heart time and time again, but it was a sweet pain. I wouldn’t change a second of it.

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am SO confused. Can someone who has read this please explain to me wtf happened at the end?? I just don't get it???????????

Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
- 32. A historical fiction book

[Ezgi T · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kitap gerçekten güzel başladı ve yarısına kadar da keyifle devam etti. Ne zaman kitabın ortalarına vardım, o zaman iş biraz sıkıcılaşmaya başladı. İlk başlarda beni eğlendiren ve kitaptan keyif almamı sağlayan unsurlar, artık canımı sıkmaya ve beni kitaptan soğutmaya başlamıştı. Kitabın son sayfasını okuduğumdaysa hiç tatmin olmuş hissetmedim. Aksine, biraz kızgındım. Son sayfaya kadar okumuş olmamın tek bir nedeni vardı - bir soruya cevap arıyordum - ve kitap, bunu yanıtlamaya bile gerek görmemişti.

Durum şu ki, Bir Sonraki Hayatımız beni son yarıda çok hayal kırıklığına uğrattı. Katherine ve Matthew'un dört farklı zaman diliminde, dört farklı hayatta reenkarne olup bir şeyler yaşaması ve hepsinde birbirlerini bulması fikri keyifliydi. Farklı zaman dilimlerine ait hayatlardaki farklılıklarını ve benzerliklerini okumak, ilginç ve eğlenceli bir deneyimdi ve satır aralarındaki, bütün bu olayın bir "deney" olduğuna yapılan göndermeler kitabı daha da ilgi çekici kılıyordu.

Çünkü neden ortada bir deney vardı? Deneyi kim gerçekleştiriyordu? Deneyin sonunda ulaşmaya çalıştığı amaç neydi? Katherine ve Matthew'un tekrar tekrar gelmesinin ortadaki deneye katkısı neydi?

En başta kitaba olan ilgimi ve alakamı sağlayan bu sorular, kitabın yarısından sonra sadece canımı sıktılar ve kitaptan soğuttular beni çünkü 200+ sayfa okumuştum fakat bir soruyu bile yanıtlamaya yaklaşmamıştım. Bu noktada elim kitaba gitmemeye başladı ama kendimi okumaya zorladım çünkü 1) bitirmeye kararlıydım, 2) kitabın sonunda yanıtlanıyor olabilirdi sorular.

1'de hedeflediğim gibi kitabı bitirmeyi başardım, ama
kitap 2'de umduğum gibi soruları yanıtlamadı.

Hatta kitap hiçbir şey yapmadı. 360 sayfa boyunca, 4 farklı zaman diliminde Katherine ve Matthew'un tanışmasını, aşık olmalarını ve hatırlamalarını, tarihi olaylara yön vermelerini okuduk. Ama bu kadar. Kitabın sonunda, bütün bunların ne olduğuna dair 2 sayfa var. İki. Hakaret gibi gerçekten. Eğer sorularımın yanıtlanmayacağını, merakımın giderilmesi için bir başka kitap okumam gerekeceğini bilseydim (bknz The Last Beginning) doğrusu en baştan bu kitabı okumaya girişmezdim.

Ya da, The Last Beginning'in arkasını biraz daha erken okumuş olsaydım, Bir Sonraki Hayatımız'ı yarım bırakıp okumaya serinin ikinci (ve son) kitabından devam edebilirdim, çünkü şöyle diyor:

But where do you start looking for a couple who seem to have been reincarnated at every key moment in history? Who were Kate and Matt? Why were they born again and again?

Kitap, arka kapağında, az önce sorduğum soruları soruyorsa, herhalde onları cevaplıyordur da diye düşünüyorum. Eğer bir noktada ikinci kitabı okuyan olursa ve ben bu kitap hakkındaki her şeyi çoktan unutmamışsam, biri gelip bana bu soruların cevabını söyleyebilir mi? Çünkü ikinci kitabı okumayı gerçekten hiç istemiyorum. Kendimi kandırılmış hissediyorum şu an.

Kaldı ki, aklımda sorudan bol bir şey yok şu an:
- Neden Katherine ve Matthew?
- Neden bir yerden sonra reenkarne olduklarını hatırladılar?
- Neden illa birbirlerine aşık olmak zorundalar?
- Neden deney, onların ilişkilerine göre "ilerliyor"?
- Neden dünyayı kurtarmak onlara kaldı?
- Deneyi kim yapıyor?
- Deneyi neden yapıyorlar?
- Deney Clove'un başının altından mı çıktı?
- Dünya Matrix usulü bir bilgisayarda mı sürüyor?
ve deney o yüzden mi var?
- Eğer öyle değilse, "insan" olan denekleri nasıl bilgisayara "yüklüyorlar"?
- Babam böyle pasta yapmayı nereden öğrendi?

Eğer kitap, sorularımdan bir kısmını yanıtlamış, geri kalanı da ikinci kitaba atmış olsaydı belki bu kadar rahatsız, bu kadar kandırılmış hissetmezdim ama kitabı yarım bırakmamış olmamın gerçekten de tek sebebi, sorularımdan bazılarına yanıt bulabileceğimi umuyor olmamdı. Hiçbir cevap alamadım. Belki de yeterince iyi okumamışımdır son sayfaları, bilmiyorum. Bildiğim tek şey şu an çok sinirliyim ve suçlusu da Bir Sonraki Hayatımız.

İşin bir başka üzücü yanı, okuyan herkes bu kitabı çok sevmiş. Goodreads listemde bu kitabı okuyup puan veren insanlar arasında, en düşük puan veren kişi 3 yıldız vermiş. Daha düşüğü yok. Kaldı ki, 3 yıldız veren de tek bir insan var. Herkes 4 ve 5 yıldızlar yağdırmış. Peki ben neden sevemedim? Neden hiç tatmin olmadım? Herkesin bariz bir şekilde aşık olduğu karakterlere ve olaylara ve anlatıma neden ben aşık olmadım?

Bu soruların cevabını asla öğrenemeyebiliriz. Çünkü ikinci kitabı okumayı düşünmüyoruz.

Not: Bir operasyon başlatıyorum. Adı, #EzgiveKimraArtıkGüzelKitaplarOkusun - Şeker Portakalı sayılmaz, o bir istisna.

Beni bulun: Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Blog

[Ecmel Soylu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben bu kitabı çok çok çok çok sevdim ya *-*

Kate ve Matt adında iki baş karakterimiz var. Kate ve Matt farklı yıllarda tekrar tekrar doğuyorlar ve sonuç olarak hep birbirlerini buluyor, birbirlerine aşık oluyorlar. Dört koldan ilerliyor hikaye. 1745, 1854, 2019 ve 2039 yıllarındaki hallerini okuyoruz. Tarihte bir şeyler değiştiriyorlar, bir süre sonra da tekrar tekrar doğduklarının farkına varıp bunun olma sebebini öğrenmeye çalışıyorlar ama her seferinde trajik bir sonla karşılaşıyorlar.

Kate ve Matt okuduğum en tatlı çiftlerden biri. Hatta sanırım OTP olarak seçebilirim, o derece :')

Yan karakterlerin de her birini çok sevdim ve bu inanılmaz bir artıydı bence.
Kitapta her bölümün başında Kate ve Matt'in birbirleri için hazırladığı notlar, powerpoint sunumları falan var, bu ayrıntı çok güzeldi ya. Okurken kaç kere kahkaha attım hatırlamıyorum. Çok akıcıydı, çok eğlenceliydi. Hikayenin gidiş yönüne, kurgusuna hayran kaldım. Uzun zamandır okuduğum en iyi kitaplardan biriydi. Yazarın debut yani ilk kitabı bir de. Bayıldım bayıldım yaaasldksşfksş!

[Aisyah]

This book sounds amazing, and that cover!!

[Stacey | prettybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Next Together has been praised by many of my bookish blogger friends and Lauren James is one of my Twitter buddies, so I was eager to finally read her début novel. The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my all-time favourite books. The Next Together similarly delves into the complicated, multiple lives of an unforgettable couple – although Lauren James prefers to call it reincarnation romance rather than time-travelling! – but with a dash of conspiratorial science, compelling history and inevitable coming-of-age themes, too.


Katherine and Matthew are meant to be together. Each of their reincarnations – from the past, in the Crimean War (1854) and Siege of Carlisle (1745), to the future, as a hard-working couple in their early twenties (2019) and university chemistry students (2039) – means they always find each other and unknowingly work together to make the world a better place. Tragically, they're separated from each other every time. But maybe the next together will be the one?

I fell in love with Kate and Matt as soon as I met them. Passionate, energetic, intelligent and full of humour, they're an absolute delight to read about. They're a couple you really want to be together, even if you're not sure exactly why. They're the sort of protagonists you find yourself thinking about even once you've put down the book (because you have to, not because you want to). I looked forward to my morning commute, not knowing which year I'd be transported to. I've read very few novels that span multiple genres in such a way. Lauren James cleverly entwines each lifetime, expertly making every landscape quite different while the characters stay the same.

As a fan of young adult contemporary, 2019 and 2039 were my favourite landscapes, but each held its own. I loved the way the story is not just told traditionally, but through newspaper articles, emails, instant messenger conversations and little notes that Matt and Kate leave each other on the fridge. If I were travelling on the tube with them, they'd be sickening, quite frankly, but on paper they're a dream.

Created out of Lauren James' love of history and science, The Next Together is utterly charming and I can't wait to see what she does next in the sequel, The Last Beginning .

Thank you to the publisher for providing this book for review!

I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.

[Seda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sana 1 bile çok ya, neyse!😒😒

[Anne Goldschrift · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 STERNE
Schade Marmelade! Hier wurde so viel Potential verschenkt. Die Geschichte war eigentlich richtig toll, aber die letzten 20% waren echt eine Katastrophe... Wirr, unlogisch und zum Schluss einfach nur flach. 🙄

[rachel, x · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I could start this review by saying that The Next Beginning lived up to the hype but sadly, it just did not. Time travel is one of my favourite sub-genres but the focus on romance in this particular book was off-putting.

My biggest problem with this book, and likely the reason why it did not work for me as a whole, was the fact that I just did not connect to the characters. In fact, I found them to be rather flat. Katherine was meant to be this incredibly sassy and feisty woman (especially in the 2019 timeline) but I just could not see that. Her sense of humour was oddly juvenile, and her interactions with Matthew, especially the fridge notes and dialogue, were more often than not actually quite awkward. I could not wrap my head around the fact that she was meant to be a professional, married woman when she talked the way she did and giggled like a schoolgirl way too often. Her voice was too reminiscent of a teenager - and a young one at that - so I found it very hard to connect to her or take her seriously.

Matthew was the better of the pair. I enjoyed his sensibility for the most part, and that he was a little more mature and good-natured. I liked that he was a solid presence in this story, and I felt that his character was more consistent throughout the timelines without being too rigid. I did not ship him with Katherine though, and I think this is also what let me down about this story.

For a romance, I found it very hard to care about Matthew and Katherine’s relationship/s. I understood that the point of this story was that their love was strong enough to transcend time, but the only timeline that I was even remotely attached to was the 1854/Crimean War timeline. It strongly disliked the fact that we were meant to ship these characters based solely on their past relationships. From the very first page, we knew that they were each other's “true loves” and ‘meant to be together’ so there was no real angst or tension. I was not anxiously waiting for them to realise their love for each other because I knew that they would. I found that this was most problematic in the 2039 timeline because it was used to excuse instalove. I know the entire point of this story is that Katherine and Matthew’s love is pure and strong and all that nauseating lovey-dovey babble, but that does not take away from the fact that Katherine and Matthew’s 2039 romance developed too fast for my tastes. They barely knew each other at this point but were somehow ‘in love’. Just because they loved each other once, does not - in my opinion - mean that they should or do love each other every time. I have massive problems with the fact that the Matthews/Katherines were treated as interchangeable. They are different people with different pasts, circumstances, and feelings. They should not be all lumped together.

I also felt that the switch in timelines could be a bit jarring. I found the mixed media element a little bit confusing since it did not say which timeline the document/snippet belong to until afterward. Sometimes, I actually had to go back and reread the section because it was from a different timeline than I thought when I read it the first time. There were also times where I just really wanted to stay in a particular timeline and not skip between the four, so that did get very frustrating.

Other thoughts (minor spoilers):

• The teen pregnancy was a bit gross for me. It made me feel uncomfortable.
• The ending was anticlimactic, and I didn’t understand why Matthew and Katherine would not risk going back for Clove?
• The historical fiction sections felt a little bit lackluster because the romance took the focus. I did not think that the Carlisle timeline history was explained particularly well. I really wish it had developed these parts more!
• My favourite part of the story was the swapped timeline bit. It was well-written and exciting. It drew on the time travel stuff that I had been hoping for. I loved the radiation sickness bit as well. As tragic as it is, I thought it was realistic.

Overall?

I am really disappointed by how little I enjoyed this book. Normally, time travel stories are the only sci-fi I am willingly pick up but The Next Together was too romance-driven for my tastes. I disliked Katherine a lot, and struggled with Matthew’s underdevelopment at times. I did like the different timelines but I wished they had been elaborated on more. I don’t think I would recommend this book for time travel fans (try Timeriders instead), but this may appeal to sci-fi romance fans.

[Charnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really enjoying this but the end seemed a bit messy and has left me super confused.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't a book for me. The concept sounded amazing but I felt that it wasn't executed particularly well. I had issues with the pacing and didn't gel with any of the characters. Overall it was a decent read, but I hoped for a lot more!

[Suzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitabın arkasında reenkarnasyon olduğu zaten belli edilmiş bence bu beklentide okunmalıydı benim için keyifliydi çabuk okundu hatta bana biraz romantik bile geldi 😊
Kapağın güzelliği 😍

[Tereza Eliášová]

Páni, tohle byla jízda! Cestování v čase, ale trochu jinak. Nenechá vás vydechnout a na konci budete fakt zírat, protože ten konec... uf!
Tahle knížka má všecko včetně mírně nesnesitelné hrdinky, ale jen na některých stránkách. Na jiných stránkách je vlastně vcelku fajn a dost jiná, protože... no protože vlastně jiná je a být musí. Sami uvidíte :D

[Füsun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bir Sonraki Hayatımız , almaya ne zaman karar verdiğimi bilmediğim ancak 'iyi ki almışım' dediğim bir kitap olarak kayıtlara geçsin lütfen.

Kitap çok tatlıydı!



Haziran'ın ilk kitabıydı ancak yorumunu şimdi girebiliyorum ve aslında dakikalardır yoruma nasıl başlamam gerektiğini de düşünüyordum çünkü araya zaman geçince neler diyeceğimi biraz karıştırmışım.Ama şimdi toparlıyorum gibi.

Her seferinde dünyaya yeniden gelseydiniz, ve aynı insana aşık olsaydınız ama sonunuz da hep trajik bir biçimde gelseydi ne düşünürdünüz? Bunun kaderiniz olduğunu mu?Bir çeşit lütuf olduğunu mu?Ya da bir çeşit lanet olduğunu mu?Yoksa bir görev olduğunu mu?

Kitaba ilk başladığınızda 2039 yılında bir biyoloji laboratuvarında tanışan Kate ve Matthew'u tanıyorsunuz ancak kitap aslında 4 çifti anlatıyor.1745,1854, 2019 ve 2039 yıllarında tanışarak birbirlerine aşık olan Kate ve Matthew'un hikayelerini okuyorsunuz. Her seferinde birbirlerini yeniden tanıyorlar, arada nasıl engeller olursa olsun aşık oluyorlar ve geçmişteki üç yaşamlarında da hikayeleri hep mutsuz sonla bitmiş.Peki 2039 yılında bir şeyler farklı gider mi?

Açık açık şunu söylemeliyim ki, ben en çok 2019 çiftini sevdim.Evet, diğerlerinde olduğu gibi onların hikayesini detaylıca okumadık.Sadece her bölümün başında o çiftin birbirlerine notlarını, durum güncellemelerini, blog yazılarını ve onlar hakkındaki gazete küpürlerini okuduk.Ki bütün bunlar görsel bir şekilde sunulduğu için- evet resmen bir facebook paylaşımı ve bir haber sitesinin url'si dahil olmak üzere görebiliyordunuz- #yabancıyayınları'nın en sevdiğim baskılarından birisi oldu.Bir peçetedeki notu, üzerine konulmuş bir bardağın bıraktığı kahve lekesiyle beraber görüyorsunuz.

DAHA NASIL GÜZEL OLABİLİR?

Ayrıca 2019 çiftinin hikayelerini bunların dışında bir de 2039'daki çiftimizin araştırmalarıyla öğreniyoruz.Onlar bir şeyleri fark ettikçe, bazı şeyler kafalarını karıştırdıkça geçmişin peşinden gidiyorlar ve biz de onlar sayesinde 2019daki Matthew ve Kate'i tanıyabiliyoruz.

Ve tekrar söylüyorum, benim favori çiftim onlar.Birbirlerine olan notlardan mı bahsedeyim, attıkları mesajlardan mı bahsedeyim, yaptıkları paylaşımlardan mı bahsedeyim bilemiyorum.Çünkü bahsetsem bile bunu tam anlamıyla aktaramam, okumanız gerek!

Ayrıca bu diğer zaman döngüsündeki çiftleri sevmediğim anlamına gelmiyor.Onları da okurken yüzünüzde bir gülümseme beliriyor ve seviyorsunuz.Üstelik hangi zamanda olurlarsa olsunlar, ikisinin de karakter özellikleri değişmiyor ve Kate hep zeki, Matthew da hep aşırı tatlı kalıyor!

Matthew gerçekten bu kitabın en güzel yanıydı çünkü onu okuyor olmak bile kitaba devam etmenize yardımcı olabilir.Onun tatlı hallerini, Kate'den hoşlanan ve onu kıskanan hallerini, utangaç hallerini, zekasını kullandığı hallerini o kadar seviyorsunuz ki, onun olmadığı bir sayfa okuyunca 'of ne zaman gelecek bu çocuk?' diyorsunuz. Ben dedim, ve böylesine kendisini sevdirebildiği için de çok mutluyum!

Kate ise bütün bu olayların içine, aslında Matthew'u gördüğü anda duyduğu ufacık bir hisle dalıyor ve böylesine küçük bir histen bu kadar büyük bir resmi ortaya çıkarabilmesi, bu resmin parçalarını araştırabilmesi çok iyiydi.Elbette bunu tek başına yapmadı, Matthew sürekli yanındaydı ama bana göre bu Kate'in ne kadar zeki bir kız olduğunu da kanıtlamaya yetiyordu.Sırf birisi gözüne tanıdık geldi diye böylesine büyük bir olayı herkes ortaya seremez bence.Ve zaten onun dışında bile, eski yıllardaki hallerinde bile akıllı düşünen, planlarına göre hareket eden bir kız olmuştu. Ve hep söylediğim gibi, aptal kız karakterlerden bıktığımdan böyle kitaplar ve karakterler ilaç gibi geliyor.

Ayrıca kitapla ilgili belirtmem gereken bir diğer nokta da şu ki, olay örgüsü ve onun gerçekleşme hızı bence çok iyiydi.Çiftler arasındaki bağ, meydana geliş sırası ve bu olayların bir sonraki yüzyılda bile olan etkisi bazen beynimi yakmış da olsa çok iyi kurgulanmıştı.Nereye bağlanacağını hiç bilemediğim olaylar vardı ve bu da kitabı merak ederek okumamın sebeplerinden biriydi.Sıkılmadım, ne zaman bitecek diye düşünmedim ve okuduğum her sayfayı çok sevdim.

"Ee madem bu kadar sevdin, neden 4 verdin?" diye soracaksınız.Çünkü canım Büşra-@peraninkitapligi- sordu hatta bu yüzden demediğini de bırakmadı bana! Ancak şöyle açıklamam gerekiyor ki kitabı çok sevsem dahi asıl olayların çabuk geçtiğini düşünüyorum.Yani bütün o reenkarnasyonların sebebinin, bunların getirdiği karmaşanın daha uzun anlatılması gerektiğini düşünüyorum.Kitapta daha çok macera aradım ve kitabı çok sevsem de istediğimi yeterince bulamadım.Daha karmaşık olmalıydı bana göre.

Ama bütün bunları bir kenara koyarak söylüyorum ki, ikinci kitabın çıkmasını sabırsızlıkla bekliyorum. Çok güzeldi ve gelecek kitabın da böyle olacağına şüphem yok!

Eğer hem farklı bir kurgu okumak hem de okurken karakterlerin tatlılığına sürekli sırıtmak istiyorsanız Bir Sonraki Hayatımız mükemmel bir seçim olacaktır.Alın, okuyun.Pişman olmayacaksınız.

[Ashley (gotbookcitement) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a unique read and I really enjoyed it. I loved the format of the story. I'm always a sucker for mixed media books. They are always so fun for me to read. I think the mixed media worked really well for this.
So this story is about two people who meet over and over at different points in time. They fall in love, and it always seems to end in tragedy. In The Next Together, we are following four different timelines of Katherine and Matthew: 2019, 1745, 2039, and 1854. I found each timeline really easy to follow. Each timeline story was really interesting and engaging. Each Katherine and Matthew were slightly different too. They were the same characters, but they were their own characters too. It's hard to explain, but I'm glad that it managed to do that.
I will say, if you're not a fan of insta-love, you might not like this. It very much focuses on the romance between each Katherine and Matthew. It can feel insta-lovey even though it's really not. It's weird, I know.
The ending didn't really give me any of the answers I wanted. I'm confused. I want to know Who? What? and Why? I'm going to read the sequel, so maybe it will give me some of those answers.
I'd say the last fourth of the book got a little confusing. Overall, I liked it. I'm definitely going to read the sequel. It's a unique book.
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.8/5
Very Unique

[Shaikha · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Oh my, what a WONDERFUL journey!
Time traveling books aren't usually my cup of tea but this one is extraordinary!
One beautiful and unique novel that made history ten times more interesting and fun to read.
Although the ending was kind of unsettling and there are a few unanswered questions, but I figured I'll have to wait until the next part of this new series!
I can't deny the love I have for this book now! I think I'm emotionally attached to Katherine and Matthew. ❤️

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initial reaction: WHATTHEHELLJUSTHAPPENED ????????????? SO CONFUSED.....

ANYWAY. Moving on: This was quite the star crossed love story with bits and pieces of both science fiction, time travel, historical fiction and contemporary. The story is told from three POVs, three different romances between Katherine and Matthew - and all of them worked together perfectly. I also really liked the idea of the story, even though the execution, after finishing this book, left me very, very confused and with more questions than answers.
Overall, this book was entertaining, unputdownable and, of course, romantic. 3.75 stars

[Gizem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurgusu ve olay işlenişi bence mükemmeldi! Ama sonu çok açık kaldı, umarım 2. Kitap biran önce çıkar.

[Merve •Kitaptelvesi• · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saçmalıkların daha da saçmalaştığı bir kitap. Sırf sonu için okudum yine de bir şey anlamadım. Sorun bende mi?

[Jana ☀️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Also irgendwie... irgendwie habe ich das Ende nicht verstanden? 😂

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute, but I was expecting & hoping for more dimension to the story.

Following reincarnated couple Katherine and Matthew's role in the world throughout time, this romantic scifi novel delves into several different timelines. In 1745 Carlisle, Katherine is a society lady and Matthew works as a carriage driver. During the 1854 Crimean War, Matthew works as a newspaper assistant and Katherine is dressed as a boy. In 2019, the two are married and working as chemists. And in 2039, two chemists learn the shocking truth about their past.

The main couple, Katherine and Matthew, have a bit of instalove going on between them. However, they are still very sweet and easy to get invested in. Their banter in the 2019 setting was especially adorable.

The plotline fits in four different timelines, each told in different formats. Lauren James uses these storytelling methods to the best of her ability. The plot isn't hard to follow, and is entertaining. The conclusion is pitch-perfect.

There's not much else to say. Tentatively recommended for fans of romance.

[Sara ➽ Ink Is My Sword · Rating 4 out of 5]

CONFUSED.
Didn't understand the explanation whatsoever.
Why do you love to lie to yourself, Sara? You are just not gonna love all books. 🙄

[Ömer · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.8/5

ÇOK BEĞENDİM! Yorumu için: http://kronikokur.blogspot.com.tr/201...

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Da hab ich mir wohl mal wieder zu viel erwartet 🙄

[✧✧tanja✧✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars.

I hurried up and bought this on its release date, but found out when I received it that it was a book proof I’d gotten - no biggie, I actually like the cover like this (it doesn't have the title on it). I won’t be quoting anything in this review, so everything I’m mentioning will be the same had I had the "actual" book.

The writing style varied from the different storylines, and my favourite were from the older ones, but that’s just a matter of preference - Lauren James did a spectacular job in every storyline.

The characters were Katherine, Kate, Katy and Matthew x3 (and an extra set from 2019 but we only read them through notes and e-mails) which all meant that the characters were similar (duh), but because of their different settings and environments, their personality traits were like different shades of the same colour. It was easy to tell them apart even though they were technically the same two people.

The plot was like nothing I’ve ever read before. The book was a bit slow at first and I had my doubts about whether my expectations would be lived up to, but after the 150-page mark, the book went beyond anything I’d ever imagined. At some point, it all became a bit too clever for me, and I was endlessly confused. But maybe I don’t need to understand everything to have enjoyed the book. I was blown away by its twists and turns, and it left my heart broken and my mind blown.

Overall it was such an interesting read and it had everything. Romance, sci-fi, history/war, wit (not so fond of that though, since it just wasn’t my sense of humor) and suspense/mystery. I can’t wait to re-read this in the future where I’ll probably discover new things and understand it better now that I know what’ll happen in the end.

I recommend this book to anyone, no matter what you’re favourite genre is, because this novel has it all. It also has really cool screenshots of google searches, articles, e-mails, handwritten notes and so on. If you feel like lately you’ve read really similar books, and you're in search of something original and clever, pick up this book. You won’t regret it.

[vicky. · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I’ll have you know I am an expert at trench digging,” she said. “It’s an important skill for a young lady. I would struggle to find a husband without it.”
He grinned. “I should hope so. I would be wary of a wife who was unable to dig a perfect tunnel.”
“My point exactly, Matthew, thank you. If even you require such a talent, imagine the demands of a man who actually has standards.”

these two <3

Originally I thought this was a four stars book but it was so clever, twisty and hilarious that I’m giving it five stars even though it’s not perfect and the end kinda bothers me.

Kate and Matthew are doomed to live, fall in love and lose each other over and over again through time. They don’t know why or who is doing this to them, and is not until the very end of their lives that they remember their shared past.

Kate is hilarious. No matter what time she lives, she doesn’t lose her sense of humor nor her extroverted personality. Matt is the shy and dork one. I loved the reversal role on their relationship: He is shy one and she is confident as hell.

The history in the book is light but the history nerd is me is pleased, so. The story is more focused on these two and for the first time I didn’t care at all about the fact there was so much romance.

The reader doesn’t know either what the hell is happening and at the end of the book you don’t have all the answers but I was really pleased with the explanation of why they were sent over and over.
What bothered me was that they had a Greater Mission that neither them of knew but that the reader does suspects they have to accomplish something. It’s not until the very end that this GM is revealed… and it just bothers me. A part of me doesn’t get it and the other doesn’t like it.

It's still an entertaining and original book, except for the ending, but other than is pretty much a perfect YA novel.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this just in time for the signing! There was so much to love about The Next Together - it's the perfect blend of sic-fi and historical fantasy. It's reincarnation romance as you've never read before! My favourite time line was the one set in the 19th Century, because I can't resist a good girl disguised as boy plot. I LITERALLY CANNOT WAIT to find out what happens in the companion sequel. I'll be recommending this book a lot more in the future.