e-Audio, 08:30:24
Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan, Michael Crouch, & Sigrid Zeiner
Release Date: October 10, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: October 14-16, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a copy of this audiobook from the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Cancer, Childhood Death, Panic Attacks/Disorders, Mental illness, Car Accident, Vomit
For Readers Interested In: Different Timelines, Romance, YA, HistoricalNew York Times bestseller David Arnold returns with a poignant love story about two teens whose souls come together time and again through the ages—for fans of Nina LaCour and Matt Haig.
Evan Taft has plans. Take a gap year in Alaska, make sure his little brother and single mother are taken care of, and continue therapy to process his father’s departure. But after his mom’s unexpected diagnosis, as Evan’s plans begin to fade, he hears something: a song no one else can hear, the voice of a mysterious singer . . .
Shosh Bell has dreams. A high school theater legend, she’s headed to performing arts college in LA, a star on the rise. But when a drunk driver takes her sister’s life, that star fades to black. All that remains is a void—and a soft voice singing in her ear . . .
Over it all, transcending time and space, a celestial bird brings strangers together: from an escaped murderer in 19th century Paris, to a Norwegian kosmonaut in low-earth orbit, something is happening that began long ago, and will long outlast Evan and Shosh. With lyrical prose and original songs (written and recorded by the author), I LOVED YOU IN ANOTHER LIFE explores the history of love, and how some souls are meant for each other—yesterday, today, forever.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I was a little iffy on this one since it was a weird timeline book but also my first book by David Arnold. I’ve heard he’s a great author but mostly writes like contemporary, literary fiction but for YA readers, and that’s just not my jam. But this one was actually good and I even got a little emotional at the end.
Plot wise I understood what this was trying to do, but I didn’t feel like the time line flowed very well. I guess I wanted to see more of them in their other lives for longer. It always felt like a weird insert when they had the flashed back to them and I wanted better for them. But I did think when they were Shosh and Evan it was fine. They should have made the other lives a little longer. It would have made the book longer, but I think it would have made it better.
If you don’t know, I’m a hella emotional reader. I will absolutely cry over a book no matter where I am. So basically, I wasn’t surprised at all when I started crying while listening to this. I was basically just randomly crying while doing the laundry because of this book. Idk, the ending, the way they kept finding each other, just all of it, it was so sweet. And I don’t know why, but it just got to me. After all they had been through and they still found each other? Ugh, I loved that. I asked a couple years ago for a book with reincarnation, and to say after YEARS I finally got one (and a good one at that!) I am happy.
The music also made this what it was. I saw that it was original music by the author and that’s just so fire to me. I really liked that. And the narration was also good. I LOVE a good full cast audio. And this one had one of my faves (Michael Crouch) in it, so I knew I was going to have a good time with this one. It was a great performance for all of them.
My only problem was it seemed a little slow in some places. And, like was this supposed to be a roamnce, or was this just supposed to be the story of them finding each other again? Because while that’s a good story, it just felt like it didn’t go anywhere. I wanted to see them together. To see them happy and doing things together. To finding out more about the other and doing things together. I wanted to see them happy together. And like, I know we do get a glimpse of Shosh and Evan being together, but I just wanted more. Like if that wasn’t the goal, what was the reason of the last scene?
This was a hella interesting book and I am so happy I was able to read it via audio. It was definitely an experience. I’m not sure I would have rated it as high if I had read it with my eyes. I would have missed the music and the amazing performance by some of my favorite narrators. Definitely made me go back and request all his other books as audio as well.
Overall, I give this
