I LOVED YOU IN ANOTHER LIFE By David Arnold

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I Loved You in Another Life by David Arnold
Published by Viking Books for Young Readers on 10/10/23
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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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.

Short and Sweet Review

Evan has plans for his life after high school, he wants to take a gap year in Alaska and make sure that his mom and little brother will be okay. When his mom is diagnosed with cancer, Evan changes his plans, but he also starts to hear a song that no one else can hear.

Shosh is still grieving after the death of her sister and she’s become pretty reckless. Before her sister’s death, Shosh was known as a theater legend and had plans to pursue her passion at a performing arts college in LA. Oddly enough Shosh can also hear mysterious singing in her ear.

I’ll start off by saying this is an interesting book. I love that our characters are each going through something, Evan is dealing with how his father left the family and started a new one, and also the thought of his mom having cancer and no one being there to care for her and his younger brother Will. All of these things really weigh on Evan, he was someone who thought he needed to be in the place of a parent when he was really someone who needed more of his parents. Shosh on the other hand is still grieving the loss of her sister and has taken to drinking and going out at odd times of the night. I will say I enjoyed Evan more than Shosh, I understand that everyone grieves differently but she really needed to see or talk to someone… she drove someones car into a pool to make a statement. I thought he rebellious ways went too far and even those closest to her didn’t know what to do. We have both characters POVs and its interesting because they don’t really start to interact until maybe part 3 of the book. I think they really bond over what’s going on in their lives and also the fact that they’re both hearing the mysterious singing. I didn’t enjoy the parts where we go into the past, I’m guessing it was supposed to show Evan and Shosh in different timelines and how they’re soulmates but it didn’t work for me.

Overall, this book will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions, I did enjoy seeing how they both had big things going on in their lives and how they eventually had to stop and work through everything and realize that sometimes its okay to move on and ask for help. This book was well written and though I enjoyed most of it there were parts I didn’t.