4.5 ⭐️ I liked this, it’s realistic, relatable and raw, maybe better read by neuro divergent/mental health people as I don’t think it would be very interesting if you didn’t understand it on an emotional level. I love the meaning, writing and characters and just how true to real life this book feels, full of pain bur equally hopeful and inspiring


“We only need to be one person.
We only need to feel one existence.
We don't have to do everything in order to be everything,
because we are already infinite. While we are alive we always contain a future of multifarious possibility.
So let's be kind to the people in our own existence. Let's
occasionally look up from the spot in which we are because, wherever we happen to be standing, the sky above goes on forever.
Yesterday I knew I had no future, and that it was impossible for me to accept my life as it is now. And yet today, that same messy life seems full of hope. Potential.
The impossible, I suppose, happens via living.
Will my life be miraculously free from pain, despair, grief,
heartbreak, hardship, loneliness, depression? No.
But do I want to live?
Yes. Yes.
A thousand times, yes.”


“She remembered how, in her delirium, she had thought of the word 'equidistant. A word that belonged in the clinical safety of a classroom. Equidistant. Such a neutral, mathematical kind of word, and one that became a stuck thought, repeating itself like a manic meditation as she used the last of her strength to stay almost exactly
where she was.
Equidistant. Equidistant. Equidistant. Not aligned
to one bank or the other.
That was how she had felt most of her life.
Caught in the middle.
Struggling, flailing, just trying to survive while not knowing which way to go.
Which path to commit to without regret.”


“Do you ever think "how did I end up here?' Like you are in a maze and totally lost and it's all your fault because you were the one who made every turn? And you know that there are many routes that could have helped you out, because you hear all the people on the outside of the maze who made it through, and they are laughing and smiling. And sometimes you get a glimpse of them
through the hedge. A fleeting shape through the leaves. And they seem so damn happy to have made it and you don't resent them, but you do resent yourself for not having their ability to work it all out.
Do you? Or is this maze just for me?” ( )

I loved the premise of this book, ie the opportunity to see how your life would have turned out had you made different choices. Who wouldn’t like that.
I enjoyed the story ( )

Liked, didn't love. Interesting concept of a place between life and death in which other alternate lives can be samples and lived. Meh execution - got a little muddy, repetitive, and overlong in the middle. Tone and cadence strike me as a fall/winter book rather than warmer minths.

A lot of metaphysics and philosophy which tied in, but bogged down the story.. Basically boils down to life is worth living, little actions can have big consequence/import, our lives are more impactdul than we often realize, etc. Deals with suicide and self harm, but handles with care and compassion. Main character, while not unlikable exactly, is never content and afte awhile that wears off its welcome.

Imo, one of those books that aren't perfect for everyone, but will be ja just right read for someone. A little surprised it got the buzz that it did. ( )

Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be different if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?

Every life contains many millions of decisions. Some big, some small. But every time one decision is taken over another, the outcomes differ. An irreversible variation occurs, which in turn leads to further variations. These books are portals to all the lives you could be living.

I really liked the concept of this book, and it was very well written, but everything felt so… obvious.
No matter which life Nora tries, they are never truly right. She cannot save her cat because he was ill to begin with. Moving to Australia with her friend doesn’t end well either. In the end she does not want to die anymore. In the end she is happy with her current life.
There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but it didn’t feel surprising or original to me. ( )

I truly loved this book. The metaphors and the use of Thoreau since our main character is a Philosophy enthusiast. It was a feel good book in how we make decisions and those decision affect all who are around us. I highly recommend the book -- its an easy read, however, very thought provoking. ( )